Chapter 296： Battle of Deva (6)

When the Battle of Hateg broke out, a brigade of the guard division that had been left behind in Petrila was also attacked by the Austro-Hungarian army in Sibiu.

The 2nd Brigade of the 1st Guards Division, who was left behind by Lieutenant General Ankodar to resist from the Sibiu garrison, was also very trusted. The main reason was that the stubborn style of the 2nd brigade commander, Colonel Zoltan, was appreciated by the lieutenant general. The task of defending Petrilla to protect Petrosani from being retaken by the Austro-Hungarian army and putting himself in a dangerous situation can only be assured by handing over to Colonel Zoltan.

The actions of the Austro-Hungarian army in Sibiu were as expected by Lieutenant General Ankodar, even faster than he expected. When the Battle of Hateg broke out, the Austro-Hungarian army had already arrived near Petrila, and the 2nd Guards Brigade defending this place had not even been built fortifications. The Austro-Hungarian army saw this situation and thought it had an opportunity. Even the artillery was too late to prepare and immediately launched an offensive, but they did not know that it was the 2nd Guards Brigade who was staying here, and they also had a problem with the style of the brigade commander Colonel Zoltan. Don't understand.

What a colonel Zoltan, used firepower to kill the enemy when the enemy launched an offensive, and then launched a counterattack while the Austro-Hungarian army had not recovered. Colonel Zoltan’s strategy worked, and the Austrian-Hungarian side did not expect that the Romanian defenders defending here would be so bold, and they would fight so fiercely when they were absolutely disadvantaged. So they were defeated, and even the starting position was taken.

If Zoltan hadn't ordered the retreat because he was afraid that the attack would be too deep and would be surrounded by the superior Austro-Hungarian army, then it is estimated that even his artillery positions could be captured. Fortunately, Brigadier Zoltan has a keen sense of smell on the battlefield. If he really breaks into the artillery position, the regrouped Austro-Hungarian army will leave an unforgettable memory for the 2nd brigade.

Although they did not capture the artillery position, they suppressed one and a half divisions with one brigade force. Zoltan and his 2nd brigade also achieved the reputation of the guard division.

But now Colonel Zoltan has no time to taste the victory of this battle, and now he urgently needs to prepare for the next battle.

In the busy brigade headquarters, Admiral Zoltan was on the phone. "Dove, have your artillery battalion fortifications been built? Do you still need manpower help... Your artillery battalion is the key to this defense. There must be no mistakes... Give me concealment and no orders to not fire."

Colonel Zoltan is a sturdy middle-aged man in his forties. His previous post was also promoted step by step. He successively served as company commander-deputy battalion commander-division staff-deputy commander-head of the brigade until the brigade commander. After years of military career, he has cultivated his keen understanding of the battlefield, and also made him carry a military madness (also known as scorn). That's why he can launch a counterattack when his opponent is not firmly on the ground. This also shows that he is not sticking to the rules.

Just when Zoltan called the artillery camp, an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, who looked a little bookish, came over. "Brigadier Commander, you looking for me?"

This lieutenant colonel is the chief of staff of the 2nd brigade, Antonio. What matches his temperament is that he has served as a teacher in a military school for many years, so his book atmosphere is heavier. Because of the expansion of the army, he was transferred to the 2nd brigade as chief of staff for less than a year, so Zoltan, who was the brigade commander in the staff work, needed a lot of money.

"Yes, Chief of Staff, please sit down."

After Zoltan greeted his chief of staff to sit down, he told him what he was looking for. "The chief of staff is like this. Because the 1st regiment is guarding the front line of defense, the task is very heavy. And their commander Domic has asked me for weapons and equipment several times. Go down and ask them what else they need. ."

"Okay brigadier, I'll take a look now."

Lieutenant Colonel Antonio, who had just sat down, immediately took over the task given by the brigade commander and rushed to the front line.

After instructing his chief of staff, Zoltan immediately picked up the phone. "Hi, is it Lieutenant Colonel Solo? This is Zoltan. Are there any mines at your station?"

"How could this not be possible? Don't the domestic logistics officers know what we need on the front line? Then do we have machine guns? I want them too."

"How can you say that you are also the chief logistics officer of our division. How can you only give me 20 machine guns? Don't you have 5 machine guns. What happened to the equipment of the eighth division? I first borrowed it for use. Anyway, they haven't arrived yet. Can’t you use it first, and return it to them when you use it up."

After some bargaining with the logistics supervisor who guarded Petrosani's supplies, Zoltan got some weapons and equipment. But before Zoltan had time to be happy, a staff officer ran up to him out of breath. "Brigade commander, the enemy has increased its troops."

"What, how much force did the enemy reinforce?"

Zoltan was shocked by the staff's words, he ignored the weapons and equipment from Petrosani and quickly asked key questions.

"Our people didn't know how much it was, but according to estimates, the strength is about one division."

The staff's words changed Zoltan's face, and the situation was worse than he thought. Now I only have one brigade, and now I have too many enemies, and there are two and a half divisions that are 6 times his own. What should I do?

"One division around, one division around. What can I do to block these enemies."

Zoltan was turning around in the command post, and he was always thinking about the way to deal with it, and he was muttering words in his mouth. "Let go of them and hit them frontally? No, this will put Petrosani in a dangerous place. As long as there is a division on the opposite side to defend, I will not use him."

"Then use successive resistance to retreat slowly? This is even worse. It's too close to Petrosani, and I can't retreat twice to reach the city, and it needs to be built and fortified first. I think I don’t have enough troops. The extra manpower built the fortifications."

There are countless methods for Zoltan necklace, but none of them are appropriate under the current circumstances. It is best that he finds that only defending is the best choice. Thinking of this, he gave orders to the informant's staff. "Immediately draft an order. From now on, all officers and soldiers of the 2nd brigade must be stationed at their posts and cannot retreat without permission. Immediately let the military police establish a boundary behind us, and every officer and soldier can only move forward and not retreat."

Zoltan’s words made the staff officer feel a bleak breath This means that more than 5,000 people from the 2nd brigade can only be determined to die in this small village called Petrila. Seeing that the staff officer hadn't moved, Zoltan stared at him. "Why are you still stunned? Go ahead."

After driving away the staff, Zoltan picked up the phone again. "Lieutenant Colonel Solo? This is Zoltan. Now I need your help. I didn't ask you to send someone over. I remember a regiment will come over tomorrow. You have to stop them and send them to my side. The situation is urgent. I have three divisions of the Austro-Hungarian army on my side. I will tell the division commander that he will understand. All the troops behind will stop me. My needs are urgent. This time I ask you."

After Zoltan finished speaking, he put down the phone in his hand. He said that he would stick to his death, but he would not keep it. There must be reinforcements backed by Petrosani, as long as you stand up to the offensive in front of you, it will be much easier to fight. If it were not for the purpose of paralyzing Austria-Hungary to achieve the greatest effect of the raid, and the Romanian army did not begin to gather until the outbreak of the war, then it would be impossible for these three Austro-Hungarian divisions to form a six-fold gap in strength with themselves.

"Boom, boom, boom."

Just thinking about when he encountered such a situation, the sudden shelling brought Zoltan to reality. Seeing his soldiers being ravaged by shelling, Zoltan picked up his hat, and he planned to take a look at the front line.