Battle of Krakow

Battle of Krakow

Part of: Eastern Front , First World War

date	November 16th bis 25. November 1914
place	near Krakow
output	broken off, not fought battle

Parties to the conflict
Austria-Hungary German Empire	Russia
Commander
Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf Joseph of Austria Joseph Roth Arthur Arz von Straussenburg	Nikolai Ivanov Radko Dimitriev Plato Letschizki
Troop strength
4th Army 1st Army	3rd Army 9th Army

The Battle of Krakow took place in the First World War from 16 to 25 November 1914 on the eastern front instead. In western Galicia, the Russian 9th and 3rd Armies had advanced to the Dunajec and pushed back the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army between Krakow and the northern slopes of the Beskids . The counterattack by the retreating Austro-Hungarian troops on the northern section of the Vistula was repulsed by the Russians and then stalled in a stalemate . As a result of the unsuccessful fighting of the German 9th Army in the decisive battle for Łódź , the fighting for Kraków was broken off on both sides after a two-week struggle. The Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf began hastily regrouping to a new counteroffensive at Limanowa-Lapanow in order to stop the Russian breakthrough in Northern Hungary .

prehistory

On November 1st, Colonel General Hindenburg was appointed commander in chief of all German armed forces in the east; Together with his chief of staff Ludendorff, he regrouped the 9th Army under General von Mackensen to Thorn, in order to strike a flank against the rear connections of the Russians in this dangerous situation. After the defeat in the Battle of the Vistula , the general war situation of the Central Powers on the Eastern Front at the end of October 1914 had turned very unfavorable.

The armies of the Russian middle front were advancing towards Wroclaw and Cracow . The German 9th Army had retreated to the Czestochowa-Wielun line from the overwhelming Russian forces. The German Guard Reserve Corps remained to cover the left wing of the 1st Army in the old front and maintained contact with the Landwehr Corps . At the same time, the Austro-Hungarian army command had to break off the unsuccessful battle on the San , the 1st Army was ordered to retreat behind the Nida , the 4th Army behind the Dunajec and the 3rd Army to retreat to the Carpathians . From November 5, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army had to take back the left wing on Kamien and Tarnobrzeg as well as the right wing of the army from the San section on the Dunajec. On November 6th, the Austro-Hungarian Army Command had to clear troops for the Silesian area. The 2nd Army under Böhm-Ermolli was with the XII. Corps (16th and 35th Divisions) and IV Corps (31st and 32nd Divisions) withdrawn from the Carpathian Mountains. The protection of the Carpathian crossings between Uzsoker - and Duklapass that had become free was transferred to the VII Corps (17th, 34th and 20th divisions) and the Karg group (38th Hungarian Honved Division and 3 other Landsturm brigades).

Withdrawal of the Austrians

FZM Karl Kuk, fortress commander of Krakow, drawing by Oskar Brüch

The Russian 9th Army pressed on immediately after the Austrians, General Krusenstern's corps group crossed the San and advanced along the southern bank of the Vistula on Tarnobrzeg . The Russian 3rd Army pushed from November 4th with the XI. and IX. Corps at Niepolomice from their southern San bridgeheads to attack. On November 5, the kuk XVII. and the IX. Corps removed the San positions and initially went back into the area on both sides of Przedbórz. By the evening of November 5th the Russians had reached the Busk-Andreev-Przedbórz line. The quick return of the battered 1st Army to the Skala-Kromolów line without a fight was heavily criticized by the German army command. The II Corps (4th and 25th Divisions) was promoted to the 1st Army via Cracow. The 4th Army was to regroup masses near and east of Krakow, in order to flank the enemy advancing north of the Vistula from this area from the south.

The Austro-Hungarian 4th Army had already got behind the Wisłoka and the Dunajec on November 8th. The Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf complied with the will of the German Army Command to support the attack in the direction of Lodz . At the same time, however, he pointed out that about 30 Russian divisions in Galicia faced only 11 separate divisions, while he had concentrated 26 divisions north of the Vistula to protect Cracow and Silesia. He informed the German Chief of Staff von Falkenhayn that if the Krakow offensive failed, he would have to withdraw his troops to the southern bank of the Vistula to protect the threatened Danube monarchy.

