Core
Within Austria's military high command, armored units had another name—"heavy cavalry."
In many people's eyes, these things were simply upgraded cavalry, true "steel cavalry."
Even within the Austrian military, there was debate over how armored units should be used. Quite a few believed it was enough to use them as cavalry.
In a sense, that view was not without reason. Armored units and cavalry did indeed have many similarities.
For example: both were more expensive than infantry, both placed heavy demands on logistics, and both had their movements restricted by harsh ice and snow...
Unfortunately, the banks of the Rhine River had long since been blanketed in snow and ice. At the coldest point of the night, temperatures could even fall to more than ten degrees below zero.
In such brutal weather, even cars needed their engines preheated before they could be started. Otherwise, they would not turn over at all.
In essence, armored units were much the same as automobiles; they simply demanded more power from their engines.
When facing harsh climates, the two were about alike. It was not that they could not be used—the key was that their failure rates became far higher in such weather.
Austria's armored units already had a relatively high failure rate. If they deliberately chose to operate in bad weather as well, the result was simply too dreadful to imagine.
Fortunately, winters in Central Europe did not last long, and truly foul weather only came for a handful of days. As long as maintenance was done properly, they could weather it.
If they had been dealing with Moscow's hell-mode climate, one-fifth of the armored units would probably have broken down before the war even began.
Charging ahead with gritted teeth had long ceased to be Archduke Albrecht's style. As he grew