Chapter 395 Russia's Disastrous Defeat
Russia, as one of the largest European countries in terms of land area, has very few land neighbors in Europe, only Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Romania.
The part of Central Europe that borders Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is inserted between Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in a rather peculiar shape.
This rather strange-shaped area was the Russian-administered Poland after being divided between Germany and Russia.
Although the acquisition of part of Poland allowed Russia to greatly expand its power in Europe, it also faced a problem, that is, this area was attacked from the north and south by Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It could not only attack Germany's East Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Galicia poses a threat and can be threatened by these two countries.
East Prussia can provide Germany with excellent war horses and dairy products, and Galicia is also a rich area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These two regions are very important to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This major counterattack organized by Grand Duke Nicholas was divided into a southern offensive direction and a northern offensive direction.
The specific plan is to dispatch 500,000 combat troops to directly attack the East Prussia region of Germany.
The 300,000 troops serve as a reserve army to defend the Austro-Hungarian Army in Galicia. Secondly, they can also serve as reinforcements for the attacking army in East Prussia and join the battle in East Prussia at any time.
If the attack in East Prussia goes smoothly, then the 300,000 reserve troops and the local defenders will form an army of about 500,000 in total, attack the Galicia region, and directly annex this rich land.
Because Galicia is separated from the destination and the Hungarian region by the Carpathian Mountains, and there is no obstacle to the land controlled by Russia, it also gives Russia hope to directly annex Galicia.
On January 27, 1915, with the support of its allies, 500,000 Russian troops launched an attack on East Prussia.
At this time, the garrison stationed in East Prussia was the German Eighth Army, commanded by Pritwitz.
Speaking of the commander-in-chief of the group army, Pritwitz's reputation is not very good, because he won the favor of William II by telling dirty jokes to William II, and became the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army. .
Compared to the more reckless First Army Commander Crook, Pritwitz had a worse reputation and worse actual abilities.
The total ratio of German and Russian troops in East Prussia is about 1:2.5. Germany has nearly 200,000 defenders, and the size of the army is actually not weak.
But Prittwitz suddenly felt timid when he learned that Russia had launched two armies to launch an offensive.
Prittwitz mentioned in the telegram sent to Chief of Staff Falkenhayn that if the army did not retreat in time, it was likely to be flanked by two Russian armies, leading to very serious consequences.
After sending this telegram, Prittwitz immediately ordered the troops to retreat without looking back.
When the new German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn received Pritwitz's telegram, the Eighth Army had already withdrawn more than ten kilometers back, and it seemed that it was likely to abandon East Prussia and retreat to the west bank of the Vistula River.
Pritwitz's cowardly and incompetent performance made Falkenhayn, the new chief of staff who wanted to make a contribution, furious.
On January 29, the day after Pritwitz ordered the retreat, he received two orders like a bolt from the blue at his headquarters. The first order removed him as commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army. The second order ordered him to retire immediately. Also dismissed from his post was the chief of staff of the Eighth Army.
The people who took over the responsibility of the Eighth Army were Ludendorff and Hindenburg, who were famous in later generations.
The two men enjoyed high prestige in later generations. Hindenburg also sat on the throne of the German president and single-handedly trained successors like Hitler.
However, now, they are just talented generals of the German Empire and loyal subjects of William II.
On the train to East Prussia, Ludendorff quickly came up with his own battle plan, and it was approved by Hindenburg who was accompanying him.
At this time, Hindenburg was 68 years old and had been retired for three years. However, due to an order from Falkenhayn, he was re-appointed as commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army.
His partner was Ludendorff, the new chief of staff of the Eighth Army, who had repeatedly distinguished himself in the war on the Western Front and Belgium.
The cooperation between these two people can be said to be very pleasant. On the train to East Prussia, the two had a great conversation.
Thanks to Germany's developed railway lines and transportation system, Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived at the East Prussian battlefield on the afternoon of January 30, 1915, and entered the headquarters of the Eighth Army.
At this time, the Russian army had been pursuing for dozens of kilometers. Samsonov's army had even trekked through the muddy land for several days, and was still short of many weapons, equipment and supplies.
If it were not possible to replenish some food from the German towns and farms along the way, I am afraid that the first thing Samsonov's army would face would be a food crisis.
In order to express his support for Hindenburg and Ludendorff, Falkenhayn specially sent two armies to support the Eastern Front. These two armies arrived on the Eastern Front battlefield almost at the same time as the two men, and gathered on the flanks of the two Russian armies. .
On January 31, 1915, Samsonov, who had penetrated deep into the heart of East Prussia, realized his danger and sent a telegram to his boss, General Zhilinsky, the commander of the offensive, asking for help.
