Chapter Summaries

The Russian Guard 2nd Army Corps, trapped and cut off from relief, attempted to break out of the German encirclement but was defeated. By September 14, nearly all its remaining troops had been killed or captured, including General Krapovitch.

• General Krapovitch learned that the Russian 9th Army Corps had suffered more than fifty thousand casualties and could not break through to rescue his forces.
• Krapovitch ordered every reachable unit to attempt an eastward breakout at dawn on September 13.
• The encircled Russian units attacked the German defensive line, but German machine guns and artillery inflicted heavy losses.
• Major General Ludendorff reported the Russian assault to Oscar, who asked whether General Seeckt’s 17th Corps could hold its position.
• After more than half a day, the Russians’ breakout failed, and on September 14 the surviving Guard 2nd Army Corps troops were killed or captured, including Krapovitch.

After the Russian Guard 2nd Army Corps was destroyed, General Letsky ordered the battered Russian 9th Army Corps to retreat from the Kingdom of Poland. At the German 8th Army Corps headquarters, Oscar celebrated the victory and hoped Russia would send its remaining Guards into the war, though Ludendorff doubted Nicholas II would commit them.

• General Letsky learned that the Guard 2nd Army Corps had been annihilated and General Krapovitch captured.
• General Letsky ordered the Russian 9th Army Corps to retreat toward the Southwestern Front, leaving General Ivan Gylinski without the reinforcements he awaited in Warsaw.
• The weakened Russian 9th Army Corps began withdrawing after losing at least fifty thousand men at Siedlce.
• General Hindenburg reported that only about five thousand men from the Guard 2nd Army Corps had escaped, and Oscar celebrated the German victory.
• Oscar said Russia's destruction and a Bolshevik uprising could bring Germany closer to victory, while Major General Ludendorff warned that Nicholas II was unlikely to send out the Guard 1st Army Corps.

Oscar ordered the German 8th Army Corps to pursue the retreating Russian 9th Army Corps and planned to draw the Russian Guard 1st Army Corps into battle by destroying Russian forces with Austro-Hungarian help. He sent the 8th Air Corps to bomb the retreat, and Commodore Kori prepared the aircraft for their first combat mission.

• Oscar told Hindenburg that Germany should destroy the Russian Southwestern Front Army with Austro-Hungarian help to force Nicholas II to deploy the Guard 1st Army Corps.
• Ludendorff reported that the Russian 9th Army Corps was retreating and that the pursuing 20th Corps lacked sufficient troops.
• Oscar ordered the 11th Corps, the 17th Corps, and the 8th Armored Division to join the pursuit, and said he would seek Austro-Hungarian cooperation.
• Oscar ordered the 8th Air Corps to bomb the Russian 9th Army Corps and slow its retreat.
• Commodore Kori received Oscar's order and directed the pilots and aircraft to prepare for takeoff within half an hour.

The German 8th Air Corps launched a ground strike against the retreating Russian 9th Army Corps. As the Russian columns advanced south, the 81st Fighter Group opened fire, leaving the attack underway.

• Commodore Kori briefed the pilots and ordered them to prepare for a strike on the Russian 9th Army Corps.
• The 81st Fighter Group and 82nd Bomber Group took off, with more aircraft groups scheduled to follow.
• General Letsky rejected a counterattack and ordered two Russian infantry divisions to delay the Germans while the rest of the corps retreated.
• More than a hundred thousand Russian soldiers marched south, unaware that German aircraft were approaching.
• The 81st Fighter Group spotted the Russians, and its Squadron Leader began the attack with machine-gun fire.

The German 8th Air Corps repeatedly attacked the retreating Russian 9th Army Corps, inflicting casualties and slowing its withdrawal. General Letsky learned the air strikes had delayed his troops so badly that the German main force might catch them within days, but his generals had no solution.

• The German 81st Fighter Group strafed Russian troops and dropped bombs, killing or wounding over a thousand and scattering the survivors.
• The Russian soldiers regrouped and resumed marching, but fled for cover as German aircraft returned.
• The German 82nd Bomber Group dropped bombs on the Russian troops, killing over a thousand and frightening the survivors.
• German fighter and bomber groups attacked throughout the afternoon, killing more than five thousand Russian soldiers and limiting the 9th Army Corps' advance to just over ten kilometers.
• General Letsky heard that the air attacks had caused heavy losses and delayed the retreat, and asked his generals for a solution, but none could offer one.

