While the High Seas Fleet was attacking the North Sea and battling the Royal Navy, which once dominated the sea, the German Army was equally brave and engaged in a fierce confrontation with the double-headed eagles, known as the gendarmes of Europe, on the Polish plains.

On 16 August, the German 8th and 9th Armies, having completed the replenishment of ammunition and supplies, launched an astonishing pincer offensive with the assistance of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, targeting the town of Masovia in the east of Warsaw. At the same time, the three Austro-Hungarian armies deployed in the front of western Ukraine also began to advance eastward under the urging of Commander-in-Chief Getzendorff, in order to contain the Russian army in front of them and relieve the pressure on the main attack cluster on the Warsaw side. After two and a half months of fighting, the Xing-Lu had thoroughly understood the bottom of the Russian army, and for this army, which was useless except for numbers, the Xing-Lu decided to stride forward directly and encircle Warsaw.

In the face of the German army that was once again surging like a frenzied wave, the commander of the Russian army, Grand Duke Nicholas, had no choice but to turn to a full-scale defense in eastern Poland and wait for the rear to continue to support him with more gray cattle. At present, although the Russian army has five group armies with a total of more than 1 million troops for the Grand Duke to deploy on the Polish battlefield, three of these group armies are miscellaneous forces that have just been put together. Not only were they poorly equipped and unable to achieve a rifle per capita, but their personnel included a large number of peasants: these civilians, who had almost just laid down their hoes, had not been trained in any basic tactics at all, and once they were actually on the battlefield, their effect would be extremely limited!

On the first day of the battle, Grand Duke Nikolai, who was in Warsaw, felt tremendous pressure from the north and south at the same time. Although the Russian army received a certain repair after the Battle of Lodz. However, the army's vigor and experienced grassroots officers and men have all been completely lost with the successive defeats. The coordination between the infantry and artillery of the various units was chaotic. And because the previous elite regiments were annihilated one after another. The sluggish Russian army was already lacking artillery and machine-gun fire, which undoubtedly worsened the heavy fire support available to the front-line infantry. Russian War Minister Sukh Holymnov dug three feet into the ground to barely piece together 1,300 artillery pieces for Grand Duke Nikolai's million-strong army. Now he regretted his foolishness of despising the production of the military industry before the war, and the Cossack cavalry, armed with sabers and flagpole spears, which he once regarded as a place of glory, was no different from being sent to death in the face of German machine guns and artillery!

The situation with the Germans was the exact opposite of that of the Russian army. Although they were still inferior in numbers, their infantry, cavalry, and artillery were as skillful and precise as the bells, and there were many excellent and reliable officers and soldiers. In terms of the number of artillery, the German army relied on its own industrial strength that surpassed that of the European continent. Far from the defeated Russian army. Xinglu has more than 2,500 artillery pieces, and the number of artillery pieces per capita is almost 5 times that of the Russian army; And in the field of heavy artillery, the German army, which was supported by the Austro-Hungarian troops, was not in the same order of magnitude as its opponent. The morale of the German army, which had gone through the three great victories of Tannenberg, Lake Masuri and Lodz, was high, and everyone except the commander-in-chief was full of energy and determined to win the victory in front of them. Affected by this, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, which accompanied it, also showed unprecedented combat effectiveness, even in the face of a regular Russian army equal to their own number, they fought back and forth.

In addition, the Germans were able to use the Russian army's wireless telegraphy that was encrypted with a simple cipher or even directly in plaintext. to obtain specific details on the deployment of Russian troops. Under the orders of Xinglu, some spy agents secretly infiltrated Russian-occupied areas and cut telephone lines. The Russian army, whose cable communication was damaged, then used wireless telegraphy, which undoubtedly made Xinglu gain more information about the dispatch of the Russian army!

In this situation, which is almost a full-picture plug-in, and the German army, which has an absolute advantage in the combat power of the soldiers, it is difficult to win without winning. In the early morning of August 18, Grand Duke Nicholas adjusted his deployment and transferred the five divisions originally deployed on the left flank of the southern battlefield to the center to resist the increasingly fierce attack of the German-Austrian forces on the front; However, due to the poor transmission of orders, another group of troops, who were responsible for filling the gap in the left flank, did not receive orders until the evening of ten hours after the departure of these six divisions. This mistake was intercepted by the Hindenburg of the Russian army telegram to be caught instantly. After a comprehensive comparison of various sources, Hindenburg, who confirmed that it was not a trap set by the other side, immediately ordered its cavalry cluster to turn around in the starry night and storm this fleeting weak point on the Russian front.

