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.

[ComradeP]

Turn 36 12:00 24rd of August 1914



1st Army is advancing again. Hauptreserve Koenigsberg will keep pulling back 2-3 hexes each turn towards Insterburg.

As the spike in Russian losses shows, my offensive in the south has begun.



1. Reserve Division can still parry the Russian blows as it withdraws, but pressure is mounting. 36. Reserve Division will need to reposition soon to cover the Maryszki, but as will be seen Russian infantry will soon turn up at Buddern too.



Screened by the other units of the Feste Boyen garrison, gemischte Landwehr Brigade 6 moves to Nikolaiken and the reservists move towards Sensburg.



XX Armeekorps is moving west, XVII Armeekorps is moving in.

3. Reserve Division is lining up on the rail line. As soon as the movement of Hauptreserve Thorn has been completed, trains will be available.



The offensive started on the 10:00 turn, the previous turn. Instead of a direct attack against the Russian spearhead, the attack hit the flank and the indirect approach forced the spearhead at Neidenburg to relocate.

The lead elements of 15th Cavalry Division consisted of Cossack companies. The Russian cavalry was all Deployed. The most mobile units were thus the first to be hit. As mounting up takes 2/3 MP's, it's challenging to use it to escape. Assaulting whilst mounted costs 1/3 MP's, so you can launch several assaults each turn with cavalry units.

The Russian cavalry put up a brief fight and my mounted cavalry in T-mode took some losses, but the end result wasn't really in doubt. B quality mounted vs. D quality Deployed cavalry. Unfortunately for my opponent, he had just moved the MG and field gun unit forwards on his 08:00 turn. A Kürassier charge went straight through them. My cavalry was lined up along the secondary road north of woods, to maximize the effect of the low road movement MP cost.

The Russian 2nd Infantry Division took a few punches and is withdrawing towards Soldau. At this point, the strategic situation for the Russians isn't too problematic. It's a setback, but not necessarily serious. 15th Cavalry Division is likely to be destroyed, but its value is limited.

[ComradeP]

Turn 41 06:00 25th of August 1914



In the rear towards Koenigsberg, positions are prepared north and south of the Pregel river.

Hauptreserve Koenigsberg will pull back out of Russian LOS as usual, to make sure they don't trigger a Russian release.

I intended to use the area east of Wehlau as a staging area for one of the corps in the south or possibly reinforcements from the Western Front in case 1st Army advanced very slowly or favourable conditions in the south allowed for a corps to be relocated north.



The lull caused by the 1st Army Fix/Release schedule allows me to redeploy forces and gives units a turn or two of rest. The uncertainty of when 1st Army will be released on a certain day means I have to maintain a credible frontline presence and can't leave gaps in the line.



36. ID has completed its strategic redeployment. Its units will move south/south-east.



XX Armeekorps is preparing to move south. I kept the units around Neidenburg in position for a while, in case the Russian advance would continue.

37. ID is still assembling, the tail end moves in from Ortelsburg.



Hauptreserve Thorn is moving south through Lautenburg and across the Wel river. Its lead Landwehr brigade is already at Zielun.

I Armeekorps is moving south using a secondary road west of Soldau, outflanking the Russians. Most of the 15th Cavalry Division is destroyed or nearly trapped, though a couple of companies will survive.

It's difficult to see due to the similar counter colours, but most of 1. ID is still a bit behind 2. ID and mixed with units from Hauptreserve Graudenz. The 1. ID cavalry is at the tip of the spear, chasing some Russian Lancer companies from 15th Cavalry Division.

The cavalry brigade moving south through Lautenburg formed a useful "pincer". There were no Russian units guarding the bridges either at Lautenburg or at Zielun.

[ComradeP]

Turn 44 12:00 25th of August 1914



3. Reserve Division has nearly completed its, second, strategic redeployment by train. One brigade and divisional assets will deploy west of Insterburg, the second brigade will deploy west of Svoboda.



The usual calm before the storm in the I Reservekorps area, units are recovering Fatigue and replacing a handful of losses. With higher replacement values, German losses would probably be (nearly) fully replaced each time 1st Army is Fixed. 



36. ID is moving forwards in two columns. Deploying brigades 25 kilometres or so apart is perhaps not very realistic for WWI, but a low unit density suits the difficult terrain.

35. ID has yet to arrive in strength. With the redeployment of 3. Reserve Division nearing completion, transport will become available for 35. ID.



