Chapter Summaries

German artillery devastated the Russian 4th Army Corps’ defenses, burying many soldiers in collapsing shelters. General Dimitriev ordered Russian guns to respond, and Lieutenant General Seeckt then ordered German artillery to suppress them and called in the Air Corps.

• German shells destroyed Russian trenches and collapsed shellproof shelters, burying most of the soldiers inside one shelter.
• A Russian lieutenant general urged General Dimitriev to silence the German bombardment with counterfire.
• General Dimitriev ordered the Russian artillery to open fire despite its inferior range and strength.
• Russian guns bombarded German field-gun positions but inflicted only limited losses.
• Lieutenant General Seeckt ordered German guns to keep attacking Russian artillery and sent a Telegram authorizing the Air Corps to attack.

German artillery and the 8th Air Corps attacked Russian positions as Lieutenant General Seeckt prepared the ground for a German assault. The Russian 4th Army Corps’ artillery was devastated by the air raid, leaving General Dimitriev’s forces unable to stop the coming advance.

• German heavy artillery bombarded Russian gun positions, inflicting severe losses while the Russian gunners continued firing.
• German aircraft of the 8th Air Corps arrived, and Lieutenant General Seeckt ordered them to attack the Russian artillery.
• General Dimitriev and the other Russian commanders withdrew when they spotted the aircraft, then realized the planes were targeting their artillery.
• The German bombers destroyed Russian artillery positions, and General Dimitriev ordered the artillerymen to disperse too late to avoid the attack.

German air strikes and artillery fire devastated the Russian artillery and defensive positions at Chełm, while General Dimitriev tried to maintain his troops’ confidence. Lieutenant General Seeckt then ordered a German assault, and tanks and infantry charged toward the shattered Russian lines.

• The German 8th Air Corps destroyed Russian guns and killed artillerymen, reducing the 4th Army Corps artillery at Chełm to less than one-tenth of its former strength.
• General Dimitriev acknowledged the heavy losses but urged his commanders to hold Chełm and announced that the 22nd Army Corps would reinforce them.
• Lieutenant General Seeckt extended the German artillery bombardment by half an hour before ordering the Armored Forces and infantry to attack.
• German shelling devastated the Russian defensive works, leaving the positions littered with craters and casualties.
• Colonel Rommel led more than a hundred tanks and over ten thousand infantrymen in a charge toward the Russian lines.

Colonel Rommel’s German tank force attacked the Russian 4th Front Army, crushing its firing positions and filling in its anti-tank trenches. German tanks crossed the trenches and charged toward the Russian defensive line, leaving the defenders unsure how to stop them.

• The Russian 4th Front Army emerged from its battered bunkers and prepared to resist the German attack.
• The Russian commander ordered his troops to fire on the approaching German tanks, but their weapons barely damaged the armor.
• Colonel Rommel ordered the German tanks to destroy Russian machine-gun and mortar positions, while the tanks continued advancing under fire.
• The German tanks reached the anti-tank trenches and stopped while trucks and bulldozers filled two passages across them.
• The Russian troops failed to stop the German engineers, and Rommel’s tanks crossed the trenches and charged toward the defensive line.

Colonel Rommel’s 8th Armored Division broke through the Russian defenses outside Chełm after German trucks filled gaps in the anti-tank trenches. General Dimitriev evacuated the city, leaving Generals Fyodor and Golovin to defend it as German tanks overran the forward positions.

• Colonel Rommel ordered the 8th Armored Division to attack, and its tanks suppressed the Russian positions with cannon and machine-gun fire.
• A lieutenant general told General Dimitriev that German trucks had filled two passages across the anti-tank trenches, allowing the tanks to advance.
• General Dimitriev ordered General Fyodor and General Golovin to continue the defense, saying the 22nd Army Corps would arrive by the day after tomorrow.
• General Dimitriev evacuated Chełm and withdrew to the rear.
• German tanks broke through the Russian forward positions, and their machine guns cut down fleeing soldiers as the tanks crushed the defenses.

German armored forces and infantry overwhelmed the Russian defensive line outside Chełm, turning the battle into a rout. After the Russians lost more than thirty thousand men, the survivors withdrew into the city to resist from its fortifications.

• A Russian company commander charged a German tank with an Explosive Pack but was shot dead, and his remaining soldiers fled under German fire.
• German tanks and infantry broke through the Russian positions and slaughtered or captured the defenders as the rest fled toward Chełm.
• General Seeckt ordered the remaining two Infantry Divisions to attack and destroy the Russians as quickly as possible.
• The Russian defensive line collapsed after half a day, leaving more than thirty thousand Russians lost, including many who surrendered.
• The surviving Russians withdrew into Chełm and prepared to resist the German attack through street fighting.

After defeating Russian forces outside Chełm, the German command prepared to attack the city with armored and infantry forces. Oscar approved the tanks’ participation but ordered extensive artillery and air strikes first, leaving Chełm’s defenders facing a destructive bombardment.

• Colonel Rommel reported that the Russians had retreated into Chełm and that the German forces had lost more than twenty tanks, mostly to mechanical failures.
• Lieutenant General Seeckt asked Rommel about using the Armored Forces to support infantry in the street fighting, and Rommel agreed if Oscar approved.
• Oscar told Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf that the 17th Corps had beaten the Russians outside Chełm and that the 20th Corps would attack Zamość the next day.
• Oscar approved the Armored Forces’ cooperation and told Seeckt to prepare for a heavy bombardment, with possible support from the Air Corps, before attacking Chełm.
• Seeckt ordered artillery forward and requested aerial support from the 8th Air Corps to bombard the city, and the generals supported the plan.

