Chapter 395 Russia's Defeat

As one of the largest European countries in terms of land area, Russia has very few land neighbors in Europe, including 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 flanked by Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the north and south. 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 attack direction and a northern attack 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 has 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 when Prittwitz learned that Russia was launching an offensive using two armies, he suddenly felt timid.

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, Pritwitz 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 at his headquarters like a bolt from the blue. 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.

These two people enjoyed high prestige in later generations. Hindenburg also sat on the throne of German President and single-handedly cultivated 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, which 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, let your men continue to attack."

A higher rank can crush a person. No matter whether the superior's order is right or wrong, as a soldier, he can only loyally and bravely execute the order before a higher superior questions the order.

Samsonov had no choice but to continue to order the army to advance, and at the same time sent a telegram to his colleague Rennankampf for help.

But it is worth mentioning that there was also a deeper contradiction between Samsonov and Rennankampf.

Fortunately, when the island country was at war with Russia at that time, in order to deal with the attack of the island country's army, Samsonov had asked for help from General Rennankampf.

Rennankampf insisted on not sending reinforcements, which not only caused Samsonov's defense to fail at that time, but also caused hatred between the two generals.

What's more coincidental is that the two met at a certain train station a few days later. The two people who had hatred for each other immediately glared at each other, and soon they started cursing and fighting.

The Russians were very hot-tempered. Samsonov quickly knocked Rennankampf to the ground, laughing and winning the civil war between the senior Russian commanders.

Of course, such behavior also deepened the hatred between the two. The conflict between Samsonov and Rennankampf was not a deep hatred, but it was definitely a hatred that would not be easily forgotten.

Facing his old rival Samsonov's request for help, Rennankampf chuckled and asked his men to throw the telegram for help aside.

His superiors and colleagues ignored his request for help, which not only made the army led by Samsonov face a lack of food and clothing, but also surrounded by the main German army under extreme fatigue.

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 position for a long time, coupled with the lack of logistical support for his own army, Samsonov wanted to order his army to retreat, but soon found that his rear was full of German soldiers.

Samsonov had no choice but to order his army to attack with all their strength, try to open a breakthrough, and evacuate as many as possible.

But the weapons and equipment of the Russian army were not as good as those of Germany. Samsonov's army was still lacking in logistical supplies, so it was even more impossible to surpass the German army in terms of firepower.

Soon, the artillery fire of the Russian army was suppressed by the German army. The Russian army tried to break through repeatedly under the siege of the German army, but suffered heavy losses and was suppressed by the German artillery and machine guns.

Samsonov asked Zhilinsky and Rennankampf for help again. Zhilinsky, who had only two army groups under his command, asked another of his men, Rennankampf, to support Samsonov.

The boss's order could not be ignored, but the hatred with Samsonov did exist.

Under the balance of the two, Rennankampf made a decision that caused heavy losses to the Russian army, delaying the order for two days, and then going to support.

What Rennankampf did not expect was that Samsonov's army could not hold out for two days and fell under the German artillery fire.

On February 3, 1915, Samsonov's army, which had held out for two days, suffered heavy casualties. After paying nearly 40,000 casualties, Samsonov ordered his subordinates to surrender to the Germans with a pale face, and walked into a dense forest, pointed a gun at his head, and pulled the trigger.

Samsonov's Second Army originally had 200,000 soldiers, and 150,000 were surrounded by the German army.

The remaining 50,000 people were either injured in the previous war and transported to the rear, or some unimportant troops. Samsonov ordered to defend the occupied areas and protect the logistics supply lines in the rear.

This also means that the 150,000 troops surrounded are almost all the main forces of the Second Army led by Samsonov.

The combat quality of the Russian army can be imagined. After more than 40,000 casualties, the Russian soldiers had no idea of ​​fighting.

Even if Samsonov did not surrender voluntarily, he would still be 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.

When the news of the almost complete destruction of the Second Army reached Zhilinsky, it was already February 4, the next day.

Zhilinsky was shocked and ordered Rennenkampf to move south immediately to find Samsonov and the remaining troops of the Second Army.

But Rennenkampf had already been shocked by Samsonov's rapid defeat. When Zhilinsky's order arrived at the First Army Headquarters, Rennenkampf, the commander-in-chief of the First Army, had already taken a special car and quietly returned to Russia.

Rennenkampf's desertion made Zhilinsky very angry, and he directly sent a telegram to ask Grand Duke Nicholas to remove Rennenkampf from his position.

Grand Duke Nicholas did so, and Zhilinsky himself was also removed from his position.

But this can no longer change the defeat faced by the Russian army in East Prussia. After sending out 500,000 combat troops, the Russian army suffered heavy casualties and was suppressed back to the border by the Eighth Army controlled by Hindenburg and Ludendorff.

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