4th Army (Austria-Hungary)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Austro-Hungarian 4th Army was a large unit of the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War . It was used continuously on the Eastern Front against the Russian Army .

history

Battle of Galicia 1914

Moritz von Auffenberg
by Carl Pietzner ( Sport & Salon , 1914)

In the course of the mobilization, the 4th Army marched under General der Infanterie Moritz von Auffenberg on the northern border of Galicia to attack northwards together with the left neighbor, the 1st Army . Major General Rudolf Krauss acted as Chief of Staff of the 4th Army . The 4th Army counted 138 ½ battalions, 47 squadrons and 432 artillery pieces during the mobilization. The main thrust of the army was to be directed to Cholm ; the operational goal was the breakthrough to Brest-Litovsk and reaching the Bug section.

Since August 25, the 4th Army with three corps (II., VI. And IX.) Was advancing on the line Zamość - Tomaszów , the XVII. Corps (General of the Cavalry Count Huyn) followed behind the VI. Corps after, on the right wing the corps group (XIV.) Of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand advanced north from the Rawa Ruska area. The right wing to the east was covered by the cavalry corps of FML Wittmann, which established the connection to the 3rd Army under General von Brudermann .

  • II Corps (General of the Infantry Blasius von Schemua ) - 4th, 13th and 25th Infantry Divisions
  • VI. Corps (Infantry General Svetozar Boroević von Bojna ) - 15th, 27th and 39th Infantry Divisions
  • IX. Corps (Field Marshal Lieutenant von Friedel, from August 27th General of the Infantry Lothar von Hortstein ) - 10th and 26th Infantry Divisions
  • XVII. Corps (General of the Cavalry Karl Graf Huyn , from 2nd Sept. FML Karl Kritek ) - 19th Infantry Division
  • Wittmann Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant Field Marshal Oskar von Wittmann ) - 6th and 10th Cavalry Division

In the battle of Komarów General Auffenberg met the Russian 5th Army under the command of Pawel Plehwe . The kuk II. Corps (German-Austrians), the IX. Corps ( German Bohemia and German Moravians ) and the XVI. Corps ( Hungary ) hit the Russian 25th and 19th Corps head-on and pushed them back to the bow. On the right wing, the XIV. Corps was already making decisive encirclement via Telatyn. The attempt to double encirclement of the Russian troops had to be stopped immediately as a result of the collapse of the 3rd Army in the battle east of Lemberg and the left wing had to be regrouped on Lemberg .

In the subsequent battle of Rawa Ruska , the small town of Janow, northwest of Lemberg, formed the army border between the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 4th Armies, as well as the dividing line between the Russian 3rd and 8th Army, which was charging westwards. As of September 5, the II Corps to the north, as well as the XIV Corps, had lost contact with their neighbors. The swinging of the Russian 21st Corps urged the XIV. Corps on the front of Rawa Ruska holding XVII. Corps back. The flank thrust of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the direction of Lemberg to the east. Corps in the Magierow area did not bring the hoped-for relief. On September 8th, the Russian 3rd Army started with four corps from the east to make a decisive push against 4th Army. The crumbling front of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 4th Armies was threatened by a dangerous pincer operation from the north-west and south-east. The Russian XI. On September 11th, the army corps broke through the front of kuk XVII, who was defending near Rawa Ruska. Corps (19th and 41st Divisions) of the FML Kritek and forced the Austrians to retreat with many losses.

Battle of the San, retreat to Dunajec

The 4th Army had to be withdrawn from the Russian Southwest Front under General of Artillery Ivanov behind the San by the end of September and built up a new front between Radymno and Medyka, further north at Jaroslau the connection to the also declining 1st Army took place. During the Battle of the Vistula , the 4th and 3rd Armies led strong counterattacks across the San to relieve the front in Poland.

Between November 16 and 24, 1914, the Russian 3rd Army opened its attack on the southern apron of the Krakow Fortress with the operational aim of breaking through to northern Hungary. The kuk XI. Corps ( Stephan von Ljubičić ) had to face Tarnow on both sides before the Russian XI and IX. Army corps to go back over the Dunajec to the west on the line Bochnia - Neusandez . The VI., XVII. and XIV. Corps of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army was in the Battle of Cracow by the Russian X. and XXI. Army corps pushed back via the Wieliczka to the Wieclawice (Roth corps) -Koscielniki (Kritek corps) - Niepołomice - Dobczyce (Ljubičić corps) line by November 25th . On the south wing near Dobra, the Polish Legion, operating in the army, covered the retreat.

According to plans by Conrad von Hötzendorf , the 4th Army counterattacked the Battle of Limanowa-Lapanow at the beginning of December 1914 in order to push the Russian forces that had broken in south of New Sandez on the flank and to restore the loose connection with the left wing of the 3rd Army . The newly formed " Army Group Roth " for the attack included the XIV., The XI. Corps, the 13th Rifle Division (Major General von Kreysa ) unloaded in Krakow and the German 47th Reserve Division (12,000 men under Lieutenant General von Besser ) were transferred.

The tactical push succeeded, on December 14th the Russian 8th Corps had to retreat into the basin of Jaslo and Krosno , but on December 20th the Russians went over to the counterattack: the San line formed the new line of the incipient positional warfare during the winter .

