Sunday, September 13, 2015

September 13th, 1915

- German cavalry capture the town of Sventsiany today, severing the railway linking Riga and Vilna.  With little opposition as yet, the cavalry shifts to the southeast, advancing towards Smorgon and Molodechno on the railway running east from Vilna.

- The counteroffensive of the Russian 8th Army opens today when the left wing of XXXIX Corps attacks across the Stubiel River on both sides of the village of Klewan.  In the thick morning fog, Russian forces are able to punch through the thin lines held by the inner wings of the Austro-Hungarian X and XIV Corps.  The advance draws in the reserves of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army - 21st Landwehr and 2nd Divisions - which are able to contain the Russian breakthrough.  To the south, elements of the Russian VII Corps of 11th Army break through the left wing of the Austro-Hungarian 43rd Landwehr Division; in the confusion that follows, the Austro-Hungarian 26th Regiment is cut off and overwhelmed by Russian forces, and the remainder of V Corps is falls back almost ten kilometres.

No comments:

Post a Comment