On November 9th, the 1st Army had broken away from the enemy and arrived in the new combat area in the apron northwest of Krakow. In addition to the 95th Landsturm Brigade, the fortress commander of Cracow, FML Kuk , was also assigned the 45th Rifle Division and 106th Landsturm Division. On November 13 the 2nd Army was unloaded at Lublinitz (XII. Corps) and Rosenberg- Kreuzburg (IV. Corps).

The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army made the front again following the Guard Reserve Corps. Left at Zarki with the II. Corps, and the Tschurschenthaler group, in the middle the I. Corps in the area west of Wolbrom and on the left with the V and X. Corps to the west of Skala. The Woyrsch Army detachment further to the north and the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army were to advance to the Czestochowa - Miechów line to the south of Novoradomsk, while the incoming parts of the 2nd Army were to march at Działoszyn. The Hauer Cavalry Corps stood on both sides of the Warta near Działoszyn and tried to repair and secure the bridges that had been destroyed there.

kuk 1st Army General of the Cavalry Viktor Dankl

• II Corps Gen. Inf. Johann von Kirchbach (4th and 25th Divisions, 2nd Cavalry Division)
• Tschurschenthaler Group (43rd and 44th Rifle Division, 101st Landsturm Brigade)
• I. Corps Gen. Inf.Karl von Kirchbach (5th and 12th Division, 46th Rifle Division)
• V. Corps Gen. Inf. Paul Puhallo (14th and 33rd Divisions, 37th Honved Division and 36th Lst.Brig)
• X Corps Gen. the Inf. Meixner (2nd and 24th Division, 35th LstlBrig. and 11th Honved Cavalry Division)

After the eight-day march back, the left wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army had rallied with the VI from November 13th. and XIV. Corps on the Szreniawa in the northern apron of Krakow. The fortress commander of Cracow, FZM Kuk, had his occupation troops lined up in the northern apron at the front of the field armies.

Austro-Hungarian 4th Army Archduke Joseph Ferdinand

• VI. Corps FML Arz (27th and 39th Divisions)
• XIV Corps FML Roth (3rd and 8th Divisions , 13th Rifle Division)
• Krakow Fortress under FZM Kuk (95th and 106th Landwehr Division)
• XVII. Corps General of Infantry Karl Křitek (15th and 19th Divisions)
• Group FML Nikić (6th and 10th Cavalry Divisions)
• XI. Corps FML Stephan von Ljubičić (41st Honved Division, 11th and 30th Divisions)

After the urging of the German army command to support the 9th Army attacking in the Lodz area, Conrad von Hötzendorf ordered his troops to counterattack from the Krakow area. On the evening of November 15, the army commander Archduke Joseph Ferdinand announced the guidelines for the attack by the 4th Army on the next day: The X. Corps of the 1st Army should launch a diversion attack on the right wing before the 4th Army on November 16 goes on the offensive. The Puhallo group had to join the attack from the right wing. The Roth group (XIV Corps and 106th Landsturm Division) had to advance between the Vistula and Słomniki in the direction of Proszowice . The Arz group (39th Honved Division and 45th Rifle Division) had west of it in the direction of Słomniki. The Křitek group (19 ID. And half of the 41st Honved Division) was supposed to shield the attack from Wieliczka to the southern bank of the Vistula.

Reaction of the Russian Army Command

General Platon Letschizki (AOK 9) led the attack against the northern apron of the Krakow fortress

The commander-in-chief of the Russian Southwest Front, General Nikolai Ivanov , wanted to delay the advance on Silesia until the Austro-Hungarian army was completely defeated. The direct action of the Russian 3rd Army (General Dimitriew ) on Cracow was still too dangerous in his opinion, a threatening flank thrust by the enemy should be prevented by a previous advance of the 8th Army (General Brusilov ) taking possession of the Carpathian crossings should. The Russians had advanced more slowly than expected on the Szreniawa and Pilica sections and did not reach the Uniejow - Piotrkow - Kielce line until November 2nd .

