Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (younger)
With the outbreak of war, Russia launched two fronts: North-West and South-West. The military operations of the East Prussian operation of the troops of the North-Western Front (4 of August - 1 of September) began. The supreme commander-in-chief of the cavalry led. Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich (the Younger) decided even before the end of the mobilization and concentration of troops on the border with Germany to begin military operations - helping the allies on the Western Front.
The North-Western Front (commander-in-chief of the cavalry Ya. G. Zhilinsky) had two armies. The 1 Army (commander of the infantry general P.-G.K. Rennenkampf) was ordered to advance around the Masurian Lakes from the north, cutting off enemy troops from the capital of East Prussia - Koenigsberg and the lower reaches of the river. Vistula The 2 Army (commander of the cavalry general A.V. Samsonov) was tasked to advance around the Masurian Lakes from the west, preventing the enemy from leaving the Vistula. Thus, the idea of the operation was to cover the enemy grouping from both flanks.
During the deployment of the main forces, a curtain of cavalry formations and units was exhibited along the borders. The first clash between our troops and the enemy in this war took place on the border with East Prussia, near places. Love. Here at one of the sentinel patrols were 5 Cossacks of the 3 Don Cossack Regiment - the ordering K.F. Kryuchkov and 4 privates. On the morning of 30 July, local peasants reported that they had seen an enemy detachment of three dozen lancers. Kryuchkov decided to intercept them and capture them - to ride along the border, push the Germans away from it and drive them into the Russian rear. Three Cossacks, led by Kryuchkov, went to the place where the enemy was discovered, and the fifth carried a report to his regiment about his appearance.
K. Kryuchkov
Seeing the Germans, the Cossacks began to pursue them until they pressed them to the swamp. Then the Germans turned back and rushed into a frontal attack. The Cossacks dismounted and opened fire. The Germans began to leave, and the Cossacks pursued them for several kilometers and, catching up, opened fire. Meanwhile, the enemy realized that there were few Cossacks, and rushed to them in a new attack. During this shootout, an officer, the commander of an enemy detachment, was hit by a bullet, which, however, did not stop the enemy. The Cossacks had to retreat. The Germans caught up with one of them and began to stab him with peaks. The other three returned to help out a comrade: Kryuchkov fought immediately with three lancers, the remaining Cossacks also attacked the enemy.
Soon, about a dozen Germans rushed to Kryuchkov. One of them tried to cut down the Cossack with a broadsword, he repulsed the blow, but was wounded in the arm. Then, having thrown the rifle, he grabbed his saber with a bleeding hand and cut down the German. But the number of enemies increased, and they, taking Kryuchkov in a tight ring, tried to knock him off the horse with spades. Then the Cossack, having contemplated, pulled out a pike from the lancer, began to fight off it and stab the enemy. As a result, he managed to break the ring and escape from the enemy. Three of his comrades fought off the Germans. 14 killed Germans remained on the battlefield, 11 of which accounted for Kryuchkov. He himself received 16 puncture wounds with a spade and a right hand wound with a broadsword, and the rest of the Cossacks were wounded. All of them were sent to the infirmary. The commander of the 1 Army Rennenkampf personally awarded Kryuchkov the St. George Cross of the 4 degree for No. 1. A simple Don Cossack became the first St. George cavalier of the First World War (For more on this, see: Cossack dictionary-reference book. In 3, vol. M., 1992. (Reproduction reproduction, ed. 1968, San Anselmo, California, USA); Korolev VN Stary Veshki: A Tale of Cossacks. Rostov n / a, 1991.).
K. Kryuchkov and the Germans
The offensive of the 1-th Russian army began on August 4 by the invasion of East Prussia. In a three-day period, the Rennenkampf army inflicted a serious defeat on the enemy forces at Stallupenen and in the Gumbinen-Goldap battle. However, then the army actually stomped on the spot - its further offensive was carried out slowly and not towards joining Samsonov’s 2 army, but towards Koenigsberg. Taking advantage of the gap that had developed between the Russian armies and knowing from our intercepted radiograms about their plan of action, the German command directed almost all the forces of its 2 army against the 8th Russian army.
