African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1581 The War Subsides
1934 11 Month 14 Day.

Budapest.

As November arrived, the weather in Budapest grew increasingly cold, and the situation within the city became even more chaotic. Due to the war, Budapest's external communications were cut off, and supplies became extremely scarce.

On the walls of Budapest, Emperor Rudolf, forcing himself to remain calm, offered words of comfort to the soldiers defending the city.

“Your Majesty, it’s raining. For your health, you should hurry back!” said Clayat, the commander of Budapest’s defenses, to Emperor Rudolf.

A few barely perceptible raindrops had already fallen on the two of them. Emperor Rudolf looked up at the sky, where dark clouds, like black city walls, had gathered, making the already bleak Budapest even more gloomy.

Emperor Rudolf lowered his head and said to Clayato, "Now, the soldiers still have to guard the city walls, and some of them have not slept for two or three days. How can I possibly stay in the palace?"

After listening to Emperor Rudolf's words, Commander Clayato opened his chapped lips and spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"Your Majesty, the empire is now on the brink of collapse. If even your health fails, the empire will be doomed. You are the empire's last pillar of strength, and then..."

Rudolf sighed and said, "Kraiator, do you think the Empire can hold on?"

Clayato paused for a moment before cautiously saying, "Perhaps once the Germans arrive, our problem will be solved."

Emperor Rudolf shook his head: "If the Germans wanted to save us, their Slovakian army wouldn't have remained indifferent to Budapest."

"Germany's intentions are easy to guess. Their army entered the Reich only to covet our land, industry, food, and people."

"Even if Germany achieves final victory and allows the Reich to continue to exist, the Reich will be nothing more than a puppet in their hands."

After occupying Slovakia, Germany was actually not far from Budapest. However, the German troops were not heading towards Budapest, but instead bypassed Košice from the east and headed south to accelerate their conquest of eastern Hungary.

This actually illustrates Germany's attitude towards the Austro-Hungarian government.

Emperor Rudolf said, "Forget it, there's no point in saying any more. If we can hold Budapest, then we still have the confidence to stay at the negotiating table. If we can't even hold Budapest, then it's all just empty talk."

“We are indeed exhausted, but the Labour Party is not much better off, so the outcome is still uncertain until the very last moment.”

For the Austro-Hungarian government and the Habsburg royal family, holding onto Budapest was tantamount to holding the reins of justice. Even if Germany were to decide to annex Austria-Hungary in the future, they would have to be treated well.

……

While panic gripped Budapest, the coalition forces outside the city were also struggling, with the coalition's commander-in-chief for the Eastern Expedition, Chassobul, conducting a new round of mobilization.

"Comrades, Budapest is already in sight. Vienna is under great pressure. If we can take Budapest as soon as possible, we can relieve the pressure on the entire regime."

"Right now, Hungary is about to enter winter completely. If we drag the war into the snow, it will be much more difficult for us to take Budapest."

Snow usually falls in Budapest at the end of November, but right now it's mostly cloudy and rainy, which is already making things difficult for the coalition government forces.

The Hungarian army could at least stay inside the city, while the coalition government forces were outside the city, where the environment was extremely harsh.

There are currently over 200,000 coalition government troops in the Budapest area, and they are lacking food and clothing. When it snows, it will be a disaster for the coalition government troops.

Therefore, Chassopoulos said, "Only by taking Budapest can we turn the tide and replenish our ammunition and supplies."

"We don't have much time left. We need to take Budapest within two weeks to get through this crisis."

"I know that taking Budapest now is a very difficult task given the forces we have."

"In terms of numbers, although we have more than 200,000 brave soldiers who are not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice, it is not easy to take Budapest, a major city, even in the era of cold weapons, by relying on numerical superiority."

"Secondly, we lack heavy firepower for siege warfare, which further increases the difficulty of our attack on Budapest."

"However, we have no way back. It is not in the character of us Labour Party members to shrink back when we encounter difficulties. So we must forge ahead without flinching, no matter what the cost."

Due to the development of the battle for Vienna, many of the troops originally sent east were withdrawn to Vienna to participate in the defense of Vienna.