After the withdrawal of the German 9th Army, the 180 km wide frontal gap between Czestochowa and the Warta temporarily covered the corps of General Frommel's cavalry with the Austro-Hungarian 7th and the German 5th Cavalry Division , which had arrived from the western front, as well as the Korda Cavalry Corps (kuk 7th and German 8th Cavalry Division ) opposite General Novikov's Russian cavalry corps . Between Żarki and Czestochowa, the German Guard Reserve Corps, the Bredow Division, the Landwehr Corps and the 35th Reserve Division secured the newly formed Woyrsch Army Division .

The Russian 4th Army pursued to the Pilica south of Przedbórz with the grenadier corps, the XVI. and the XVII. Army Corps. The advance of the Russian XVII. Army corps was stopped at Nagłowice by the Guard Reserve Corps. General of the Kavallerie Dankl had to withdraw his right wing behind the Pradnikbach on November 9th. The group Krusenstern and parts of the XVIII. Corps of the 9th Army had advanced to the lower Dunajec until Rzeszów was a gap in the front.

The German 9th Army had penetrated the Kutno and Łęczyca line in the Battle of Lodz and broke into the seam between the Russian 1st and 2nd Armies. As a result, Prince Nikolai Nikolayevich had to break off the advance of the 5th Army to Novoradomsk, creating a gap in the front with the 4th Army in the south. The Russian 5th, 4th and 9th Army, which attacked the Kalisch line to Czestochowa , had set off from the Widawka, Pilica and Nidzica on November 14th and on the following day had the Działoszyn line east of Czestochowa - Miechów - Szreniawa reached. The Russian 3rd and 8th Armies attacked in the Carpathian Mountains, both of which suffered heavy losses in the fighting near Przemyśl . The Commander-in-Chief of the Southwest Front, General Ivanov, had the Tumanów cavalry group assembled on the upper Widawka and extended the northern wing of the 4th Army (Grenadier Corps) north to Novoradomsk.

In the Russian 9th Army, the Krusenstern group advancing south of the Vistula near Nowy Korczyn had their divisions (23rd and 46th Infantry and 80th Reserve Divisions) near Skalbmierz with the XVIII. Corps united and pushed these forces on the 16th in the Słomniki area, to be there between the XXV. and to establish the Grenadier Corps. Down the Dunajec estuary, the right wing of the Russian 3rd Army began to build several bridges over the Vistula in order to be able to intervene in the fighting of the 9th Army between the Raba and the Dunajec. The mass of the 3rd Army, concentrated in the area north of Jasło and Krosno, collided with the XI. and IX. Corps advanced south of the Rzeszów- Tarnów railway line to the west, while 8th Army threatened to invade northern Hungary, advancing across the Carpathians .

4th Army under General Alexei Ewert

• Grenadier Corps under Gen. of the artillery Josif I. Mrozowski (1st and 2nd Grenadier Division)
• XVI. Army Corps under Gen. the Inf.Wladislaw Klembowski (41st and 47th Inf division)
• XVII. Army Corps under Gen. Inf.Pjotr Jakowlew (81st Reserve Division, 3rd and 35th Infantry Division)
• III. Caucasian Corps under Infantry General Vladimir Irmanov (75th Reserve Division, Ural Cossack Division)

9th Army under General Platon Letschizki

• XIV Army Corps under Gen. the Inf. Hippolytus Woyshin-Murdas-Schilinski (18th and 45th Infantry Division)
• Guard Corps under Gen. the Kav. Vladimir Besobrasov (1st and 2nd Guard Division)
• XVIII. Army Corps (37th Infantry and 83rd Reserve Divisions)
• XXV. Army Corps under Gen. the Inf.Alexander Ragosa (70th Reserve Division., 16th Infantry and 3rd Grenade Division)
• Combined Corps Krusenstern (80th Reserve, 23rd and 46th Infantry Division)
• Tumanov Cavalry Corps (13th Cavalry Division, 1st Don Kosdiv., 61st Reserve Division)

3rd Army under General Radko Dimitriev

• XXI. Army corps under General of the Infantry Jakow Schkinski , (35th and 44th Inf.-Divisions)
• XI. Army Corps under General of the Cavalry Vladimir Sakharov (11th and 32nd Infantry Divisions)
• IX. Army Corps under Lieutenant General Dmitri Cherbachev (5th and 42nd Infantry Divisions)
• Xth Army Corps under Infantry General Nikolai Protopopov (8th and 31st Infantry Divisions)