It should be noted that the initial success of the Rennenkampf army so stunned the enemy that he removed from the Western (French) front and sent two corps and one cavalry division to East Prussia. As a result of the 13 - 15 fights of August, German troops drove away the flanking corps of the 2 Army, and then surrounded and defeated its central group east of Neidenburg. The remaining forces of the 2 Army of Samsonov withdrew beyond the river. Narew, the commander shot himself. 24 of August - 2 of September, the Germans inflicted several attacks on the 1-th Russian army and drove it to the Middle Neman. However, despite the unsuccessful outcome, the East Prussian operation had important strategic results: the enemy withdrew troops from the Western Front, thereby greatly facilitating the position of France in the decisive days of the battle on the Marne, and ultimately was defeated in it.
I will add: the scale of the losses of Samsonov’s army was greatly overestimated by German propaganda.In reality, about 6 thousand were killed and about 20 thousand people were killed in battles in East Prussia, up to 30 thousand were captured, and over 20 thousand escaped from encirclement. The most severe losses were suffered by the XIII and XV army corps of the 2 Army, while the rest retreated. The new commander of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief appointed the cavalry general S.M. Scheidemann, before that commander of the II Army Corps. Having assumed the new position on August 23, he quickly regrouped the 2 Army and soon began active fighting.
It should be recalled that in the battles in East Prussia the first person awarded the officer’s order of St. George of the 4 degree appeared. At that time, the 3 m squadron of the Horse Guards regiment, which was part of the cavalry corps of Khan Nakhichevan (1 Army), was commanded by captain P.N. Wrangel. In one of the battles, the enemy entrenched with two guns in the village of Kaushen and did not allow our units to move forward. All attacks on this settlement were choked, it was also impossible to stay in place, since the Germans were well shot and caused great damage to our cavalry. Then Wrangel was given the task: to suppress enemy artillery. The only chance was a sudden, rapid head-on horseback attack. And the captain led his squadron into mortal combat. The horse guards suffered serious damage - it knocked out all the officers except Wrangel, a horse was killed under it. But they managed to capture the guns, destroy the enemy artillerymen and take down the village immediately. So P.N. Wrangel, later one of the leaders of the White movement, earned the highest military award of the Russian army.
P. Wrangel
5 August began the battle of Galicia. Before the Southwestern Front (commander-in-chief general of artillery N.I. Ivanov), the Headquarters of the Supreme commander-in-chief set the task: to encircle and destroy the main forces of the Austro-Hungarian army by concentrating the 4th (commander of the infantry A.E. Zalts) and 5 -th (general from the cavalry P.A. Pleve) of the armies from the north, 3-th (general from the infantry N.V. Ruzsky) and 8-th (general from the cavalry A.A. Brusilov) - from the east. The plan, in fact, was dictated by the outlines of the borders and the general plans of the Headquarters, according to which it was necessary to defeat Austria-Hungary, while the German troops were linked on the French front.
The Austro-Hungarian command was planning the defeat of the right wing of the Southwestern Front (4 and 5 armies) with the forces of its 1 and 4 armies and other formations, from the east providing the operation of the 2 and 3 Austro by the Hungarian armies. In general, the balance of power was approximately equal. In Galicia and Poland at the front, with a length of over 400 km, a grand battle began. Its main stages were Lublin-Kholmskaya (battles at Krasnik and Tomashov), Galich-Lviv operations (battles on the Zolotaya Lipa and Rotten Lipa rivers), the Gorodok battle, the second offensive 9 (commander of the infantry general P.A. Lechitsky), 4-th and 5-th Russian armies and, finally, the pursuit of the Austro-Hungarian troops to r. Dunajec.
The headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, at the request of the French allies, began the operation without completing the complete concentration and deployment of the Russian armies. On August 5, the 8 Army began an offensive on the left wing, and five days later, the remaining armies of the Southwestern Front. Then the 1 and 4 I Austro-Hungarian armies launched an attack in the direction of Lublin and Kholm. On August 10 - 21 in the Krasnik - Tomashov region a fierce battle took place, as a result of which the enemy forced the 4 (since August 13, the commander of infantry AE Evert) and the 5 Russian armies to withdraw to Lublin, Kholm and Vladimir- Volynsky. However, the further advance of the Austro-Hungarian forces was halted by the staunchness of the Russian soldiers and the swift offensive of the 3 and 8 armies in Galicia. 13 - 15 of August on the river. The Golden Linden 3 Army of General Ruzsky broke through the enemy front southeast of Lviv, and Brusilov’s army repelled the counterattack of the enemy’s 2 Army. He began to hastily retreat, and on 20 of August the Russian 8 Army entered Galich, and the next day the 3 Army entered Lviv.
