WI an Austro-Hungarian Tannenberg

Tom_B

Several WWI histories I've read claim that the Russian Fifth Army under the impetuous Gen. von Plehve was in serious danger of being encircled during the Battle of Komarov.

POD: Battle of Komarov On August 31 Auffenberg in command of the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army decides to try to encircle the Russian Fifth Army under Gen. von Plehve.

1 Sept: The Russian Fifth Army is encircled. Meanwhile the Austro-Hungarian First Army is halted by the Russian Fourth Army before it can reach Lublin.

2 Sept: Learning of the plight of Fifth Army, the commander of the Russian Third Army, Gen. Ruszki orders a forced march to rescue Fifth Army. Frantic attempts by Fifth Army to break out are largely unsuccessful though here and a battalion leaks out.

3 Sept: Russian Eighth Army under Gen. Brusilov takes Lemberg. Much of Russian Fifth Army surrenders though there are still some stubborn pockets of resistance.

4 Sept: Conrad sacks Gen. Brudermann the commander of his Third Army and replaces him with Gen. Boroevic. In the north Gen. von Hindenburg’s Eighth Army pursues what’s left of the Russian Second Army under Gen. Schniedemann. Russian cavalry divisions at the vanguard of Third Army cross the Solokiya River and attack the Austro-Hungarian XVII Corps which has taken position as a flank guard now that most of Russian Fifth Army is destroyed. Even though only a fraction of their artillery is in position they still hold against the Russian cavalry.

5 Sept: In the early morning the rest of the Russian Fifth Army is eliminated. The Austro-Hungarians have taken over 100,000 prisoners and captured more than 500 guns plus a large store of supplies. Meanwhile the Russian XXI Corps coming off several days of forced marches attacks XVII Corps soon after dawn without artillery support. The Austro-Hungarians are prepared with artillery in place. During the rest of the day the Russian Third Army makes additional attacks against Fourth Army with minimal success but using up much of its artillery shells.

6 Sept: The center of Gen. Dankl’s First Army broken by Russian Fourth Army at Krasnotav forcing them to fall back towards the San River. The Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army supplements its artillery with some of the captured Russian guns and after a furious artillery duel, counterattacks Russian Third Army with moderate success.

7 Sept: The German Eighth Army opens the Battle of Masurian Lakes shattering half of Russian XX Corps and taking Biala. Gen. Boroviec discovers a 20 mile gap south of Rava Russka between the Russian Third and Eighth Armies and rapidly exploits it with the elite XIV Corps (Kaiserjaeger) and a cavalry division. Assisted by the German Landwehr Corps the Austro-Hungarian First Army temporarily regains the initiative in heavy fighting at Tarnawka. Russian cavalry reach the Carpathian Mountains.

8 Sept: In the north the German Eighth Army breaks through the Russian lake defenses and tries to disrupt the Russian lines of communication. Ruszki and Brusilov both began to withdraw to the east. News of the destruction of Russian Fifth Army reaches Moscow. Because von Plehve was a German there is widespread outcries against the Germans in the Russian military and government (incl. the Tsarina) being traitors.

9 Sept: The German Eighth Army defeats the Russians at Lyck. Gen. von François’ I Corps turns the flank of the Russian First Army under Gen. Rennenkampf. The Russian Third and Eighth Armies continue retreating with some units panicking esp. in Third Army. Conrad (Just how big is Conrad’s head now? “It’s the size of Texas, Mr. President”) demands a maximum offensive effort by all his armies. Auffenberg and esp. Dankl have a better understanding of how of just how battered their formations really are and so exhibit some caution. Archduke Josef Ferdinand and Böhm-Ermolli on the other hand try to fulfill Conrad’s fantasies. The antiGerman unrest in Moscow turns into rioting against any establishment suspected of being German.