The battle

Battle of Krakow, situation at the end of November 1914

November 16

On November 16, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army counterattacked the Russian 9th Army, the aim of the operation was the Szreniawa section. By 1 p.m. the advance of the XIV Corps had reached the border north-east of Prusy without fighting. The VI. Corps had meanwhile reached Michałowice with the 39th Honved Infantry Division (HID) and ran into the enemy there, while the 45th Rifle Division reached the Smardzowice area . The Russian XXV. Corps prepared for battle on the heights southwest of Proszowice and Słomniki. The Arz corps group reached Goszcza with the right wing and the heights at Rzeplin with the left wing. Following the instructions, the X. Corps and the 14th Division began the advance on November 16, and the western edge of the Pradnik Gorge was reached without a fight. In the evening the Arz group (VI. AK) was reinforced with the 27th division and the Kritek group (XVII. AK) with the 15th division. The Křitek group (19th Division and half of the 41st Honved Division) advanced from Wieliczka via Niepołomice on the northern bank of the Vistula against the left Russian flank at Nowe Brzesko. On November 16, the Russian 3rd Army advanced south of the Vistula on the line Krosno - Jasło and had initially only advanced with cavalry to the Grybów- Neusandez area, the bulk of Dimitriev's troops stopped on the western bank of the San.

November 17th

On November 17th, the advance of the Russians threatened the city of Königshütte , the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army operated from the northern front of the Krakow fortress against the left flank of the Russian 9th Army, which secured itself with parts against Krakow, while its main power advanced west. The action of the inner wings of the Russian 9th and 4th Armies was already having a detrimental effect on the 1st and 2nd Corps. The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army encountered stiff resistance on the whole front. The Russian 3rd Army was with the XXI. Corps reached Tarnów , the XI. Corps crossed the Wisłoka , while the IX. and the X. Corps remained northeast of Jasło. The opposite kuk group Ljubičić (XI. Corps) tried to hold the Dunajec line below Neusandez and had to surrender the 6th and 10th cavalry troop divisions to the hard-pressed cavalry group of the FML Nagy. The group of FML Nikić (half of the 41st Honved Division) tried to reach Bochnia and the lower Raba. The Polish legion and the 11th Cavalry Division could only absorb the Russian break-in at New Sandez with the last of their strength. The 30th Infantry Division advanced from the Grybów area on both sides of the Dunajec between Świdnik and Dabrowa .

The right wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army tried to encircle the Russian 9th Army via Proszowice, while the 1st Army advanced against Andreyev with its focus on the left wing. The Roth group fought their way to the height of Biorków. The 15th division deployed on the right wing advanced to Glew , to the right of it the 19th division of the Křitek group penetrated through Igołomia. In the 1st Army, the X. Corps tried via Skała to support the Arz group, which had advanced near Goszcza , and to break into the Russian front at Miechów , while the Puhallo group (V Corps) wanted to win the heights south of Wolbrom . In the counterattack, the Russian Guard Corps gained ground so quickly near Skała that the 33rd Division had to intervene from the reserve to stabilize the front. The 45th Rifle Division also had to front against the northwest, as the Russian Guard had broken through at the seam between the 4th and 1st Armies. A blow by Woyrsch's Army Detachment against the north wing of the Russian 4th Army (Grenadier Corps) east of Czestochowa tied up the Russian reserves. The German corps group in Breslau had reached Wielun .

November 18

The Austro-Hungarian Army Command in Teschen was completely disappointed by its own attack the day before; the first target had not been achieved. In the north, the Woyrsch Army Detachment defended itself on November 18 between Żarki and Czestochowa against superior Russian forces. The XII. Corps crossed the Warta at Novoradomsk . The Austro-Hungarian troops had hit heavily entrenched Russian positions on November 19 and got stuck, the day's destination Szreniawa was not even close. The Nikic group of the XI. Corps Ljubicic was set up on the line Rajbrot - Lipnica - Tymowa to relieve counter-attacks over Brzesko to the Russian XXI. Corps from the south and to prevent the intended crossing of the Vistula. In the event of Russian superiority, the Nikić group should move to the lower Raba. The right wing of the 4th Army (Křitek Group with 15th and 19th Divisions) advanced on Wawrzeńczyce . The Roth group (3rd and 8th Divisions) had won terrain at Biorków and took Wronin . The Russian XXV. Corps was stopped, but counter-attacks could throw back the 13th Rifle Division. On the right wing of the VI. Corps, the 39th Honved Division (General Hadfy) north-west of Goszcza was stuck and by the counter-attack of the Russian XVIII. Corps pushed back to the southeast between Skała and Iwanowice. The shaky front of the Arz group had to be supported by the 95th Landsturm Brigade of the Krakow Fortress Command and the 11th Honved Cavalry Division.

