"Charge …"
Amidst the battle cries, the battle of Turin began. As the key point of the battle at the southern front, the Fao and Italy both put in 120% of their efforts.
The ownership of Turin not only determined the ownership of the Kingdom of Sardinia, but it also affected the ownership of the Regions of Italy.
The guides were all ready to wait for the result of the battle of Turin. If the Austrians successfully captured Turin, then everyone would work together to drive the French away. If not, everyone would have to think twice before they act.
To show their sincerity, these guys had instigated many armed uprisings in the Regions of Italy, and at least 200,000 French soldiers were pinned down.
To make it easier to command, Moore, the commander of the southern front, had moved the command center to the frontline.
They had to pay attention to it. Urban warfare might be the best chance for the French to turn the tables, and the French would definitely not give up this opportunity.
In the wilderness, the armored troops were unstoppable on the battlefield, but it was different in the city. Any obstacle could block the way forward.
The armored troops that broke down were like meat on the chopping board. As long as the French were willing to risk their lives, a bag of explosives could solve the problem.
As a product that transcended the era, the Austrian armored troops could only be described with one word — expensive. Because of this, the Austrian military jokingly called them "Land Cruisers."
This was not an exaggeration. The production cost of the most advanced tank was almost the same as the cheapest cruiser.
The cost of the cheapest armored vehicle was tens of thousands of BDH, and the cost of the most advanced tank was as high as 200,000 BDH.
With the Austrians' wealth, they only had four tank divisions and eight armored divisions, which was enough to explain all the problems.
In fact, even these 12 divisions were not enough. Because there was no need for air defense, the anti-air artillery regiment was omitted, and the motorized infantry regiment was nowhere to be seen.
The number of tanks was also seriously insufficient, with each division having between 150 to 260 tanks. The armored divisions were slightly better, with each division having about 220 to 300 armored vehicles.
This was only in theory. In reality, each division could only use fewer tanks and armored vehicles. After all, there were also casualties on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, the failure rate of tanks and armored vehicles was high. Many times, after a battle, one-third of the armored tanks had collapsed, and the rest had to be repaired.
This was also the reason why the French were able to gather their troops and rebuild their defensive line. It wasn't that the Austrians didn't want to follow up on their victory. The key was that the armored troops, as the trump card, didn't have the ability to carry out a blitzkrieg.
Currently, the current situation of the Austrian armored forces was like this: A division in name could only pull out one regiment to fight, and the rest were undergoing equipment maintenance.
The French were confused by the flood of steel, but that did not mean that they had lost their fighting power. In fact, the French army's combat power and fighting spirit were among the best in this era.
Of course, the Government of Vienna's order was also directly related to the French's ability to rally. In order to weaken the French as much as possible on the battlefield, they naturally had to give them hope.
Even if they managed to defeat the main force of the French army, they would only be able to kill a few hundred thousand French soldiers.
Having lost all hope of winning, even if Napoleon Iv didn't want to surrender, someone else would make the decision for him.
Voluntarily surrendering and stubbornly resisting were two completely different concepts. The former meant that they didn't get anything and had to solve the problem at the negotiation table; the latter was already an established fact and only needed a contract to clarify the legal principles.
There were many countries that didn't want the French to be finished. If Austria wanted to achieve their strategic goal, they had to rush into the French territory before the French surrendered.
…
Different types of enemies should be dealt with differently. Austria obviously had the qualifications to be taken seriously by the French. After the European War broke out, the French commander Adrian immediately ordered to strengthen the city's defenses.
As a strategic, transportation, political, and economic strategic location, Turin was naturally the focus of attention. Fortresses rose from the ground, complementing the buildings in the city and turning it into a war monster.
Captain Adler led his Third Company in a charge against the roaring gunfire. No, it should be said that they were crawling forward.
A bullet flew over Adler's head. An unlucky guy raised his head too high and was hit by the flying bullet. He only had time to let out a scream before he went to hell.
It was normal to die on the battlefield. Up to this point in the war, three-quarters of the soldiers in the third company had been replaced. Adler, the company commander, was already the fifth.
Of course, it didn't mean that the four guys in front of him all received lunch boxes. Other than one unlucky guy who went to hell, the other three were alive and well. One of them was promoted, and the other two were recovering in the hospital.
Ice and fire were the two sides of the battlefield. Low-level officers died quickly and were promoted quickly as well. As long as they survived a few battles, promotion was a matter of course.
They didn't have to worry about their superiors stopping them because they were either promoted, hospitalized, or met God. In short, the position was empty.
Here, it was no longer a myth to turn a soldier into a general. As long as the war lasted longer, anything was possible.
Captain Adler wasn't a military school student and didn't have any connections. In less than a year after the war broke out, he became a company commander.
In addition to a flexible mind and excellent military training, luck was more important. If it wasn't for the fact that his parents were both alive, his family was harmonious, and he lacked a villain to slap his face, he was a bit like the Son of Luck.
Although Austria had a lot of reserve officers, they were at most at the company level. In the context of the expansion of the army, as a veteran, Adler was directly promoted to squad leader.
That wasn't all. In his first battle, Adler's company suffered heavy losses. The platoon leader and deputy platoon leader either met God or went to the hospital.
Before the end of the war, Adler was already an acting platoon leader. It had nothing to do with promotion because the platoon with a higher rank than him had all left the battlefield. According to the rules of the Austrian army, it was his turn to command.
After successfully completing the mission and achieving merit, it was only natural that the acting platoon leader would become an actual instructor. After a few more meritorious deeds, Adler became a company commander in a daze.
