empress ch47

The Tsardom of Rus’ originally intended to launch offensives simultaneously with its other allies. However, France and England were passive, and the Kingdom of Italy was already diligently engaged in its own offensive.

In the end, the Tsardom of Rus’ made a decision.

“We will begin our offensive and draw the attention of the Empire’s forces! In the meantime, please launch your offensive on the Western Front.”

From the perspective of the Tsardom of Rus’, this was tantamount to declaring a willingness to sacrifice itself. However, the reaction from England and France was… less than enthusiastic.

“The situation on the Western Front is different from that on the Eastern Front.”

The Western Front had become mired in trench warfare, where one had to be prepared for the loss of 100,000 or even a million men in a single assault.

This was different from the Eastern Front, where numerous cavalry units would draw their swords and engage in open battles on wide plains at the slightest provocation.

“Ahem… Indeed, that is so…”

The upper echelons of the Tsardom of Rus’ army were well aware of this fact. After all, they too were vaguely aware of the terrible killing power of machine guns.

And to think that such machine guns were deployed across the entire front line. Hell could be no worse than this.

“What about a breakthrough through the mountains…”

“Through machine guns, trenches, and now you want us to break through mountains?”

“Ahem, ehei. That’s not what I meant… It was a slip of the tongue.”

Of course, the Allied nations were doing their best to support the offensive of the Tsardom of Rus’, such as by exerting influence on the Scandinavian Kingdom, but from the perspective of the Tsardom of Rus’, even this felt insufficient.

“Kugh…”

In the end, the Tsardom of Rus’ had no choice but to continue its offensive alone once again. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to postpone the offensive…

“If the front remains stagnant like this, won’t a revolution break out?”

Their monarch continued to urge the army onward.

Of course, this urging was not without reason.

“Most of the Empire’s forces are currently dispatched to the Western and Italian fronts, are they not?! Now is our chance!”

To maintain the expanded front lines and acquired territories after Operation Conrad, many troops, including the 12th and 8th Armies, had been transferred to the Western Front.

“Keueung… Understood! We will begin the offensive as soon as the entire army is ready!”

In the end, the Tsardom of Rus’ army had no choice but to blow the whistle for the offensive, almost as if they were being pushed into it.

Of course, the Allied nations also took action to help the Tsardom of Rus’.

First, the English and French forces on the defensive front deliberately increased communication and railway activity to deceive the Imperial army into thinking they would launch an offensive there, and the Kingdom of Italy’s army… continued its offensive as usual.

Now, all that remained was the Tsardom of Rus’ quest for revenge, and its outcome.

General Voroshilov listened to the resounding “Ura” cries echoing from all directions and thought.

This offensive was simply one launched for political purposes.

The strategic gains that the Tsardom would obtain through this offensive were virtually non-existent. It was only to show all its subjects the glorious victory of the Tsardom of Rus’, to delay the ‘revolution’—a word he loathed to even utter—as much as possible.

But this could not be undone. The Tsardom of Rus’ army’s position had already begun to falter after the loss of Bessarabia. If things continued like this, ‘somewhat capable’ generals would be purged en masse, and ‘even more incompetent’ generals would fill their positions.

If that happened, the Tsardom of Rus’ would undoubtedly face ruin.

“…Hoo. What a damn mess.”

His shoulders were heavy. The fact that the lives of 100 million subjects rested on his shoulders was so heavy.

But lamenting like this wouldn’t change anything. He sighed and slapped his cheek.

“Adjutant. What do you think of the current situation?”

His adjutant hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“It is difficult. There are a considerable number of Hungarian and Croatian troops on the Galician front. Moreover, they have formed thick defensive lines during this winter, so… breaking through Galicia will be difficult in many ways…”

“…Have you scouted?”

“Yes. We have already conducted reconnaissance in force several times. But we have not found any particular weaknesses in that defensive line.”

He shook his head and continued.

“No, no. I’m not talking about simple reconnaissance in force.”

His fingertip was pointing to the blue sky.

“I am talking about ‘aerial reconnaissance’.”

The Imperial army had already proven the usefulness of aircraft to the world. In the Siege of Vienna, the Battle of Warsaw, and the Battle of the North Sea, the Imperial army had used aircraft very effectively, and many other nations had no choice but to acknowledge this aspect of the Empire.