November 19th

Karl Kritek

On November 19, also went kuk 1st Army on the attack: The right wing of the 1st Army (X and V Corps) hit east of Prądnikbaches and on both sides of Jangrot strong opposition of the Russian Guard Corps. In the center of Dankl's army, the 5th Division succeeded in gaining space against Wolbrom and the Tschurtschenthaler group east of Podzamcze. The Russian XIV Corps opposite, however, was able to prevent the breakthrough on Pilica. The 4th Army finally advanced: On the right wing of the Křitek group, the 19th Infantry Division was able to retreat against Nowe Brzesko. The attempt of the Russian 9th Army to break through between the 4th and 1st Armies was thrown back over the Szreniawabach. The kuk XIV. Corps was violently from the Russian XXV. Corps attacked, the 14th Infantry Regiment "Grand Duke of Hesse" and 59 "Archduke Rainer" of the 3rd Infantry Division were successful in defending themselves. The VI. Corps that tried to win in the area of Słomniki , was by the attack of the Russian XVIII. Corps were pushed into defense. The 39th Honved Division suffered great losses and had to retreat at Goszcza, to the left of which the 27th Infantry Division held its ground south of Rzeplin. The 11th Honved Cavalry Division between the VI. and the X Corps. The group of the FZM. Ljubicić had reached the area northeast of Tymowa with the 30th Infantry Division with the 11th Infantry Division. The Russian XXI. Corps tried the difficult situation of the XXV standing north of the Vistula. Corps to facilitate an advance on both sides of the Vistula. As a result, the group Ljubicić (XI. Corps) advancing to the northeast came to a standstill. The 4th Cavalry Division, still to the east of the upper Dunajec, had retreated to Altsandez in front of strong enemy forces. The 6th and 10th Cavalry Divisions were deployed at Myślenice and combined with the Polish Legion in Sucha under the command of the 11th Honved Cavalry Division of FML Nagy to form a cavalry corps that ran the railway lines from Krakow to Oświęcim (Auschwitz ) and Cieszyn (Teschen) had to secure. The 6th Cavalry Division had pushed the enemy at Zakliczyn over the Dunajec, to the north of it closed the 30th Infantry Division. On the right wing of the 1st Army, the attack by X Corps in front of Skala, and that of V Corps on both sides of Jangrot, stalled. The 5th Infantry Division of the 1st Corps succeeded in taking possession of the heights upstream of Wolbrom, to the left of which the attack by the 46th Rifle Division remained. The center of the Russian XIV. Corps held out ironically and it was not possible to push back the enemy. The group of the FML Tschurtschenthaler (44th Rifle Division) got stuck in front of the right wing of the Russian XIV. Corps northwest of Pilica because the 43rd Division was still hanging back at Zerkowice. The II. Corps (left wing of the 1st Army) with the 4th Infantry Division was able to take over the left wing of the already badly shaken III. kauk. Corps at Lgota Murowana push in a little. However, FML Stöger-Steiner had to weaken the right flank of its division in favor of the 25th division, which is adjacent to the left, and which was pinned to its trenches by heavy fire and Russian counter-attacks. When the newly formed Russian 11th Army (XXVIII. And XXIX. Corps, 9th and 11th Cavalry Divisions) marched around Przemyśl , the now covered right wing of the Russian 3rd Army also advanced on the Dębica-Dynów line. The Russian XXI. Corps threatened to break through the lower Dunajec and was drawn to the northern bank of the Vistula to support the attack of the 9th Army.