10 Sept: Heavy rains begin in the south. Dankl’s Austro-Hungarian First Army is soundly defeated at the Battle of Krasnik by the Russian Fourth Army. Brusilov has skillfully made an orderly withdrawal and formed a defensive position on the Gnila Lipa River. Due to the flooding neither Boroevic nor Böhm-Ermolli dare to attack. While Brusilov is cautiously optimistic the more skittish Ruszki who has formed his defenses on the Bug River is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and sending overly pessimistic reports to Gen. Ivanov at Southwestern Front. Further adding to Ivanov’s pessimism is has become obvious to his staff that Southwestern Front is running out of shells. In the north the German Eighth Army takes Suvalki but to Ludendorff’s profound disappointment fails to encircle Rennenkampf’s First Army which is falling back towards the great fortress of Kovno. The Moscow riots continue with the rioters calling for the Tsarina to be forced into a nunnery.

11 Sept: In the early morning a deeply worried Ivanov over the objections of his chief of staff, Gen. Alexeev issues orders for the Fourth Army to halt where it is but is just barely persuaded by Alexeev not to order Third Army to retire back to Brody and the Eighth Army back to the Zlota Lipa River. The heavy rains here have turned the roads into swamps putting a temporary brake even on Conrad’s mania (well sort of). The Moscow riots are finally put down by Cossack units.

Comments welcome. Let me know if this is worth continuing.
 

rast

Looks good! - Plehwe's chief of staff bore the name Müller. That should suffice for some anti-German riots.
The Russians suffered opposite the Germans because of the superior German artillery. If the Austrian succeed in concentrating their guns where they need them, they can stage simular successes. Austro-Hungarian artillery was of a generally good quality.
 

Tom_B

rast said:
Looks good! - Plehwe's chief of staff bore the name Müller. That should suffice for some anti-German riots.
The Russians suffered opposite the Germans because of the superior German artillery. If the Austrian succeed in concentrating their guns where they need them, they can stage simular successes. Austro-Hungarian artillery was of a generally good quality.
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IIRC Austro-Hungarian field artillery had some problems with mediocre shell quality at the beginning of the war.
 

Tom_B

Continuation

12 Sept: The Austro-Hungarian Second Army attacks Brusilov’s Eighth Army but is easily repulsed. Conrad persuades Moltke to order Hindenburg to send 2 corps to Cracow to take part in an offensive operation alongside his First Army. Conrad orders Auffenberg to return the 3 infantry divisions he had received from Third Army during the Battle of Kamarov and then pivot to the northwest and attack the open left flank of the Russian Fourth Army as soon as possible.

13 Sept: Ivanov denies Brusilov requested permission to go back on the offensive. In the north the Russian First Army turns on the pursuing Eighth Army and halts them at Sredniki near the Niemen River.

14 Sept: Falkenhayn replaces Moltke as Chief of Staff of the German Army. He sees no reason to rescind the transfer of 2 corps ordered by Moltke but neither does he see an urgent need to increase its size as his ally is doing reasonably well. At Alexeev’s urging Ivanov permits Fourth Army to resume its offensive, but finds Dankl has entrenched First Army which makes the Russian advance very slow and costly.

16 Sept: Auffenberg’s Fourth Army overpowers the flank guard of the Russian Fourth Army while Dankl’s First Army launches a frontal counterattack.

17 Sept: The newly formed Russian Ninth Army under the command of Gen. Lechitski attacks the left wing of Dankl’s First Army pushing it south. Meanwhile Auffenberg’s Fourth Army continues to overpower the left wing of Evert’s Fourth Army. The end result is that the front line is pivoting with the Russians right advancing but the Russian Left falling back. Gen. Ruszki replaces Gen. Zhilinski as commander of Northwestern Front. Gen. Radko-Dmitriev replaces Ruszki as commander of Third Army. Kaiser Wilhelm orders that the small German army being formed at Czestochowa and Cracow which is tentatively called Army Detachment Mackensen remain under the command of overall command of Hindenburg.

