Habitual Defense

Bialystok, 45 miles southeast of the Masurian Lake District and 60 miles northeast of Warsaw, is Russia's largest railway hub in Poland. In the middle of the night of August 31, two motorized infantry regiments and dozens of armored vehicles of the East Prussian Army Panzer Corps launched a raid here. After an hour of fierce fighting, one Russian garrison was annihilated.

When the sun in September 1914 first shone on the land of Eastern Europe, the main force of East Prussia arrived in this small city. Chentian's soldier gate began to build a ring-shaped imperial position around Bialystok, and he himself took General Pritwitz, General Francois, Colonel Olg, and Colonel Matthew established the field headquarters in On a nearby hill.

At this time, more than 200 miles southwest of them, more than 2 million troops and more than 5,000 artillery from Russia and Austro-Hungary fought fiercely between the Vistula and Transnistria. The 36.5 infantry divisions and 12.5 cavalry divisions of the Russian army fought against the 39 infantry divisions and 10 cavalry divisions of the Austrian army.

The Russian Southwest Front under the command of General Ivanov was ordered to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Ao-Hungarian army in Galicia, and prevent the opponent from retreating south across the Transnistria and westward towards Krakow. The Russians attacked the Austrian army with the 3rd and 8th armies in Dubno, Lviv, Proskurov, Galic and other places, and the 4th and 5th armies from the north to Przemysl Carry out an assault. Because of the repeated requests of the British and French fierce forces to speed up the offensive, the Russian army groups have not yet fully assembled and deployed, and they have begun to attack the Austrian army.

The Austro-Hungarian army under the command of Archduke Friedrich planned to attack Lublin and Chelm with the forces of the 1st and 4th Army. Their goal was to defeat the 4th and 5th Army of the right wing of the Russian Southwest Front. The right wing of the Austrian army is protected by the 2nd Army. The Austrian army concentrated 2/3 of its forces in this main assault direction. The remaining 1/3 of the army was used to deal with the Russian 3rd and 8th Army.

From August 18th to 19th, the armies of the two sides began to engage the enemy, and on August 23rd, a confrontation took place on the front of 320 kilometers wide. During the battle, the 1st Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire attacking Lublin and Chełm severely damaged the 4th Army of the Russian Army near Krasnik. The 4th Army hit the Russian 5th Army near Tomaszow, forcing it to retreat to Lublin, Chelm, Vladimir and Volensky. However, in the ensuing time, the various groups of the Austro-Hungarian army encountered strong resistance from the Russian army. The loss was heavy, the offensive speed slowed down, and finally turned from offensive to defensive. On August 18 and 19, the 8th Army and the 3rd Army of the Southwest Front Army of Russia launched an offensive, August 26-28. The Russians defeated the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army in the Zolotayalpa area. On August 29-31, during the battle in the Gnila Yalipa area, the Russian 3rd Army broke through the front of the Austrian army in the southeast of Lviv, while the 8th Army repelled the Austrian troops transferred from the Serbian battlefield. The 2nd Army of the Army countered the assault, and the right wing of the Austro-Hungarian army began to retreat to the Gorodok position 30 kilometers west of Lviv.

At this moment, because the East Prussian Army suddenly plunged into the rear of its own side. He also occupied one of the two main railway lines from Poland to the hinterland of Russia. General Ivanov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Southwest Front, panicked. On the one hand, he ordered the armies to temporarily stop attacking the Austrian army, and on the other hand, he mobilized two wings to counterattack the East Prussian Army in Chentian.

In the command room of Bialystok, the adjutant approached with the telegram just received from the Austrian-Hungarian Allied Forces. "His Royal Highness, Grand Duke Friedrich, commander-in-chief of the Austrian army, has sent a telegram. His army is currently unable to launch a full-scale counterattack, and his reinforcements will not arrive until a week later. During this week, he can only initiate a partial attack on the Russian army. I am afraid that the Russian army's offensive will not be able to contain a large number of Russian troops! According to his estimation, the Russian army has drawn 13 infantry divisions and 7 cavalry divisions from his front!"

Chen Tian looked at the map silently. According to the reconnaissance report in his hand, the Russian army not only drew out 1/3 of the force in front of the Austrian army, they also transferred three cavalry divisions from the Belarusian region to outflank themselves. This combat operation will all be carried out in Russia. The logistical support is far more difficult than in the homeland defense operations, and the strong firepower of the East Prussian Army is very important for logistics transportation. Tanks not only require a large amount of gasoline and ammunition, but also considerable maintenance personnel support. Aircraft require airstrips and a large amount of aviation fuel. They also need to send responding troops to protect the airport. Moreover, once they are captured by the Russians, the consequences are very bad. Therefore, Chentian did not bring a tank this time, and the plane only had more than 20 reconnaissance aircraft. Mobility and firepower are very prominent, and the Russians also equipped with a small amount of armored vehicles and motorcycles have become Chentian's best choice, gasoline and machine gun bullets are the focus of logistics supply. Despite this, the 200,000 troops still need to allocate 10,000 to 20,000 to defend the transportation line. As the battle line deepens in Russia, the logistics transportation distance will increase, and more and more soldiers will be invested in logistical support.

