I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 608: Hell Legion
Although Vasily and Andrei were unable to return to Adrianople to attend Polis's wedding, George did not forget the officers and soldiers on the Tisza River front and sent gifts of comfort to them on the occasion of Polis's wedding.

When the World War just broke out, the Russian Empire had abundant supplies, the supply to the front line was smooth, and the supplies were relatively abundant. Even the officers and soldiers on the front line could eat fresh vegetables and meat every day.

Anne prepared the comfort items for the officers and soldiers on the front line, including a pack of cigarettes, a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates wrapped in red silk, a pair of brand new leather gloves, and a woolen hat for each person.

All these things are worth about 15 rubles.

George's men, together with the soldiers who had just been mobilized in the rear, totaled 190 million.

The Tisza River was frozen in December, and the 12th Baikal Rifle Regiment, which belonged to the 12nd Siberian Army, was located at the forefront of the th Army's defense zone.

The commander of the 10th Rifle Regiment, Fuvilia, graduated from the Vladivostok Army Academy and participated in the Russo-Japanese War and the Balkan War. As a veteran with more than years of service, Fuvilia worked diligently and went to the front line every day to patrol and observe the movements of the German troops on the other side with a telescope.

Opposite the 4th Rifle Regiment was the defense line of the German 9th Army.

After a stalemate formed on the Tisza River front, although the German and Russian armies reduced ground contacts, artillery bombardment continued every day.

After the Serbian campaign, Conrad moved the Skoda 305 Army Howitzers to the Tisza River, posing a huge threat to Russian positions.

The 305 shells are so powerful that they do not need to hit the fortifications directly. Even if they fall near the fortifications, the officers and soldiers inside will be harmed by the shock wave.

Vasily was not the type of person who would just take a beating without fighting back. Three days ago, the Russian army used rocket launchers to carry out a carpet attack on the German camp. Although it was not certain how much damage it caused to the German army, the Austrian army's 305 howitzers had never fired again since then.

Fuvillia felt something was not good. The front line was too quiet, which was not a good thing. The German army might be planning a big move.

"If the Germans attack, we'll teach them a lesson!"

Second Company Captain Firsov is Fuvilia's junior and just graduated from the Army Academy last year.

Firsov's confidence stems from the solid defense of the Russian positions.

The density of machine guns on the Tisza River front reached one every 30 meters, and each machine gun firing point was protected by a bunker.

The trees and houses along the banks of the Tisza River had been cleared, and the officers had carefully arranged cross-fire, and even anti-tank guns were deployed in certain special areas. Even if the German army used armored vehicles, they could not break through the defense line of the 4th Rifle Regiment.

There are three such lines of defense. Between the second and third lines of defense are artillery positions. The field airport is 60 kilometers behind the front line. It only takes 15 minutes for bombers to reach the battlefield.

"Don't take it lightly. The Germans are not the Austrians."

Fuvilia raised the telescope in his hand and looked, but there was nothing in his sight except white snow.

At noon, Fuvilia stayed at the second company's position to eat. The cooks brought hot meals in a horse-drawn carriage. Today's meal was white bread and lamb stewed with radishes.

"Why is it lamb stew again? Isn't there any other meat that can be stewed?"

Some picky eaters complain that their tastes have become too picky.

"It's better than horse meat—"

After the Transylvanian campaign, there were days when the entire 12th Army ate horse meat.

"Asshole, where's your lunch box?"

The officer scolded the guy with the helmet.

"did not find--"

"How come you didn't lose your head?"

The soldiers burst into laughter. The lunch boxes can not only be used to eat, but also to exchange things.

There was no need to queue at Fuvilia, and Firsov had the food delivered.

"Bombardment—"

The sentry suddenly exclaimed.

Fuvilia and Firsov immediately squatted down and covered their heads to guard against the shock wave of the shells.

When a shell explodes, lying down is not the correct posture. The shock wave of the shell will shatter all of a person's internal organs. Squatting down and holding your head is the correct posture.

However, this posture is suitable for defending against small-caliber artillery shells.

If a 305 shell explodes nearby, no posture will be of any use.

There was no earth-shattering explosion. The shells fired by the Germans were like duds and the explosion sound was not loud.

But after the shell exploded, green smoke was generated.

A soldier walked toward the smoke to check, but suddenly he bent over and coughed violently, then fell down, holding his neck and rolling on the ground struggling.

"What the hell is this?"

Firsov was shocked; he still didn't have enough experience.

As the green smoke spread, the entire position was shrouded in smoke. More and more soldiers fell down. Their expressions were extremely painful, blood was flowing out of their noses and mouths, and some even coughed up bloody pieces of internal organs.

