On March 16, 1941, the Austro-Hungarian 16th Army, which had just completed its establishment and primary training in China, was deployed to the North Caucasus front.●⌒The Russians had just captured Stavlopol and Elista, and were approaching the Cuban grassland and the lower Don River. In the upper reaches of the Cuban River, the Don River was tangled with the Austro-Hungarian coalition and the Russian positions. The Austro-Hungarian 9th Army, which defended the upper reaches of the Cuban River, faced the danger of being broken. The 5th Army and the newly formed 16th Army, who had ended their domestic leave, were urgently sent to the North Caucasus front to strengthen the defensive power here.

In the Transgasopotos, the Caucasus and Austro-Hungarian coalition forces have launched a counterattack and recovered Tbilisi and the entire Armenia before winter. The Caucasians have gradually recovered their vitality. With the support of the Axis Group, the total size of the army has reached 500,000, and the forces of three armies. In addition, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 8th armies that support them in the Transgasopots, the total strength of the Axis powers on the front line has exceeded 800,000, while the Soviet Transcaucasian Front has only 450,000, and can only be in a passive defense state.

In order to coordinate the war against the Soviet Union, the Axis Joint Operation Command was established in Sevastopol on the Crim Peninsula to uniformly command and coordinate the military operations of the Axis powers in the Don River and the Caucasus Federation.

The 16th Austro-Hungarian Army of the 16th Austro-Hungarian Army was urgently transported from the country to Sochi, a port city along the Black Sea coast, and the 136th Division of the 46th Army was the second landing force. More than 15,000 young people who had just received training in the country were walking in an orderly manner and were highly motivated to go to the front line to receive the "baptism" of the war.

The steep mountain roads of the North Caucasus were covered with Austro-Hungarian soldiers, and in the next few days more and more troops joined the torrent.

The mountains gradually became smoother, and the troops entered the edge of the Stavlopol Hill and the Kuban Prairie. In the Kuban River, the battle was in full swing. As for the situation, no ordinary soldiers or low-level officers knew the situation and could only guess randomly.

As the front line got closer, the march became unsafe. Several transport vehicles were blown up by enemy planes on the road. Black smoke was emitting from the side of the road, as if reminding the soldiers that this was already the front line. Of course, they saw more Austro-Hungarian fighters: "Falcon Hunting" fighters, Etrich's "Big Gun" dive bombers and SM28b "Revenge" twin-engine bombers, swept over the sky in groups, as if conducting an aviation inspection.

Karadzic and Chak sat at the outermost position of the truck cargo compartment, and the marching of several days had been covered in dust. In order to avoid air strikes, the convoy had left the road and drove on the edge of the undulating grassland. The grassland in spring had just turned green, but was destroyed by many ruts.

The transport convoy sent them to the town of Pushkar, about 40 kilometers east of Maikop, and then stopped moving forward. After a short rest, the soldiers would walk to the front line to fight, with the armored and artillery units of course being exceptions.

On the afternoon of the second day after arriving in Pushka, Karadzic and others received the order to gather, and then went to the warehouse to replenish the ammunition they carried with them. Ordinary infantry such as Karadzic were 160 rounds of 6.5mm semi-automatic rifle bullets and four grenades, while Hawk was a sniper and received 80 rounds of 7.92mm Isleya rifle bullets.

There were 12 people in the Austro-Hungarian Infantry Squad. There were one sergeant and one sergeant in the squad, and two corporals. Sergeant Angel and Sergeant Mikloti were the chief and deputy squad leader. They were equipped with stk automatic rifles, Corporal Carlos was a machine gunner, and his men also had an ammunition under his command, while Corporal Chak was a sniper. The weapons of each infantry squad in Austro-Hungarian Infantry Squad were equipped with a light machine gun and two automatic rifles. A Isleia 1903 manual rifle equipped with a 4-6x scope and 7 ylg1931 semi-automatic rifle.

Each infantry platoon has three infantry squads, plus two officers, the chief and deputy platoon leader, and a walker correspondent, a total of 39 people. Each infantry company consists of three infantry platoons and a fire support platoon. The equipment of the firearm platoon includes 4 heavy machine guns, 3 60mm mortars and 3 rocket-boosted grenade launchers.

The organization of the Austro-Hungarian Rifle Company is similar to that of the German army. The only difference is that the German army has been using 7.92 Mauser rifle bullets. The reliability of the automatic rifle has always been problematic. After the production of the G40 semi-automatic rifle was limited after the reduction of the drug, the troops were distributed. In addition, the stg41 automatic rifle has only recently begun mass production.

Germany, which has always focused on the development of individual weapons, lags behind Austro-Hungary, the United States and even the Soviet Union in terms of semi-automatic and automatic rifle equipment, which is somewhat puzzling.

After receiving the ammunition, the atmosphere became tense, and the soldiers were gathered to travel to the frontier positions more than 20 kilometers away. After walking for a long time with the rumbling guns, the 5th Company where Karadzic was located was assigned to a defensive position close to the position of the division's artillery regiment. Behind the 136th Division's position was the hidden ground of the 16th Armored Division. The tanks, armored vehicles and tracked self-propelled artillery of this armored unit were parked in the woods, and the body was filled with artificial or natural branches and camouflage nets.

When Karadzic passed in front of these tanks, he saw an armored lieutenant sitting with several tank commanders at a table on the side of the tank studying a military map.

It seems that the battle will begin soon.

In the afternoon and at night, other troops also arrived at the surrounding areas one after another.

The 5th Company was arranged on a hillside with sparse shrubs outside the woods, and some troops nearby were already starting to dig trenches.

"Okay, stop, now our mission is to keep here!" said Captain Babor, the company commander. "The sergeant commanders of each squad immediately took your soldiers to the designated location to repair the trenches!"

After half a day of emergency repairs, a winding trench has basically been formed, and only a few "unlucky" left were assigned to continue digging traffic trenches to the front positions. The defensive position of the 407th Infantry Regiment was basically built around a hill with a relative height of about 50 meters, and the width of the defense front was about less than 5 kilometers.

"Obviously, we have to get beaten first!" Karosh put the machine gun on the side of a tree root and said to Karaditch, who was resting in the trenches.

"Aren't you attacking first?" Hawke picked up the kettle and took a big sip of water before saying.

"You see this sport, it's not like an offensive." Carlos said, who had served in the 3rd Army and participated in the Transcaucasus for several months last year and was considered a veteran.

"So the Russians will come soon?" Borokovic said with a pale face and stammeringly. Most of the soldiers of the 136th Division came from the Timish province of Hungary, most of them were Serbs.

"Hey, for the face of the great Marshal Boloevich, you must appear brave!" Carlos shouted, "Your last name is so similar to him!"
Chapter completed!