Battle of Mărăşeşti

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Mărăşeşti was a series of large-scale but tactically coherent battles in the Focsani area , which took place from August 6 (July 24) to September 3 (August 21) 1917 in the district of Vrancea between the Sereth and Putna rivers with concentration on the Muncelu - Mărăşeşti line . The battle was the largest confrontation of the First World War in the Romanian theater of war since December 1916 and was a direct continuation of the Battle of Mărăşti (July 22nd - August 1st). The fighting lasted 29 days, of which only on Major military actions took place for 16 days. The great losses in the offensive forced the Central Powers to give up their attacks on the Romanian front and go permanently on the defensive.

background

The plan of the Central Powers in the summer of 1917 aimed to completely occupy Romania in order to use the agricultural resources of this region and then those of western Ukraine for their own warfare. Due to the defeat of the Russian troops during the Tarnopol offensive and the loss of the Bukovina , the Russian 9th Army (five army corps) had to be withdrawn from the Romanian front and relocated to eastern Galicia , where it was supposed to secure the flank of the retreating 8th Army . The additional success of the Romanian 2nd Army's left wing at Mărăşti forced the Central Powers to revise their plans in early August. The Romanian 2nd Army began a relief offensive on July 22nd against the right wing of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army (Colonel General Rohr von Denta ). The affected corps group Gerok ( XXIV. Reserve Corps ) was in dire straits. The kuk 1st Cavalry Division (FML. De Ruiz) deployed there and the German 218th Division had to withdraw from the Soveja Basin through the Putna and Susita valleys. The German 117th Division had to be added as reinforcements. The attack on the Namoloasa River planned at the headquarters of the Russian 4th Army also had to be abandoned because their troops were to be relieved beforehand. The Romanian reserve army in northern Moldova was to be included by restructuring the front. Most of them were brought forward in the Focsani area , where the Romanian 2nd Army was concentrated on the middle Sereth . The Russian troops were successively replaced by the Romanian 1st Army under General Constantin Cristescu . Most of these forces were still in the Tecuci area and had to cross the Sereth first before they could replace the Russians in the vacated area. The Romanian 5th Infantry Division first arrived in Baltaretu on August 6th and was supposed to start releasing the Russian VII Army Corps in the evening.

Attack plan

The plan of General Field Marshal von Mackensen , the Commander in Chief of the Romanian Army Group , provided that the offensive should be concentrated in the area north of Focsani, while an attack by the Austro-Hungarian troops should take place in the Oituz valley. The main strike was assigned to the German 9th Army (General Johannes von Eben ), whose troops were to break through against the western bank of the Sereth and on the line Focsani - Marasesti - Adjud . After reaching the Marasesci - Panciu line, the Romanian 2nd Army deployed on the left was to be forced off to the west by an advance on Racoasa to the mountains and, in cooperation with the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army of the Archduke Joseph Army Group, were encircled, while the divisions staggered on the right were initially intended to serve To extend the bridgehead at Tecuciu to the Movileni-Negrilesci line.

For the offensive, the German 9th Army was brought to 174 battalions , 16 squadrons , 150 batteries (31 of which were heavy), with reinforcements being brought in from the western front and the Italian front . The forces in the attack-portion 13 included divisions with 102 battalion, 10 squads, 24 pioneer - companies , 2 tanks , 1.135 machine guns , 356 mortars , 213 field guns and 122 heavy guns. General von Eben decided to lead the main strike with the I. Reserve Corps (6 divisions), while the XVIII. Reserve Corps (3 divisions) to his left had to bind the Entente troops opposite him. The left wing of the 9th Army was defensively secured by two divisions of the Ramnic Group. The attack was set up at a width of about 35 km and began due to time pressure although the full concentration of all forces had not yet been achieved. A German and an Austro-Hungarian division acted as reserves , as soon as the Alpine Corps, freshly arriving from the western front, was to begin the attack.