Breakthrough at Tarnow in 1915

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand

The Mackensen Army Group, newly established at the end of April 1915, was subordinate to the German 11th Army in the center, the 4th Army on the northern wing and the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army on the southern wing. The main attack in the center led the German 11th Army in the direction of Gorlice , the 4th Army broke through the front on the northern section near Tarnow . In the initiated battle of Gorlice-Tarnow , the 4th Army supported along the Dunajec with eight infantry divisions, one cavalry division and 253 guns:

Advance to the bow summer 1915

For the Bug Offensive , which continued at the end of June , the 4th Army of Army Group Mackensen remained assigned to cover the left flank. The attack stalled on July 3 after a Russian counter-offensive was launched. The 4th Army advancing on the left wing was thrown back on July 6 in the Kraśnik area. While the Russian 3rd Army maintained its position against the 4th Army until July 9, the breakthroughs of the German troops in the middle of the attacking front forced the Russians to retreat again. The XVII. and VIII Corps of the 4th Army crossed the Krzna west of Biala , while the Woyrsch Army detachment to the left caught up with Klukowka. On August 17th, the XXII. and X. Reserve Corps set up the new Russian positions between Krzna and Bug. The 4th Army and the German 105th Division crossed the Bug near Janow . West of Janow on August 19, the 4th Army with the XVII. and VIII. Corps crossed the Bug and reached the Koterka section between Wołczyn and Tokary.

In August 1915, Colonel Joseph Ritter von Paić was appointed the new Chief of Staff of the 4th Army. After the Great Retreat , the 4th Army pursued the retreating enemy to Volhynia . The campaign to Rovno , initiated by the 1st and 4th Armies on August 27, 1915, failed completely: Although the important traffic junction Lutsk (Lyck) was captured on August 31 , the city was returned to the Russians on September 22nd lost. During the counterattack by the Russian 8th Army, almost 70,000 Austrian soldiers were captured by the end of September. On September 26th, however, after the intervention of German troops ( Gerok group ) on the Styr section, Lutsk was retaken and the front of the Russian 8th Army was pushed back behind the Ikwa in this section . In the autumn fighting of 1915, the 4th Army had 76 ½ battalions, 73 squadrons (6,300 horsemen) and 316 artillery pieces, with four corps groups subordinate to it:

  • Berndt Cavalry Corps (4th and 7th Cavalry Division)
  • XIV. Corps under Gen. Inf. Josef Roth (2nd, 3rd and 21st Division)
  • X Corps under FML Hugo Martiny (24th and 62nd Divisions)
  • IX. Corps under FML Rudolf Kralicek (19th and 26th Divisions)

Brusilov offensive, summer 1916

General Karl Tersztyánszky

The Brusilov offensive began on June 4, 1916 : the Russian 8th Army attacked between the Styr bridgehead from Czartorysk to Sapanow in the direction of Kovel and Lutsk. About 150,000 soldiers of the 4th Army completely collapsed before the attack by 200,000 Russians: the Russian XXXIX. Corps was the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Division (Major General Sellner) at Olyka, to the south, following the Russian VIII Corps, the Szurmay Group with the 70th Honved Division (General Goldbach ) and the Austro-Hungarian 7th Division as far as Mlynow. North of the breakthrough wedge was the 37th Honved Division under FML Tabajdi of the mass of the Russian XXXIX. Corps opposite. On June 5, the Russian 8th Army succeeded in tearing open the Austrian front at Olyka completely, expanding the breakthrough to 75 km wide and 35 km deep by June 7, and pushing the enemy back from the Putilowka to the Styr . The Austro-Hungarian 4th Army lost most of its forces on its withdrawal and melted down to 27,000 soldiers within a week. As the Russian XXXX. Corps finally succeeded in retaking the city of Lutsk on the Styr, which had been lost the previous year, on June 7th, the operational breakthrough was fully achieved. After the intervention of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army Group, Colonel General von Linsingen , Archduke Joseph Ferdinand was replaced by General Karl Tersztyánszky on June 7th . Between June 10th and 12th the remaining units of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army struggled to maintain the Styrlinie, the breakthrough section had spread to 85 kilometers wide and 48 kilometers deep. The defeated 4th Army was placed under the German high command, the commanding officer of the kuk X. Corps defeated in the breakthrough area, General Martiny , was replaced by FML Friedrich Csanády . The new front of Army Group Linsingen , which had taken over the section of the defeated Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, now ran from Tarnawka, along the Plaszewka and Styr, northwards to Lipa, on via Gorochow and Swiniuchy to Stochod near Linjewka, from there on to Sokul, along the Styr to Kolki to Rawalowka.

The Army Group Linsingen, which had to withstand the strongest attack again, now had 30 divisions, half of them allies, and faced 33 divisions of the Russians. The attack from the Stochod bridgehead near Zarecze and Hulewicze was sealed off until the beginning of August. The attack of the Russian 40th Corps, presented by General Kaledin on Vladimir-Volynsk, brought the worn-out remains of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army under Tersztyansky into another crisis. The intervention of the newly introduced General Command of XXXX. Reserve Corps under General der Infanterie Litzmann now took over command of the battle. By July 30th the situation with the 4th Army was stabilized, the battle for Kovel continued until August 12th and brought the Russians no further territorial gains.

Summer fighting 1917

The German Supreme Army Command planned to launch its own counter-offensive in Eastern Galicia in July 1917, while the Russian summer offensive near Kalusz was still in progress . For this purpose, six additional divisions had been brought into Galicia from the western front since the beginning of July. The attack took place in cooperation with Army Group Böhm-Ermolli . General von Winckler , commander of the German I. Army Corps ( Zloczow section ), took over the leadership of the allied attack group, whose main focus was north of Zborow . It was supposed to break through the Russian front in the direction of Tarnopol .

Commander in chief

literature

  • Austrian Federal Ministry for the Army from the War Archives: Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914-1918 , seven volumes of text and supplements, Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930
  • Anton Wagner: The First World War . Troop service series, Carl Ueberreuter Verlag, 1981
  • Hermann Stegemann: History of the World War. Volume I, Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1917.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914-1918, Volume I., p. 75
  2. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, p. 553
  3. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume III., War Structure p. 17

Web links