General Letsky ordered the Russian 9th Army Corps to march at night and hide by day to evade German aircraft, but the tactic slowed its retreat. German ground forces outpaced the Russians and seized Puławy, blocking their escape route.

• General Letsky chose to have the Russian 9th Army Corps march through the night and conceal itself after daybreak.
• The exhausted Russian troops hid in forests and valleys, and German aircraft struggled to find them but still inflicted some casualties.
• Commodore Kori ordered the 8th Air Corps to search harder after its pilots failed to locate most of the Russians.
• Oscar ordered the German 8th Army Corps to pursue the Russians as trucks carried German troops and equipment toward southern Kingdom of Poland.
• On September 16, the German 8th Army Corps' 8th Armored Division and an Infantry Division from the 11th Corps seized Puławy and blocked the Russian retreat.

General Letsky ordered the Russian 9th Army Corps to attack Puławy after German forces seized the city and blocked their retreat south. The chapter ended as 20,000 Russian soldiers charged the hastily prepared German defenses.

• The German 8th Armored Division and 24th Infantry Division captured Puławy, and Cossack cavalry confirmed its fall to General Letsky.
• General Letsky rejected crossing the Vistula and agreed with his generals to attack Puławy before the Germans could complete their defenses.
• The Russian 9th Army Corps marched south with more than 100,000 remaining troops, believing the Germans held the city with only a small force.
• Russian officers urged the desperate soldiers to fight through the German line, and 20,000 soldiers began the assault.

Major General Bessen and Colonel Guderian prepared to hold Puławy as the Russian Army attacked the incomplete German defensive line. German artillery, infantry weapons, and aircraft inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian attackers, while the Russian generals recognized the Germans’ overwhelming firepower.

• Major General Bessen and Colonel Guderian expressed confidence that the 24th Infantry Division and 8th Armored Division could hold Puławy for two days.
• The 24th Infantry Division opened fire with its artillery and trench weapons, causing heavy Russian casualties.
• Russian generals discussed the Germans’ powerful equipment as Russian soldiers continued their attacks.
• Commodore Kori sent two squadrons of Mark II fighters and one squadron of H1 bombers into the battle after Oscar approved the request.
• The German aircraft strafed and bombed the Russian formations, sending many Russian soldiers fleeing.

After German aircraft and ground forces shattered the Russian 9th Army Corps’ daytime attack, General Letsky halted the assault and planned a night breakthrough. Major General Bessen and Colonel Guderian anticipated a hard battle that night.

• German aircraft routed the Russian 9th Army Corps and strafed its fleeing soldiers.
• General Letsky ordered the attack to stop, then announced that the Russians would try to break through the German line at night.
• The Russian generals agreed to stake everything on the nighttime assault before the German main force arrived.
• Major General Bessen and Colonel Guderian discussed the lull and expected the Russians to attack again that night.

General Letsky launched a nighttime assault to break the Russian 9th Army Corps out of its encirclement, but the Germans detected the attack and unleashed devastating fire. Letsky ordered his troops to keep charging despite the heavy losses.

• Major General Bessen and Guderian ordered the German frontline troops to stay vigilant and prepared the 8th Armored Division to respond to a Russian attack.
• General Letsky ordered three Russian infantry divisions to launch a surprise assault under cover of darkness.
• A German sniper spotted the approaching Russians, and the German troops fired flares and opened up with machine guns and artillery.
• General Letsky ordered the Russian soldiers to continue attacking the German defensive line despite their severe casualties.

The German 24th Infantry Division repelled repeated Russian attacks with overwhelming firepower, while General Letsky committed successive waves of infantry and then cavalry. The cavalry charge was shattered by the 8th Armored Division, leaving the Russian commanders convinced the attack had failed.

