Prussia in Peril - East Prussia '14 Central Powers AAR - major victory turn 114

[ComradeP]

Turn 36 12:00 24rd of August 1914



1st Army is advancing again. Hauptreserve Koenigsberg will keep pulling back 2-3 hexes each turn towards Insterburg.

As the spike in Russian losses shows, my offensive in the south has begun.



1. Reserve Division can still parry the Russian blows as it withdraws, but pressure is mounting. 36. Reserve Division will need to reposition soon to cover the Maryszki, but as will be seen Russian infantry will soon turn up at Buddern too.



Screened by the other units of the Feste Boyen garrison, gemischte Landwehr Brigade 6 moves to Nikolaiken and the reservists move towards Sensburg.



XX Armeekorps is moving west, XVII Armeekorps is moving in.

3. Reserve Division is lining up on the rail line. As soon as the movement of Hauptreserve Thorn has been completed, trains will be available.



The offensive started on the 10:00 turn, the previous turn. Instead of a direct attack against the Russian spearhead, the attack hit the flank and the indirect approach forced the spearhead at Neidenburg to relocate.

The lead elements of 15th Cavalry Division consisted of Cossack companies. The Russian cavalry was all Deployed. The most mobile units were thus the first to be hit. As mounting up takes 2/3 MP's, it's challenging to use it to escape. Assaulting whilst mounted costs 1/3 MP's, so you can launch several assaults each turn with cavalry units.

The Russian cavalry put up a brief fight and my mounted cavalry in T-mode took some losses, but the end result wasn't really in doubt. B quality mounted vs. D quality Deployed cavalry. Unfortunately for my opponent, he had just moved the MG and field gun unit forwards on his 08:00 turn. A Kürassier charge went straight through them. My cavalry was lined up along the secondary road north of woods, to maximize the effect of the low road movement MP cost.

The Russian 2nd Infantry Division took a few punches and is withdrawing towards Soldau. At this point, the strategic situation for the Russians isn't too problematic. It's a setback, but not necessarily serious. 15th Cavalry Division is likely to be destroyed, but its value is limited.