18 Sept: Lechitski’s Ninth Army takes Sandomir in the morning while Auffenberg’s Fourth Army takes Lublin in the afternoon after heavy fighting, interfering with the main supply line of the Russian Fourth Army. After receiving an optimistic report from Radko-Dmitriev, Ivanov orders Third Army and Eighth Army to go back on the offensive. Böhm-Ermolli’s Second Army has not entrenched and is soon overpowered by Brusilov’s Eighth Army. Boroevic’s Third Army however has become well entrenched and is able to repel the attack of the Russian Third Army.

19 Sept: At dawn Mackensen marches XVII Army Corps out of Czestochowa and XI Army Corps out of Cracow. Conrad has reluctantly granted him “temporary authority” over Kummer Group while Woyrsch Group covers his left flank. Evert is becoming extremely worried about being trapped against the Vistula and so there is a furious counterattack by the elite Grenadier Corps which retakes Lublin but suffers devastating casualties in the process. Radko-Dmitriev makes another attack but is only able to advance 3 miles. Brusilov is doing much better against Böhm-Ermolli’s Second Army but does not want to create a new gap with Third Army and so is advancing more rapidly in the south than the north. German Eighth Army attacks Suvalki and Augustowo, which are quickly abandoned by the Russians.

20 Sept: Heavy fighting continues at Lublin where Auffenberg again uses most of the Russian artillery he captured at the Battle of Kamarov. After that setback an increasingly pessimistic Evert orders his right wing to pull back all the way to Ivanogorod Fortress. This creates problems for the still incomplete Russian Ninth Army to his southwest. The German Eighth Army reaches the Niemen River.

21 Sept: Dankl’s First Army vigorously pursues Lechitski’s Ninth Army which is now trying to make a fighting withdrawal to Ivanogorod as well but is struggling with clogged roads. Heavy fighting continues at Lublin. Elements of the Russian Eighth Army take Czernowitz in the Bukovina. Frustrated by his slow progress in frontal assaults Radko-Dmitriev now launches short flanking attacks against Boroevic’s Third Army.

22 Sept: Russian warplanes spot the approach of Army Detachment Mackensen near Kielce and overestimate the German strength. This news increases the sense of panic in the Russian Fourth and Ninth Armies as well as at Southwestern Front. Group Woyrsch takes Lodz.

23 Sept: A deeply worried Ivanov orders Ninth Army to retire to Warsaw and Fourth Army to Brest-Litovsk. Meanwhile the Russian Third and Eighth Armies are continuing to advance to the west. The German Eighth Army is heavily engaged by the Russians on the Niemen River near Kopciowa.
 

Tom_B

24 Sept: Mackensen takes Radom easily in the early morning. The fortress at Ivanogorod complicates the Austro-Hungarian’s situation and for that reason Conrad decides against pursuing the Russian Ninth and Fourth Armies. He wants Mackensen and Dankl to capture Ivangorod with the aid of Skoda 12” howitzers. Unhappy that Boroevic and Böhm-Ermolli are still losing ground to Rako-Dmitriev and Brusilov, Conrad orders Affenberg’s Fourth Army to head southeast and counterattack the right flank of the Russian Third Army. Russian artillery batteries destroy the German pontoon bridges erected by the Eighth Army over the Niemen River. The Ottoman Empire closes the Dardanelles to all shipping (a week earlier than OTL on account of the greater CP success against Russia)

25 Sept: Mackensen and Dankl invest Ivangorod. The German Eighth Army fails again to establish a bridgehead over the Niemen River. The Eighth Army also begins a bombardment of the Russian fort at Osovets. On account of the better Austro-Hungarian performance Pilsudski is starting to experience moderately greater success in recruiting for his Polish Legion than OTL.

26 Sept: Radko-Dmitriev’s Third Army reaches the outskirts of Lemberg. Stavka transfers Fourth and Ninth Armies to the command of Northwestern Front. It also orders Second Army which is still reforming to move to Lukov between Ninth and Fourth Armies.

27 Sept: Austrian 12” howitzers begin shelling Ivangorod. Radko-Dmitriev’s Third Army penetrates into Lemberg where it takes heavy casualties in fierce house to house fighting. Meanwhile he has become aware that Auffenberg is approaching to attack his open right flank and tries to stall him with cavalry and XXI Corps northeast of Rava Russka.