The Romanian-Russian armed forces were significant: On the one hand, the Russian 4th Army consisted of 84 battalions, 32 squadrons, 79 batteries (9 heavy) with 280 field guns and 36 heavy guns - and the Romanian 1st Army - of 5 infantry - and 1 Cavalry division, three brigades with 78 battalions, 58 squadrons and 36 batteries with 114 cannons, 10 mortars and 7 anti-aircraft guns . Opposite the German I. Reserve Corps was the Russian 4th Army with the VIII. Army Corps (3 divisions) on the right and the VII. Army Corps (2 divisions) on the left wing. The reserve consisted of an infantry and a cavalry division. The Russian 6th Army, which remained defensive in the ensuing confrontation, had to extend its front to Liesci to the right of the newly inserted Romanian 1st Army. As a result, reserve forces were gained under General Cristescu, who were reinforced from the main reserve by the 10th Infantry Division in order to get the first outgoing Russian XXX. and later to replace the VII Army Corps.

Involved armed forces

Central Powers

German 9th Army - General of the Infantry Johannes von Eben

Johannes von Eben as general of the infantry

I. Reserve Corps , General Curt von Morgen

XVIII. Reserve Corps , Lieutenant General Karl von Wenninger

reserve

Entente

Romanian 1st Army , General Constantin Cristescu , General Grigorescu from August 12th

Jeremiah Grigorescu

III. Army Corps, General Constantin Iancovescu , from August 12th General Aristide Razu

  • 14th Infantry Division, General Grigore Bunescu
  • 9th Infantry Division, General Constantin Scărişoreanu

VI. Army Corps, General Jeremiah Grigorescu

  • 10th Infantry Division, General Henri Cihoski
  • 5th Infantry Division, General Aristide Razu
  • 13th Infantry Division, General Ioan Popescu

5th Army Corps, General Ioan Istrate

  • 15th Infantry Division,
  • 12th Infantry Division,
  • Russian 80th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Mikhail Dmitryevich Kitschenko

Army reserve:

  • 1st Cavalry Division,
  • 2nd Cavalry Division,
  • Border Guard Brigade and 1st Calarasi Brigade

Russian 4th Army , General of the Infantry Alexander Ragosa

VII Army Corps, Lieutenant General Nikolai Leontjewitsch Junakow

  • 13th Infantry Division, Major General Dmitri Dmitrjewitsch Dzenejew
  • 34th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Nikolai Petrovich Stremukhov

VIII Army Corps, Lieutenant General Andrei Georgjewitsch Jelchaninov

  • 14th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Vladimir Ivanovich Sokolov
  • 15th Infantry Division,

XXX. Army Corps, Lieutenant General Alexander Nilowitsch Gavrilow

  • 103rd and 124th Infantry Divisions

Reserve:

  • Trans Amur Cavalry Division
  • 71st Infantry Division, Major General Pawel Grigoryevich Kantzerow

The battle

First phase from August 6th to 12th

First slaughter phase August 6th to 18th

The 9th Army's offensive was preceded by a powerful artillery preparation that began on August 6th (July 24th) at 4:30 a.m. At 7:30 am, the I. Reserve Corps (General von Morgen) attacked Radulesci with the 76th and 89th Infantry Divisions, followed by two further divisions in the second season. The XVIII. Reserve Corps with the 217th Division, in the middle the 89th and 76th Reserve Divisions, on the right wing the 216th Division, behind it the 212th Division was available as intervention reserve. The enemy front, defended by the Russian 13th and 34th Infantry Divisions, was breached and a 10 km deep penetration was reached. The Russians had to withdraw in disorder east of the Sereth and pulled forward the 71st Division, which was in reserve, to Marasesti as reinforcement. At the request of the Russian command, General Christescu gave the order that Major General Jeremia Grigorescu and his VI. Corps (5th and 9th Infantry Divisions) should intervene immediately to hold the east bank of the Sereth River. The 32nd Dorobanti Regiment Mircea and the 8th Dorobanti Regiment Buzau attacked the troops of the Central Powers on the Moara Alba - Doaga - Furceni line and stopped their advance. Since the chances of forcing the crossing of the Sereth River were very slim on the morning of August 7, the German command diverted the offensive with four divisions to the north. The attacks were concentrated against the Romanian 5th Infantry Division, which was able to repel all attacks. On August 8, General von Eben grouped the attack further west, the front held by Russian units. In the evening they had to withdraw, a Russian regiment was wiped out. On August 9th at 7:00 p.m. the next German attack started after a powerful artillery preparation that inflicted heavy losses on the Romanian 9th Division.