20th November

FZM Stephan von Ljubičić 1914

In the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, the 5th Division of the 1st Corps encountered increased Russian resistance off Wolbrom after Russian guards had strengthened the front of the XIV Corps. The weakened II Corps no longer attacked in the direction of Zdów and had to be supported by the German 1st Guard Reserve Division. The Russian XI. Army Corps Corps had arrived at the Dunajec from the area south of Dębica. On November 20, the group was Ljubicić east of Brzesko and west of Szczepanów-Szczurowa by the action of the Russian XXI. Army corps stopped over the Dunajec. By evening the 10th Cavalry Division had been withdrawn to Bochnia, Landsturm and the 6th Cavalry Division secured the area to the south-east of Sucha- Myślenice . The divisions of the Arz group (VI. Corps) saw themselves at Goszcza and south of Rzeplin through the Russian XVIII. Corps detained. The continuation of the attack on Słomniki seemed hopeless, between the VI. and the X Corps, a push group was formed to push against the heights of Skala. The XVII. Corps could get closer to the positions of the Russian XXV. Corps to work in front of Nowe Brzesko. To the left of it penetrated the XIV. Corps with the 8th Division to Wierzbno, while the attacks of the 3rd and 13th Divisions via Biorków and Wilków were unsuccessful.

21st November

The bulk of the Russian 3rd Army reached the Dunajec and advanced threateningly in a westerly direction. Strong Russian cavalry units advanced to Limanowa as the vanguard, and two corps threatened the section between New Sandez and Czechów . The FZM group. As a result, Ljubicic got into a difficult position south of the Vistula. To the transition of the Russian XXI. To delay the corps across the Vistula, the FML Nikic group was given the task of preparing the counterattack south of the Brzesko-Tarnow road. Parts of the XI. Corps was deployed to throw the enemy back on the north bank. The Ljubicic group was unable to carry out only one of the two instructions and carried out heavy defensive battles on the western bank of the Raba and between its mouth and Cerekiew. The Kritek group tried to relieve the burden on the line south of Leksice-Koscielec-Opatkowice and a brigade was able to penetrate the town of Delachowice. Parts of the Russian XXI, which passed over to the northern bank of the Vistula. Corps could be identified by air reconnaissance. The right wing of XIV Corps reached the heights south of Makocice and the area north of Chorazyce, while the center and left wing remained on the Przesławice-Skrzeszowice-Goszcza line.

22nd of November

North of the Vistula, the 1st and 4th Armies were fighting against the Russian 9th Army (14 divisions), on both sides of the village of Pilica the Austro-Hungarian troops gained space against Smoleń-Izyce. At Swiniarow, Major General Mark's group arrived with six battalions and three batteries in support of the Nikic group. The X and V Corps tried to continue the attack from the Siamoszyce area in a northerly direction, and on November 23, a Russian attack on Jangrot was repulsed. The Russian 3rd Army advanced a cavalry corps over New Sandez , one army corps advanced from Gorlice against Czechów, and two others followed on both sides of the Tarnow railway line. The Austro-Hungarian Cavalry Corps under FML Nagy (6th, 10th and 11th Cavalry Division) tried to protect the open southern flank of the Ljubičić group and had to retreat to the Królówka — Bochnia — Raba line from the overwhelming force.

November 23

The Russian XXI, standing on the Vistula. Army corps was identified in front of the 4th Army, the avant-garde of 44th Division reached Chruszczyna. The Kritek group could not cross the line south of Leksice-Kościelec. The XIV Corps was able to take the heights north of Opatkowice and reach the Makocice-Rzedowice line. The Russians launched violent counterattacks at the Arz group. Against the Ljubičić group, the Russians made repeated attacks against the front as well as against the northeast, southeast and Ujscie Solne. At Szczepanów- Mokrzyska the Russians succeeded in penetrating the Austro-Hungarian positions from the north. General Ljubičić ordered the rapid withdrawal of his troops on the Raba — Bochnia — Muchówka line, and FML Nagy cavalry with the 6th and 10th Cavalry Divisions to the south prevented further advance of the Russian cavalry corps.