"Well, we will give full play to our expertise and fight an active defensive battle in Białysk, and try to hold on until a week later. The Austrian army will launch a counterattack! We need to stock up a large amount of ammunition here in the past two days, and at the same time send one The troops stationed at Mengji, 20 miles to the north, can not only defend the transportation line, but also serve as a reserve team to respond to the counterattack!" Chentian said that he drew two rounds on the map. This is what he is good at defensive counterattack. Tactics.

"The Russians are completely vulnerable. Sooner or later, we and the Austro-Hungarian allies will go to the Tsar's bedroom to have a good time, hahaha!" Chentian's deputy commander, the timid and wretched General Pritwitz suddenly He cut in, and then he held his belly in amusement and laughed, as if he was having fun with the women of the Kremlin. Everyone ignored him, only a few staff officers across from him co-operated and squeezed out a few smiles. In order to prevent this incompetent guy from causing trouble to himself in the rear, Chentian insisted on bringing him to the Russian battlefield. At first, this guy said he was sick and refused to come, but Chentian told him how incompetent the Russian army was. After returning from Moscow with a full load, he immediately changed his face and wanted to come and beat the Russians vigorously. The East Prussian garrison is currently under the command of General Augustus von Mackenyan.

"General Prittwitz, I see you are so unrestrained and unrestrained every time you come out. It's enviable that you are so happy! How about you lead a cavalry regiment to repair the Russian forward troops and frustrate them. Resolute?" As soon as Chen Tian said this, everyone agreed. Pritwitz immediately left the command room with the excuse of his stomachache. After he walked away, there was a burst of laughter from the command room.

"Okay, let's continue! The water level of the Leif River to the southwest of us is high at this time, and we will set up the first line of defense along this river to block the Russian troops transferred back from the front of Galicia on the other side of the river. We will not explode the only railway bridge on this river for the time being, so that we can use it in the future counterattack. Olg, your armored army has sent an armored combat vehicle unit to quickly hide on the bridge, once the defense line of the bridge guard is The Russians broke through. This unit quickly attacked to retake the bridge! The main force of the armored division was distributed at various points along the river, and was responsible for plugging the loopholes of the First Army!"

"Yes! I will arrange 20 armored combat vehicles to ambush in this small village!" Olger pointed to a small spot on the map, which was a village with only dozens of farmers.

"En! Yes! General François, your first army will be deployed along the river. Your task is to defend the river as much as possible. If you break through, you will retreat to the vicinity of Bialystok. Defence around the city. Finally, we can also use the buildings in the city for street fighting, but this is the next choice. After all, this city is too small!"

"Yes, Your Highness! Resolutely carry out your orders!" François, who was half a head taller than Chen Tian, ​​slammed and stood at attention.

"Very good! But don't be too restrictive. Colonel Matthew, your Fourth Army is garrisoned at Monkey! The Second Army under my command and the two mechanized infantry divisions of Olger are located around the city of Bialystok. Line of defense. Once you find the three cavalry divisions from Belarus, Org, one of your mechanized infantry divisions will cooperate with my Second Army's operations. Let's eliminate this enemy first!" Chen Tian gently moved the pencil. On the table, 180,000 people defended and 280,000 people attacked. The Russians seem to have not learned the lessons of East Prussia. Do they think that the 400,000 troops that they entered East Prussia have fallen into the swamp? Thinking of this, a bad premonition suddenly appeared in his heart. On August 23, Japan declared war on Germany and immediately sent a navy to blockade the Jiaozhou Bay. The Japanese army appointed Lieutenant Kamio Mitsuomi as the commander, mobilized 50,000 troops with the 18th Division as the main force, equipped with hundreds of heavy siege artillery, mountain artillery, field artillery, and multiple aircraft to attack Qingdao from land. . The Japanese Navy dispatched more than 60 warships from the Second Fleet. In addition, the First and Third Fleet guarded and captured German colonies in the Pacific Islands in the South China Sea. After Japan joined the Allied Powers and declared war on Germany, Tsarist Russia was able to mobilize a large number of troops from the Far East, but he did not get any information in this regard for a long time.

"Order the reconnaissance aircraft to strengthen reconnaissance in the east!" Chen Tian had just given the order, but his mood was shrouded by the dark clouds that appeared on the horizon. He silently prayed that this was just a summer shower, but the heavy rain that lasted for 3 hours made the ground nearby become muddy, and the reconnaissance plane could not take off all day. Believing that offense is everything, the French army has tasted the hardships in the border battle. Chentian, who is accustomed to defensive counterattacks, seems to face a profound lesson!