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Chapter IX
The Pocket is Closed

With the capture of Chelm and Lublin by von Denta's 2nd Army, a blunder was enacted by the Russian Army that could single-handedly win the war for the Central Powers. The capture of the two areas left isolated the Russian town of Siedlce, occupied by no less than 410,000 soldiers. To the north and west were 240,000 of Paul von Hindenburg's German veterans in Warsaw, Radom and Lomza.

Essentially, over one-third of the entire Russian Army was trapped.

Von Denta, with 160,000 men, attacked the pocket. The Russians suffered massively from disease, and with the lack of a supply line and with horribly limited supplies and weapons, fighting was almost impossible for the half-million men surrounded by their enemies. Fighting proper started on September 12.

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Russian soldiers abandoning their positions, September 13

Despite early advances in the battle, the fighting proved surprisingly more difficult than initially expected. The Austrians made very little ground, and von Hindenburg's troops to the north and west were unable to attack due to severe manpower gaps caused by previous battles that had yet to be filled by reinforcements.

Von Denta abandoned his attack on the 16th. Almost immediately afterwards, the 410,000 Russians in the pocket counterattacked the 90,000 men in the Chelm area. General von Vares, leading the defense of the area, ordered the area to not be given up. However, after losing nearly 10,000 men in three days, he obliged to his subordinate officers' pleas and retreated south back to Przemsyl.

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General von Vares orders a retreat, abandoning the freshly-captured
defenses at Chelm in the face of a huge counterattack


However, von Hindenburg did not hear of von Vares' retreat from Chelm and the failed attack on Siedlce; he began his attack on October 6. After hearing of this, von Denta immediately ordered Vares' badly mauled corps back north to Chelm, while his own corps joined the fighting alongside the Germans against the still-trapped Russians in Siedlce.

Von Denta's men, supplanted by a huge number of men a part of Hindenburg's Army, quickly ground down the Russians, having run dangerously low on supplies and provisions in two consecutive battles. By October 9, the pocket was closed, and 410,000 Russians were lost to the Austrians and Germans.

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The pocket is eliminated

The Russians staggered back from the devastating blow. Now largely outnumbered by the Germans and Austro-Hungarians, the Russians struggled to survive against the combined attacks from it's two enemies. Hotin, in the south, was taken, and mass attacks from Tarnopol threatened to break the Russian front line in half. Now, to the commanders of the Imperial Military, it was only a matter of time.

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The Empire of Austria-Hungary, c. November 5, 1915

****

STATUS REPORT
As of November 5 1915
Est. Austro-Hungarian Killed: 17,000 (152,000 total)
Est. Russian Killed: 450,000 (624,000 total)
Est. Italian Killed: 23,000 (90,000 total)
TOTAL KILLED: 490,000 (1,112,000 total)
 
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Vorwärtz! Zu Ehre und Freiheit! The K.u.K Habsburg empire shall prevail.
 
Great aar you have going here.

It is nice to see that the Central Powers seem to be doing very well so far. That encirclement in Poland should allow K.u.K and German Armies to crush the Russian Empire's forces, and it looks like you have the Italians on their knees too.

If you crush both Italy and Russia, do you plan to send some expeditionary forces to aid the German Army on the Western Front?

Good update.
 
@Milites: A Ferenc császár és a Monarchia! ;)

@Ivir Baggins: I'm mostly going to take just northeastern Italy, including Venice (can't have enough ports), and I MAY take farther west than Milan and gain some territory along the French border, and maybe even from France itself. And Romania, I think, will join the war by 1916, as she did historically :)

@Kaiser_Mobius: Indeed. The encirclement should help us greatly in the battles to come, and once Russia is forced out of the war I can focus on Italy and France :D And thanks :)

****

Chapter X
Operation Hammer & Anvil

September soon became known as the "Month that Changed the War". A massive number of Russians were captured and killed after being surrounded by men of the German and Austro-Hungarian Armies, and the German Army in Italy - the 70,000 men of the German Expeditionary Army to Italy, under the command of General von Francois - had split the Italian front lines open, leaving numerous divisions isolated.