The Entente counterattack followed on August 10th, and General Christescu and General Ragosa decided to hit the German promontory formed on August 7th in the flank with one corps each. On the morning of the 10th, the German 9th Army had attacked the Russian sector, but gained little ground there. At 5 p.m. the Romanian-Russian infantry started their attack after long artillery preparation. The 9th Infantry Division penetrated the front German line, but had to give it up again because of excessive losses. Reinforced with a regiment from the Romanian 13th Infantry Division, the attack continued, but again without success. The 5th Infantry Division and a regiment of the 14th Infantry Division managed to penetrate the German positions again, but could not hold their positions for long. The 8th Dorobanti and 3rd Vanatori regiments were able to occupy the village of Doaga for a short time, but were then thrown back. The situation was similar in the sector of the Russian 4th Army. The counterattacks, however, had significantly reduced the combat strength of the German 76th, 89th and 115th Divisions, those formations which had previously borne the brunt of the attack. General von Eben noticed the exhaustion in the I. Reserve Corps and decided to take the next major blow to the XVIII. Transfer to Reserve Corps. The divisions of the Wenniger Corps attacked the front of the Romanian 5th Infantry Division on August 12 and concentrated their forces against the Russian 4th Army. When the town of Panciu fell into German hands, General Ragosa wanted to withdraw the Russian-Romanian front into the area north of Marasesti, but then gave up the idea after Romanian reinforcements had agreed.

Second phase from August 13th to 19th

The second phase, initiated on August 13 (July 31), began with an offensive by the Germans in the region north of Panciu, where Russian troops had returned. General Ragosa ordered the realignment of the troops on a line 6 kilometers behind the front, which would have meant the abandonment of the city of Mărăşeşti, a measure that was questioned by General Grigorescu. This conflict created an additional crisis for the army command, which was resolved by the high command through a new hierarchy of command. Instead of Ragosa, the Romanian general was given top leadership in the central section.

The next day, General von Eben ordered the I. Reserve Corps to remove the Romanian promontory in the area of ​​the Prisaca wood and to storm the Sereth Bridge at Cozmesti. At the same time the XVIII. Attack Reserve Corps in the Zabraut Valley against the Russian VIII Army Corps. After a powerful artillery preparation, the German attack began, Brigadier General Cihoski, the commander of the 10th Infantry Division, sent the 10th Vanatori Regiment to reinforce the Russians. This measure caused significant losses in the German Alpine Corps, especially in the developing close combat. The Russian VIII Corps was forced to withdraw north of Iresti and Straoani. The soldiers of the Vanatori regiment were able to take the height 334, but then had to withdraw again due to heavy artillery fire. The Romanian 38th Infantry Regiment intervened to relieve the burden in the Susita Valley, for this counterattack Lieutenant Colonel Gheorghe Cornescu was later awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd Class. The Romanian 5th Infantry Division had been reduced to a third of its personnel strength in the last days of the fighting, and its positions in the Prisaca forest were within the effective range of the German artillery. At 5:00 p.m. the next German advance began with two divisions. The reserves and a regiment of the 14th Infantry Division had to intervene and stopped the German advance north of the Prisaca forest. The exhausted 5th Infantry Division was pulled from the front row, the bridge in Cozmesti was blown up in time.

On August 14th, the German units advanced a few kilometers in the Chicera area, and there was again the danger that the defense there would be broken. A Romanian counterattack that developed behind the Russian section helped to cope with this dangerous situation. At the same time General von Morgen dispatched a group of German soldiers to attack the Romanian positions that had taken over the protection of the Cosmeşti bridge.

On August 15, the XVIII. Reserve Corps continued the offensive and managed to break through at the seam between the 10th Infantry Division and the Russian Division on his right. The 10th Vanatori Regiment, supported by 10 Romanian and 3 Russian batteries, intervened and restored the threatening situation. With the left wing occupied the XVIII. Corps entered Muncel and forced the Russians to withdraw. This threatened the connection between the two Romanian armies. The Romanian 2nd Army deployed parts of the 2 Vanatori Regiment, two further battalions and 3 batteries which, together with a Russian cavalry division, should regain control of the village. The next day German troops penetrated Muncel, but had to withdraw again after the attack by Colonel Alexandru Alexius' Romanian combat group.