November 24th

On the morning of the 24th, the intervention of the Russian XXI. Corps palpable, strong Russian counterattacks on the Kritek and Roth corps brought the 4th Army's attack to a standstill. At Skaia the entire south wing of the 1st Army was pushed into defense. General Platon Letschizki, leader of the Russian 9th Army, radioed his neighbors south of the Vistula, General Dimitriev, to send more forces to the north bank of the Vistula "in the name of victory". At the headquarters of the Russian 3rd Army, the position of the X Corps fighting south of Zmigrod could not be properly assessed. The Vistula crossing of the XXI. Corps had already been completed. The IX. Corps crossed the Dunajec at Zakliczyn and advanced in the line between Tymowa and Brzesko . To the north of it operated the XI. Corps on the railway between Tarnow and Ujście Solne .

The troops of the kuk VI. Corps tried to attack further in the direction of Ivanowice-Stomniki, the 13th Rifle Division was assembled in the area west of Cracow. The 27th Division strode west of the clay gorge of the Dłubniabach, east of the gorge the 39th Honved Division to attack the enemy waiting for us in heavily armored positions. The southern wing of the FML group. Arz was based more on the northern front of the Krakow fortress. In order to keep the overall situation at Krakow permanently defensible, the group Ljubicic near Wieliczka - Dobczyce south of the Vistula by parts of the XVII. Corps reinforced. The Ljubicic group found itself attacked by five Russian divisions south of the Vistula on the lower Raba — Bochnia — Wiśnicz. The kuk XI. Bochnia went back to the line northeast of Niepolomice — left bank of the Raba to heights south of Dobczyce and to the line Wieliczka — Dobczyce. The Ljubicic group was formed by parts of the XVII. Corps reinforced and thereby able to continuously repel the advance of the enemy. Russian cavalry pushed through New Sandets. At the same time, the Russian 8th Army began its attack on the Carpathian Mountains. One to Homonna penetrated Russian corps was thrown back, the left wing of the 3rd Army in turn to Bartfa pushed back.

25. November

In the 4th Army, the Nikic group secured the heights east and north of Koszyce, while the XVII. Corps had to be withdrawn to the northern edge of Bobin and north of the Szreniawa before a strong attack. To the north of Proszowice , the Roth group held its own on the heights north of the lowland and the town of Przeslawice. The XIV Corps was already slowly being withdrawn from the front and returned to Cracow to act as an army reserve. The withdrawal of the Kritek group on the line east of Śmiłowice and north of Śmiłowice on the edge of the hill to Kowala was initiated. In the Ljubicic group, the 30th division reached the Muchowka-Wisnicz Nowy line, the 11th division returned north across the western Raba bank to Dziewin. The line covering the Tymbark- Chhabówka line was entrusted to the FML Nagy group. The 6th Cavalry Division was to concentrate around Tymbark, the 10th Cavalry Division attempted counterattacks against the Russian cavalry that had broken into Limanowa. The situation at the front gap between the army Boroevic and the armed forces in Krakow was intolerable and demanded urgent rapid intervention.

Result

The great offensive against Prussian Silesia was brought to a standstill by the simultaneous attack on both wings; the advance of the overwhelming Russian forces south of the Vistula forced the army high command to break off the battle near Cracow on November 25th. In the heavy fighting the losses of the 4th Army were significant, replacement of troops was not to be expected at first. While the fighting north of Krakow subsided, the Russian 8th Army under General Brusilov had broken deep into the Carpathian Mountains to the south, farthest in the Bartfeld area . The northern border of Hungary was still threatened by a Russian invasion, the Hungarian government urgently requested reinforcements from the army command. Between the left wing of the holding Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army in the Bartfeld area and the right wing of the 4th Army south of Krakow there was a gap of about 80 kilometers in the Russian front near Neusandez, in which only weak security by the enemy maintained the connection. General Conrad tried to take advantage of the situation by surprisingly counter-attacking the rear of the Russian 3rd Army and at the beginning of December launched a new offensive at Limanowa-Lapanow , which prevented the collapse of the front in the Carpathian Mountains .

literature

• Austria-Hungary's Last War , Volume I, Edmund Glaise-Horstenau , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930, pp. 522–568.
• The fighting against Russia in autumn 1914 until the end of the Limanowa-Lapanów campaign (December 1st to 20th) ASMZ year 131, No. 3 / Vienna 1965.

Web links

• The fighting in Galicia in autumn 1914 from ASMZ 1965