28 Sept: Russian XXI Corps is temporarily able to halt Auffenberg’s Fourth Army near Rava Russka but suffers very heavily doing so and by dusk its shattered remnants are fleeing south in panic. Fierce house to house fighting continues inside Lemberg. Rennenkampf’s First Army attacks on the Niemen River line between Grodno and Kovno. Having sent only 2 corps to assist Conrad the German Eighth Army is more than twice as strong as it was in OTL at this point and so is better able to handle the Russian attack.

29 Sept: Auffenberg’s Fourth Army now envelops the right flank of Radko-Dmitriev’s Third Army which withdraws from the badly damaged city of Lemberg. Heavy fighting between Hindenburg’s Eighth Army and Rennenkampf’s First Army in and around Augustowo Forest.

30 Sept: With Third Army now in deep trouble Southwestern Front orders Brusilov to halt his advance. At the Battle of Augustowo Hindenburg’s Eighth Army defeats the Rennenkamp’s First Army which then retreats back across the Niemen River.

1 Oct: Ludendorff and Hoffman decide to concentrate on the siege of Osovets rather than trying to cross the Niemen again. Their airplanes have observed the movement of Russian Second Army heading to the south and fear that the Russians may be planning to save Ivangorod. They decide to reinforce Mackensen by rail with the XX Army Corps and to warn Conrad. Grand Duke Nikolai wants to sack Gen. Ivanov but the Tsar overrules him. Persia asks Russia to withdraw her troops from her northern territory (again a week earlier than OTL)

2 Oct: Conrad transfers VI Corps from Fourth Army to Boroevic’s Third Army which is to continue chasing Radko-Dmitriev. He then orders Auffenberg to turn Fourth Army around yet again and take up station at Cholm.

3 Oct: The German Eighth Army finally captures the second rate but stubborn Russian fortress at Osovets then continues advancing towards the important railroad junction at Bialystok.
 

rast

What happens in the west? If things go reasonable well there for Germany, the four new Reserve-Korps (which have insufficient training and incomplete equipment) could go to quiet sectors of the front, while 4 battle experienced corps could become OHL Reserve. Pending events in France, this reserve might also be deployed eastwards.
 

RCTFI

Interesting TL. I like how it approaches the issue of CP performance from an angle as opposed to from the usual routes. It's like the "Fitter Italian Military" TL, I guess. Excellent work taking a look at an under-examined area of a war that some would have said had had all its good PODs used already! :)
 

Tom_B

rast said:
What happens in the west? If things go reasonable well there for Germany, the four new Reserve-Korps (which have insufficient training and incomplete equipment) could go to quiet sectors of the front, while 4 battle experienced corps could become OHL Reserve. Pending events in France, this reserve might also be deployed eastwards.
Click to expand...

Good question. So far the Western Front is completely convergent. The reserve corps that went into the Ypres meat grinder OTL will still do so. At some point the Eastern Front divergence will impact the West as well but we are not there yet.
 

Tom_B

Part III

4 Oct: Learning that most of Dankl’s Fourth Army has left Radko-Dmitriev orders a counterattack against Boroevic’s Third Army despite having very few artillery shells left. This attack goes badly and only worsens his tactical situation. Stavka finally decides to form a new Fifth Army but initially it will be small with only 2 corps. Kummer Group is dissolved into Dankl’s First Army.

5 Oct: Northwestern Front orders Russian Fourth, Second and Ninth Armies to begin advancing south to try to lift the siege Ivangorod, despite the reformed Second Army being incomplete. Elements of the German Eighth Army take Mlawa in northern Poland taking advantage of the removal of the Russian Second Army. Radko-Dmitriev’s Third Army is again trying to make a stand on the banks of the Bug River. He has lost over 80,000 men (nearly half captured) and 60 guns plus most of his stores in the last week.