On August 19, the Germans resumed the offensive and attacked with 5 divisions of the I. Reserve Corps in the direction of Marasesti and with the XVIII. Reserve Corps in the direction of Panciu-Muncel. On this day the battle of Mărăşeşti reached its climax, the Romanian 1st Army deployed 53 Romanian and 21 Russian light and 19 heavy batteries. The focus of the new attack by three divisions was in the sector between Marasesti and the forest of Razoare, which was defended by the 9th and 13th Romanian infantry divisions. This attack took place at the same time as the attack by the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army on the Oituz section and tried again to push the Romanian and Russian forces away to the mountains. The massive artillery fire began at daybreak after gas cartridges were initially fired mainly against the Romanian sector. The Central Powers attacked with 4 German and 1 Austro-Hungarian divisions against the Romanian 9th, 10th and 13th divisions, as well as the Russian 14th and 103rd infantry divisions. The main blow was directed against the sector 3 km east of Mărăşeşti. The Germans penetrated in the middle 2 km deep into the Romanian position in the direction of the Sereth valley. The Germans attacked violently at Mărăşeşti, but only reached the train station on the southern outskirts, the Romanian artillery caused heavy losses. The Romanian 1st Army received the 11th Infantry Division as reinforcement and was able to repel the German attacks in a converging counterattack. The Infantry General von Eben decided on the evening of August 19th that the offensive could no longer be continued because his army could not achieve its goals.

This was followed by a week's break in the fight, which both sides used to reorganize. The 9th Army again changed the main sector of the attack. The XVIII. Reserve corps was reinforced with 3 divisions and all the heavy artillery available to the army. Major General Eremia Grigorescu reorganized his troops: The Russian VIII. Corps now formed the right wing of the army in the Muncelul area. It had two divisions on the first line and two reforms in the background. The Romanian V Corps (10th and 15th Infantry Divisions) held the front as far as the Marasesti station, where the III. Corps (14th Infantry Division) linked between Marasesti and the Sereth River. To the east of the river was the cavalry corps (1st and 6th Rosiori Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division and a brigade of the 5th Infantry Division). The army's reserve consisted of the 9th, 11th and 13th Infantry Divisions and the other brigade of the 5th Division.

Third phase from August 28th to September 3rd

Third slaughter phase August 28th to September 3rd

The new offensive of the XVIII. Reserve Corps began on August 28 in the area of ​​the Russian VIII Corps. At 9:00 a.m. the German troops penetrated between the two Russian divisions and forced them to retreat. The attack by the Alpine Corps and the 216th Division, in which the 76th Reserve Division also took part after a few hours, was able to take the town of Muncelul (close to the northwest of Panciu) and the heights to the northwest and defend it against counterattacks. Two regiments of the Romanian 3rd Infantry Division of the 2nd Army intervened and, together with the Russian reserves, managed to stop the German advance.

