"General, Your Majesty Commander has issued an order to retreat, requiring us to retreat overnight tonight." Commander of the Russian 3rd Front Army, the staff officer reported to General Ruszky.
"Okay, order the troops and start preparations. In two hours, the entire army will retreat." General Ruszky nodded with a dark face.
3rd Army Corps also suffered heavy losses in this battle. In the battle to attack the Austrian defense lines, they lost more than 100,000 people. When Lviv was attacked by German military, General Ivanov ordered 3rd Caucasian Army, a subordinate of 3rd Army Corps, to be transferred to reinforce Lviv, making the number of troops under 3rd Army Corps now only over 100,000.
"How did those cowards from the Austro-Hungarian Empire become so powerful in combat? It's incredible!" General Ruszky couldn't understand. Why did the Austrian army's combat effectiveness change overnight? Otherwise, how could the Austrian army, which had been easily defeated by them in the past, be able to fight to the death in the face of their powerful attack?
However, even if you don't want to believe it, the fact is the fact and it cannot be changed. The Russian army has failed in this attack. After Lviv was captured by German military, they faced a fatal threat. Therefore, we can only retreat. Otherwise, the last few hundred thousand troops may be lost here.
Two hours later, Russian 3rd Army Corps's remaining hundreds of thousands of troops withdrew from the battlefield and fled to the east.
At the same time, Russian 8th Army Corps, 11th Army Corps, are doing the same thing. They suffered heavy losses. After receiving the order from General Ivanov, they directly organized their troops to retreat without making any stop.
Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops retreated cleanly overnight. The Austrian army, which was confronting the Russian army, did not know about this.
However, Oscar mentioned this when talking to Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf.
"Your Excellency, 8th Army Corps have completed their scheduled combat missions. However, in order to prevent the Russian army from escaping. Tomorrow morning, the main force of 8th Army Corps will continue to go south Attack, seize more important node cities, and block the escape route of the Russian army. However, 8th Army Corps has limited troops, so it is difficult to say how many Russian troops can be blocked," Oscar said.
"Crown Prince, 8th Army Corps were able to destroy a Russian army in such a short period of time. They also captured an important logistics base of the Russian army. This is already extremely difficult. If it were the Austrian army, no group army would be able to do it. We are here In the first battle, half of the Russian Southwestern Front Army's troops were wiped out, which is already a rare victory. No matter how many Russian troops are wiped out, we have already won. It would be great if we could wipe out more Russian troops." Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf said with a smile.
Indeed, for the Austrian army, this battle was already an extremely rare victory. Even if this battle ends like this, Marshal von Hotzendorf will already be very satisfied. However, Oscar wants more than just such a victory.
In this battle, Oscar was prepared to eliminate the main force of the Russian army in one fell swoop and completely gain the absolute advantage on the Eastern Front. Therefore, he hopes to deal with the Russian Southwestern Front Army's troops as much as possible. Compared with the troops being formed in Russia's country, the troops of the Russian Southwestern Front Army that have experienced the baptism of fire are undoubtedly more powerful in combat effectiveness. After solving them, the strength of the Russian army will drop to a higher level. This will be very beneficial to both Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"Your Excellency, we still have to eliminate as many Russian troops as possible. Therefore, once the Russian army retreats, I hope that the Austrian army can pursue it with all its strength. Only in this way can we have a long-term advantage on Eastern Front. Don't forget, Russians's mobilization is almost complete. By then, they can easily send another two million or more troops to the front line, so we must seize this opportunity and defeat Russians in one fell swoop!" Oscar said solemnly.
A trace of hesitation flashed in Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf's eyes. The Austrian army's losses in this battle were close to 200,000. This is undoubtedly a heavy loss for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If they continue to pursue the Russian army, they will inevitably suffer greater losses. However, he had to admit that what Oscar said was very reasonable. This was their perfect opportunity to severely damage the Russian army and consolidate their advantage on the Eastern Front. If you give up this opportunity, you don't know when you will have such an opportunity in the future.
Although the troops are now suffering heavy losses, Austro-Hungarian Empire's mobilization will soon be completed. Lost troops can be replenished quickly. They can even form new troops to take their military strength to a higher level. In this case, this opportunity to severely damage the Russian army cannot be missed.
"Okay, Crown Prince. Early tomorrow morning, I will send a force to launch a tentative attack. If Russians has no resistance, the Austrian army will Full-scale Attack strive to obtain the greatest results in this battle." Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf said.
"Yeah!" Oscar nodded. It would be best if the Austrian army could Full-scale Attack pursue the Russian army. This can further expand their results and cause greater losses to the Russian army. It will be helpful for the next battle.
Of course, it would be great if the situation in Russia's country could change due to this. This is really great news for Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire.
On the morning of October 12, Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf ordered Austrian 2nd Army Corps and 3rd Army Corps to each dispatch one Infantry Division to attack the Russian position.
When the two Infantry Division officers and soldiers of the Austrian army launched an attack cautiously, they thought that the extremely vicious Russians was about to rush out and eliminate them. Something they couldn't believe happened. Russians's position was quiet and there was no movement at all.
When these Austrian soldiers plucked up the courage and rushed to the Russian position, they discovered that there was no one left in the entire position. There were weapons and ammunition scattered everywhere. It was obvious that the Russian troops were in a great hurry when they evacuated.
Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf was even more surprised after learning the news. He immediately issued an order, asking Austrian 2nd Army Corps, 3rd Army Corps, 4th Army Corps, and Full-scale Attack to pursue the escaping Russians!