However, this was two months ago. The Central Powers still had the upper hand, but they had to act quick if they were to keep the advantage against the Allies. The first attack of the month of November was newly-promoted Field Marshal von Denta's so-called "Operation Hammer", in which his 310,000 men of the 2nd Army in Chelm, Lwow and Tarnopol attacked the measley 130,000 Russian defenders in Lutsk. Their commander was Grand Duke Nicholas, who had led the Russians in what was still the largest battle of the war (by a difference of just 10,000 men) in the Second Battle of Przemsyl. Now, his heavily outnumbered divisions were under attack from the south as well as the west, and the defenses quickly caved in. The battle had begun on November 3, and by the 6th, the battle was already supremely in the Austrians' favor.

Commencing at the same time as Operation Hammer was the aptly named Operation Anvil, which was to be led by elements of Field Marshal von Gyllenband's smaller 1st Army. His troops in Tarnopol were to attack the 50,000 Russian cavalry in Rowne - known as the "Rapid Response Force", and which participated in the Second Battle of Przemsyl, suffering almost 15,000 casualties to machine gun fire - and would quickly move north in an attempt to pocket the Russians in Slutsk. If the plan worked well - and if the Germans captured Brest-Litovsk, as planned - the Austrians could knock out of the war another 130,000 Russian troops.

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Collaborative Operations Hammer and Anvil, conducted by the 2nd Army of von Denta and
the 1st Army of von Gyllenband, respectively


As the fighting on the Eastern Front continued to wage in a desperate struggle for the survival of the damaged Russian Army, new developments in Italy gave the men there an opportunity to make one giant leap closer to victory. German commander von Francois' Italian Army had taken Milan, Parma, and Florence, cutting a wide swathe through the Italian front line. This left 40,000 Italians trapped in Bergamo and Brescia, facing down the 140,000 men of the Austro-Hungarian Army of Italy. General von Schilawsky ordered a general attack on the two cities, expecting the areas to fall quickly.

German-soldiers-at-Verdun.jpg


Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division outside Venice, preparing for a charge on Italian lines. The recent deployment of chemical gases in Italy
and France forced many soldiers to use the new "gas mask" or face certain death. In the event, however,
the Italians never used them in the Brescia-Bergamo Pocket battles


Victory was almost immediately secured at Bergamo, forcing the troops defending the area to the south and their last bastion of defense, the fortress-turned city of Brescia. Austrian troops would take a while to rat out any survivors of the battle - Bergamo, it was believed, would not be fully secured until December. And so was the time that the troops in Bergamo would be able to assist their comrades to the southeast in the Battle of Brescia.

However, upon the arrival of reinforcements, Schilawsky ordered a general charge on the withering defenses of the Italian city. The Italians - with virtually no remaining supplies, and with hundreds fleeing in terror each day - were defeated by November 19. As they retreated, however, French soldiers took their place. These French soldiers were the same ones that had taken Parma and Milan, cutting the line of supply to a large number of the German Army. The Germans, now running on limited supplies, immediately captured Perugia and Livorno, confiscating the weapons and provisions of the two ungarrisoned cities, and immediately lay siege to the heavily-defended capital of Rome itself. The outcome of this battle, however, was still undeterminable by the beginning of December.

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The chaos and confusing order of the Italian Front, c. December 8, 1915

However, the rapid French reinforcing division in Brescia was quickly ousted by the advancing Austrians, and the city was captured by December 20. It would be Italy's second major defeat at the hand of the Austrians(1).

As 1915 drew closer and closer to it's final close, there was still much more action to occur on all fronts, between Russians and Austrians, Austrians and Italians, and Frenchmen and Germans, before the year winked out.

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Austro-Hungarian infantry in eastern Galicia, Dec. 1915

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(1) - The first great defeat being the capture of Venice

STATUS REPORT
As of December 20 1915
Est. Austro-Hungarian Killed: 31,000 (183,000 total)
Est. Russian Killed: 56,000 (680,000 total)
Est. Italian Killed: 45,000 (135,000 total)
TOTAL KILLED: 132,000 (1,244,000 total)
 
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The source I used said they were Austro-Hungarian O_O liars. Oh well, I shall change it.

EDIT: Hmm, I've checked several other photographs that claim they are Austro-Hungarian artillery pieces. Some of the caps look slightly different, but the artillery guns themselves look the same.
 
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Don't want to argue, but they're wearing Russian gimnasterkas) And check the link name)

Code:
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/events/w/ww1/pics/ww1/russia/galacia.jpg

What do you think? :)
 
>_> noob mistake.

