Wednesday, July 29, 2015

July 29th, 1915

- Falkenhayn meets with the chiefs of staff of the German armies on the Western Front at Metz today, and concludes that the situation is sufficiently stable and quiet to permit a further division to be redeployed from the west to the Eastern Front.

- At 130am this morning the German Landwehr Corps launches its crossing of the Vistula along a twenty-four kilometre front downriver from Ivangorod.  The Russian XVI Corps on the opposite bank had been completely ignorant of the arrival of Woyrsch's force yesterday, and thus the attack catches them completely by surprise.  At only two of the ten crossing points do the German infantry encounter significant resistance, and by the time Russian artillery begins to respond at 5am the bulk of the Landwehr Corps is already on the east bank.  Given that the crossing threatens the flank of the Russian 4th Army holding the line southeast of Ivangorod, General Alexeiev orders it and the adjacent 2nd Army to the north to concentrate forces to throw the Germans back across the Vistula.  By evening, though the German bridgehead remains intact, growing Russian resistance prevents a breakout.

To the east, General Mackensen's army group launches the next stage of its offensive, spearheaded once again by the German 11th Army.  The main assault is launched by the German X, X Reserve, and XXII Reserve Corps west of the Wieprz River, and the Russian II Siberian Corps opposite suffers heavy casualties and is forced back.  By the end of the day, German elements have reached the village of Trawniki, thereby cutting the vital Lublin-Cholm railway.  On both flanks, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army and the German Army of the Bug encounter stubborn Russian resistance and achieve less substantial gains.

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