The frontal war was entirely one-sided. The two sides' military technology was worlds apart, and the quality of their troops differed just as greatly.
The Hungarian Army outside the city had held out for more than half a year without supplies or the encouragement of victory. By now, morale and fighting spirit were things of the past.
Scattered resistance was quickly suppressed. The Hungarians' lines collapsed across the board. According to reports from the front, they bypassed the second line of defense and fled toward the third.
Many men in the Austrian Army had taken part in this entire series of wars. Their most immediate impression was that traditional infantry formations were completely obsolete.
Almost every battle the Austrian Empire had fought in 1848 had been decided in skirmishes, while the Austrian Army's greatest casualties had come from its line infantry.
Even as the Austrian Empire won one crushing victory after another, the line infantry's exchange ratio barely improved. In some battles, it was even negative.
Their large, conspicuous formations made them easy targets for the enemy. Even opponents without the firepower of the Austrian Army could inflict devastating casualties on them.
And judging by the Austrians' own experience, even the French, renowned as Europe's foremost land army, couldn't withstand the Austrian Army's density of fire.
In the future, rockets and artillery would only grow more powerful, while infantry defenses would be difficult to improve.
In fact, the Austrian Empire had begun researching infantry armor long ago, but its protective power was very limited, and it was impractical on a large battlefield. The same was true of armored shield wagons.
So the role of long-range firepower on the battlefield would continue to grow with the times. As the battlefield's main expendable resource, infantry formations were becoming increasingly out of place.