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First Riga offensive
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First Riga offensive
First Riga offensive was a military operation of the German Imperial Army with to divert Russian forces from the direction of the main blow of the German summer offensive on Narew River. The Germans broke through the heavily fortified defences of the Russian army and defeated the vastly superior enemy forces. However, no decisive success was achieved, and at the beginning of August the Russians launched a counteroffensive.
At 8 o'clock on July 14, after a powerful artillery preparation, the German 41st Infantry Division crossed the Venta River, without encountering resistance from the Russian units of the detachment of Lieutenant General Gleb Vannovsky, and advanced to Grivaishen. By 11 o'clock bridges for heavy artillery were built, and soon the German batteries opened fire from the left bank. At Papilė the 6th and 78th Reserve Divisions crossed the river. The Russian detachment of Major General Mikhail Grabbe and the 17th Infantry Division retreated practically without a fight.
The commander of the 5th Army, Plehve, decided to inflict a flank attack on the advancing Germans, gathering a detachment from the 17th Infantry Division and the 1st Caucasian Rifle Brigade under the command of the commander of the 19th Army Corps, Lieutenant General Dmitri A. Dolgov, and on the rest of the front stretch the detachment of Grabbe. But the latter could not withstand the blow of the German infantry, and it took two days to regroup. In the end, Plehve agreed with the objections of Dolgov, who had a better idea of the emerging situation, and canceled the order to counterattack, but the units had already carried out the shift, and time was lost. To create an army reserve, the 2nd Cavalry Division and 13th Siberian Rifle Division had to be used.
On July 15–16, the German Northern Corps captured the positions of Russian troops near Lielaucė. The 8th Cavalry Division joined the advance and threatened Mitava. The breakthrough reached 60 km along the front and from 6 to 30 km in depth. To eliminate the breakthrough, Plehve decided to send the 12th and 13th Siberian Rifle Divisions, giving them another 4th and 15th Cavalry Divisions with the Ussuri Cossack Brigade, forming the 7th Siberian Army Corps under the temporary command of General Lieutenant N. Sulimov. On the basis of the Grabbe detachment, the brigade of the 73rd Infantry Division and the 19th Army Corps, a detachment of Dolgov was created to attack the right flank of the Army of the Niemen.
On July 17, the corps of Lieutenant General Curt von Morgen went on the offensive: the 1st Reserve Division and the infantry brigade of Colonel Otto von Homeyer, after two hours of artillery preparation, attacked Russian positions on both sides of the city of Schaulen. 1,779 heavy shells were fired at the Russian trenches, but the attack was repelled by units of the 38th Infantry Division. The failure also befell the 6th Reserve Division: during the offensive, it was subjected to enveloping attacks by the detachment of Dolgov and was driven back beyond the Vindava River: Russian troops captured 500 prisoners and 7 machine guns. But the further advance of the Russian troops was repulsed by the fire of a battery of 15-cm howitzers.
Despite the failure of the center of the Army of the Niemen, the left wing continued to move forward. The 41st Infantry and 78th Reserve Divisions met the divisions of the 7th Siberian Army Corps, which had arrived on a forced march, and already at 10 o'clock they overturned them in the forest near Anperhof. 409 heavy shells were fired at the Russian positions, after which they were abandoned by the soldiers, who retreated to Mitava. On the left, the positions of the Siberian riflemen were bypassed by the 6th Cavalry Division, and the Life Hussar Brigade went to the flank and rear of Dolgov's detachment. The 8th Cavalry Division and the 18th Cavalry Brigade pushed back parts of the Russian 4th and 15th Cavalry Divisions and the Windau militia detachment. Since the beginning of the operation, the Army of the Niemen captured 6,000 Russian prisoners and 9 guns. P. Plehve did not expect such a low combat capability of the 7th Siberian Army Corps and blamed N. Sulimov for the failure, although he himself exhausted the troops with marches in different directions.
O. von Below did not take advantage of the weak cover of Mitava and made a different decision: to tie down the Russian forces with the 41st Infantry and 8th Cavalry Divisions, and send the rest of the formations of the Northern Group to the rear of the Russians. On July 18–19, the cavalry of the Army of the Niemen attacked the Russian positions of the 15th Cavalry Division and the Ussuri Cossack Brigade: the Russian cavalry successfully repulsed the attacks, but retreated with the approach of the German infantry. After a series of unsuccessful attacks, C. von Morgen handed over the main blow to the brigade of Otto von Homeyer, transferring all the heavy artillery of the corps to him. To create a strike group, P. Plehve turned to M. Alekseyev for reinforcements and received the 53rd and 104th Infantry Divisions (the first from the 10th Army, the second was transported from Odessa). To cover the gap of 50 km formed between the 7th Siberian and 19th Army Corps, Plehve assembled a detachment of Lieutenant General G. Troubetzkoy (2nd and 4th Cavalry Divisions, 37 guns).
On July 20, the Southern Group of the Army of the Niemen went on the offensive: the corps of C. von Morgen was supposed to capture Schaulen. Since the heavy artillery of the group was small, the preparation of the attack lasted 5 hours. Nevertheless, the battle formations of the Russian 3rd and 37th Army Corps were thrown back from the left bank of the Dubysa. P. Plehve was confident in the direction of the enemy's main attack on Mitava and did not attach importance to the success of the Southern Group. Corps C. von Morgen captured Shavli. Having allowed the troops of the left wing of the 5th Army to withdraw at 14 o'clock, P. Plehve tried to close the gaps in the battle line and defeat the German Northern Group on the outskirts of Mitava. But the stubborn battle did not lead to success. The Germans repulsed the counterattack and pushed back the right wing of the 5th Army. The retreat of D. Dolgov's detachment was cut off by E. von Schmettov's cavalry, but the next day he managed to break through.