The next day, General Grigorescu prepared a counterattack in the Muncelul area to remove the bulge caused by the Germans. He made available the Russian 80th Division, the Romanian 9th Infantry Division, a regiment of the 13th and another of the 15th Division. The attack began at 8:00 a.m. from the north and west, but found the Germans ready to attack on their own and was repulsed. The second attack, launched at 5:00 p.m., was also rejected. The German troops forced the right wing of the Russian 124th Division to retreat. Two battalions of the 2nd Army intervened and restored the situation by nightfall. The Romanian 11th and 13th Infantry Divisions also marched as strong support behind the threatened section. Parts of the 5th Division went over to the western bank of the Sereth. On August 30, the German XVIII. Reserve Corps continued the attack and were able to penetrate between the 18th Dorobanti Regiment Gori and the 2nd Vanatori Regiment of the 2nd Army. The 34th Infantry Regiment Constanta, which belonged to the 9th Division of the 1st Army, countered and filled this breach. The Russian VIII. Corps was reinforced with the Romanian 13th Infantry Division on August 31, but due to the weather there was no fighting. General Eremia Grigorescu placed the 9th Infantry Division and a Russian division under the command of the 13th Division for a new attack. This group led by General Popescu attacked on September 1st, the artillery opened the battle at 6:00 a.m. The entire heavy artillery of the army was at the disposal of the group, as was the artillery of the two other Russian divisions. After an hour, the 9th and 13th Divisions attacked from the west and the 3rd Infantry Division (from the 2nd Army) led by Brigadier General Margineanu from the north. After heavy fighting, the 13th Division moved within 200 meters of the village of Muncelul. The XVIII. Reserve Corps countered in the section of 3rd Infantry Division, but was stopped. The following day, the Romanian 3rd Division again carried the brunt of the attacks by the German 9th Army. The main target of the German troops was the height of Porcului, which was defended by the 30th Dorobanti Regiment Muscel. This initially lost its positions, but was supported in good time after a counterattack by the reserve of a Russian regiment. This attack was the last major operation of the German 9th Army in the Marasesti section.

On September 3, General von Eben the I. and XVIII. Reserve Corps to stop the attacks and to extend the conquered lines for permanent detention. The fighting continued in the following days with low intensity, with local attacks and counter-attacks. In one of these clashes on the Romanian side, the later highly stylized volunteer Lieutenant Ecaterina Teodoroiu was killed by machine gun fire on the heights of Secuiului on September 5th. On the other hand, on September 8th, Lieutenant General Kurt von Wenniger fell in the detonation of an artillery shell. The great losses in the offensive forced the Central Powers to abandon their attacks on the Romanian front and go on the defensive.

Losses and consequences

Karl von Wenninger

Field Marshal von Mackensen ordered the increasingly lossy attacks to stop on September 3rd, the opponents continued their attacks unsuccessfully until September 8th. The actual battle of Mărăşeşti lasted 29 days, of which only 16 were fought and 13 were relatively calm. The German troops had advanced 6–7 km deep, but at a high cost and without reaching a tactical target. The Romanians were able to strengthen their lines after the defensive success. The German victims amounted to around 60,000 men (killed, wounded and missing). The Romanian 1st Army lost 27,410 soldiers (16%) of the original 170,000 soldiers: 5,125 dead (125 officers, 5,000 soldiers), 9,818 missing (118 officers, 9,700 soldiers) and 12,467 wounded (367 officers, 12,100 soldiers). The Russian 4th Army 4 lost 25,620 soldiers: 7,083 dead (83 officers, 7,000 soldiers), 8,167 missing (167 officers, 8,000 soldiers) and 10,400 wounded (400 officers, 10,100 soldiers).

Mărăşeşti was until then the most important battle fought by the Romanian army , it had succeeded in preventing the intended German invasion of Moldova. After the war, General Kurt von Morgen wrote in his memoir: "The resistance of the enemy, especially the Romanians, was unusually daring and manifested itself in the 14 days of fighting through 61 counter-attacks, they mainly carried out bayonet combat." In the national consciousness of the Romanians, the battle of Mărăşeşti remained a milestone of Romanian heroism, with General Jeremia Grigorescu and the heroine Ecaterina Teodoroiu being particularly emphasized.

literature

  • Edmund Glaise-Horstenau (Ed.): Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914–1918 , Volume 6: The War Year 1917 , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930, pp. 366 f., 383 f.
  • I. Cupsa: Marasti, Marasesti, Oituz, Editura Militara, 1967
  • E. Ichim: Ordinul militar de razboi Mihai Viteazul, Editura Jertfa & Modelism, 2000
  • R. Rosetti: Marturisiri (1916-1919), Modelism, 1999
  • Gheorghe Dabija: Armata română în răsboiul mondial (1916–1918), vol. IV, Tipografia “Lupta” N. Stroilă, Bucureşti, 1932–1936
  • Constantin Kirițescu: Istoria războiului pentru întregirea României, vol. II, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, București, 1989
  • Alexandru Ioanițiu: Războiul României: 1916–1918, Volume I, Tipografia Geniului, București, 1929

Web links