That aircraft were an indispensable presence in the wars of the future.

The upper echelons of the Tsardom of Rus’ also agreed with this fact. They soon imported aircraft from France.

And Voroshilov couldn’t help but smile at the results it brought.

“Hahaha. Everything is visible, isn’t it? Really, those Imperial bastards. To think they were using such a good thing only among themselves…”

Everything was visible. Where the weak points were, where to break through, how to lead this battle to victory. Everything was visible.

“At dawn today. Concentrate all forces on these three points. Annihilate the enemy through a single point breakthrough.”

That dawn.

Boom!

Intense shelling echoed throughout the Galician front.

“Pour in all the shells we currently possess! We won’t have a chance to use them otherwise!”

An order that was tantamount to only being bombarded by the Empire’s artillery in future battles. But there was nothing wrong with this order.

Rather than wasting shells little by little in the face of the rain of shells spewed out by the Imperial army, it was better to pour all the shells they had at once and gain a ‘superiority in firepower’ for even a brief moment.

Thanks to Voroshilov’s bold decision, the Tsardom of Rus’ army in Galicia was able to lavishly pour their firepower onto the enemy.

“Ugh, euaaaagh!!!”

The armies of the satellite states, including Hungary and Croatia, which occupied most of Galicia, were terrified and fled in disarray from the Tsardom’s shelling.

Of course, the war ministry was not unaware that the Kingdom of Hungary’s army was weak. But still, they thought that since Galicia was their territory, they would do their best to defend it. And that belief was betrayed in vain.

“These crazy…”

The upper echelons of the Imperial army were shocked by the incompetence of the Kingdom of Hungary’s army, which was beyond their imagination. Of course, the Kingdom of Hungary’s army also had excuses.

It was good to say that they used the same equipment as the Imperial army. The Kingdom of Hungary’s armory was, in effect, a warehouse for the Imperial army’s surplus.

Of course, there were also new Imperial army rifles, but the vast majority of them were retired rifles that had been roughly sold off to the Kingdom of Hungary.

The situation was better than in backward countries such as the Kingdom of Romania or the Kingdom of Yugoslavia… but frankly, it couldn’t be said to be very good.

And yet, they were being asked to stop millions of troops from the Tsardom of Rus’. It was absolutely impossible.

In that way, a huge hole was blown open in Galicia, along with the resounding “Ura” cries of the Tsardom of Rus’ army.

“Uraaa!!”

A little over a million troops from the Tsardom of Rus’ charged towards the second defensive line of the Kingdom of Hungary’s army.

Bang! Tatang!

Numerous rifle bullets flew towards the Tsardom of Rus’ army. But the Tsardom of Rus’ army surged forward with a volume that far exceeded the rifle bullets fired by the Kingdom of Hungary’s army.

It felt like the Mongol storm was rising.

“Ugh, euaaaagh!!”

In the end, the Kingdom of Hungary’s army abandoned even the second defensive line and hurriedly retreated to the rear.

“Hahaha! We did it! Brothers who died in East Prussia! We did… it?”

But what they saw behind them was yet another defensive line of the Kingdom of Hungary’s army.

This was a tactic that would later be called elastic defense.

Even if the first defensive line was breached, another defensive line awaited behind it. And even if they broke through the defensive line again, another defensive line awaited the enemy behind it.

If this continued endlessly, the enemy’s spearhead would naturally be broken. An offensive with a broken spearhead was nothing more than a waste of manpower.

This was a tactic that was carried out in the expectation that even the incompetent Kingdom of Hungary’s army could easily accomplish it.

And the tactic actually proved effective.

“Fire!”

The MG08 heavy machine guns that the Kingdom of Hungary’s army had imported from the Empire spewed fire.

“Euaak! Euaaaagh!”

Numerous soldiers of the Tsardom of Rus’ fell in front of the machine guns.

However, the Tsardom of Rus’ had no intention of stopping the offensive. No. If they were going to hesitate here, they wouldn’t have started this offensive in the first place.

They still had a new spearhead left.

“Let’s reclaim Galicia from those puppets of the Empire!”

A breakthrough regiment made up of Poles who had fled from the Empire to the Tsardom of Rus’. It was the Polish Regiment.