Lieutenant General Seydlitz, commander of Prague City Defense, has sent a telegram to Crown Prince Joseph. He believes that if the siege intensity of the yellow-skinned monkeys is not weakened, his troops can hold on until April 15th at most.
It seems that they can only hold on for nineteen days, but this is already the upper limit of the defender's capabilities.
Calculated according to this time point, it means that the defenders will be subjected to more than ten large-scale bombings and nearly a hundred large-scale artillery attacks.
There is no shortage of food and drinking water in the city, but after the city walls are blown down and the houses turn into ruins, how strong the will of the defenders can be expected to resist?
Previously, Lieutenant General Seydlitz followed Crown Prince Joseph's order and dug air raid shelters and bunkers throughout the city. The soldiers hoarded a large amount of lime to dispose of corpses and prevent the outbreak of plague.
But he didn't really want to use so much lime, which meant that the situation in the city was already terrible, but the situation had already developed in the worst direction.
By April 10, according to statistics, Prague had suffered eight air strikes and 62 artillery bombardments, and the buildings in the city that had been repaired with great difficulty had turned into ruins again.
The garrison has lost over 10,000 soldiers, more than 20,000 Min soldiers have died, and the total number of injured has reached more than 100,000.
If we continue to hold on and receive no reinforcements, the situation in the city will inevitably worsen.
After discussing with his father Leopold, Joseph had to agree to launch a large-scale counterattack before April 15th to reduce the military pressure in the direction of Prague.
The counterattack must be carried out on rainy days, which will force the yellow-skinned monkeys to be unable to dispatch their air force.
Joseph ordered the Fourth Army stationed on the west side of the Erzgebirge Mountains and the Fifth Army stationed on the west side of the Czech Forest Mountain to move eastward, using the cover of the mountains and forests to launch a surprise attack on the yellow-skinned monkeys surrounding the city of Prague.
Starting from April 12, hazy weather happened to occur in western Bohemia for several days, which was very conducive to the operations of the Holy Roman Empire's ground troops.
According to the report of the Pilsen garrison, the main force of the Yellow-skinned Monkeys is outside Prague. There are not many troops advancing west to them, and they have been repulsed.
But this does not mean that the Pilsen garrison can easily support Prague. Few people who have passed through can come back alive, and they are basically killed halfway...
Based on the actual situation, Lieutenant General Muller, who commanded the Fourth Army, and Lieutenant General Heinrich, who commanded the Fifth Army, decided to join forces to advance.
This can also maximize the formation of a heavy army group to increase the killing of yellow-skinned monkeys.
When you arrive in Pilsen, just walk along the Beronka River and you will definitely reach Prague.
Because the confluence of the Beronka River and the La Vltava River is not far south of Prague.
Since the La Vltava River flows through the city of Prague, Muller and Heinrich decided to advance along the north bank of the Beronka River.
The La Vltava River passes through the city, and to the west of the river, except for the Beronka River, there are no big rivers, which is very convenient for our side to retreat smoothly after winning.
Neither general expected to be able to relieve the siege of Prague City with a single assault. In that case, their troops would also be bombarded by yellow-skinned monkeys later.
The weather is bad now. Once the rain clears up and the yellow-skinned monkeys dispatch the air force, if they stay in Prague, won't they be bombed together with Seydlitz's troops?
In view of the situation between the enemy and ourselves, as well as the strengths of both sides, for our troops, hit and run is the best option!
When the troops arrived less than fifty kilometers away from Prague, a propeller monster suddenly appeared in the sky.
Now everyone knows that this thing is called a helicopter and it is very annoying!
Because this is an aircraft that bullies the weak and fears the strong!
When you see that there are not many troops on the ground, you will lower your height and come down to bully you.
On the contrary, it hovers high above your head and flies away only after you have seen it.
Due to bad weather, the temporary runway turned into mud, so Lu Xuecheng could only let the helicopter take off to survey the surrounding enemy situation.
Unexpectedly, there was a good harvest. It seemed that the barbarians were eager to relieve the defenders in the city.
The weather just happened to be like this, which was perfect for them to sneak over and do something...
The Third Army has one armored brigade, three mechanized brigades, two cavalry brigades, and twelve Japanese mixed brigades to assist.
Helicopter reports found that at least 100,000 enemy troops are rapidly advancing eastward and are expected to arrive on the battlefield early tomorrow morning or even midnight today.
If the situation is true, in terms of military strength, both sides are equally matched, but the only difference is their equipment.
In the absence of air force support, it seems relatively fair.
