Chapter 112: A More Perfect Gorlice Breakthrough Than In History
“Quickly unload these 105mm field guns. Find a spot that’s relatively high ground and not too soft! Otherwise, the depth charges won’t be firmly set, and the gun will run backward when fired!”
“Be careful, when unloading the guns, first use soil to create a gentle slope! Don’t just smash them down!”
In the darkness before dawn, nearly a hundred half-track diesel tractors, recently off the production line from Skoda Company and designed by Mr. Porsche, with even their models not yet finalized, were transporting field guns through the fields between Krakow and Gorlice, unloading the cannons upon reaching their designated positions.
These most primitive half-track vehicles only overcame critical technical difficulties in early March and were officially developed in April. Now it is May, and only less than a hundred pre-production trial vehicles from small-batch production are available for the front lines.
Even this output was only achieved after Skoda frantically expanded production for over half a month.
This primitive “Porsche half-track vehicle” cannot be compared to the famous SDK251 half-track vehicles of World War II on Earth, let alone the 250 model.
After all, it’s over 20 years earlier, and the technological gap is too large. Today’s half-track vehicles are purely tractors, not armored vehicles, with no additional armor or firepower.
If one must speak of its shape, it is more similar to the M2 half-track vehicle of the Ugly Country in the mid-1930s. That was also a half-track vehicle without weapons or armor, similar in shape to a normal truck.
Therefore, the additional design workload required was relatively small, and the development cycle was fast; it could be directly produced by modifying a truck into a half-track tractor power structure.
The engine performance of the Porsche half-track vehicle is certainly inferior to that of the later Ugly Country half-track vehicles of the 1930s. However, because a diesel engine was chosen, it is not bad in terms of traction power alone, with each engine exceeding 120 horsepower.
The gap is mainly reflected in other aspects, especially the overall mechanical reliability of the vehicle, which has not yet undergone a break-in period, and the suspension system is also much worse, often breaking down after only a few trips.
This type of vehicle can carry over 2 tons of cargo off-road in severely muddy terrain, or tow 4-5 tons of cargo 【 but this is on the condition that the cargo’s own wheels do not get stuck in the mud ）.
The land near Gorlice is now very muddy, and the hard wheels of the heavy artillery will definitely get stuck, making towing impossible. Therefore, only 2-3 tons of artillery can be placed in the vehicle’s compartment and then pushed down upon arrival at the destination.
With a carrying capacity of less than 3 tons, there is definitely no way to transport a 150mm long-barreled cannon – that thing weighs 10 tons fully loaded, a threefold overload at least.
However, if the barrel is shortened and the propellant charge and recoil are reduced, there is still a chance.
For example, the Germania Army is equipped with a 1902-model 150mm field howitzer 【 SFH02 ）, with a barrel length of only 12 calibers. Its traveling weight is only 2.7 tons, and its combat weight can be reduced to 2.1 tons.
The price for this is a very low muzzle velocity, only 330 meters per second. Even at a 40-degree elevation, the maximum range is only 7.5 kilometers.
In a normal battlefield engagement where artillery pieces can counter each other, deploying a short-barreled gun with a range of 7.5 kilometers to the very front line seems a bit too dangerous.
But in the current suburbs of Gorlice, where German aerial reconnaissance observed the previous day, the Lushans have not deployed heavy artillery in this area, so it doesn’t matter.
A major characteristic of the Eastern Front battlefield is the vastness of the front line and many weak points on both sides. In directions where the enemy is not expected to attack, heavy firepower is often not deployed, and inferior filling-the-line divisions are sent to simply watch the situation.
Especially the Lusha Army is very poor; some of their filling-the-line divisions have soldiers sharing one rifle in a trench, and if one person is killed, the comrade picks up the rifle and continues fighting.
Moreover, the mud also restricts the deployment of Lusha positions. For example, in the low-lying and waterlogged area around Gorlice, even trenches cannot be dug very deep.
If dug a little deeper, the groundwater from the spring thaw combined with spring rain will flood the bottom of the trenches. At that time, people will have to stand in the water, and it is even possible to be submerged.
Therefore, the trenches are generally dug to only about 1 meter deep, a foot or two shorter than a person’s height, which is almost enough.
Lusha soldiers do not have the work safety shoes like the Germans; they can only wear cloth shoes or long military boots.
Since they did not learn the lessons of muddy trench warfare in the Ypres region before, Lusha quartermasters generally did not know how to help soldiers prevent trench foot and athlete’s foot.
After stationed here for two months during the thaw period, one-third of the Lusha soldiers deployed in low-lying areas contracted athlete’s foot without even fighting, and more than half of them were so severe that they had “trench foot.” It was difficult to walk, and they could only squat in place to fill the line.
