But they didn't know that not far behind their position to resist the Austro-Hungarian attack, General Salamik, the commander of the Southern Army Group, was looking at the battlefield.
The tragic battlefield was indifferent to the general in his eyes. His focus was on the integrity of the position. He was very satisfied with the current situation on the battlefield. After putting down his telescope, he asked the commander of the 15th Division who was commanding the battle here: "K
Ledolf, do you need anything else? But let’s agree on the strength of the troops first and I won’t supplement you anymore. You have already received reinforcements from a brigade of the 19th Division.”
Considering that the tone was a bit stiff, General Salamik slowed down his tone and explained. "The enemy is still attacking Colt Mountain, and Major General Fergus has complained several times. He said that the enemy's firepower was fierce and he had suffered casualties.
It's too big, and most of the heavy artillery regiment has been lost. If we don't reinforce it, it will be in danger of being breached, so I can only give priority to the 1st Guards Division for reinforcements."
Hearing General Salamik's complaint, Major General Kledov certainly could not say that he needed reinforcements, so he spoke. "I know that the entire army group is short of reinforcements, so please give me some ammunition first."
"There's no problem with that. I'll have someone send you a batch as soon as I get back to the headquarters. As long as you can hold your position, especially over the railway bridge, you need to pay attention to this."
Faced with Major General Kledov's request, General Salamik agreed without thinking. In order to prepare for this battle, he had obtained a lot of ammunition from the military supply department, which was enough for consumption at the moment.
Seeing the general's willingness to agree, Kledov continued to ask tentatively. "Currently, we have suffered heavy losses in machine guns and artillery. Can you give us some more?"
"Well..."
Sure enough, Kristoff's temptation made the previously cheerful Admiral stuck. After sorting out his words, Admiral Salamik, who was a little heavy-handed, told him. "You also know that machine guns and artillery are on the battlefield.
They are all conspicuous targets. The situation at Colt Mountain was critical before, and the army group reserves are small, so you can only make reasonable use of the existing resources."
General Salamik's words did not disappoint Major General Kledov, because he knew that the army still had a lot of machine guns and artillery in its hands, and would not let them go until the critical moment. Just like Kledov now
Remember, there is still a brigade of Guards Division officers and soldiers who are tightly held in the hands of General Salamik and will not be released until the last moment.
General Salamik came over this time to inspect the positions of the 15th Division. The reason was that the Austro-Hungarian army had raided the positions of the 15th Division. Now that he thinks about it, Major General Kledov is still frightened. At that time, Colt Mountain faced the Austro-Hungarian army.
The army's violent offensive made Major General Fergus, who was in charge of the battle, screaming that it was too much.
When all eyes of the Southern Army Group were focused on Colt Mountain and it was confirmed that Deva had sent reinforcements, Major General Stepan, who had been waiting so hard, thought that the opportunity had come. He immediately led three divisions from hiding.
The Austro-Hungarian army rushed straight into the position of the 15th Division with great momentum.
When the news that three divisions of Austro-Hungarian troops raided the eastern valley with the intention of seizing the bridge reached the army headquarters, General Salamik was stunned. He immediately left the only Janissary division behind.
The brigade was sent over, and the 19th Division, which was called to defend the south but was actually repairing, immediately sent out elite troops for reinforcements. However, all these mobilizations took time, and the Austro-Hungarian army's long-awaited surprise attack certainly would not leave their opponents time.
.
Facing the surprise attack of three divisions, Major General Krydov's 15th Division also retreated steadily and was pushed back to the vicinity of the railway bridge. At this time, two armored trains were urgently reinforced to help block the enemy's troops.
Speaking of which, Romania's armored trains receive less attention than aircraft and armored combat vehicles due to someone's reasons. If the military had not made a strong request, funding would probably not have been provided.
But now these two armored trains provided a turning point for the officers and soldiers of the 15th Division. After a brief repair, the officers and soldiers of the 15th Division immediately took advantage of the armored trains to block the enemy's attack. Major General Stepan, who was commanding the battle, was furious.
In just three hours, eight attacks were launched in succession, but they were all blocked by the officers and soldiers of the 15th Division.
