Russia is one of the largest European countries in terms of land area, but it has very few land neighbors in Europe, only Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Romania.

The part of Central Europe bordering Russia and Austria-Hungary was inserted between Germany and Austria-Hungary in a rather peculiar shape.

This peculiarly shaped region was Russia-administered Poland after it was partitioned by Germany and Russia.

Although the acquisition of part of Poland allowed Russia to greatly expand its influence in Europe, it also faced the problem that this region was caught between Germany and Austria-Hungary in the north and south, and could threaten both German East Prussia and Austro-Hungarian Galicia.

East Prussia was able to supply Germany with excellent war horses and dairy products, and Galicia was also a rich region for Austria-Hungary, both of which were very important to Germany and Austria-Hungary.

This great counteroffensive organized by Grand Duke Nikolai was divided into a southern and northern offensive direction.

The specific plan was to send 500,000 combat troops to directly attack the German East Prussia region.

The 300,000 troops were used as a reserve to defend the Austro-Hungarian army in Galicia, and to be used as reinforcements for the attacking army in the direction of East Prussia, ready to join the fighting in East Prussia.

If the offensive in East Prussia goes well, then the 300,000 reserve troops and the local defenders will form an army of about 500,000 to attack Galicia and directly annex this rich land.

The fact that Galicia is separated from its destination and the Hungarian region, and that there is no barrier to the Russian-controlled lands, also gives Russia the hope of annexing Galicia directly.

On January 27, 1915, 500,000 Russian troops, with the support of their allies, launched an offensive against East Prussia.

The defenders stationed in the East Prussian area at this time were the German Eighth Army, and the commander was Prittwitz.

Speaking of the commander-in-chief of the army, Prittwitz's reputation was not very good, because he won the favor of Wilhelm II by telling a bad story to Wilhelm II, and became the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army.

Compared with the more reckless commander of the First Army, Crook, Prittwitz's reputation is even worse, and his actual ability is even worse.

The total ratio of German to Russian troops in East Prussia was about 1 to 2.5, and Germany had nearly 200,000 defenders, and the size of the troops was actually not weak.

But when Prittwitz learned that Russia had used two army groups to launch an offensive, he was immediately timid.

In a telegram sent by Prittwitz to Chief of Staff Falkingham, it was mentioned that if the army did not retreat in time, it was very likely that it would be flanked by the two Russian armies, which would lead to very serious consequences.

Immediately after sending this telegram, Prittwitz ordered the troops to retreat, again with no return of their heads.

When Falkingham, the new German chief of staff, received the telegram from Prittwitz, the Eighth Army had already withdrawn more than 10 kilometers back, and it was very likely that it would directly abandon East Prussia and retreat to the west bank of the Vistula River.

Prittwitz's cowardice and incompetence made the new chief of staff, Falkingham, who wanted to contribute, furious.

On 29 January, the day after Prittwitz ordered the retreat, he received two orders from his headquarters, the first of which ordered him to be removed from his post as commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army, and the second ordered him to retire immediately, along with the chief of staff of the Eighth Army.

Taken over the responsibility of the Eighth Army, Ludendorff and Hindenburg, who were famous in later generations.

The two men enjoyed great prestige in later generations, and Hindenburg also sat on the throne of the German presidency and single-handedly raised a successor like Hitler.

Now, however, they were only talented generals of the German Empire, loyal vassals of Wilhelm II.

On the train to East Prussia, Ludendorff quickly came up with his own plan of battle, which was approved by Hindenburg, who accompanied him.

At this time, Hindenburg was 68 years old and had already retired for three years, but because of an order from Falkingham, he was reappointed as commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army.

His partner was Ludendorff, the new chief of staff of the Eighth Army, who had repeatedly performed meritorious service in the wars on the Western Front and Belgium.

The cooperation between the two men was very pleasant, and they talked happily on the train to East Prussia.

Thanks to Germany's well-developed railway trunk lines and transportation system, on the afternoon of January 30, 1915, Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived in the East Prussian battlefield and entered the headquarters of the Eighth Army.

By this time, the Russian army had already pursued for tens of kilometers, and Samsonov's army had even been trekking long distances in the muddy soil for several days, and still lacked a lot of weapons, equipment and supplies.

If it weren't for the fact that some food could be replenished from the German towns and farmsteads along the road, I am afraid that Samsonov's army would have to face a food crisis first.

In order to show his support for Hindenburg and Ludendorff, Falkingham sent two armies to support the Eastern Front, which arrived on the Eastern Front almost simultaneously with both of them and assembled on the flanks of the two Russian armies.

On January 31, 1915, Samsonov, who had already penetrated deep into the heart of East Prussia, realized his danger and sent a telegram to his superior, General Zhilinsky, the commander of the offensive, asking for help.