Very well, I'll change the picture entirely :p
 
Sorry for not posting recently, people. I have been very busy as of late and will be unable to post for at the *very* least another day, if not three or four more. But rest assured, I intend to keep this AAR alive, and have several updates already planned :)

-Cheef
 
Chapter XI
My Empire For A Boat! - & Yearly Review

The last ten days of December 1915 were important ones for Austria-Hungary. The war had seen much progress since July 1914: the "Balkan Menace", the triple alliance of Serbia, Montenegro, and (later) Albania, had been vanquished; Italy, despite having been drawn into the war, had suffered from a series of defeats in the battles for Venice and the Brescia-Bergamo encirclement; the K.u.K. Kriegsmarine had been reinforced with the launching of two dreadnought battleships, SMS Prinz Eugen and SMS Szent Istvan, as well as several light cruisers; the Army had inflicted upon Russia a great defeat in the Siedlce Pocket incident, annihilating 400,000 Russian troops; and, possibly more important than anything, December 23 had seen the launching of twenty new diesel submarines. Dubbed "U-boats", short for Unterseeboote, a term borrowed from the Germans, these submarines were powered by new diesel engines and, when not submerged, could reach speeds of 12 knots. Though their range was limited, it was possibly the most important development of the war so far. Aside from the possibility of using them against Entente warships - most importantly, the Italian and possibly French and Russian Navies - they could be used against something that could aid the war effort far more than even that: commerce raiding.

U-BoatsWW1Cattaro.jpg


Several U-boats in Tirana, the official U-boat port
of the Empire. They were placed under the
command of Admiral von Trapp


Commerce raiding and the so-called "Merchant campaign" had begun, though not in earnest, in October 1914, when German U-boats in the North Sea and other areas of the Atlantic suddenly began attacking British merchant shipping, though in small numbers. The British relied very heavily on imports - especially from the United States - to supply not only it's industries and factories and shipyards with war materiel, but to give it's very people the basic necessities of life, including fuel, food, water, and other requirements. By February of the next year, under the watch of several high-ranking German naval commanders, "Unrestricted Submarine Wafare" began - this meant that any ship, even if from a neutral nation, could be threatened or torpedoed if found to be heading towards Great Britain or any nation at war with Germany and her allies. Even the German Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, had opposed the move, believing it could entice America, if her ships were being sunk, to join Great Britain in the war. His fears were unrealized - until May 6, 1915.

May 6 would be immortalized throughout the world - and especially in Germany and the United States - as the sinking of the great ocean liner RMS Lusitania. Torpedoed by the German submarine U-20, she sank within 18 minutes - almost 1,200 lives were lost, including a sizable number of American passengers. Outrage swept across the United States. Interventionists within the country cried out for war with Germany - and for a while, Germany held it's breath in fear.

Lusitania-Sinking1.jpg


The sinking of the great ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which had
sparked mourning and anger across the globe


The new submarines of the Austro-Hungarian Navy - now numbering a total of 24 - could be used to great effectiveness against the Italians, French, and Russians, especially if increased in number. The increasing number of surface warships would only add to the effectiveness of the U-boats themselves.

Throughout the last several days of December, Operation Hammer & Anvil were still underway - constant hit-and-run attacks against the Russians in Lutsk had left them immobilized, and the flanking forces of Gyllenband's Army were on the verge of victory in Rowne, one of two towns that were to be taken until Operation Anvil would be complete, and would allow Operation Hammer to continue on.

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Gyllenband's 1st Army in a tough fight
for Rowne, about to turn into a rout for the Russians


Meanwhile, in Italy, Bergamo had finally been seized by the infantry of Lieutenant General von Schonburg's 14th Corps on December 27. Trailing behind - expected to arrive in February - was von Paar's 15th Corps. Von Schilawsky was hailed as the "Hero of Italy" for his overwhelming successes against the poorly-performing Italian Army. Schilawsky had already begun planning for a new offensive in the theater - one that would, if it was effective enough, help to break the back of the entire Italian Army and potentially win the front for Austria-Hungary.

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Schilawsky's Italian Front by the end of 1915

In all, the war up to the turn of 1915 had been very eventful, and had gone very well for, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Victories had been secured by the Generals and the men under their command, arch-enemies of the empire had been stamped out of existence and had been joined with the growing nation, and, it was presumed, victory could, after all, be secured by the men of Austria-Hungary and their allies.