• General Letsky ordered three more Infantry Divisions into the assault and prepared the cavalry as a last resort.
• The German 24th Infantry Division continued holding its line as Colonel Guderian kept the 8th Armored Division ready to intervene.
• After an hour of attacks failed to break through, General Letsky ordered more than ten thousand Russian cavalrymen to charge.
• Major General Bessen sent the 8th Armored Division into battle against the cavalry.
• More than a hundred German tanks switched on their headlights and fired cannons and machine guns, devastating the Russian cavalry.

After Russian generals abandoned the surrounded remnants of the Russian 9th Army Corps, its soldiers surrendered to the German 8th Army Corps. Oscar then ordered German forces to attack Warsaw and prepare to join the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Russian Southwestern Front.

• On September 17, the German 8th Army Corps encircled the remnants of the Russian 9th Army Corps near Puławy and attacked them.
• General Letsky and the other Russian generals secretly crossed the Vistula River with their trusted men, abandoning their troops.
• The next morning, the leaderless Russian soldiers surrendered, allowing the German 8th Army Corps to finish the battle on September 18.
• Major General Ludendorff reported the victory to Oscar, who declined to pursue the fleeing Russian generals.
• Oscar ordered the German 8th Army Corps to rest and reorganize, assigned the 8th Armored Division and 24th Infantry Division to attack Warsaw, and prepared to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Russian Southwestern Front.

After the Russian Guard 2nd Army Corps and 9th Army Corps were annihilated, General Ivan Gylinski faced the collapse of his forces in Warsaw and chose suicide over surrender or capture. The chapter ended with him swallowing poison.

• General Ivan Gylinski learned that the German 8th Army Corps had destroyed the Guard 2nd Army Corps and the 9th Army Corps.
• General Samsonov suggested breaking out of Warsaw, but Ivan Gylinski argued that German forces had encircled the city and decided they had to hold it for now.
• After Samsonov left, Ivan Gylinski reflected on the Russian Army's losses and feared punishment from Tsar Nicholas II if he returned to Russia.
• Ivan Gylinski decided to kill himself rather than surrender to the Germans and swallowed a white pill with Vodka.
• Ivan Gylinski felt intense pain as blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

After General Ivan Gylinski died by suicide, General Samsonov surrendered Warsaw to the Germans rather than face an attack. Oscar planned the next Eastern Front campaign and prepared to return to Berlin, where he intended to report on the fighting and challenge Moltke the Younger’s position.

• General Ivan Gylinski’s adjutant found him dead in his locked office, and news of his suicide spread fear among the Russian forces in Warsaw.
• General Samsonov considered surrendering but initially rejected the idea, even as the approaching German forces made him doubt Warsaw could be defended.
• When the German 8th Armored Division and 24th Infantry Division arrived outside Warsaw, General Samsonov led the remnants of the 2nd Army Corps in surrendering to Major General Bessen and Colonel Guderian.
• Oscar agreed to let the 8th Army Corps rest and reorganize before joining the Austro-Hungarian Empire in an offensive against the Russian Southwestern Front Army.
• Oscar announced he would return to Berlin to report to the Kaiser and discuss joint operations, while intending to use the failed Battle of the Marne to remove Moltke the Younger as Chief of the General Staff.

After Russia lost four army corps to Germany’s 8th Army Corps, Tsar Nicholas II demanded a plan to defend the country. Russia began preparing a second mobilization, while Grand Duke Nicholas assured him that the Germans could not attack immediately.

• Nicholas II erupted in anger after learning that the Guard 2nd Army Corps and the 9th Army Corps had been destroyed and Warsaw had surrendered.
• Grand Duke Nicholas and Sukhomlinov explained that the German 8th Army Corps had overwhelming combat strength and superior equipment.
• Nicholas II warned that Russia’s depleted front could not stop a German offensive and approved preparations for a second mobilization to raise the army above five million men.
• Grand Duke Nicholas said the Germans needed time to recover and replenish supplies, reassuring Nicholas II that Russia had time to prepare.

Oscar returned to Berlin after the 8th Army Corps's victory on the Eastern Front and discussed Germany's setbacks at the Battle of the Marne with Falkenhayn. He promised to recommend Falkenhayn as Chief of the General Staff Headquarters while planning further operations against Russia.