"Poison gas! It's German poison gas!"

This was the first time poison gas appeared on the battlefield.

Fuvilia found a towel, wet it with water, and covered his mouth and nose with it. Firsov did the same, but Fuvilia had used up all the water, so Firsov wet the towel with his own urine.

After covering his mouth and nose, Fuvilia rushed directly towards the machine gun position.

The defenseless machine gunner and assistant gunner died painfully beside the machine gun, with blood all over their bodies and the ground around them.

Fuvilia pushed the machine gunner's body away, turned around to look at Firsov, and found that blood had seeped out of Firsov's towel.

"Don't worry about me. If I must die, please let me die on the battlefield."

Firsov stumbled and fell beside Fuvilia.

Through the shooting hole, Fuvilia had already seen the German figures.

The Germans were well prepared, and everyone wore a gas mask. Their gas masks were ugly in style, like evil spirits just rushed out of hell.

At this time, the Second Company's position was littered with corpses, and there were no more than 20 soldiers still standing.

Firsov threw away the towel and blew the whistle on his chest hard.

A sharp whistle suddenly sounded throughout the battlefield.

dong dong dong-

Fuvilia's heavy machine guns began firing.

The German soldiers who were cutting the barbed wire were caught off guard and fell down layer by layer like wheat being cut.

Fuvilia felt her lungs were burning and her trachea hurt like it was being pricked by needles.

Fuvilia pounded his chest hard, and suddenly a mouthful of blood gushed out violently.

The whistle finally stopped, and Firsov stood still, his eyes looking at Fuvilia without focus.

The heavy machine gun had run out of bullets, and Fuvilia did not move the ammunition box.

The Germans had already charged forward, leaving no chance to replace bullets.

Fuvillia picked up the rifle beside him and attached the bayonet.

"Russia! Attack!"

Fuvilia pulled the towel off his face and called on the surviving soldiers to join him in the countercharge.

A dozen soldiers staggered to their feet from their respective positions and followed Fuvilia out of the trench.

The Germans never expected that there were still survivors in the Russian positions.

What was even more unexpected was that these soldiers, who were already on the verge of death, actually launched a counterattack against the German army which had an absolute numerical advantage.

The poison gas had not yet dissipated, and the Russian soldiers with bayonets pointed rushed out from the green fog, spitting blood and shouting "Ura". In the eyes of the German army, they were also a devil's army that had just rushed out of hell.

Almost in an instant, the Germans' morale collapsed, they dropped their rifles and turned around and ran away.

These fleeing soldiers then encountered the second wave of attacking German troops.

The second group of German troops who attacked probably mistook these deserters for Russian troops, so many of them died at the hands of their own guns.

The 12th Rifle Regiment's position was not lost, but Fuvillia died that night. On that day, 6000 people of the th Army were killed.

Vasily was very angry and ordered the artillery to launch indiscriminate attacks on the German positions. At the same time, the Air Force bombers were dispatched to bomb the German artillery positions in the rear.

It was the next day when George received a report that the German army was using poison gas on the front line.

George was very sad. He had considered almost all the situations, but he didn't think of poison gas.

In fact, when it comes to chemistry, the Russian Empire was no worse than anyone else.

George sent a telegram to Nicholas, asking the Russian Empire's colleges and universities and scientific research institutions to immediately begin research on poison gas. George wanted revenge.

At the same time, George sent a telegram to Amur, asking Amur to produce gas masks as quickly as possible.

In order to avoid greater losses to the troops, George sent a telegram to Vasily and Andrei, ordering the 12th Army and the 13th Army to retreat in an orderly manner and avoid contact with the German army as much as possible.

This order was actually not necessary. The snow on the Tisza River front was very heavy, almost one meter high in the wild. The German army only made partial breakthroughs in the Russian defense line in some areas and did not penetrate the Russian defense line. This gave Vasily and Andrei enough time to adjust the defense line.

Vasily's confidence came from the fact that the German army did not produce many poison gas shells, and Mackensen did not have enough troops, so Vasily did not retreat immediately, but used the air force to slow down the German attack.

The Russian Air Force not only has bombers, but also airships that can stay in the air for longer periods of time.

At least when it comes to monitoring the battlefield, airships are better than bombers.

On December 12, Vasily and Andrei concentrated 20 bombers to carry out intensive bombing on German positions.

On this day, German fighter planes appeared on the battlefield for the first time and six Russian bombers were shot down.

This was the first time a Russian bomber was shot down since the outbreak of the war.

(End of this chapter)