YEARLY REVIEW
The Russian Front

TOP COMMANDER: Field Marshal von Denta, 2nd Army - Battle of Krakow, Battle of Tarnow, Battle of Siedlce
Field Marshal von Denta had, when lacking a large army, fended off superior Russian forces and only lost a small sliver of territory before being reinforced from the veterans of the Serb-Montenegrin front. Afterwards, he retook Krakow and Tarnow and destroyed a Russian army of over 400,000 men with just over half that number of his own.

150px-Rohr_Franz_1865_1927_Gdk_Austria_1911.jpg


The Italian Front

TOP COMMANDER: General von Schilawsky, 3rd Army ("Army of Italy") - Battle of Venice, the Brescia-Bergamo Pocket
General von Schilawsky took command of an undermanned Army at the outset of war with Italy, and used it to capture Venice in the face of overwhelming numbers from Italian and French troops. He then encircled 40,000 Italians in Bergamo and Brescia and annihilated them as well as taking the cities.

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The Serb Front

TOP COMMANDER: Field Marshal von Wurm, 7th Corps - Battle of Bor, Battle of Belgrade
Field Marshal von Wurm, at the time a General, led the determined attack on Serbian troops in the border-town of Bor. After successfully taking the town with little bloodshed on the part of the Austrians, he started a chain reaction of battles that led to the downfall of Austria's long-time bitter Balkan enemy. His flanking attack on Belgrade helped to drain Serb manpower reserves and win the battle, capturing the Serbian capital in just several days.

Generalmajor_Wenzel_von_Wurm.jpg


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The Empire of Austria Hungary, c. December 31, 1915

****

STATUS REPORT
As of December 31 1915
Est. Austro-Hungarian Killed: 9,000 (192,000 total)
Est. Russian Killed: 14,000 (694,000 total)
Est. Italian Killed: 7,000 (142,000 total)
TOTAL KILLED: 30,000 (1,274,000 total)
 
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Just started reading this and I love it so far :) just wondering though, what is your dissent and the dissent of your allies and enemies? I know the WWI scenario has a LOT of dissent giving events.
 
German celebrations of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania was a propaganda device made up by the allies. It didn't actually happen. Good aar though.

I read in "Castles of Steel" that one man made several medallions that showed the sinking Lusitania that he sold to the populace, and that one of them slipped to the Allies and were massed-produced and then used as propaganda.
 
I read in "Castles of Steel" that one man made several medallions that showed the sinking Lusitania that he sold to the populace, and that one of them slipped to the Allies and were massed-produced and then used as propaganda.

They were all made in jest, not celebration. It attempted to criticise both sides for their policy.

The British found one and made out that they were medals given to the U-boat crews. In fact, one of the U-boat crew spent the rest of the war in jail because he refused to take part in the attack.

The attack wasn't well received anywhere, not even in Turkey and Austria.
 
Very nice, I just started my first campaign as austro but am having problems with Germany getting destroyed in the west. How are they fairing in you game?
 
Interesting stuff; I confess I've had DH for a while but have barely touched it. Consider me subbed!
 
@ Duke of Awesome: Thanks :) as of the beginning of this update (January 1, 1916) my dissent is at 13.74%. Normally it would have been much lower, but due to my [unnecessarily?] large naval building program - more or less my four super-dreadnoughts and five cruisers which soak up a whopping 19.8 IC (the battleships themselves worth about 14), leaving little room for me for land units, and to balance between keeping dissent at a decent level plus upgrades and reinforcements, etc - I am kept from lowering the dissent and having more IC freed up.

@ OConner: And thank you :p

@ Dadaanian: As of January 1 they have made somewhat of an advance into the west but were eventually halted by stiff resistance thanks to the French-Belgian alliance, and are utilizing the rivers in the area to their advantage. The French have made occasional forays past the front line, but most of the time the units were either forced back by the retaliating Germans or were cut off completely. I presume that upon the beginning of the Russian Revolution things will change ;)

@ Avindian: Why thank you :D

****

Chapter XII
A New Year of Bickering

The beginning of 1916 was viewed in good light by the majority of Austro-Hungarian field commanders and politicians; Operation Hammer & Anvil, the largest joint military operation undertaken by the 1st and 2nd Armies to date, which would turn out to be either a total victory or an embarrassing failure, was going smoothly, and the bruised Russian troops in Rowne were close to giving way to their over-numbering opponents; the Italian Theater was slowly approaching it's climax, a planned massive assault on the entire Italian defensive line from Milan in the north to Ravenna(1).