But Zhilinsky's reply was: "Don't play the role of a coward and let your men go on the offensive." ”

Regardless of whether the boss's order is right or not, before the greater boss questions the order, as a soldier, he can only carry out this order loyally and bravely.

Samsonov had no choice but to continue to order the army to advance, while sending a telegram to his colleague Rennankampf asking for help.

But it is worth mentioning that there are also deep contradictions between Samsonov and Rennankampf.

Fortunately, during the war between the island country and Russia at that time, in order to deal with the attack of the island country's army, Samsonov asked for help from General Lennankampf.

Rennankampf's insistence on sending reinforcements not only caused Samsonov's defense to fail at that time, but also caused hatred between the two generals.

And what is even more coincidental is that a few days later, the two met at a train station at that time. The two who were already hateful suddenly looked at each other angrily, and soon scolded and punched and kicked each other.

The Russians had a very hot temper, and Samsonov quickly knocked Lennankampf to the ground, laughing and winning the civil war against the top Russian commanders.

Of course, such an act also deepened the hatred between the two. The contradiction between Samsonov and Rennankampf is not a deep hatred, but it is definitely a hatred that will not be easily passed.

Faced with his old rival Samsonov's plea for help, Rennankampf chuckled and directly asked his subordinates to throw the telegram for help aside.

His superiors and colleagues ignored his pleas for help, which also made Samsonov's army group not only face a lack of food and clothing, but also be surrounded by the main German army under extreme exhaustion.

On 1 February, Samsonov's army stopped advancing because they were in front of the main force of the German army.

Unable to capture the German positions for a long time, coupled with the lack of logistical support for his own army, Samsonov wanted to order the army to retreat, but soon found that his rear was also full of German soldiers.

Samsonov had no choice but to order the army to attack with all its might, strive to open a breakthrough, and evacuate as much as he could.

However, the weapons and equipment of the Russian army were not comparable to those of the Germans, and Samsonov's army was still in the absence of logistical supplies, and it was even more impossible for them to outperform the German army in terms of firepower.

Soon, the artillery fire of the Russian army was suppressed by the German army, and the Russian army, surrounded by the German army, repeatedly tried to break through, but all suffered heavy losses and were suppressed back by the German artillery and machine guns.

Samsonov again asked Zhilinsky and Rennankampf for help, and Zhilinsky, who had only two army groups under his command, sent his other subordinate, Rennankampf, to support Samsonov.

The orders of the superiors could not be ignored, but the hatred with Samsonov was also real.

With the two neutralized, Rennankampf made the decision to inflict heavy losses on the Russian army, delaying the order for two days before going to support.

What Rennankampf did not expect was that Samsonov's army did not hold out for two days at all, and fell under German fire.

On February 3, 1915, Samsonov's army, which had been holding out for two days, suffered heavy casualties, and after paying nearly 40,000 casualties, Samsonov turned pale and ordered his subordinates to surrender to the Germans.

Samsonov's Second Army originally had 200,000 soldiers, but it was surrounded by German troops of 150,000.

The remaining 50,000 people were either wounded in the previous war and transported to the rear, or some less important troops, which Samsonov ordered to defend in the occupied areas, while also protecting the logistical supply lines in the rear.

This also means that the 150,000 troops surrounded are almost the entire main force of the Second Army led by Samsonov.

The fighting qualities of the Russian army can be imagined, and after more than 40,000 casualties, the Russian soldiers had no idea of fighting.

Even if Samsonov did not surrender voluntarily, he would be escorted to the Germans after the mutiny of his subordinates.

The final result of the battle was 40,000 dead and wounded and 108,000 prisoners of the Russian Second Army. The German army suffered only 15,000 casualties.

By the time the news of the almost total annihilation of the Second Army reached Zhilinsky's ears, it was already the next day, February 4.

Zhilinsky was greatly alarmed and ordered Rennankampf to immediately move south, looking for Samsonov and the remnants of the Second Army.

But by this time, Rennankampf had already been shocked by Samsonov's rapid rout. By the time Zhilinsky's order arrived at the headquarters of the First Army, the commander-in-chief of the First Army, Rennankamp, had already quietly returned to Russia in a special car.

Zhilinsky was greatly annoyed by Rennankampf's imminent escape, and sent a telegram demanding that Grand Duke Nikolai remove Rennankampf from his post.

Grand Duke Nikolai did so, and Zhilinsky himself was removed from his post along with him.

But this could not change the defeat of the Russian army in East Prussia, which suffered heavy casualties and was re-pressed back to the border by the Eighth Army under the control of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, after dispatching a full 500,000 combat troops.

3200 words for the third update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)