When he saw the Romanian reinforcements coming up next, Major General Stepan knew that nothing could be done. In addition, his behavior of hastily forcing the soldiers to attack had caused some dissatisfaction among the army, so the Austro-Hungarian army retreated.
When the 15th Division took back the previous positions with the reinforcements that arrived, General Salamik took away a brigade of the Guards Division before Major General Krydov could take a breath.
When Lieutenant General Sam knew that Major General Stepan's raid failed due to the obstruction of the armored train, he just said, "I'm impatient" and continued to command the troops to besiege Colt Mountain. This made Major General Stepan feel very ashamed.
So after letting the soldiers repair themselves and calming their emotions, the Austro-Hungarian army with three divisions pounced forward.
The purpose of General Salamik's inspection this time was to see if the 15th Division plus a brigade of the 19th Division could block the attack of the Austro-Hungarian army. The current situation seems to be working well, although it was a bit difficult to block the enemy's attack at that time.
Still no problem.
After inspecting the positions to the east, General Salamik immediately returned to the army headquarters in Deva. Deva is completely different now. If any Deva residents come back, they will find that they cannot find their way home.
The road. All this has something to do with Lieutenant General Ankodar.
Because at that time he and Commander Dortred drove out the Deva residents for street fighting. Although General Salamik gave them financial compensation in order to relieve the pressure, considering the upcoming battle, he acquiesced in this result and also used
The fortifications for street fighting in Deva have been strengthened in the past few days, so Deva can now be called a fortress city.
In the solid building of Deva City Hall, the headquarters of Army Group South is also located here. When General Salamik returned, the Chief of Staff stepped forward and said, "Major General Fergus called again to complain.
, saying that the Austro-Hungarian army’s attack today was very fierce, and if it continues like this, he will soon be unable to stop it.”
Salamik took off the dusty military cap on his head, patted and cleaned his hair and said, "If he doesn't complain every day, if I give him reinforcements every time, I won't have any reserves in my hands now.
How can we fight without a reserve team?"
Admiral Salamik sat down on his chair and continued. "And as you can see now, the troops on all fronts are tight. If we don't economize, how can we hold off the enemy? By the way, hasn't the aviation force seized air supremacy yet?
?”
Facing Salamik's inquiry, the chief of staff shook his head. "The aviation team said that there are too many Austro-Hungarian aircraft and they are completely unable to seize air supremacy."
The chief of staff's words made General Salamik complain. "These darlings from the sky are usually so arrogant, but now when they need to do something, why can't they do it in a long time?"
The Chief of Staff, who knew some inside information, saw the General's complaint and explained. "You can't blame them. The main reason is that the opponents are very strong. According to my understanding, Austria-Hungary has some experience in Transylvania.
Veterans of the frontline battlefield are not inferior to us in terms of technology or aircraft, and they are still 1.5 times ours in scale. The Austro-Hungarian aircraft have not yet tortured us, so you have to thank the young men of the aviation team."
Facing the words of the Chief of Staff, General Salamik could only sigh. "I know everything you said. The enemy's heavy artillery is now a serious problem for us."
General Salamik's words caused the chief of staff to be silent for a short time. They had felt the power of the enemy's heavy artillery before. Facing the 210 and 240 heavy artillery of the enemy's heavy artillery brigade, their own 150 heavy artillery was no match at all.
Being suppressed had no effect at all. Being forced to do nothing, General Salamik thought of the decision to bomb the enemy's heavy artillery from the sky. However, in the face of the Austro-Hungarian aircraft that were more numerous than his own, General Salamik finally
All hope is gone.
"How about we withdraw our troops into Deva City and engage in street fighting?"
Faced with the suggestion of the chief of staff, Salamik directly rejected it. "This is not possible. If we abandon Colt Mountain and the enemy is condescending, it will be more difficult for us to fight."
Salamik has another meaning that he did not explain, that is, if he retreats to the city of Deva and relies on houses and other defense fortifications, then the purpose of delaying the enemy will be completely defeated. At that time, the Austro-Hungarian army can come and leave as they please. This is not
Did he lose so many troops in vain? He wouldn't do that.
After thinking about it, Admiral Salamik has no choice but to hold on. As long as he holds on until the news that Cluj is captured, everything will be worth it. So where is Lieutenant General Andrew, whom he is talking about now?