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First Riga offensive
First Riga offensive was a military operation of the German Imperial Army with to divert Russian forces from the direction of the main blow of the German summer offensive on Narew River. The Germans broke through the heavily fortified defences of the Russian army and defeated the vastly superior enemy forces. However, no decisive success was achieved, and at the beginning of August the Russians launched a counteroffensive.
At 8 o'clock on July 14, after a powerful artillery preparation, the German 41st Infantry Division crossed the Venta River, without encountering resistance from the Russian units of the detachment of Lieutenant General Gleb Vannovsky, and advanced to Grivaishen. By 11 o'clock bridges for heavy artillery were built, and soon the German batteries opened fire from the left bank. At Papilė the 6th and 78th Reserve Divisions crossed the river. The Russian detachment of Major General Mikhail Grabbe and the 17th Infantry Division retreated practically without a fight.
The commander of the 5th Army, Plehve, decided to inflict a flank attack on the advancing Germans, gathering a detachment from the 17th Infantry Division and the 1st Caucasian Rifle Brigade under the command of the commander of the 19th Army Corps, Lieutenant General Dmitri A. Dolgov, and on the rest of the front stretch the detachment of Grabbe. But the latter could not withstand the blow of the German infantry, and it took two days to regroup. In the end, Plehve agreed with the objections of Dolgov, who had a better idea of the emerging situation, and canceled the order to counterattack, but the units had already carried out the shift, and time was lost. To create an army reserve, the 2nd Cavalry Division and 13th Siberian Rifle Division had to be used.
On July 15–16, the German Northern Corps captured the positions of Russian troops near Lielaucė. The 8th Cavalry Division joined the advance and threatened Mitava. The breakthrough reached 60 km along the front and from 6 to 30 km in depth. To eliminate the breakthrough, Plehve decided to send the 12th and 13th Siberian Rifle Divisions, giving them another 4th and 15th Cavalry Divisions with the Ussuri Cossack Brigade, forming the 7th Siberian Army Corps under the temporary command of General Lieutenant N. Sulimov. On the basis of the Grabbe detachment, the brigade of the 73rd Infantry Division and the 19th Army Corps, a detachment of Dolgov was created to attack the right flank of the Army of the Niemen.
On July 17, the corps of Lieutenant General Curt von Morgen went on the offensive: the 1st Reserve Division and the infantry brigade of Colonel Otto von Homeyer, after two hours of artillery preparation, attacked Russian positions on both sides of the city of Schaulen. 1,779 heavy shells were fired at the Russian trenches, but the attack was repelled by units of the 38th Infantry Division. The failure also befell the 6th Reserve Division: during the offensive, it was subjected to enveloping attacks by the detachment of Dolgov and was driven back beyond the Vindava River: Russian troops captured 500 prisoners and 7 machine guns. But the further advance of the Russian troops was repulsed by the fire of a battery of 15-cm howitzers.
Despite the failure of the center of the Army of the Niemen, the left wing continued to move forward. The 41st Infantry and 78th Reserve Divisions met the divisions of the 7th Siberian Army Corps, which had arrived on a forced march, and already at 10 o'clock they overturned them in the forest near Anperhof. 409 heavy shells were fired at the Russian positions, after which they were abandoned by the soldiers, who retreated to Mitava. On the left, the positions of the Siberian riflemen were bypassed by the 6th Cavalry Division, and the Life Hussar Brigade went to the flank and rear of Dolgov's detachment. The 8th Cavalry Division and the 18th Cavalry Brigade pushed back parts of the Russian 4th and 15th Cavalry Divisions and the Windau militia detachment. Since the beginning of the operation, the Army of the Niemen captured 6,000 Russian prisoners and 9 guns. P. Plehve did not expect such a low combat capability of the 7th Siberian Army Corps and blamed N. Sulimov for the failure, although he himself exhausted the troops with marches in different directions.
O. von Below did not take advantage of the weak cover of Mitava and made a different decision: to tie down the Russian forces with the 41st Infantry and 8th Cavalry Divisions, and send the rest of the formations of the Northern Group to the rear of the Russians. On July 18–19, the cavalry of the Army of the Niemen attacked the Russian positions of the 15th Cavalry Division and the Ussuri Cossack Brigade: the Russian cavalry successfully repulsed the attacks, but retreated with the approach of the German infantry. After a series of unsuccessful attacks, C. von Morgen handed over the main blow to the brigade of Otto von Homeyer, transferring all the heavy artillery of the corps to him. To create a strike group, P. Plehve turned to M. Alekseyev for reinforcements and received the 53rd and 104th Infantry Divisions (the first from the 10th Army, the second was transported from Odessa). To cover the gap of 50 km formed between the 7th Siberian and 19th Army Corps, Plehve assembled a detachment of Lieutenant General G. Troubetzkoy (2nd and 4th Cavalry Divisions, 37 guns).
On July 20, the Southern Group of the Army of the Niemen went on the offensive: the corps of C. von Morgen was supposed to capture Schaulen. Since the heavy artillery of the group was small, the preparation of the attack lasted 5 hours. Nevertheless, the battle formations of the Russian 3rd and 37th Army Corps were thrown back from the left bank of the Dubysa. P. Plehve was confident in the direction of the enemy's main attack on Mitava and did not attach importance to the success of the Southern Group. Corps C. von Morgen captured Shavli. Having allowed the troops of the left wing of the 5th Army to withdraw at 14 o'clock, P. Plehve tried to close the gaps in the battle line and defeat the German Northern Group on the outskirts of Mitava. But the stubborn battle did not lead to success. The Germans repulsed the counterattack and pushed back the right wing of the 5th Army. The retreat of D. Dolgov's detachment was cut off by E. von Schmettov's cavalry, but the next day he managed to break through.
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