Unlike the Russian Cossack cavalry, which was almost pure saber and spear, the German cavalry units were equipped with a large number of hot weapons. Historically, the German cavalry brigade with an establishment of 1,746 men had a total of 3 cavalry artillery companies and 3 machine gun companies, and the number of units could receive heavy fire support was completely superior to that of infantry; In this aspect, the German cavalry brigade not only added 2 mortar companies, but also introduced a large number of Mauser 98K rifles to replace sabers, and the ability to adapt to modern warfare has been greatly improved. Two months ago, the German Army had transferred nearly 50 cavalry brigades from all the infantry corps on the Western Front to the Eastern Front (the German infantry corps was accompanied by two cavalry brigades), which was definitely a terrifying force in the vast Eastern Front!

In the early morning of August 19, tens of thousands of German cavalry, with the coordination of two infantry divisions, launched a fierce attack on the Russian army in the dark night. Although the darkness of the night brought a lot of trouble to the German advance, the Germans completely tore apart the Russian defense line in just two hours, which was absolutely inferior in terms of numbers and firepower, by virtue of the huge opportunity to attack the German army. The cavalry units then roared in and began to capture various key points on the Russian front.

Informed of the defeat, Grand Duke Nicholas hurriedly ordered the reserves to attack in order to recapture the breach, but the execution of the troops was far from as powerful as he had imagined. The remnants of the Russian army, fleeing from the front line, and the troops sent by the Grand Duke for reinforcements, collided head-on on the road, and the Russian army in the dark had to expend great efforts to carry out the difficult dredging and advance work in a pot of porridge made of various baggage, horse-drawn carts, accompanying mules and horses, and combat soldiers. In this difficult march, the tragic situation of the Russian defeated troops also caused the morale of the Russian troops responsible for the reinforcements to fall greatly, and the pessimism and war-weariness spread. Many of the peasants who had been forcibly conscripted had secretly deserted in the darkness of the chaos, while many more had made up their minds to retreat as if they were defeated by only a slight resistance in the coming battle. Many of them did not have rifles, and only carried two rows of five rounds of ammunition in their pockets; Instead of becoming cannon fodder and dying meaninglessly, it is better to slip away to save your own life!

The troops had been delayed for at least three hours, as they had been hit head-on by the tide of defeat the night before; When the German reconnaissance plane in the air observed these Russian troops who were still marching and trekking, they immediately directed heavy artillery fire to carry out a fierce bombardment of them. The red light exploded angrily, the air waves flew sideways, and the Russian infantry and cavalry were blown up by the thunderous heavy artillery fire of the German army, and the people were turned on their backs, and the flesh and blood danced; The horses neighed and galloped, the soldiers ran in fear, and from time to time the ammunition carts exploded, and the whole scene was a mess. And when the roar of the artillery stopped, the Russian soldiers did not have time to catch their breath when they found that a large number of German troops had been rushing towards them under the cover of mortars and machine guns; If you resist a little with your firepower, you will receive a fierce attack from the opponent like a storm.

A day later, on the evening of the 20th, the reserve commando sent by the Grand Duke was defeated. A large number of German infantry and cavalry rushed through this smashed gap like a flood to burst the embankment, rushing towards the rear of the Russian army. At this time, the Russian army still has more than twice the strength advantage, and if it resists desperately, it may not be able to retreat steadily in a calm posture. However, the Russian army has long been frightened by successive defeats, and after learning that it is about to be surrounded by the other side, an atmosphere of trembling and panic has enveloped the entire Russian army.

In the early morning of the 22nd, the Germans again launched an offensive under massive artillery preparations, and the roar of machine guns and explosions continued until nightfall. The Russian 18th Army, which was composed of more than half of its personnel from reservists and peasants, was the first to retreat backwards, which immediately set off an avalanche of chain reactions. The Russian soldiers had long been supported by the fierce and fierce offensive of the German army, and all units suffered heavy casualties; Now that I saw that some of my allies were already fleeing, the last vestiges of faith in my heart to hold on were completely shattered.

In order not to repeat the fate of being completely annihilated by the German army on the previous two occasions, the Russian troops on the front of the battlefield began to retreat on a large scale. And in the same way that they jumped 50 miles a day at the Battle of Lake Masuri, the Russian army exploded with astonishing organizational efficiency when their lives were threatened; The escape journey of hundreds of thousands of people on several modest roads not only did not appear in the slightest crowding and chaos, but maintained a very fast pace all the way. The German cavalry Pegasus pursued them and captured a large number of artillery and ammunition that were different from the German system and could not be used effectively.

However, the Germans also won a decisive victory on the southern flank. Masovia fell on August 23, and more than 80,000 Russian officers and soldiers entered the German prisoner of war camp. Affected by this, the Russian army's defense line on the northern flank was also crumbling, and the Russian army, which had been cut off from the rear road, no longer had any will and conditions to fight. (To be continued......)

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