Erzurum offensive

The Erzurum offensive (Russian: Эрзурумское сражение, romanized: Erzurumskoe srazhenie; Turkish: Erzurum Taarruzu) or Battle of Erzurum (Turkish: Erzurum Muharebesi) was a major winter offensive by the Imperial Russian Army on the Caucasus Campaign, during the First World War that led to the capture of the strategic city of Erzurum. The Turkish forces, in winter quarters, suffered a series of unexpected reverses, which led to a Russian victory.

After the defeat at the Battle of Sarikamish, the Ottomans tried to reorganise. The Armenian genocide made supplying their forces a problem. Trade by Armenians, which had supplied the Ottoman Army, was disrupted. The dismissal of Armenian soldiers into labour battalions and their massacres further worsened the problem. However, throughout 1915, the northern sectors of the front remained quiet.

At the same time, the end of the Gallipoli Campaign would free up considerable Turkish soldiers, which made Nikolai Yudenich, the commander of the Russian Caucasus Army, prepare to launch an offensive. He hoped to take the main fortress of Erzurum in the area, followed by Trabzon. That would be was a difficult campaign since Erzurum was protected by a number of forts in the mountains.

Eight of the available Ottoman divisions were designated for the Caucasus Front. Yudenich believed that he could launch an offensive before the Ottoman divisions could be redeployed and readied for battle.

The Russians had 130,000 infantry and 35,000 cavalry. They also had 160,000 troops in reserve, 150 supply trucks and 20 planes of the Siberian Air Squadron. According to other sources, the attacking group (the Russian Caucasian army) included about 120 thousand people and 338 guns.

The Ottoman forces had 78,000 troops in the region.

The Ottoman High Command did not expect any Russian operations during winter. Mahmut Kamil was in Istanbul, and his chief of staff, Colonel Felix Guse [tr], was in Germany. General Yudenich launched a major winter offensive.

The Russians concentrated a little more troops on the strike directions, aerial reconnaissance was conducted and accurate data on the positions of the Turkish troops were collected.