Iron Cross Fire

On May 16, after a long march, the Austro-Hungarian army finally crawled out of the endless grass.

They soon reached a distance of about 60 kilometers west of Kiev. The first group directly met the enemy from the west, and the second group met the enemy from the southwest. The two Austro-Hungarian armies and the Germans in the north formed three offensive directions.

If there were allied troops in the east at this time, Kiev would be at your fingertips.

The Austro-Hungarian high-level officials hoped that Kuster would speed up the offensive against Ukraine and reach the outskirts of Kiev as soon as possible.

Kuster was a little confused, but he didn't take it seriously. He handed over the Ukrainian affairs to Kemal and strengthened the attack on the north.

The policy advocated by Kemal did not match the Austro-Hungarian high-level officials. He wanted to occupy the Crimea region first to ensure that there would be no enemy threats behind him before he had enough courage to march into Kiev.

Therefore, even though there were signs of a breakthrough in the Dnieper River, the Turkish army did not launch a large-scale offensive. Instead, it invested its main force in southern Ukraine, eroding Crimea and establishing a vanguard base on the other side of the river.

Turkish officers estimated that it would take at least four days to take Crimea, and they could not launch any attack on the west bank of the river during this period.

This means that if they want to attack Kiev, they can only rely on the Austro-Hungarian and German armies to attack, and the Turkish army cannot help.

But before that, Kemal and even Kuster did not pass the news of no attack to the Austro-Hungarian side, making them think that Kemal was ready to attack at any time, so they gave up the idea of ​​sending troops to surround the east.

So the idea of ​​​​encircling Kiev was not realized from the beginning. Kiev's communication with the outside world has never been interrupted, and supplies from other areas can still be transported here. Although there are not many resources, it is enough for the Russians to use them.

This battle is destined to be a hard battle, and no matter who it is, it must pay a painful price.

The Russians will definitely not be able to defend this city. The difference in military strength is too great. Around Kiev, the German-Austrian coalition forces have a total of 480,000 people, while the Russian army in the whole of Ukraine has only 200,000 troops, and only 70,000 are stationed in Kiev.

It was not easy for the German-Austrian coalition to conquer the city. Even though they had a huge advantage, they would face more and more enemies because they lacked a blockade. They could not capture the city until all the Russian soldiers in Ukraine died.

The Austro-Hungarian officers, who were overwhelmed by victory, did not think too much and launched attacks directly from the northwest and southwest. Although the Germans, who were always rigorous, resisted entering the Ukrainian campaign, the orders from the top forced them to cooperate with Austria-Hungary and attack from the north.

The commander of the Russian garrison in the city believed that they should reasonably use the advantage of fighting at home, bury various traps on their own land, and ambush at suitable locations to consume the manpower of the German-Austrian coalition, so that they would know the price of attacking Kiev and trampling on the dignity of the Russians.

The battle line was about 50 kilometers west of Kiev, with 30,000 Russian troops stationed; 70 kilometers to the south, with 20,000 stationed; 120 kilometers to the north, with 10,000 stationed; and friendly troops to the east, which were defended by other troops.

With this allocation, the Russian army still has 10,000 reserve troops left in the city to deal with emergencies.

However, the Russians still prefer to deploy them to the east to maintain contact with friendly forces, otherwise the defense is unfavorable and the east may be broken through, then Kiev will really be surrounded.

The construction of fortifications lasted until the evening. The Russians wiped their sweat and looked at the enemy's position, with some prayers in their eyes.

If the German-Austrian coalition took this opportunity to launch a surprise attack, it would surely achieve great results, and it is likely that the front line would be pushed to Kiev overnight.

Fortunately, the German-Austrian coalition did not launch an attack.

The Austro-Hungarian high-level held a victory party in Vienna, which lasted until the evening without stopping. The senior officials involved were all reveling and indifferent to the war on the front line.

Seeing that their superiors did not give orders, the soldiers found a place to lie down casually and rested for a while.

The Germans did not launch an attack either. After all, the order they received was to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian attack, not to take the initiative to attack.

Until noon on May 17, the Austro-Hungarian high-level officials who managed war affairs were very annoyed when they saw that the army did not launch an attack, and they forced them to launch an attack with whips.

Austria-Hungary carried out an emergency reorganization and launched an attack that afternoon, and the Battle of Kiev began.

The first group took the lead in launching an attack. They came from the northwest, swept the surrounding areas of Kiev, and looted everything before.

The second group immediately attacked from the southwest, and they advanced nearly 20 kilometers before they began to see the Russian positions.

Soon, they were caught in a fierce battle with the Russians. The artillery fire continued, and soon the grassland was blown into the surface of the moon.

The Russians realized that the second group was the main attack of Austria-Hungary, and they quickly put the reserve troops in the southwest.

However, the Germans in the north also launched an attack, pushing the front line 50 kilometers away. Although it was still 40 kilometers away from the Russian position, it still caused considerable pressure on the Russian army.

The Russian commander firmly believed that only the southwest was the real main attack, and the rest of the attacks were fake and foam!

And then, a move of the German army further confirmed his guess.

After advancing several dozen kilometers southward, they suddenly turned northward. This was mainly because the armored troops in front moved too fast and went back to find the infantry. But in the eyes of the Russians, this was the Germans showing weakness and feinting. Their real target was still Petersburg! We don't need to care.

However, the following situation may be beyond the Russians' expectations.

After nearly two hours of fighting in the southwest, the Russians gradually figured out the strength of the second group - more than 120,000 people, while Austria-Hungary had a total of more than 400,000 people. Such a small number of people could not be the main attack.

The Russian junior officer presented this speculation to his superior, but his superior did not believe it and scolded him:

"This must be Austria-Hungary's own show, or their soldiers are too tired to continue fighting. We just need to strengthen the defense line."

In the third hour of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian army in the northwest also launched an attack, and joined the Germans in the north, with a total of 600,000 people.

The Russians were frightened by the overwhelming artillery shells and retreated in a panic.

The most realistic numbers were placed in front of the Russian commander, which made him and the people around him believe that the southwest was a feint attack.

But there was no time to make up for it. They were already short of troops, and now the main force was deployed to the southwest. The troops in the north would basically surrender after one round of bombing, and the whole of Kiev was in danger.

At such a critical moment, the Russian commander said to his subordinates:

"How about we abandon Kiev?"

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