The long-awaited counterattack is about to begin.

Infantry General Bolojevic participated in the entire process of Li Haidn's counterattack plan. He followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as an adjutant for a full ten years. He was not until 1905 that he became the commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade of Galicia in Limburg and was promoted to brigade general. Later, he rose to prominence in his official career. With the support of the Grand Duke of Istria, he was promoted to commander of the Croatian-Slovenian garrison in 1911, promoted to lieutenant general of the army, and in 1913, he was promoted to infantry general.

The reason why Crown Prince Lee Haydn favored him the most was his military thought - the guerrilla tactics learned from the Abysia and Boer wars: emphasizing maneuverability and flexibility, finding fighter jets in mobile warfare, concentrating superior forces, and eliminating the enemy.

In the depressing Battle of Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army he commanded used this tactic and achieved good results. Although it was not helpful to the overall situation, such military achievements were enough to promote him to commander-in-chief of the 3rd Army. Bolojevic was ordered to complete the task assigned to him by the General Staff with high efficiency: reorganizing the already broken 3rd Army, and now this army can re-enter the battlefield with a new look.

On October 29, Bolojevic received the order he expected: the 3rd Army, as the starting team for the entire counterattack plan, began operations on October 30!

The combat plan led by the Crown Prince was very in line with his appetite: two armies were used to delay the attack of four Russian armies, and four armies were concentrated to deal with the Russian 3rd Army surrounding the Prèmeer Fortress.

Originally, the Russian army on the Galician front had a slight advantage, with 7 armies, while Austro-Hungary had only 6. However, the Warsaw-Ivangorod Battle launched by the Germans forced the Russians to draw two armies to strengthen the defense in the Warsaw direction, which left an opportunity for the Austro-Hungary army.

The problem with the Russian army was that their Southwest Front Army was concentrated in the Carpathian line, which was not easy to deploy, but the Hungarian local defense army, which was far fewer than theirs, stubbornly blocked the passes and progressed slowly. After hearing the refugees fleeing from Galicia, which had a disastrous force, the Hungarian local defense army, which was composed of middle-aged reserves over 35 years old, told the Russian army's atrocities that they wanted to defend their hometown from robbery, and had an astonishing combat effectiveness. With only 190,000 people, they withstood the attack of nearly 600,000 Russian troops.

At present, on the front line about 350 kilometers between the Vistula and the Transnistria, the Russian army has only two armies. Ivanov, commander-in-chief of the Southwest Front, also noticed the danger and demanded that the military operations on the Carpathian line be stopped, but was rejected by the base camp.

The Russian General Staff is now staring at East Prussia, and the German attack on Warsaw has been repelled. They did not expect that the Austro-Hungarian army, which suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Galicia, could recover quickly.

Bolojevic's character determines that he cannot strictly follow the combat plan. Moreover, when Li Haydn formulates a combat plan, he will allow frontline commanders to make temporary changes to the combat operations. The original combat plan was that the 3rd Army led by him was just acting, threatening the Russian flanks that chased the Markens group, and then turning to the Sand River Valley to intercept the retreat of the Russian 3rd Army.

But when he led his troops to Stravitz, he was encountering the defeated Russian 12th Army.

On the way back, Markensen made an ambush for the Russian army that had been chasing behind him. The Russian 12th Army, which had been clenching closely from Warsaw, got into a trap and was beaten by Markensen in the counterattack. Bolojevic was unable to miss such a good opportunity to beat the dog in the water, and commanded the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army to launch a fierce attack on the flank of the Russian 12th Army.

The Russian army, which was struggling to support, was attacked from the flank by the 3rd Austrian Army. They could not hold on and fled to the northeast direction, causing heavy losses. After joining with the Austrian army, Markenson heard about the combat intentions of the Austrian army, and even joined forces with Boloevich to enter the Sand River Valley.

On November 2, the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army first launched an attack on the right wing of the Russian 3rd Army at the periphery of the Prémil Fortress. The Russian 3rd Army was already bleeding from the head under the Prémil Fortress, and suffered heavy losses. The configuration became even more problematic. The entire army deployed the fortress into a ball-shaped shape, and the flank defense forces were very weak.

On November 3, the 6th Austro-Hungary Army broke through the defensive position of the Russian 8th Army one day after the attack began. The 8th Russian Army suffered heavy losses in the attack on the Przemier Fortress, so it was transferred to the flanks to repair it. Unexpectedly, it encountered the new forces of Austro-Hungary, and the main positions were broken through in just one day. At the same time, the 2nd and 7th Austro-Hungary Army also launched a full-scale attack on the Russian army from the east and south. Under the siege of the three Austro-Hungary army, and the Austro-Hungary army that defended the fortress also began to take the initiative, the Russian 3rd Army collapsed on its entire line after only half a day.

General Dimitriev ordered the Russian army to retreat on all sides. However, this general who participated in the Russo-Japanese War deserved to be the true master of the "Imperial Army". His Russian army was fearless and attacked with all their might, and he really broke out. The remnants of the Russian 3rd Army fled to Warsaw along the Sanhe Valley. Unfortunately, two strong generals, Boloevich and Markens, were waiting for him in front.

Bolojevic and Markensen commanded nearly 300,000 Austrian-Diet coalition forces to launch a fierce attack on the fleeing Russian 3rd Army, while the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army pursued him reluctantly. After a day and night of fierce fighting, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army and the German Markensen gang worked together to wipe out the Russian 3rd Army in the Sand River Valley.

In the battle of Przemir, the Audes-Di coalition wiped out 260,000 Russian 3rd Army, 80,000 casualties, 170,000 were captured, and only thousands of people escaped from the encirclement.

A great victory was enough to cheer up the Germans who had just suffered the defeat in the Battle of Marne, and also to calm down the uneasiness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The battle continued. After the 2nd and 7th Army of the Austrian Army rescued Przemir, they began to penetrate to the right, surrounding 250,000 Russian Army's 8th Army in Limburg.

The course of the battle has exceeded Lee Haydn's initial expectations.

After receiving reinforcements from Markensen's 9th Army, Austro-Hungary concentrated seven armies on the front line of Galicia, and the Russian army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Prèmere. Currently, the Southwest Front has less than 900,000 troops. In terms of strength, Austro-Hungary has gained the advantage for the first time.

Lee Haydn ordered the troops to dig trenches before the freezing. He did not want to launch a frontal attack on this strongly defended city fortress, but prepared for a long-term siege.

During the Battle of Przemere, Lee Haydn tried to put the planes and armored cars into the battle, but it did not attract any special attention - the Russian army collapsed too quickly, and even most of Lee Haydn's planes had not yet arrived and took off.
Chapter completed!