Friday, December 05, 2014

December 5th, 1914

- After a day of heavy fighting the Russian counterattack in central Poland by III Caucasian Corps has stalled, and the arrival of the first elements of 27th Division gives the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army confidence that the enemy will not be able to break through.  However, the delay imposed on the Austro-Hungarian advance has given the Russians time to move additional reinforcements into the area.  Further to the north, efforts by the centre and left of the German 9th Army, though inflicting losses and grinding forward, have been unable to break through the Russian 1st and 2nd Armies at and north of Lodz.

- South of Krakow further attacks by the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army fail to gain ground, the only significant success being achieved by the German 47th Reserve Division, which had begun to enter the line alongside XIV Corps yesterday.  The line of 4th Army now resembles an 'L', with XIV Corps and Nagy's cavalry along the bottom and the remainder of the army along the side.

- There have been no significant Russian attacks in the Carpathians for the past three days, and the reason for the sudden passivity is revealed to the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army today through wireless intercepts indicating that the headquarters of the Russian VIII Corps is at Neusandez.  Confirmation is received when cavalry moving east towards Neusandez encounter Russian infantry and are thrown back.  This clearly indicates that elements of the Russian 8th Army are moving to reinforce 3rd Army south of the Vistula River, and these forces, if they can continue westward past Neusandez, may be able to attack the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army from the south - Roth's group attempting to outflank the Russian 4th Army may be outflanked itself.

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