The enemy command, leaving a weak barrier against the 5-th Russian army, threw the 4-th army to the Lviv region and strengthened the 2-th and 3-th reserves. 23 - On 30 on August west of Lviv, the oncoming Gorodok battle took place. The Austro-Hungarian troops initially achieved partial success and supplanted the Brusil 8 army. However, large reinforcements soon came - to the right of the 4-th army of Evert, the 9-I - Lechitsky was introduced. The preponderance of Russian troops became obvious: the 4 Army was partially successful, then all Russian formations went on the offensive and began to push the enemy.
On August 26, the Evert army broke through the enemy front in the Tarnavka region and soon the entire left wing of the Austro-Hungarian troops began a hasty retreat. The 5-I army of Pleve, advancing on the Rava-Russian, began to threaten the rear of the Austro-Hungarian 4 Army. All this made the enemy command interrupt the Battle of Gorodok and on the night of August 30 begin the general retreat of the Austro-Hungarian troops over the river. Dignity
The next day, August 31, the commander in chief of the armies of the Southwestern Front Ivanov ordered the pursuit of the enemy. However, it developed slowly, as Russian troops were exhausted by previous battles. The enemy managed to break away - on September 3, his troops crossed San, and on September 4 they continued an erratic retreat for Dunajec. On the same day, the 3-I army of Ruzsky blocked the powerful fortress of Przemysl, but due to a lack of siege artillery, lifted the blockade and retreated to the east coast of Sana'a. Depletion of forces and frustration of the rear forced the Russian command to stop the pursuit of the enemy on September 8 at the border of the Danube.
The strategic and political significance of the Battle of Galicia, one of the largest in the First World War, was enormous. On the gigantic front between the Vistula and the Dniester, about 2 million people and up to 5 thousand guns acted on both sides. The enemy troops lost about 400 thousand people (a quarter of them prisoners) and 400 guns. The losses of the Russian troops amounted to about 230 thousand people (including 40 thousand prisoners) and 94 guns. The armies of the Southwestern Front advanced deep into enemy territory at 280 - 300 km, occupied Galicia and part of Austrian Poland, creating a threat of invasion of Hungary and Silesia.
This defeat meant a complete failure of the plans of the Austro-Hungarian command, nullified the successes of the German troops in the East Prussian operation, diverted the forces of Austria-Hungary from Serbia and undermined the fighting efficiency of Germany’s main ally. After the Battle of Galicia, Germany had to withdraw from the French front and send significant contingents of troops to help Austria-Hungary, which, in turn, greatly facilitated the position of the Allies in the Entente. Finally, the defeat of Austria-Hungary in the Battle of Galicia forced Germany to accelerate the attraction of Bulgaria and Turkey to its side.
The impressive victory of our troops was met with enthusiasm in Russia. Having reported to Nicholas II on the successful actions of the commanders of the armies of the Southwestern Front, the Supreme Commander led. Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich applied for the award of them all, as well as many corps commanders and division heads, with the Order of St. George. So the commander-in-chief of the front armies Ivanov received the 2-th degree of this order, the generals Ruzsky and Brusilov - two orders of the 4-th and 3-th degrees, Pleve and Evert - on the 4-th degree, and Lechitsky - Georgievskoe weapon with diamonds.
However, Nikolai Nikolaevich was very upset by the defeat of our armies in East Prussia. To encourage and support him, Nicholas II decided to personally go to Headquarters in Baranavichy, where he arrived on September 21. On the third day of his stay there, the tsar announced his decision to award Nikolai Nikolaevich the Order of St. George of the 3 degree, and the chief of staff of the General Headquarters, Infantry N.N. Yanushkevich and the Quartermaster General of the Infantry General Yu.N. Danilova - Order of the 4-th degree.
P.N. Nesterov
During the Battle of Galicia, the famous Russian pilot P.N. Nesterov accomplished a feat. Long before the war, he made a number of record flights, first began practicing night flights on maneuvers, introduced a bank roll, and in September 1913 for the first time in world practice performed a “dead loop”, often called the Nesterov loop. From the beginning of the war, Staff Captain Nesterov commanded the 11 m squadron of the 3 th army of Ruzsky, organized and conducted aerial reconnaissance, and bombed enemy carts with grenades. The famous ace made 13 sorties. And on 26 of August, in the next flight in the area of Zhovkva, he met an Austrian plane bombing our infantry. Nesterov’s “Moran” had no airborne weapons, and the pilot for the first time in stories went to ram. The hero shot down the enemy, but he died. For his feat, he was posthumously awarded the Order of St. George of the 4 degree.
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