There was no arrogance, no amazing achievements. The ordinary young officer, Adler, had almost used up his luck here.
It couldn't be helped. Not only was the need for higher-ranking officers greatly reduced, but they also didn't need to lead troops in a charge. The probability of dying or being injured was greatly reduced.
There were fewer pitfalls, and the requirements were higher. In times of peace, there were few people who achieved merit. Naturally, those with merit could be promoted, and those who lacked ability could be slowly trained.
Now, it wasn't possible. There were people with merit everywhere. Unless they had amazing merit and could be promoted as an exception, professional knowledge tests were inevitable.
After all, the more troops one commanded, the higher the requirement for an officer's ability. Apart from a few geniuses, most people had to be trained to be competent.
The all-out counterattack had begun, and the war was about to end. After the war, there would be a general disarmament, and training courses for basic officers naturally didn't exist.
They couldn't just organize officers' training and give them a discharge notice before they even finished their coursework, right?
After all, they weren't real protagonists. There were a bunch of similar templates in the Austrian army.
No matter how low the probability was, once the number was magnified, it would no longer be a minority. It could be said that every person who survived a hail of bullets without a scratch was a legend.
Looking back and confirming the identity of the dead, Captain Adler cursed, "Lower your heads, don't learn from that idiot Cole!"
Sad? Maybe, but after going through so much, his nerves were numb. Perhaps to avoid being sad at this time, Captain Adler deliberately kept his distance from everyone around him.
Before Adler could finish, the French soldiers sprayed their bullets again. Although the Gatling gun wasn't as good as Maxim's, it was still a powerful weapon installed in a fortress.
With Cole as an example, and the whistling sound of bullets ringing in everyone's ears, everyone lowered their heads as much as possible.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang. The two soldiers on Adler's right side were blown into pieces. Half of their heads fell directly in front of Adler's reach.
Shaking his head, he finally woke up from the explosion. Seeing the bloody heads of his comrades in front of him, Adler almost vomited.
Resisting the nausea and discomfort, Adler immediately ordered, "The enemy has buried mines in front of us. We didn't bring demining tools. Let's retreat first."
There was no doubt that this tentative attack failed. Not to mention that they didn't bring demining tools, even if they were well-prepared, they couldn't withstand the enemy's fierce firepower!
This was started by the Austrians themselves, and the French were just following suit. Although they didn't have time to copy the Maxim machine gun, they could use the Gatling gun to make up the numbers.
Since the enemy was so well-prepared, it was very unwise to use human lives to fill in the gaps. The Austrian military didn't advocate this kind of rigid bravery. If they blindly pursued victory and ignored the lives of their soldiers, they would be court-martialed.
The tentative attack failed, but Morax didn't feel disappointed. The sacrifice wasn't meaningless. Through the test during the day, the Austrians had figured out the French's external firepower deployment and laid the foundation for the next attack.
In the coalition command center, General Morax asked, "How's the formation of the Italian army?"
How could the war to liberate Italy be without the participation of Italians? At this time, the value of the Italian independent organization was demonstrated. Every time the Austrians occupied an area, they would recruit soldiers under the banner of independent organizations.
In order to fully respect the feelings of the Italian people, these troops were divided by region. For example, the National Independence Army of Sardinia, the National Independence Army of Lucca, the National Independence Army of Modena, the National Independence Army of Parma, the National Independence Army of Tuscany, the National Independence Army of the Papal State, the National Independence Army of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies …
No matter how big the scale was, there was a National Independence Army in every Italian state, which took care of everyone's reputation.
As for whether the Italian independent organization was willing to accept it, it was no longer important. If they accepted it, it would be good for everyone. If they didn't accept it, Morax didn't mind directly appointing them as commanders.
Anyway, there were a lot of Italian nobles who came to seek refuge, and there was always someone who was willing to cooperate. The Italian independent organization, which was scattered like sand, was only famous among the people. It didn't have much influence among the nobles.
In order to restore the country, even the boss, Vittorio Emanuele III, chose to compromise, let alone the pawns under him.
A burly middle-aged officer replied, "So far, the Kingdom of Sardinia's National Independent Army has 200,000 people, the Papal State's Independent Army has 80,000 people, and the other independent armies are still empty shells, with less than 10,000 people added up.
If we want to form them, we have to wait until we occupy these areas. Looking at the current situation, we probably can't count on them. "
Since the start of the war, the Austrian army's main achievements on the southern front were mainly in the territories of the Papal State and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The National Independence Army that was formed was naturally made up of the people of these two countries.
In order to show the equality of the Italian states, the troops of the various countries naturally couldn't be mixed. The polarization in the number of people was thus revealed.
An empty shell army definitely couldn't enter the battlefield. No matter how much they needed cannon fodder, Morax couldn't use up the seeds of his "allies".
Moreover, these seeds were the core of the future establishment of the various states. In order to balance the power of the various states in the Regions of Italy, Austria couldn't wait to support them, how could they give them up?
After thinking for a while, Morax shook his head. "280,000 people is still a little too little. Just taking down Turin alone would probably require tens of thousands of people. There are still a series of cities waiting for us to conquer.
Continue to increase the local recruitment efforts. Other than promoting national independence, we can also promise the soldiers land, tax exemption, pension, etc. As for the specific numbers, you can decide as long as it's tempting. "
In order to recruit more Italian cannon fodder, Morax had already given up his bottom line and directly made promises on behalf of the governments of these states.
As for whether or not they could fulfill their promises, it would depend on the integrity of these governments and their ability to govern. Anyway, this was a battle for Italian national independence, and it was impossible for Austria to foot the bill.
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