Chapter VI: The Keys of Central Europe
August 23 - September 8, 1914
Vienna is filled with rumours. Will the Russian breakthrough in Galicia be contained? Will Germany send help? What about the war being over by Christmas? In response to the military situation, the High Command in the east immediately orders a desperate counter-attack to force the Russians back.
Counter-attack against Stryj (sorry about the quality)
Glorious victory! It remains to be seen whether our eastern armies, shattered as they are, can actually hold the retaken position. The next few weeks turn into a ferocious battle going back and forth, as newly arrived troops are immediately dislodged by enemy counter-attacks.
Each time I attack Stryj, I win, but I can never hold it for long. The essential problem is that my troops have to fight so hard and march so far that, when they arrive in Stryj victorious, they're depleted and exhausted and easily defeated by counter-attacks. The fact that retreating units from Stryj withdraw to distant Bacau rather than nearby Presov isn't helping... there is no conclusion to this series of battles in sight!
My answer to this conundrum is to push in Serbia, crush the South Slav kingdoms and transfer those (hopefully) fresh troops to the east to gain the numerical advantage.
Glorious victories abound in the Balkans
The offensive in Serbia continues apace. Soon the Servians shall serve us! Counter-attacks of this nature are annoying, but ultimately they cannot halt my debatable, I mean unbeatable, hosts.
Insignificant, doomed-to-failure Serbian 'counter-attacks'
Pfft. Such 'victories' are powerless to stop polyethnic dualism. In fact, and at this rejoice, all happy Austro-Hungarian subjects, blessed with multinationalism! - in fact, I am now taking my vengeance upon Montenegro and crushing them mercilessly beneath the not-quite-autocratic-but-not-really-democratic-either jackboot.
The end of Montenegro?
However, something a little surprising, unsettling, and not a little embarrassing happened at sea. I'm in fact at a loss to explain this:
And then there were none
Note the list of sunk ships is very incomplete - they actually sank my
entire navy (except for a few antique cruisers in port). This is quite possibly the most astonishing, disgraceful, and crushing naval defeat I have ever suffered. Out of nowhere appeared the Imperial Japanese Navy and sent my brave k.u.k. fleet - all of it, including my fourteen battleships - to the bottom of the Adriatic. Farewell, you fine ships. Sniff.
In the next update: What will all those brave sailors do now? Can Austria-Hungary defeat the savage tribesmen of the Balkans? Will the line in the east hold, er, become, firm?
