It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 106: Chapter : Battle of the Zhanpulen Salient
Admiral Roland looked at Shang Ke without saying a word.

He felt that the young major was exaggerating a bit and overestimating the role of advanced equipment. The outcome of a war was never determined by one or two weapons.

Major General Levent still maintained the politeness and elegance of an academic general, and refuted Mr. Shang's opinions with a hint of self-deprecating humor.

"The Ivan Rus people are impatiently attacking Bolin. They are mobilizing all possible equipment to break through the strong defenses of the Oder River."

“If those powerful new tanks could really play a decisive role, the Ivan Rus people would certainly use them first against the Varlanders.

The major general's implication was clear - Huns were not the main attack target of Ivan Rus's army and were not worth investing scarce advanced equipment in.

This statement is very logical and impeccable.

In fact, Shang was just skeptical.

"I hope I'm overthinking it," he said.

The atmosphere on the scene was still harmonious, but the optimism was obviously reduced.

Shang's views have sparked some discussion, with some even carefully assessing the consequences.

If the unexpected siege of Ivan Rus's troops failed to win quickly, and Commander Ivan Rus was able to determine the situation in time and immediately order an attack on the front of the defense line, the Hungarian army would be in a dilemma at the battle level.

But...but...

Over in the Zhanpulun Mountains, can't the main field forces of five or six divisions inflict heavy damage on Ivan Ross's ordinary infantry army?
As for the front of the defense line, the armored division and the rapid task force are both elite, equipped with more than 300 tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. Is it possible that they still cannot block the breakthrough?

You have to know that Ivan Rus's army has not yet seized air superiority, the Royal Air Force is still fighting in the blue sky to defend Hungary's airspace, and the volunteer air force promised by the Grand Federation is about to arrive. No matter how you look at it, it does not seem like a crisis-ridden situation.

After some research and discussion, the generals felt that there was no need to worry too much, but they still used some tricks.

Major General Levent ordered the army's radio monitoring unit to prepare a bluff to confuse the enemy in front of them and create the illusion that the main field force was still there.

After the meeting, Shang Ke asked Xia Zhizun about the mission.

The latter said casually, "We have a high degree of freedom. I plan to go to the Zhanpulun Mountain area to observe the encirclement and annihilation. Zhicheng, you can do whatever you want. If you want, you can come with me."

Shang Ke thought about it, found a legitimate reason and declined: "No, I'm very interested in the offensive and defensive deployment of the river defense line, so let's just stay here."

"Well," Xia Zhizun patted his shoulder and praised him with envy and anticipation, "Zhicheng, the army is now preparing for war, and your rank is rising rapidly. After your impressive performance, I'm afraid you'll be promoted to lieutenant colonel right away. You're much better than me. I didn't get there until I was almost forty."

Shang Ke coughed dryly and said, "I can't compare with you, my senior. It's really hard to wait for seniority in normal times. That's why soldiers all look forward to going to the battlefield and making achievements."

After the senior generals' decision-making meeting, the battle plan was quickly formulated and issued.

The Hunnic upper class had high hopes for this ambitious multi-pronged surprise attack and gave it a beautiful name.

Operation codename: Queen's Rose.

As the order was given, the action was carried out in an orderly manner.

9月26日，匈尔瑞第2集团军针对帝俄第41军与第13山地师的进攻计划开始了。

The 90th Russian Infantry Division was systematically attacking the Hungarian garrison in the Zamprun Mountains, while the 102nd Russian Infantry Division was slowly moving on its flank, inadvertently forming a dangerous salient. To avoid being detected by aircraft, the 15th, 18th, and 1st Mountain Divisions moved rapidly to their designated positions, hiding during the day and moving at night, awaiting the right opportunity.

On the morning of September 9, a Hungarian patrol ambushed a lost detachment of the 28nd Infantry Division of the Russian Empire in a valley, and the battle began.

At noon that day, the 15th Division took the lead in attacking the 102nd Russian Division; in the afternoon, the 18th Division on the flank also attacked the 90th Russian Infantry Division from two directions at the same time.

The next day, the 13th Mountain Division of the Russian Empire rushed to reinforce, but was attacked by the 2nd Wing of the Royal Hungarian Air Force on the way, and then ran into the 1st Mountain Division of the Hungarian Royal Air Force which had lost its way and lost its way in the wrong direction.

The two mountain troops can be said to be enemies who meet on a narrow road. Judging from the map, the two sides should be six or seven kilometers apart, but since they are destined to meet, the brave one will win!

Both sides were regular armies against regular armies, elite troops against elite troops, with no filler elements. In this respect, the quality of the Battle of Chanpulun was quite high.

The fierce fighting lasted almost continuously for two days and two nights, with the sounds of gunfire and shouts of killing spreading throughout the mountainous area within a radius of more than ten kilometers.

Colonel Xia Zhizun accompanied the observation and gave high praise to the Hungarian officers and soldiers.

He believed that European armies generally disliked night and close combat, but the Hungarian army was an exception, embodying the daring and aggressive style of Asian armies. He also admired the Hungarian army's high morale and good organizational skills.

A bloody battle was fought on the eastern foot of the Zhanpulun Mountains.

Before the war this was a beautiful and fertile land with lush forests, but now it looks like a mortal world.

Human and animal corpses were scattered everywhere, wailing and screaming echoed endlessly, and the streams flowing through the mountains turned into a fishy light red.

How could the Ivan Rus Empire's army, which had been invincible since the outbreak of the war, be in such a miserable state?

9月30日，帝俄第102步兵师被分割成了三个部分，师部和第304步兵团遭到匈尔瑞第15步兵师的猛烈围攻。

It can be said that the Hunnic army made full use of the mobile warfare style of Asian nomadic tribes, flexibly dividing and splitting Ivan Rus's army, making it impossible for it to form a whole, and then defeating it one by one.

In order to facilitate flexible operations in the rugged mountainous areas, the Hungarian army left behind its artillery regiment equipped with barreled artillery. However, they were eager to encircle and annihilate the enemy, so they were forced to launch a strong attack with only the support of mortars and infantry guns.

Faced with the enemy's scorching light and heavy machine gun fire and the rain of mortar shells, the Hungarian soldiers shouted and launched an attack, surging forward, wave after wave, seemingly without stopping.

"Long live! Long live!"

"This is the invaders' graveyard!"

"Are the Ivan Rus people ready to go to hell?!"

"Kill them all!"

In the absence of strong artillery preparation, the Hungarian army could only rely on the tenacious offensive spirit of the infantry, fighting repeatedly at the forefront with grenades and bayonets, gradually compressing the space of Ivan Rus's army.

Such an opponent made the imperial Russian officers and soldiers, including the regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Andreyev, feel terrified - in the past, they were the only ones who could defeat the minority with the majority, but now they were suffering such a fate.

At dawn the next day, the headquarters of the 102nd Infantry Division of the Russian Empire and the remnants of the 304th Infantry Regiment had been compressed into a very small area and were in an extremely miserable situation.

After daybreak, the field artillery regiment of the Hungarian 15th Infantry Division finally arrived to join the battle. Soon after a series of 105mm high-explosive bombs hit the encirclement, the remaining or so defeated soldiers were quickly wiped out.

(End of this chapter)