WINTER BATTLES IN EAST PRUSSIA

The most northern part of the eastern front is now the only one left for our consideration. We have already learned that when the German General Staff planned its second drive against Warsaw, it had been decided to restrict the German forces collected in East Prussia south of the Niemen and east and south of the Mazurian Lakes to defensive measures. At that time—the beginning of November, 1914—and until about the beginning of February, 1915, they consisted of two army corps under the command of General von BÜlow, who at the outbreak of the war and for a few years previous to it had been in command of a division with headquarters at Insterburg, and who was therefore well qualified for his task through his intimate knowledge of the territory. About 50 per cent of his forces belonged to the Landwehr, about 25 per cent to the Landsturm and only about 25 per cent were of the first line. These faced a numerically very superior force variously estimated at five to seven army corps. The Germans therefore found it necessary to equalize this overpowering difference by withdrawing behind a strong natural line of defense. This they found once more behind the greater Mazurian Lakes to the south and behind the River Angerapp which flows out of the lakes at Angerburg to the north until it joins the river Pissa slightly to the east of Insterburg.

These positions apparently were prepared during the early part of November, 1914. For as late as November 15, 1914, fighting took place at Stallupoehnen on the Kovno-KÖnigsberg railroad and some ten miles east of the Angerapp. A few days earlier, on November 9, 1914, a Russian attack, still farther east, north of the Wysztiter Lake, had resulted in considerable losses to the Russians. North of the Pissa River the Germans managed to stick closer to their border, along which there flows a small tributary of the Niemen offering natural protection. Considerable fighting took place in this territory around the town of Pillkallen, but the German line held.

On November 30, 1914, the Russians had again occupied that part of East Prussia located between the border and the Mazurian Lake-Angerapp line. On that day the first of a long series of attacks against this very strong line was made east of Darkehmen, but was as unsuccessful as all its successors. The German Emperor saw some of this fighting during a short visit to the East Prussian defenders. All through December, 1914, the Russians made repeated attacks against the German lines, always without accomplishing their object of breaking through it and advancing again against KÖnigsberg. Of course, they inflicted severe losses on their adversaries, though their own, both in disabled and captured, were much more severe, due to the disadvantages which the difficult territory heaped upon the attacking side. By the beginning of January winter had set in in full earnest and the weather became so severe that no fighting of any importance took place throughout the entire month. The only exceptions were Russian attacks about January 15, 1915, against Loetzen, the German fortress on the eastern shore of the northernmost group of the lakes, which, however, brought no results. At the same time Gumbinnen was once more the center of considerable fighting.

Later in the month, January 26, 28, and 29, 1915, this town again and again had to pay dearly in additional destruction of what little of it that was still left of its former prosperity for the advantage of being located on the KÖnigsberg road. On January 30, 1915, the Russians attempted to break through a little further south at Darkehmen—but still the German lines held.

In the meanwhile new troops had been prepared and collected and were being rushed to that part of the east front for the purpose of clearing all of East Prussia of its invaders. These reenforcements were sent to the right and left wings of the Mazurian Lakes-Angerapp line, and the former began its attack in February. A few days before an exceptionally heavy snowfall, accompanied by very high winds and very low temperatures, had set in. This not only added to the hardships of the troops, but increased immensely the difficulties with which the leaders on both sides had to contend. On account of the weather the roads became impassable for motor cars and the railroads were hardly in better condition. At no time could a general count with any amount of certainty on the prompt execution of movements. Trains were delayed for hours and regiments appeared in their allotted positions hours late.

The right wing of the German front was sent around the southern end of the lake chain by way of Johannisburg. There the Russians had thrown up very strong fortifications in connection with the dense forests surrounding this town. To the southeast the river Pisseck forms the outlet for one of the lakes and flows toward the Narew. This line, too, was held by the Russians, who had considerable forces, both in Johannisburg and to the east in Bialla. In the late afternoon and during the night of February 8, 1915 a crossing over the Pisseck was forced and Johannisburg was stormed. Russian reenforcements from the south—Kolno—arrived too late and were thrown back with considerable losses in men and guns. In spite of the bitter cold the Germans pressed on immediately. They took Bialla on February 9, 1915, and then immediately pushed on to Lyck with part of their forces. This town, like so many other East Prussian towns, had suffered cruelly, having been in the thick of the fighting almost from the beginning of the war. Now the Russians again made a most determined stand in its vicinity, induced, no doubt, chiefly by the defensive advantages which the territory offered here. To the west of Lyck, beyond the Lyck Lake, they had built up very strong intrenchments which resisted all German attacks for days, and it was not until the middle of February, 1915, that they gave up these positions. But even then they continued to hold Lyck itself, and it was not taken until after the middle of the month. The other part of the right wing in the meantime had forced the Russians out of the southeast corner of East Prussia and was advancing against Grajeko and Augustovo.

In the north the German left wing had pushed its advance simultaneously, starting from around Tilsit and the Niemen line. The Russians fell back on strongly prepared intrenchments along the line Pillkallen-Stallupoehnen, but by February 10, 1915, they had to give up this line and withdraw still farther south and east toward Eydtkuhnen, Kibarty, and Wirballen, all places of which we heard considerable during the previous battling in East Prussia. It was snowing furiously and the Russians apparently counted with too much certainty on this as a means of keeping the Germans from following closely. They procured quarters in these three towns and were going to enjoy a much needed rest for one night. But during that night the Germans, overcoming all difficulties of snowdrifts and impassible roads, attacked and stormed Eydtkuhnen as well as Wirballen and killed, wounded, or made prisoners almost all the Russian forces located there, amounting to about 10,000 men with considerable artillery and even greater quantities of supplies. Gumbinnen also was retaken by the Germans and by February 12, 1915, they were on Russian territory and advancing once more against Suwalki.

By the middle of February the last Russian had been driven out of Germany. This series of battles, known commonly as the "Winter Battle of the Mazurian Lakes" not only freed East Prussia, but yielded comparatively large results in the numbers of prisoners taken. In nine days' fighting about 50,000 men, 40 guns, and 60 machine guns were captured. Both sides, of course, suffered also heavy losses in killed and wounded. These great battles here briefly summarized to round out the account of the operations of the first six months are described in greater detail in Volume III.[Back to Contents]