6 Oct: Ivangorod Fortress which proved to be less formidable than its reputation surrenders in the early afternoon. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians capture 35,000 prisoners plus many guns and a large quantity of ammunition and food. News of its surrender is a severe shock to Stavka. Mackensen meets with Dankl. They now know that a large mass of Russians are heading their way. Macksensen stresses the importance of vigorously entrenching before the enemy arrives as well as making good use of the captured Russian artillery. Flug’s Tenth Army halts the German advance 5-6 miles from Bialystok in heavy fighting.

7 Oct: Auffenberg’s Fourth Army arrives at Cholm and begins to entrench as well. Impressed by the fall of Ivangorod Ludendorff tells Falkenhayn that with 10 more divisions the Russian Armies in Congress Poland can be completely destroyed. However Falkenhayn is intent on taking Arras and turning the French flank at this time and so denies this request except to promise to send 2 of the “August Volunteers” reserve divisions east once they are ready. Heavy fighting continues near Bialystok.

8 Oct: In the morning Lechitski’s Ninth Army attacks Army Detachment Mackensen while Sheideman’s reformed Second Army attacks Dankl’s Fourth Army. The Russian batteries have inadequate ammunition and both attacks fail. In the afternoon Evert’s Fourth Army makes only a half hearted attack on Auffenberg’s Fourth Army. By this time Auffenberg has acquired an awesome reputation only partially deserved and this intimidates the cautious Evert. Auffenberg decides against counterattacking because his army has alternated between hard marching and heavy combat since the war began and is thoroughly exhausted.

9 Oct: Lechitski and Sheideman vigorously continue their attacks against Mackensen and Dankl. The former is an unmitigated disaster. Sheideman does somewhat better overpowering much of the enemy’s forward trench but suffers very heavy losses doing so. In the afternoon Mackensen counterattacks Lechitski’s Ninth Army which has not entrenched and by nightfall the Russians are in headlong retreat. Boroevic’s Third Army penetrates the Bug River defensive line of Radko-Dmitriev.

10 Oct: In the morning Mackensen successfully attacks the right flank of Sheideman’s Second Army which is now exposed on account of the retreat of Lechitski’s Ninth Army. Impressed with the recent victories Kaiser Franz Josef promotes Archduke Friedrich to Generalfeldmarschal (in OTL this did not happen until 24 Dec after Limanowa). The archduke gives most of the credit for this to Conrad and is very grateful.

11 Oct: Army Detachment Mackensen is officially redesignated Ninth Army. Together with Dankl’s Fourth Army he is pursuing the Russian Ninth and Fourth Armies which are now retreating north and are joined by Evert’s Fourth Army before the day is over. A panicky Ruszki informs Stavka that the entire Northwestern Front should retreat to a line Kovno-Grodno-Brest-Litovsk but Grand Duke Nicholas does not concur.

12 Oct: Radko-Dmitriev puts a brake on Boroevic’s advance on the outskirts of Brody.

13 Oct: Sheideman rallies Second Army and delivers a counterattack that halts Dankl’s progress.

14 Oct: The Russian Ninth, Second and Fourth Armies form a defensive line stretching from the Vistula to the Bug and try to entrench with some success. Conrad convinces Archduke Friedrich that Gen. Potoirek’s plans for another offensive in Serbia in November are unnecessary and with the approach of winter too risky. Instead Conrad wants XIII Corps transferred from Fifth Army to the Bukovina to reinforce Group Pflanzer-Baltin in an attack on Czernowitz. The archduke readily concurs even though it causes a storm of protest from Conrad’s longtime rival Potoirek.

15 Oct: The XXV Reserve Corps detrains at Radom to reinforce Mackensen’s Ninth Army and is given immediate orders to proceed north of the Vistula along with Woyrsch’s Landwehr divisions to attack Warsaw from the west which is only defended by 2 Russian cavalry divisions,some poorly trained and armed Territorial battalions and a fortress garrison brigade inside the city itself.

