Hauksbee 103 Posted October 10, 2014 Germany routs Russia in the Battle of Tannenberg The German war plan committed the bulk of the Empire's forces to the Western Front, leaving just one German army in the East to face Russia's First and Second Armies. Combined with the defeat at the battle of the Marne, a victory by the numerically superior Russian forces could have crushed the German war effort in its crib. Instead, the Germans were victorious. The Russians scored a tactical victory at Gumbinnen, but instead of pressing the advantage, they waited for the Second Army to arrive. The Germans audaciously moved south to face the Second Army before it could combine its strength with the First. German forces were aided by exceedingly poor Russian communication security — Russian troops hadn't mastered even basic cryptography, so German intelligence was aware of how poorly coordinated the two Russian armies were. Victory at Tannenberg set the stage for a subsequent German victory over the First Army at the Battle of Mausurian Lakes. Those two wins prevented the Russians from taking strategic initiative against Germany in the East. . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capitaine Vengeur 263 Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) Actually, both victorious plans at La Marne and Tannenberg were designed by large after informations received through aerial reco missions about the enemy moves. . Very interesting. Edited October 10, 2014 by Hauksbee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted October 11, 2014 Yes, very interesting indeed! Looks like luck was also involved - imagine the Russian 1st army would have joined in. Manfred von Richthofen was first flying in the east, by the way. One mission he had to set down an officer over night to sabotage railways. Next day he flew to the appointed spot and picked that man up again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hauksbee 103 Posted October 11, 2014 What's really interesting is that Captain Vengeur posted a reply that ended with the bit about recon aircraft. I replied to him using the quote and said "Very interesting". But his post has disappeared and my reply attributed to him. Interesting indeed! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted October 12, 2014 And I read under his post: Edited by Hauksbee - how could you edit another member's post??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hauksbee 103 Posted October 29, 2014 And I read under his post: Edited by Hauksbee - how could you edit another member's post??? I have no idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted October 30, 2014 So it was the G.A.P. then (general army proceedure - everyone's very busy; no one knows what he does) - Mmuahahahahaaa!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