In the end, before the official attack, the Germans quietly assembled 200 105mm field guns and over 40 150mm short-barreled field guns.
The 150s in front and the 105s in the rear, ensuring coverage of enemy positions within a 5-8 kilometer range of the front line.
The opposing Lushans were completely unaware; the continuous muddy season had made both soldiers and officers extremely lax.
Coupled with the harsh and arbitrary discipline of Lusha officers towards their soldiers, they often resorted to severe beatings for minor offenses, but the reasons for these beatings were erratic and depended on the officer’s mood rather than military discipline.
Furthermore, when stationed in the rear, most officers would drink vodka excessively, which further exacerbated their complacency and internal conflicts.
In this environment, the Germans began their fire preparation on Gorlice.
…
“These Lushans are truly slow. Heaven bless our army!”
On the front line positions 3 kilometers west of Gorlice town, as the last batch of 150mm short-barreled field guns were deployed, Colonel Wilhelm Keitel finally showed a relaxed expression.
In today’s battle on this battlefield, Marshal Leopold assembled over 40 150mm field guns and 200 105mm field guns of the 10th Army Group. Almost all of these short-barreled light guns were withdrawn and concentrated for use.
With his mere rank of Colonel, Wilhelm Keitel was originally only supposed to lead an artillery regiment. However, under this temporary reassignment, his artillery regiment was also broken up, and this newly formed artillery cluster needed someone to command it.
Colonel Lelouch, temporarily serving as Army Group Staff Officer, had recommended him to Marshal Leopold. He mentioned that Wilhelm Keitel had temporarily commanded a front-line railway gun cluster during the special period of the Battle of Dunkirk, so he would certainly have some experience in dealing with such situations today.
Ultimately, Marshal Leopold partially adopted Lelouch’s suggestion, assigning a Major General to command this artillery unit and appointing Colonel Wilhelm Keitel as his deputy.
After all, a mere Colonel commanding two to three hundred cannons was a bit too much of a step up. Being able to actually command an artillery regiment and serve as the deputy for the entire artillery cluster composed of all five artillery regiments was already an extremely high assignment.
Wilhelm Keitel did not betray Lelouch’s recommendation. As an old comrade of Lelouch’s faction, Keitel had one advantage: his familiarity with half-track tractors surpassed that of other artillery officers.
He knew Lelouch too well. While the half-track vehicles were still under development, Lelouch had mentioned the usage and tactical advantages of these new vehicles to him several times during casual conversations.
Now that the half-track artillery tractor was being used in combat for the first time, the overall coordination and deployment naturally required someone knowledgeable like Keitel to execute it. In contrast, the Major General, Keitel’s superior, was not very familiar with the ingenious uses of half-track tractors, and Keitel had to improvise to solve many practical problems on the spot.
In this operation, approximately 40 tractors broke down after several trips while trying to deploy so many heavy guns, and they will have to wait until after the battle for repairs. However, regardless, the artillery group was finally deployed to a weak point that the enemy absolutely did not anticipate.
“All artillery regiments, adjust your firing data according to your assigned targets, and open fire!”
“Boom, boom, boom!”
With the final order, 200 105mm field guns and 40 150mm field guns roared in unison, creating a tragic hellscape in the low-lying, muddy terrain of Gorlice town and its surroundings, 3-8 kilometers ahead.
“Where is this shelling coming from?”
“Ah… it’s the Germania shelling! Take cover quickly!”
On the front lines of the Lusha Army’s 8th Army Group, 57th Division, screams immediately erupted.
Countless limbs flew through the air, and many soldiers who had not yet entered cover were instantly turned into unfortunate souls by the surprise preliminary barrage.
“This… this is impossible! How can there be so many heavy guns in this place? Isn’t the other side just muddy ground with few enemy filling the lines?”
“Why bother with reasons at this point! Run!”
Groups of surviving Lusha soldiers scrambled into the trenches, ignoring the water accumulating at the bottom and even burying themselves in the water to lie down.
However, trenches generally less than 1.5 meters deep offered very poor protection against 150mm heavy artillery.
Especially in muddy terrain, the trench walls could not be dug too steeply, as they would easily collapse due to the loose soil. Most Lusha trenches could only be described as “narrow ditches with side walls at 40 to 60 degrees.”
This structure made it easier for shells to fall directly into the trench. A single lucky hit could take away the lives of dozens of people in an entire section of the trench.
The front-line Lusha soldiers began to suffer casualties by the company, which then escalated to an entire battalion having only a few dozen survivors, with the rest killed by the terrifyingly dense shelling.
The enemy had assembled an artillery force equivalent to 6-7 divisions and concentrated it on the defensive positions of a single filling-the-line division, on such an unfortified position. The resulting casualties were, therefore, not surprising.