But Lu Xuecheng always followed Zhang Huangyan's orders when fighting, that is - never talk fair to the enemy!
The bigger one's side is, the higher the chance of winning and the fewer troops it will lose.
Since you have a helicopter, why not use it?
The other party has already arrived at your door, so it’s not rude to come back without reciprocating!
I will send hundreds of helicopters to give you a good start!
While the weather was still good, Lu Xuecheng ordered all helicopters that could take off to welcome these uninvited guests.
A fleet of thirty-nine "Black Hawk" armed helicopters and sixty-seven "Vulture" utility helicopters flew westward...
At the same time, Lu Xuecheng himself took one armored brigade, three mechanized brigades, two cavalry brigades plus three brigades of Japanese troops to prepare for battle.
There are only nine Japanese mixed brigades left in the local area, which are enough to deal with the defenders in the city. If the opponent dares to kill them, it is worthy of admiration.
It was just after 4:10 in the afternoon on April 14. Both Muller and Heinrich thought it was getting dark and the Yellow Monkey helicopter would probably not come.
A scene that surprised them appeared. Hundreds of Ming army helicopters came from far and near, entertaining them with bombs and bullets.
Statistics after the war showed that more than 200 people died and about a thousand were injured. The main reason was that our own anti-aircraft firepower was obviously insufficient, and we could only watch the counterattacks raging overhead.
Moreover, not a single enemy plane was shot down, which made the two lieutenant generals feel extremely depressed and annoyed, and ordered their men to teach the yellow-skinned monkey a painful lesson in the next air defense battle.
In general, the casualties are not too big, but the insult is very high!
Each corps of the Holy Roman Empire Army originally had four brigades, but Crown Prince Joseph believed that this size of force was no match for the yellow-skinned monkey.
Therefore, after mobilization, the strength of each army should reach 50,000, which is converted into ten brigades according to the establishment.
However, the six later expanded brigades were all infantry brigades with some cavalry, and heavy equipment and a large number of horses were in the hands of the original four brigades.
Even so, the configuration of three tank brigades, one cavalry brigade and six infantry brigades is considered very luxurious on paper and across Europe.
Originally, field troops also included mechanized infantry brigades. This combat unit was equipped with heavy artillery towed by trucks.
But through the last war, Joseph found that heavy artillery was completely useless in the field.
This is not to say that the heavy artillery itself is useless, but when one's own side loses air superiority on the battlefield, once the low-mobility heavy artillery is discovered by enemy planes, even the heavy artillery and artillery will have to stay in place forever...
The cost of a heavy artillery can completely build a medium tank, and the mobility of a tank is far greater than that of a heavy artillery, and its battlefield survivability is also stronger, making it more suitable for one's own mobile operations.
If that's the case, why not build more tanks?
Based on the post-war summaries of many generals, Crown Prince Joseph finally agreed to centralize the use of tanks and equip them all to tank brigades instead of distributing them to various infantry brigades.
In view of the extremely tight financial situation of the empire, there is no spare money to develop infantry brigades. The focus is on tank brigades that can counterattack the enemy, and then cavalry brigades that can fight in mountainous areas.
The infantry can be mobilized before the war. On the contrary, they are consumables. Even guns can be bought third-hand and issued to the infantry. The bloated and incompetent Russian troops are the most typical example.
At first, Crown Prince Joseph was a little worried about this drastic arrangement. After all, he was only commanding and dispatching from the rear and did not know the situation on the front line.
Later, after consulting marshals and generals from various countries, I received recognition and praise from professionals. I felt at ease and decided to stick to the implementation of the plan.
Professionals from various countries believe that given the severe situation and financial situation of the Holy Roman Empire, priority can only be given to the development of fighter jets and tank units.
In the face of the Ming Empire, which had powerful air power, infantry with extremely poor mobility could only be the icing on the cake, but could not provide help in times of trouble.
If they can't succeed even if they stick to the mountain pass, how much can you expect them to do?
The Holy Roman Empire could not defeat the Ming Empire even if it assembled one million infantry.
On the contrary, if we can have more than 5,000 tanks, perhaps the final result will still be suspenseful...
Lu Xuecheng ordered all the troops who were preparing to attack to sleep first. After they had regained their energy, they went to defeat the barbarians.
Since the other party has come with 100,000 people, we cannot easily let the other party go back along the original route.
After today, maybe tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, I need to chase the enemy, and I won't be able to sleep peacefully down there.
For the side that is likely to win, sleeping before a battle is very important, even more important than eating.