Currently, the number of coalition government troops outside Budapest is far from sufficient, while the Austro-Hungarian garrison inside Budapest exceeds 100,000.

However, a large part of the Budapest garrison was made up of troops hastily conscripted from Budapest by the Austro-Hungarian government, many of whom were ordinary people before, and their combat effectiveness could not be guaranteed.

Therefore, the garrison in Budapest did not take the initiative to attack the coalition government forces outside the city while their main force was weakened.

Of course, relying on Budapest's strong defenses to wear down the coalition government forces is indeed a relatively safe approach. Fighting outside the city would actually diminish the defensive side's advantage.

Now, the commander of the coalition government forces, Chassobul, is planning a military adventure to launch a full-scale attack on Budapest.

It was actually a choice made out of necessity. The Bohemian and Austrian coalition forces suffered repeated defeats, which put the coalition government in a very passive position.

If their own expeditionary force fails to make any progress, the difficulties faced by the coalition government will only become more severe.

Chassobol and other high-ranking officers of the expeditionary force knew very well that if they didn't take the risk, they would most likely not receive reinforcements from Vienna. Vienna was already in dire straits, so their force had to rely on itself.

With the final mobilization in Chasobul, the final battle between the coalition government forces' eastern expeditionary force and the Austro-Hungarian garrison in Budapest will arrive ahead of schedule.

November 14th, afternoon, accompanied by light rain.

Desperate, the coalition forces mobilized all their artillery and opened fire on Budapest. Under the cover of artillery fire, coalition soldiers began using every means possible to advance towards the city walls. Budapest's defensive artillery immediately returned fire, targeting the coalition artillery positions while machine guns swept across the charging coalition soldiers.

Swathes of soldiers fell like corn in a field, but the Labour Party fighters behind them were not intimidated at all. Led by their Labour Party commissar, they continued their charge.

The machine gun barrels in Budapest were glowing red-hot, with no time to cool down. But whenever there was a slight pause, the coalition government soldiers would rise from the ground like a tidal wave and move towards the city wall, fearless of death.

This dealt a significant psychological blow to the Budapest defenders, but clearly, this human flesh tactic was not enough to completely destroy their fighting spirit.

The fighting continued until evening, when the coalition government had suffered devastating casualties, losing nearly a fifth of its men, before finally advancing to the front lines of the Budapest defenders' positions.

With the help of coalition government engineers, a loud explosion blew a hole in Budapest, immediately putting Budapest's defenses in danger, and the two sides engaged in fierce fighting over the breach.

However, the Budapest defenders, having lost their fortifications, were clearly no match for the coalition government forces, who were bolstered by faith, in close combat.

This breach quickly turned into a funnel, through which coalition government forces poured into Budapest and engaged in street fighting with the defenders. By then, the defeat of the Budapest defenders was inevitable.

The Budapest defenders did not fight to the death with the coalition government forces, but collapsed at the first contact, with a large number of soldiers disobeying orders and leaving the battlefield.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Budapest's city defense commander, Clayatto, covered Emperor Rudolf's retreat towards the palace.

Emperor Rudolf was completely unconscious at this point. Due to the cold rain and the long-term mental strain, he finally could not hold on and collapsed on the city wall as the coalition government forces stormed into the city.

"Commander, what do we do now?" someone asked Krayato.

Clayato said in a low voice, "His Majesty's safety is absolutely paramount. We'll get him safely to the palace first, and as for what happens next, we can only leave it to fate!"

The Royal Palace of Budapest is actually Buda Castle, which is also a fortress, but such fortresses do not play a significant role in modern warfare.

Inside the palace, an East African intelligence officer took over Rudolf's case and said to Commander Krajato, "General, now that the war has been lost, what are your plans? If you want to leave here, we might be able to offer some assistance."

Clayato shook his head and said, "Budapest has been lost, and someone has to stay behind to take responsibility. So thank you for your kindness, but I will live and die with Budapest!"

His choice earned him the respect of East African intelligence personnel, who saluted him and then began to plan how to evacuate Rudolf himself from Budapest.