(Note Western Front remains 99.9% convergent with OTL. So far)
 

Tom_B

From now on I am going to be less detailed.

Last Half of October 1914: The bad news for the Russians in this period is that the Central Powers have seized the strategic initiative just about everywhere and control much of western Poland. The occasional Russian counterattacks are purely tactical in nature and usually not very successful. Even Brusilov is mostly on the defensive as shell shortage is a big problem. The good news is that after some small additional retreats to the north by Ninth, Fourth and Second Armies their defenses are for the most part holding. A bold German attempt by Mackensen to take Warsaw by coup de main from the west was repelled at Bolimov on 18 Oct. Likewise Ludendorff’s repeated attempts to cut a key Russian rail artery at Bialystok all fail. The small reconstructed Fifth Army under the command of Gen. Sievers is inserted between Evert’s Fourth Army and Radko-Dmitriev’s Third Army helping to stabilize the front. Conrad’s demands on his army are exceeding their capability and his better commanders are looking for excuses not to carry them out. Radko-Dmitriev is hard pressed but manages to hold on to Brody. The most conspicuous Central Power success occurs at Czernowitz which Pflanzer-Baltin reinforced with XIII Corps retakes Czernowit on 27 Oct with relative ease. After that he continues advancing into western Podolia.

During this period Hindenburg, Ludendorff and to a lesser degree Conrad are all screaming at Falkenhayn demanding that he commit more divisions to the East. However Falkenhayn firmly believes that their success is all the more reason not to reinforce them any further at this time and continue with his owns plans to turn the Entente line and seize the Channel Ports. The Battle of Ypres proceeds as per OTL.

Ruszki continues to argue for abandoning Warsaw and the great fortress of Novo-Georgievsk but Grand Duke Nicholas adamantly opposes this option. He believes that once the Russian Army’s heavy losses have been filled by replacement troops he can go on the offensive again though just where remains a hot topic. There continues to get great popular displeasure with how the war is going.

29 Oct: Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia as per OTL though arguably it might very well have done so earlier in TTL.

1 Nov: Kaiser Wilhelm appoints von Hindenburg as supreme commander for all German forces in the East. While he continues to find Ludendorff to be insufferable he is nevertheless salivating over the prospect of taking Warsaw. He therefore insists that Winckler’s composite Guard Division be sent East (in OTL he suggested its use at Ypres). Falkenhayn grinds his teeth and bites his tongue but complies. (first significant Western Front divergence)
 
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Abdul Hadi Pasha

Banned
Tom_B said:
29 Oct: Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia as per OTL though arguably it might very well have done so earlier in TTL.
Click to expand...

I would rate entering earlier as unlikely. Time was needed to reorganize after the Balkan Wars and an agreement needed to be arranged with Bulgaria. Plus, the government was split and it took time and Goeben to tip the balance in favor of the pro-CP faction.
 

maverick

Banned
From now on I am going to be less detailed.
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Its OK, this is quite good...

I'd prefer as less structured writing, with general descriptions rather than day to day...

Although the current form does remind me of OTL.com and those WWI TLs that got me started...

Is Grand Duke Nicholas still commander in Chief or might this make the Tsar more eager to take personal command earlier?
 

Tom_B

Abdul Hadi Pasha said:
I would rate entering earlier as unlikely. Time was needed to reorganize after the Balkan Wars and an agreement needed to be arranged with Bulgaria. Plus, the government was split and it took time and Goeben to tip the balance in favor of the pro-CP faction.
Click to expand...

I was at most thinking of 2-5 days earlier.
 

Tom_B

maverick said:
Its OK, this is quite good...

I'd prefer as less structured writing, with general descriptions rather than day to day...

Although the current form does remind me of OTL.com and those WWI TLs that got me started...

Is Grand Duke Nicholas still commander in Chief or might this make the Tsar more eager to take personal command earlier?
Click to expand...

Good points. Grand Duke Nicholas is at this time (ie. mid Nov) still in charge but is under considerably more pressure than OTL at this time.
 
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