Chapter 394： Battle of Deva (4)

With the order from Lieutenant General Ankodar, the Romanian artillery positions began to get busy. The loader put the prepared shells into the gun hall, and the observers reported the target's azimuth data. The gunner pulled the launch rope to hit the shells on the heads of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers, and then the remaining shell shells in the gun hall were withdrawn. Then again and again, another shell was fired on the Austro-Hungarian position.

Because there was not much time left for the First Division and the 19th Division, in order to pursue better results, the artillery fired at high speed. In just thirty minutes, three base-numbered shells were hit on the ground. The fierce artillery destroyed everything on the ground. Broken wood, guns, and human limbs were all blown up into the sky. Even a Maxim machine gun on the battlefield was hit directly, and the machine gun parts and bullets scattered at high speed caused damage to the soldiers hiding in the trenches, making the trenches form a blood-red Shura field.

The fierce shelling made the Austro-Hungarian soldiers defending the position miserable, which made the two Austro-Hungarian generals who were observing from behind also worried. The commander of the 35th Division, Major General Arz, couldn't stand it, and most of the bombarded positions were his soldiers. "It's not going to work like this. Just being beaten and not fighting back will do too much damage to morale, and the subsequent battles will be difficult."

Arz's words did not elicit a response from Major General Kumanek, the commander of the 17th Austro-Hungarian Division said in his unsentimental voice. "I can't stand the shelling just now. I can't fight without the protection of artillery. Patience is a soldier's virtue. Let the artillery fight back now, and it will be too difficult for us to fight behind. And I carefully observed that the Romanian artillery is very accurate. And judging from the scale of shelling, the enemy’s artillery is much more than ours. If we fight with them, it will be quite detrimental to us."

Speaking of the last, Major General Kumanek said a rare joke. "If the artillery is consumed, the enemy can use the artillery against your forehead and fire."

Listening to Major General Kumanek’s not funny jokes, Major General Arz knew that what the other party had said was the most correct way, and now he could only watch his soldiers suffering in the artillery fire.

The violent artillery fire came and went fast, and half an hour after the shelling, the artillery fire raging on the heads of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers stopped. At this time, the torn ground was in a mess, and the soldiers coughed due to the smog. Collapsed positions can be seen everywhere, and there are still no blood-red remnants of human limbs on the positions. At the same time, the screams of the wounded soldiers also made other Austro-Hungarian soldiers who survived the catastrophe feel grief.

At this moment, an exclamation sounded. "The enemy has touched it."

This scream made the Austro-Hungarian soldiers open their eyes to observe the front of the position, but the smoke that has not yet dissipated made the enemy invisible in front of the position. They only felt that there were many people in front of the position, as if there were enemies everywhere. At this time, a soldier who couldn't bear the pressure pulled the trigger on the position of the heavy figure, and shot the bullet at the place where he thought there was an enemy. As if receiving a signal, gunfire broke out in the Austro-Hungarian position, and even the sound of machine guns was added. In front of the Austro-Hungarian position, except for the artillery that could not be fired without an order, other weapons joined the chorus.

"Damn it, the enemy hasn't come up yet. What are they fighting... Are you fainted... How did Dolce become a brigade commander?"

The performance on the position made Major General Alz angry, because he found that the positions where the gunshots were loud were all his soldiers.

In fact, 35's performance is so unbearable for a reason. The 35th Division, which was stabbed the day before yesterday, had a lot of casualties and was driven out of Petrosani, was originally demoralized, and then built a day's fortifications in Hateg before catching a breath. It was only after waking up today that he was photographed on the first line of unfinished positions defending the Romanian offense. As a result, he encountered a sudden fire attack, and some excessive reactions were reasonable.

Of course, the overreaction of the soldiers of the 35th Division did not last long before calming down. The reason for the soldiers to calm down quickly is that most of them are veterans who have been on the battlefield. After a brief vent, they immediately set their minds. Also, the Austro-Hungarian officers desperately reassure the soldiers when they are in a wrong condition.

At this time, the smoke cleared, and the offensive Division 1 of the Guards had the real postgraduate entrance examination.

After seeing the situation outside the position clearly, the Austro-Hungarian soldiers stopped firing blindly, but took the lead in shooting at targets such as the officer’s machine gun. And also using the advantage of the position to intercept the soldiers of the First Division of the Guards at different levels. The response of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers showed the response of veterans who have experienced war. The soldiers of the First Division of the Guards, who were under increased pressure, were not flustered at all when faced with this scene. While they used obstacles such as rocks, soil packs, trees, and bullet craters in front of their positions to cover their shots, they also used these obstacles to attack forward alternately. With the gradual shortening of the distance between the two sides, the shooting accuracy of the soldiers on both sides has also been greatly improved. This also caused the number of casualties on both sides to increase by leaps and bounds, and both sides endured the sacrifices of their own soldiers.

But it is a bit surprising that the offensive side has the upper hand. The reason is simple, because most of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers are mobilized soldiers. Before entering the army, these soldiers were members of all walks of life in society, and they rarely touched guns. After the war broke out, they would not be given time to train slowly so in terms of marksmanship, except for the birth of a hunter, it would not be very good. The Romanian soldiers belong to the standing army, most of them have more than three years of enlistment energy, and as the ace of the Guards Division, most of its soldiers have five years of military experience. Even if they have never experienced war, their shooting and tactical movements have basically become instincts, so their shooting accuracy is much higher than that of Austria-Hungary.

Lieutenant General Ankodar, who was observing from behind the position, watched his soldiers fought the enemy vigorously in front of the Austro-Hungarian position, and couldn't help but praise him. "Malmo's regiment did a good job, and it fought back and forth with the enemy's brigade and defenders."

Ankerdal's words convinced Major General Dotrid who was also observing the battlefield next to him. Everyone is a soldier, and experts know if there is any. The First Guard Division fought back and forth with a regiment force against a brigade guard. This is what it can do. Major General Dotrid thought about his 19th Division and found that none of his troops could compete with this regiment.

And just when Major General Dortrid was envious of the strength of the First Division, a staff officer ran in and told them a rather shocking news.

"Report to the two generals, we found that the enemy has no fortifications on the two flanks."

"what?"