Armored soldiers can definitely eat while fighting in the car, but they certainly cannot sleep while fighting in the car!
Just when Seydlitz was about to surrender to the yellow-skinned monkey outside Chengdu, he suddenly received a telegram from Crown Prince Joseph.
Tell him that 200,000 reinforcements have arrived outside Prague, have repelled an enemy counterattack, and are ready to severely injure the yellow-skinned monkeys surrounding Prague.
This telegram was like a weed on the shore, giving great hope to the defenders who were about to drown in the river.
The originally dull eyes gradually became firmer, and everyone believed that Crown Prince Joseph would not lie.
Now that the reinforcements are very close, as long as everyone persists, they can win the battle to defend Prague.
If it weren't for the previous bombing and shelling by the yellow-skinned monkeys, which had caused too many casualties on our side.
At this time, everyone wants to cooperate with the reinforcements outside the city to eliminate those damn yellow-skinned monkeys in one fell swoop!
The moment that everyone was looking forward to soon came. On the afternoon of April 15, the Holy Roman Empire's Fourth Army and Fifth Army encountered the Ming-Japanese Allied Army's Third Army about 20 kilometers west of Prague.
The two sides broke out in the largest tank battle since the Second War!
The Ming army dispatched more than 700 tanks. Under the cover of helicopters, they rushed towards the 600 tanks of the invading enemy.
The forty No. 9 heavy tanks that the 15th Armored Brigade most relied on did not participate in this large-scale charge.
Instead, they all stay on the second line to name each other. This is the "good person and good deed" they can do!
One shell for one tank!
This is the wise saying of the heavy tank battalion, and every crew will do what they say!
Without major accidents, the whole battalion can kill at least twenty tanks of the opponent in one salvo.
Each vehicle fires ten times, which means that two hundred tanks may be turned into blazing scrap metal.
Both Muller and Lieutenant General Heinrich were mentally prepared for this kind of steel monster that could fire at a distance of two kilometers.
However, their crews couldn't bear the lack, so they hoped to rush to the opponent's side and then penetrate their weak side armor in one fell swoop.
But how long does it take to cover a distance of two kilometers?
Especially when there are hundreds of Yellow Monkey tanks in front of them, not to mention a large number of helicopters overhead.
Yesterday the helicopter formation only came to say hello to the barbarians, but today this time it was to teach them a real lesson.
Yesterday's low results were due to flying too high, resulting in large errors in bombing and strafing.
Today was a completely low-altitude flight. Even if it was shot down, there would be people below to catch it.
The number one prey of helicopters is tanks. As long as you cooperate with the ground troops to knock these cans out, other arms will be completely worth mentioning.
However, air-ground coordination is important. At least helicopter units cannot enter the battlefield in advance.
Once shot down by the opponent, being captured may be a good thing, but the unlucky one may even be run over by a tank!
After our own side takes up its posture and the tank fleet rushes over, the helicopter troops will cooperate with its actions.
The focus of the attack is the crispy armor on the top of the tank. Even if the opponent reinforces the protection, it will not be of much use.
The helicopter takes advantage of its slow speed, ability to hover and circle in a small radius, and can chase enemy tanks and beat them up.
The number one attack site is the upper part of the rear of the car, where there must be an engine exhaust window.
Bullets entering through the shutter-style fence may cause great damage to the engine.
Not only would it destroy the tank in one fell swoop, it would also cause the tank's engine to malfunction, causing it to slow down or even stop on the spot.
Once a tank loses its mobility, it will become a living target for one's own side, and it is only a matter of time before it becomes a piece of scrap metal.
In terms of combat effectiveness, the No. 8 tank equipped by the Ming army is equivalent to the opponent's "Imperial Guard".
The Panzer VII is completely comparable to the Crusader, and the Panzer VI is slightly better than the Paladin.
The largest tank, the Panzer 9, is an invincible presence on the battlefield.
If he hadn't considered that the powerful 95mm cannon could be used as a sniper rifle, Lu Xuecheng would have wanted all forty heavy tanks to rush to the line of fire to chop melons and vegetables.
All crews of the Panzer 9 tank have rich practical experience, and the commander and gunner are the best of the best. They can hit long-distance targets with about 50% hit rate.
Only fifteen minutes into the battle, the heavy tank battalion had already recorded more than two hundred victories.
Do you think the Ming Army's armored forces can really fight with each other?
That would be a big mistake!
When the distance between the two sides was about 300 meters, the Ming army took the initiative to stop.
They formed a line and fired on the spot, just like the posture they used during target practice.
