Prussia in Peril - East Prussia '14 Central Powers AAR - major victory turn 114

[ComradeP]

Turn 33 06:00 24th of August 1914



The wired road bridge north of Juditschen blew up, which will force the Russians to take a short detour.

In most cases, there are road and rail bridges close or even next to each-other and only one of them is wired. It keeps the inconvenience of destroyed infrastructure to a minimum.

As to the losses: the fighting has been mostly skirmishing thus far. I've pulled back as soon as strong Russian forces showed up in each sector. Only 2 companies of Cossacks in front of XX Armeekorps were destroyed up to this point.



1st Army captured Darkehmen. There are two Russian corps in the area, as II Army Corps moved here as well. 1. Reserve Division will slowly pull back. Given how outnumbered it is, standing and fighting would be suicidal.



36. Reserve Division has spotted some cavalry units at various points, but no Russian infantry showed up thus far.

As you can see at the bottom of the screenshot, gemischte Landwehr Brigade 6 is no longer in Lötzen, as it's moving to Nikolaiken.

The rearguard of 36. ID is in Rosengarten. Trains will soon be available to move them.



The first elements of 3. Reserve Division are redeploying. It will move back north. To Insterburg, behind Hauptreserve Koenigsberg, in a process involving multiple steps.



3. Reserve Division relieved 37. ID units at Friedrichshof. It will, in turn, soon be relieved by the lead elements of 36. ID.

37. ID will concentrate at Gedwangen, where 41. ID started. The lead elements of 35. ID are moving to Willenberg.



The trap is nearly set.

Hauptreserve Graudenz will feint weakness and will lure the Russians in for another 2-3 turns.

1. Kavallerie Division will deal with 15th Cavalry Division.

The Russian 2nd Infantry Division will walk straight into the sights of the massed guns of 1. ID and 2. ID, which will give the Russians a bloody nose and keep them from interfering as my forces move south.

In the top left of the screenshot, you can see my first reinforcements: Hauptreserve Thorn, which arrived on the 22nd and moved into the area by rail (prioritizing its rail movement meant XVII Armeekorps had to do a little more walking). Hauptreserve Thorn consists of 12 Landwehr battalions in two brigades.