The Russians are moving south/south-west, but there are still divisions in the woods directly in front of XX Armeekorps. Bumping into stacks in the forest can be painful. Units can only move 2 hexes in Forest terrain so you can either move 1 hex each turn or 2 hexes and hope your unit doesn't end up next to infantry/MG stacks. Revealing hostile units by walking into enemy fire is a common theme in FWWC.



The Russians are redeploying to deal with the defeat of 15th Cavalry Division, but there's still a big concentration near Soldau whereas I Armeekorps is west of Mlawa by now.

I got the impression that my opponent wasn't sure whether I would attack at Soldau or keep moving south. The uncertainty slowed his response and would play a big part in allowing the western pincer of the pocket to form.

[ComradeP]

Turn 49 06:00 26th of August 1914



Not much action by 1st Army yesterday, I think it was only released for 1 turn if was released at all. Units from Hauptreserve Koenigsberg are more or less where I left them after the 06:00 turn on the previous day.



The same goes for the men of I Reservekorps, though their peaceful moments of contemplation will soon be disturbed.



The rail line allows 35. ID to move right up to Willenberg. Note that division's field artillery and some MG units are still near Ortelsburg, as I still wasn't entirely sure if the Russians wouldn't make a push in the area. The area between Ortelsburg and Willenberg doesn't offer that many good fields of fire, so instead of having to move them to the front and back, I kept them on a ridge until I was sure the Russians were not coming.

The main body of 36. ID is slowly moving through the woods and swamp.



The Russians are slowly pulling back from the XX Armeekorps area north of Neidenburg, but at least 1 corps is still in position.



Hauptreserve Thorn moves into the area between Soldau and Mlawa and will form the link between I Armeekorps and Hauptreserve Graudenz. 

1. Kavallerie Division can't find any other units from 15th Cavalry Division and will stop looking for them.

[ComradeP]

Turn 52 12:00 26th of August 1914



I'm not really sure what happened with 1st Army on this day, as some parts remained in position whilst others moved forwards. Maybe some units were still recovering losses or shaking off Fatigue. I'm fairly sure I didn't trigger a T release for several divisions.

Quiet in the north...



...and not much time for lunch for the men of 1. Reserve Division as two Russian corps advance against them.



Slow but steady movement south by XVII Armeekorps. At this point, I was hoping an encirclement of 2nd Army might be possible, but I thought it was still unlikely as guarding the bridges across the Omulew would not be that difficult.

I don't think the encirclement could've worked if I had advanced through Willenberg. I had to feint weakness or at least keep him guessing where my units were. I also don't think he had identified 35. ID at this point.



As expected, a battalion from 41. ID bumped into an infantry/MG stack, though losses were thankfully not that high.

37. ID will soon cross the Omulew again, more or less retracing the path one of its brigades took when withdrawing earlier.



Hauptreserve Thorn makes contact with Russians south of Soldau. The formation is too weak to force the Russian line, but it can keep the Russians honest. A regular Russian infantry division being occupied by a Landwehr formation is a good trade.

The marshes slow down I. Armeekorps, but also make Russian flanking attacks impossible. That allows me to take a bit more risk with moving units around in T-mode. To avoid additional traffic jams, I sent 2. ID through the marshes a bit further north and 1. ID and 1. Kavallerie Division through Zlotowo.

[ComradeP]

Turn 57 06:00 27th of August 1914.

The second -10 supply supply value change for the Russians is applied on this game day, the first was on the 25th.

Edit: it's not actually a global supply change, as I initially thought, so it has no effect on Russian C&C calculations.



1st Army approaches Insterburg.

The line south of Svoboda is paper thin, but that's not much of an issue when no Russian cavalry is around.



As 1. Reserve Division withdrew, 36. Reserve Division had no choice but to start moving its brigades across the river. The Russian units west of Buddern are from the 5th Rifle Brigade.

Losses remain fairly light as I pull back ~2 hexes each turn, as the Russian stacks can only fire once after moving 2 hexes. Often, my opportunity fire disrupts a unit as it moves into range.

I try to let the Russian units walk into the field of fire of field gun and MG units from time to time. Visibility is usually 2-3 hexes, which makes it more difficult to spot concentrations in advance and limits the potential effectiveness of field guns (which have a maximum range greater than 5 hexes, the maximum visibility in the game).

I usually park an MG/field gun stack on a road, fire once, switch it to T-mode and move it back one or more hexes.



Some Cossack units will bump into the units between Omulew and Rozoga soon. Curiously, that only resulted in a redeployment of Cossacks towards the east initially.