• Falkenhayn greeted Oscar at the railway station and praised the 8th Army Corps's victory over more than nine hundred thousand enemy troops.
• Oscar and Falkenhayn traveled to the palace and discussed Germany's heavy losses and failure to capture Paris at the Battle of the Marne.
• Oscar said the 8th Army Corps would continue its offensive and seek to join forces with the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Russian Southwestern Front Army.
• Falkenhayn said negotiations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire were underway and that Wilhelm II had become displeased with Moltke the Younger.
• Oscar promised to recommend Falkenhayn for the post of Chief of the General Staff Headquarters, and Falkenhayn pledged to follow Oscar's lead.

Oscar and Falkenhayn reported to Wilhelm II after the 8th Army Corps defeated four Russian armies on the Eastern Front. Wilhelm II approved a plan for the corps to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Russian Southwestern Front, while Oscar argued that its firepower and Armored Forces could secure victory.

• Wilhelm II praised Oscar for the 8th Army Corps’ victories and asked for his assessment of the Eastern Front.
• Oscar warned that Russia’s ongoing mobilization could produce several million troops and proposed joining the Austro-Hungarian Empire to defeat the Russian Southwestern Front.
• Wilhelm II approved joint operations and assigned Falkenhayn to coordinate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Falkenhayn welcomed the assignment, while he and Oscar recognized that Wilhelm II’s choice signaled declining trust in Moltke the Younger.
• Oscar said the 8th Army Corps could defeat the Russians through overwhelming firepower and the breakthrough power of its Armored Forces, prompting Wilhelm II to consider their use on the Western Front.

Oscar urged Wilhelm II to pursue a joint Austro-Hungarian offensive against Russia and expand support for the Russian Bolsheviks, hoping to destabilize the country and free Germany from a two-front war. He also blamed Moltke the Younger for the Western Front’s failures and proposed replacing him, but Wilhelm II said he would consider it.

• Wilhelm II lost confidence in Moltke the Younger after recalling how he had blocked purchases of Oscar’s weapons.
• Oscar proposed cooperating with Austria-Hungary to destroy Russia’s Southwestern Front and weaken the Russian Army.
• Oscar revealed that he had secretly supported the Russian Bolshevik Party, and Wilhelm II ordered him to increase that support to encourage an uprising.
• Oscar argued that Russia might transfer the Guard 1st Army Corps from St. Petersburg after a defeat, making an uprising more likely.
• Oscar criticized the Western Front’s conduct and proposed removing Moltke the Younger as Chief of the General Staff, while Wilhelm II reserved his decision.

Moltke the Younger, fearing that Oscar’s return would cost him his position as Chief of the General Staff, sought advice from Prittwitz and went to see Wilhelm II. He praised Oscar and the 8th Army Corps, but Wilhelm II had already decided to replace him.

• Moltke the Younger remained Chief of the General Staff despite growing criticism after the failed Battle of the Marne because he feared Oscar would punish him if he resigned.
• Prittwitz warned Moltke the Younger that Oscar’s return to Berlin could lead Wilhelm II to dismiss him.
• Moltke the Younger agreed to make one last effort and went to request an audience with Wilhelm II.
• Wilhelm II admitted Moltke the Younger and listened as he praised Oscar and the 8th Army Corps’s victories on the Eastern Front.
• Wilhelm II understood Moltke the Younger’s purpose but remained firm in his decision to replace him.

Wilhelm II decided to remove Moltke the Younger as Chief of the General Staff after becoming convinced of Oscar’s abilities and Moltke’s failures on the Western Front. The next day, Falkenhayn took over the post, while Wilhelm II hoped Oscar would reconcile with Moltke.

• Wilhelm II praised Oscar’s success on the Eastern Front and considered him a stronger Crown Prince than Crown Prince Wilhelm.
• Moltke the Younger asked Wilhelm II to mediate a reconciliation with Oscar and argued that Germany could still defeat the Anglo-French Allied Forces.
• Wilhelm II tactfully urged Moltke the Younger to rest, and Moltke accepted that he was losing his position.
• Oscar told Falkenhayn that Moltke the Younger could not change Wilhelm II’s decision.
• Wilhelm II removed Moltke the Younger as Chief of the General Staff and appointed Falkenhayn to the post as well as Minister of War.