Chapter Thirty Two
Connolly's First Term, Part Two, 1910-1911
In a month, Austria had already captured critical Ottoman posts at Banjaluka and Beograd. In Russia as well, the march went quickly capturing Domoka and Lviv on the same day, hours apart.
While in the south, the Ottomans had managed to delay much further Austrian action, the Russians could not. That, coupled with fighting the British, led them to a breaking point and on November 5, 1910, they signed the Treaty of Beltsey, which ceeded several Russian territories over to Austria.
Still, the Entente fought bravely on even with the loss of it's most crucial ally. In December of 1910, the Irish made their first concerted attack on Austria by the siege of Ljubljana.
The city fell on the 15th, just one day before an Austrian army came to relive her.
15,000 men under Austrian Col. Knoll were easily defeated O'Donnell's troops.
This was the first battle in history where tanks were used. The Austrians were terribly frightened, and fled the field soon after the tanks were deployed. Initially, the tanks would be used like the gunpowder units of the late Medieval era. As more a weapon of fear, even though it had quite a lot of power and might.
In early January, the fight was taken to Idrisko, which the Austrians had used as a strategic point of telegraphic communication.
Bad descision, for it fell shortly thereafter. In February, the under-staffed British army had attacked Udine, and were slowly being pushed back. The Irish sprung into action and fully deafeted the Austrian forces there.
The Irish were on the march again, attacking Klagenfurt on March 6, 1911. Col. Kovacic was easily defeated.
Until this point, remarkably, Prussia had not fully joined the Entente in their war against Austria. This caused a great rift between the Ottoman Empire plus Britain and GErmany that would never fully heal. Yet, finally, on March 30, 1911, Prussia declared war on a beleagured Austria. France, on a side note, joined the day before but only after begging the British to get in on the despoiling act.
On May 7, 1911, the city of Judenburg fell to irish troops. There was now a measly 10,000 troops and the City of Sankt-Polten between the Irish, and the glory of capturing Vienna. Something the even the Turks failed to do...