As the chance of encirclement grows, several Russian divisions are still positioned between Neidenburg and Willenberg. I'm not sure if my opponent suspected a big push from this direction as well, but the Russian units here could've prevented a pocket from being formed.



Hauptreserve Thorn widens its front as Hauptreserve Graudenz keeps an eye on units in Soldau. My forces here are much weaker than the Russians they're facing.

The MG stack in the rear consists of the 1. ID units moving south to join the rest of the division. They were not moved south with the rest of the division, but at a later point.



1. Kavallerie Division will use the surprisingly good road network to move south and then east to Ciechanow.

Units from I Armeekorps will advance towards the east, with the river they're walking towards screening the flank.

[ComradeP]

Turn 60 12:00 27th of August 1914



Hauptreserve Koenigsberg is withdrawing west, Insterburg will soon be in Russian hands.



After a lot of action the previous day, I Reservekorps will continue to pull back.

36. Reserve Division will pull back south-west, 1. Reserve Division towards the west.

The gap is due to the rivers and 1 hex lakes west in the area. Units need to move to locations where they can cross the river. Russian bridging will take some time when they reach the river west of Angerburg.



36. ID made contact with some units from the Russian 4th Cavalry Division. My brigade is too weak to push on by itself, its job is to screen the area together with the Hussar companies between this brigade and the other brigade approaching the Omulew.



XX Armeekorps is still cautiously moving through the woods. There's still a Russian division south of 37. ID and probably a division south of 41. ID as well, judging by the Corps HQ at Neidenburg.



An overview screenshot of the emerging pocket of 2nd Army.

Russian Corps are mostly withdrawing south or south-west, whilst the key to making the pocket work is XVII Armeekorps being able to cross several rivers.

I Armeekorps will pin the Russian 2nd Infantry Division and 6th Cavalry Division at Mlawa in place, before slowly pushing them north.

1. Kavallerie Division will dash north-east until it reaches the lead elements of XVII Armeekorps.

[ComradeP]

Turn 65 06:00 28th of August 1914



Reinforcements arrive at the front. Landwehr Division Goltz arrived on the 27th and moves to the area north-east of Koenigsberg by train. The division will help secure the area against the Russian cavalry operating to the east.



The Russians are at the outskirts of Insterburg, but the objective hex has not been captured yet. Possibly due to it being a Congestion hex.

As Russian cavalry arrives at the banks of the Pregel north of Insterburg, my cavalry screen on the north bank withdraws.



Some of the lakes and rivers behind I Reservekorps are clearly visible in this screenshot.

No Russian units are in sight, for the moment.



Cavalry and a Jaeger bicycle company from 35. ID feint a crossing of the Omulew at Zareby.

36. ID has crossed the Omulew further south, unobserved.

There were Russian units moving north of Flammberg, shortly after Cossacks bumped into 36. ID, but I'm not sure where the Russian units went. If they moved south and then north again, or pulled back south-west. Even a single division would've made my crossing impossible.

As was the case with I Armeekorps earlier, the marshes make Russian flanking attacks impossible and also significantly decrease the chance that 36. ID is spotted.

The Russian units in front of XX Armeekorps can't intervene.

Aside from it being further away from the nearest identified Russian units, one other appealing aspect of the bridge 36. ID is using was that it's far enough removed from the primary road network that the road is unlikely to be used by the Russians.



As the pocket is forming in the south, big Russian concentrations remain in front of Hauptreserve Graudenz and Hauptreserve Thorn.



I Armeekorps is fighting against 1.5 Russian infantry divisions and 6th Cavalry, keeping all of them occupied as 1. Kavallerie Division advances at nearly blitzkrieg pace and arrives at Przasnysz.



Another overview screenshot. The disaster that will soon befall 2nd Army is clear.

[ComradeP]

Turn 68 12:00 28th of August 1914



Instead of making a temporary stand west of Insterburg, I decided to move 3. Reserve Division west a bit into more favourable terrain where the Russians are funnelled into a narrow path, more suitable for a delaying action.



The steamroller is heading for I. Reservekorps, but thus far it can be held at bay.



Russian forces move against the feint at Zareby as the rest of XVII Armeekorps quietly sneaks across the Omulew, with lead elements approaching the Orzuc river.



The divisional frontage is widened to make sure units or ZOCs block a line of supply.

There are still no Russian units in front of 1. Kavallerie Division, 2nd Army has been outflanked.



Another overview screenshot. The 2nd Army pocket will be big, but no Russian units are in a position to block my units closing the pocket.