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The intensifying Battle of Rowne, which
was determining the initial success or quick
failure of Operation Hammer & Anvil


Fighting raged through the streets of the ravaged town that became an imperative defensive barrier for the Russians to hold. If it fell, the Austrians would not be stopped in taking Sarny to the north as well, and eventually cutting off and destroying the Army in Lutsk. Fighting ceased on January 25 as the Russian officers lost control over their men and they fled the city.

Russianarmy1914.jpg


A photograph of men of 3rd Battalion,
30th Russian Infantry Division, taken
August 1914. The division suffered heavily
in the Battle of Rowne, taking over 70%
overall casualties


The city was fully secured on February 10, and a slow buildup of troops in the area commenced, preparing for the second half of Operation Anvil.

Meanwhile in Italy, General von Schilawsky had made the final plans for his new scheme. His "Operation Enfilade" was very appropriately named - in a succession of massive attacks, troops from the west (in Bergamo) would assault the Italian-French defenses of Milan, while given supporting enfilade fire from the troops in Brescia. Once Milan was taken, the garrisons in Brescia would be free to move south on their own and attack Parma, with support from both the troops in Milan and Venice. Once this key city was captured, a final attack would be launched from Venice directly south unto Bologna, with support from the victors of Parma.

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Final plan of Operation Enfilade before it's beginning

The Operation was launched at approximately midday on February 21. The first target: Milan.

The attack on Milan was essentially the key to the whole operation. Should the Austrians fail in taking the city, the troops in Brescia would be unable to advance without fearing for being surrounded or cut off by the Italians and French - and the same applied to the troops in Venice.

The troops in this assault came under the overall command of General von Paar who - despite being the equal of Schilawsky in rank - was commander of the 2nd Corps (with Schilawsky at the head of the smallest in the Army, the 3rd Corps). Initial resistance was lax, and the Austrians made good headway to the surprised and terrified Italian and French troops.

However, to the surprise of the Austrians and von Paar in particular, the Italians suddenly redefined their defensive line and retorted back to their attackers with a fierceness unlike any other experienced by the men of the Army of Italy so far. Despite constant bombardment by the 2nd and 3rd Corps' 150+ artillery pieces (most of which were marked with a bore of 3 inches (75 mm), the defenders managed to shuffle into the city 10,000 reinforcements. Fighting turned from a steady advance against panicking enemies into a grueling fight in the outskirts of northern Italy's largest city.

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Lone Italian soldiers lying in ambush. It is estimated that
there were over 600 attacks on Austrian columns by soldiers
using this tactic during the battle


With the Battle of Milan (planned to last just two weeks) now dragged into what was expected to last a month, the newly-begun Battle of Sarny was now an even more desperate fight for the Russians. The 210,000 men of von Gyllenband's 1st Army(2) now attacked 110,000 Russians who were fighting for their lives in an attempt to save 90,000 men in Lutsk from total annihilation. This fighting would continue for much longer.

With the casualties in eastern France and Belgium now amounting to almost over 2 million, and with the continuous Russian defeats at the hands of the Austro-German armies, the war, it seemed, still hung in the balance. Three Austro-Hungarian generals, however - General von Schilawsky, Field Marshal von Denta, and Field Marshal von Gyllenband - planned to change this for the better.

HVKFG00Z.jpg


French troops (a part of the South Army) in
trenches alongside their Italian allies
defending Milan.


****

(1) - Ravenna, technically located within the Bologna province, is closer to the sea than the namesake of the game province it is within.
(2) - Gyllenband was required to keep troops back instead of occupying Rowne with the full of his army, meaning that the second half of his operation would be carried out with a fewer number of troops.

STATUS REPORT
As of March 9 1916
Est. Austro-Hungarian Killed: 24,000 (216,000 total)
Est. Russian Killed: 36,000 (730,000 total)
Est. Italian Killed: 13,000 (155,000 total)
Est. French Killed: 7,000
TOTAL KILLED: 80,000 (1,354,000 total)

 
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What does Ravenna have to do with Gyllebnband's army near Lutsk?

By "North" I meant the northern end of the Italian front; see the plan for "Operation Enfilade".

If this is not what you mean, please do explain.