In fact, Emperor Rudolf himself originally intended to live and die with Budapest, but unfortunately he collapsed, which gave the East African intelligence agencies an opportunity.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of East Africa personally instructed that Emperor Rudolf should be taken to East Africa even if he had to be kidnapped. Now that Emperor Rudolf himself is in a coma, it has actually made things easier for the East African intelligence agencies.

They disguised Emperor Rudolf as an ordinary person and transported him to a makeshift airport that had been prepared beforehand, located on a private estate near the palace. Then, the East Africans carried Rudolf onto the plane and took the Austro-Hungarian emperor away from Budapest.

……

The day after the fall of Budapest, Germany further accelerated its offensive against the coalition government. In the direction of Vienna, German artillery clashed with the coalition government forces, but at this point, the German firepower was not enough to suppress the coalition government forces in Vienna.

The German army attacking Vienna came all the way from the mountains of eastern Austria, so it would take time for their supplies to reach the city of Vienna, and they also carried relatively little heavy firepower.

In terms of firepower, the German forces in the Bohemian direction are accelerating their southward advance, at which point they will gain a complete firepower advantage.

At the same time, the German army in Slovakia also began to move south, rushing towards Budapest. After confirming that Budapest had fallen, the German army finally stopped hiding its ambitions.

Now, as long as the elimination of the Austro-Hungarian Labour Party is accelerated, Germany can formally take over the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Of course, Germany doesn't need to care about the missing Emperor Rudolf now, since the Austro-Hungarian government has completely collapsed, and even if Emperor Rudolf were alive, he wouldn't be of much use.

Germany's sudden surge of power immediately put pressure on the Greater Austrian coalition government. By the end of November, Germany had officially taken over the entire Bohemian region, and its northward advance towards Vienna was no longer obstructed. Meanwhile, in Budapest, the Labour Party had barely settled in when it was attacked again by German forces from the Slovakian direction.

In less than five days, Budapest fell into German hands, leaving Vienna as the only remaining city of the coalition government. Once the coalition government in Vienna was destroyed, it would mean that there would be no armed force in the Austro-Hungarian Empire capable of resisting the Germans.

While the Germans were advancing triumphantly, the Italian campaign against Venice officially began at the end of November. In Venice, the Austro-Hungarian defenders demonstrated a tenacious fighting spirit.

After all, the war between the Budapest defenders and the coalition government forces was a civil war, so the Budapest defenders' will to resist was not very strong.

The Austro-Hungarian garrison in Venice was completely different. They regarded the Italians as invaders and insisted on fighting the Italian army to the last moment. Despite the vast disparity in strength, they managed to hold out until December before the Italians broke into the city of Venice.

Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian defenders continued to fight the Italian army in street battles, which turned the canals of Venice red. It wasn't until the end of December that Italy finally gained complete control of the city of Venice, but the fighting in the Venice region was still not over.

While Italy was launching a fierce attack on Venice, the Battle of Vienna broke out at the same time, and the military factories in Vienna were targeted by the German Luftwaffe.

This led to a severe shortage of weapons and ammunition for the coalition forces in Vienna. At the same time, food supply was also a major problem. Vienna had become an isolated city with a population of over one million, and it was simply unable to sustain a prolonged war.

These problems rendered the coalition government within Vienna utterly powerless to resist the German offensive. On December 12, Vienna fell, and the German army declared its occupation.

With the fall of Vienna, the Austro-Hungarian puppet government, supported by Germany, was formally established and, in coordination with the German army, accelerated the occupation of other regions.

Apart from Yugoslavia and Venice, the rest of the region was basically taken over by the German army within a month.

At this point, Britain and France began to exert their influence, mediating the war within the Austro-Hungarian Empire and demanding that Germany, Italy, and Yugoslavia sit down for negotiations.

The intentions of Britain, France, and Germany were clear: their core objective was to preserve Yugoslavia so that it could break away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire; secondly, to urge Italy to reclaim Lombardy and the entirety of Venice, thus preventing Germany from entering the Adriatic Sea.

Although Adolf wanted to take over the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, he now had to consider the attitudes of Britain and France. After all, Germany was not prepared to go to war with Britain and France, and his four-year plan was still in its early stages.

(End of this chapter)