“The fortification strength of these Lushans is in no way comparable to the Britannia Army’s defense line at Ypres. Digging a few holes less than 1.5 meters deep on muddy ground and calling it a defense line? They deserve to pay the price for it.”
Colonel Keitel meticulously observed the effect of the shelling on the enemy positions in the distance through his binoculars.
When he saw entire sections of the enemy unable to withstand the pressure, refusing to continue squatting in the trenches waiting to die, and instead leaping out of the trenches like headless flies and fleeing backward, not even bothering to take their rifles in their haste to escape, but ultimately failing to outrun the shell coverage and being fruitlessly blasted to pieces on the positions, Keitel couldn’t help but sigh with such emotion.
Moreover, the Lusha Army’s grassroots combat units were not equipped with radios; their level of electrification was too low and weak, with only division headquarters having radios.
Therefore, when forward battalion and regimental combat units suffered heavy losses and casualties, they couldn’t even directly notify division headquarters via radio. They had to send signalmen on horseback to rush to division headquarters to report.
On a battlefield like this, expecting someone to run or ride a horse for several kilometers is almost impossible.
Every company, every battalion, sent out more than one signal cavalryman to the rear, but without exception, they were all blown to pieces by the concentrated shelling halfway there.
Finally, the Lusha 57th Division Headquarters, hiding in an underground bunker in Gorlice town, had to observe the losses of the front-line units through artillery spotters and then send telegrams to the Corps and Army Group Headquarters to request reinforcements.
…
“The 57th Division in Gorlice town is under an immeasurable, concentrated artillery barrage from a massive enemy heavy artillery cluster! Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements! Front-line situation is unclear! Of the two infantry regiments and eight battalions deployed on the very front line, not a single signal cavalryman made it back alive to division headquarters to report front-line casualties!
Based on the battlefield situation, this division estimates that the casualty rate for the deployed regiments and battalions on the front line is at least one-third! Large numbers of front-line units have collapsed! The specific scale of the collapse cannot be calculated! Not a single signalman from the front-line regiments or battalions has returned alive to report!”
When the urgent telegram from the 57th Division reached the Corps Headquarters of the 8th Army Group in Tarnuv County, the Corps Commander also became flustered.
Tarnuv County is only 20 kilometers from Gorlice, but Tarnuv County is located on the Krakow-Przemysl railway line, considered a strategic “gateway city,” so its defenses are relatively tight, with an entire army composed of three divisions.
Originally, the Lusha Army assumed that even if the Germania could launch an attack during the muddy thaw period, they would do so along the railway and would not likely detour through the adjacent low-lying muddy areas.
But now, precisely this has happened. The Germans, for some unknown reason, found a breakthrough in the low-lying muddy area more than 20 kilometers away from the railway and concentrated a massive amount of heavy artillery to tear it open!
In the Przemysl Fortress further behind, General Brusilov, the Commander of the Lusha 8th Army Group, also became somewhat flustered upon hearing the news.
He immediately sent telegrams back to the 21st Corps Headquarters in Tarnuv County and the 57th Division Headquarters in Gorlice:
“You must hold your positions! Do not retreat! I will immediately send a telegram to the Front Army Commander to have the main force, which has already descended the mountains to the south, quickly withdraw troops to plug the gap!
But you must hold on before then! Even if you are encircled from behind after the enemy breaks through Gorlice, you must continue fighting. Even if you are encircled, delaying the enemy for a few days is good! That will buy enough time for the main force! I will also immediately dispatch several cavalry divisions to reinforce you!”
Brusilov is considered one of the few talented generals in the Lusha Army. Although his superior, the Southwestern Front Commander, is a timid individual who only follows the Emperor’s orders and has withdrawn too many of Brusilov’s troops to the south.
However, Brusilov still attempts to use the forces at his disposal to plug this suddenly appearing fatal gap.
He also kept his word. Immediately after replying, he made another phone call, notifying other units: “Order the 12th Cossack Cavalry Division from Sandomierz to hurry to Gorlice for reinforcement, and then order the 14th Cossack Cavalry Division from Rzeszów to reinforce Tarnuv.
Especially ensure that the 14th Cossack Cavalry Division protects the railway line from Tarnuv to Rzeszów, preventing the Germans from cutting off the railway link between Tarnuv and our rear after breaking through Gorlice!”
The two Cossack Cavalry Divisions received the order from the Army Group Commander and immediately departed from their respective garrison towns and counties, racing at full speed towards the gap area on the front line.
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PS: Although today is also a double update, it is already over 11,000 characters. It’s the beginning of the month. If you have votes, please cast them; if not, it’s understandable.