But Zhilinsky's reply was: "Don't play the role of a coward and let your subordinates continue to attack." The
first level of officialdom is overwhelming, regardless of whether the boss's order is correct or not, as long as there is no greater superior to express his opinion on this order. Before questioning, as a soldier, you can only execute this order loyally and bravely. Samsonov had no choice but to continue to order the army to advance, and at the same time sent a telegram to his colleague Lennankampf for help.
But it is worth mentioning that there are also deep conflicts between Samsonov and Lennenkampf.
Fortunately, during the war between the island country and Russia, in order to deal with the attack of the island country's army, Samsonov asked General Lennankampf for help.
Lennenkampf's refusal to send reinforcements not only caused Samsonov's defense to fail at the time, but also forged hatred between the two generals.
What was even more coincidental was that the two met at a certain train station a few days later. The two people who already had hatred immediately looked at each other angrily, and soon started yelling and punching each other.
The Russians had a very hot temper, and Samsonov quickly knocked Lennenkampf to the ground, laughing and winning the civil war among the senior Russian commanders.
Of course, such behavior also deepened the hatred between the two. The conflict between Samsonov and Lennenkampf is not to mention a deep hatred, but it is definitely a hatred that will not pass easily.
Faced with the request for help from his old rival Samsonov, Lennenkampf chuckled and asked his men to throw the request for help aside.
Both his superiors and his colleagues ignored his pleas for help. This also caused the army group led by Samsonov to not only face a lack of food and clothing, but also to be extremely exhausted and surrounded by the main German army.
On February 1, Samsonov's army stopped advancing because the main force of the German army was in front of them.
Unable to capture the German positions for a long time, coupled with the lack of logistical support for his army, Samsonov originally wanted to order the army to retreat, but soon found that his rear was also full of German soldiers.
Samsonov had no choice but to order his troops to attack with all their strength, trying to open a breakthrough and evacuate as much as they could.
However, the weapons and equipment of the Russian army are not comparable to those of Germany. Samsonov's army still lacks logistical supplies, and it is even less likely to defeat the German army in terms of firepower.
Soon, the artillery fire of the Russian army was suppressed by the German army. The Russian army repeatedly tried to break out when surrounded by the German army, but suffered heavy losses and was suppressed by German artillery and machine guns.
Samsonov once again asked Zhilinsky and Lennankampf for help. Zhilinsky, who only had two armies under his command, asked another of his men, Lennankampf, to support Samsonov.
The orders of his superiors cannot be ignored, but the hatred between him and Samsonov does exist.
In the middle of the two, Lennenkampf made a decision that caused heavy losses to the Russian army. He delayed the order for two days before going to support.
What Lennankampf did not expect was that Samsonov's army could not hold out for two days before succumbing to German artillery fire.
On February 3, 1915, Samsonov's army, which had persisted for two days, suffered heavy casualties. After paying nearly 40,000 casualties, Samsonov, with a pale face, ordered his men to surrender to the Germans and left. He entered a dense forest, pointed the gun at his own head, and pulled the trigger.
Samsonov's Second Army originally had 200,000 soldiers, but 150,000 were surrounded by German troops.
The remaining 50,000 people were either injured in previous wars and transported to the rear, or were some less important troops. Samsonov ordered to defend the occupied areas and also to protect the logistics supply lines in the rear.
This also means that the 150,000 troops surrounded are almost the entire main force of the Second Army led by Samsonov.
One can imagine the combat quality of the Russian army. After suffering more than 40,000 casualties, the Russian soldiers had no idea of fighting.
Even if Samsonov did not surrender voluntarily, he would have been escorted to the Germans after his subordinates mutinied.
The final result of this battle was that the Russian Second Army suffered 40,000 casualties and 108,000 prisoners. The German army suffered only 15,000 casualties.
By the time the news that the Second Army was almost completely destroyed reached Zhilinsky's ears, it was already the next day, February 4.
Zhilinsky was shocked and ordered Lennenkampf to immediately move south to find Samsonov and the remaining troops of the Second Army.
But at this time, Lennenkampf had already been shocked by Samsonov's rapid defeat. When Zhilinsky's order arrived at the headquarters of the First Army, the commander-in-chief of the First Army Lennenkampf had already quietly returned to Russia in a special car.
Lennenkampf's desertion made Zhilinsky very angry, and he directly sent a telegram asking Archduke Nicholas to remove Lennenkampf from his post.
Grand Duke Nicholas did so, and Zhilinsky himself was also dismissed from his post.
But this has not changed the current defeat faced by the Russian army in East Prussia. After dispatching a full 500,000 combat troops, the Russian army suffered heavy casualties and was suppressed again by the Eighth Army controlled by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. the border.
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(End of chapter)