Russian commanders prepared Chełm for urban warfare, expecting German tanks to enter its streets, but the German 17th Corps instead battered the city with artillery and a massive bombing raid. The attack devastated Chełm’s northern district and killed the Russian troops stationed there.

• Lieutenant General Fyodor and Lieutenant General Golovin gathered the remaining 70,000 Russian troops inside Chełm and planned to destroy German tanks with suicide squads in the streets.
• On October 7, the German 17th Corps began bombarding Chełm with more than 300 artillery guns, collapsing buildings and inflicting heavy Russian casualties.
• At two o’clock, more than a hundred German bombers arrived over Chełm and dropped 2,000 bombs on the northern district.
• The bombing reduced the district to ruins and wiped out the Russian soldiers stationed there, terrifying the troops elsewhere in the city.

German forces devastated Chełm with a day-long bombardment, leaving the Russian defenders with heavy casualties and ruined fortifications. As both sides prepared for the next day's fighting, General Ivanov ordered his main forces to attack the Austro-Hungarian line immediately.

• German artillery and aircraft bombarded Chełm until nightfall, killing or wounding more than twenty thousand Russian soldiers and destroying most of the city's defenses.
• Lieutenant General Seeckt ordered the 17th Corps to attack Chełm the next morning and had the logistics troops rush ammunition to the front.
• Lieutenant General Fyodor and Lieutenant General Golovin organized the surviving defenders to build new positions overnight and reported their losses to the rear.
• After receiving their report, General Dimitriev ordered the 34th Corps to strengthen Lviv's defenses and warned the troops at Zamość to prepare for battle.
• General Ivanov read Dimitriev's Telegram and ordered the 3rd, 8th, and 11th Army Corps to attack the Austro-Hungarian defenses with all their strength the next day.

General Ivanov ordered the Russian 3rd, 8th, and 11th Army Corps to launch a desperate offensive against the Austro-Hungarian defensive line. The battle began with an artillery duel in which Austrian heavy guns inflicted losses on Russian artillery, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• General Ivanov told his commanders that the Southwestern Front depended on defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire quickly.
• Generals Ruszky, Brusilov, and Selyvanov ordered their forces to attack at first light on October 8.
• Marshal von Heitzenforf assigned the stronger Austrian 2nd and 3rd Army Corps to the front and kept the weaker 4th Army Corps in reserve.
• Oscar accepted von Heitzenforf's deployment and expected the Austrians to withstand the Russian attack if they defended firmly.
• At eight in the morning, the Russian army began a bombardment across a two-hundred-kilometer front, and Austrian artillery returned fire.
• Austrian artillery used its heavier guns to suppress Russian positions and inflict considerable losses.

Russian and Austro-Hungarian forces fought a fierce battle across the eastern Carpathians as Austro-Hungarian artillery inflicted heavy losses on the Russian guns. After the Russian artillery withdrew, Russian infantry attacked the Austro-Hungarian line, where defenders opened fire but failed to halt the advancing troops.

• Russian and Austro-Hungarian artillery bombarded each other's positions across the Carpathian front.
• A young Austro-Hungarian soldier considered retreating, but an older comrade warned him that the Gendarmerie would shoot deserters.
• Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf deployed Gendarmerie behind the front to prevent Austro-Hungarian troops from retreating.
• Austro-Hungarian artillery destroyed seven Russian artillery positions and more than a hundred guns on the Lesko front.
• General Ruszky ordered the Russian artillery to hold its fire for ten more minutes before the Russian infantry attacked.
• Austro-Hungarian forces opened fire on the charging Russian infantry, but the Russian soldiers kept advancing over fallen comrades.

Russian forces launched attacks against Austro-Hungarian positions, but disciplined defenders overcame their fear and repelled them with heavy fire. The Russian assaults continued to fail, while Austro-Hungarian morale recovered and General Ruszky ordered another attack.

• Austro-Hungarian machine guns and riflemen inflicted heavy casualties on General Ruszky's advancing Russian troops.
• Austro-Hungarian soldiers overcame their fear of the Russian Urra Charge, and their defensive line stabilized.
• After suffering devastating losses, the Russian 3rd Army Corps retreated from its first attack, and Austro-Hungarian soldiers celebrated their victory.
• General Ruszky ordered another attack in half an hour despite the setback.
• Russian 8th and 11th Army Corps also met fierce resistance, and repeated Russian assaults failed to break through the Austro-Hungarian lines.

German forces bombarded Chełm and attacked its urban defenses while the German 20th Corps broke through Russian lines at Zamość. Lieutenant Generals Fyodor and Golovin ordered the remaining Russian troops to hold Chełm as German infantry and tanks entered the assault.

• Lieutenant General Mackensen led the German 20th Corps and part of the 8th Armored Division in breaking the Russian lines outside Zamość and driving the defenders into the city.
• The German 17th Army Corps and 8th Air Corps bombarded Chełm, destroying rebuilt defenses and inflicting heavy casualties on Russian troops.
• Lieutenant Generals Fyodor and Golovin recognized that holding Chełm was nearly impossible but stayed because the Russian offensive against Austria-Hungary could not be stopped.
• Lieutenant General Fyodor ordered every unit to hold its position and forbade retreat without authorization.
• The German 49th and 50th Infantry Divisions and Colonel Rommel’s armored forces began their assault on Chełm with nearly forty thousand troops.

German forces advanced into Chełm, using tanks and air support to overwhelm Russian defenders and seize a third of the city in one morning. Lieutenant Generals Fyodor and Golovin realized their troops could not hold out for long as the German advance threatened to capture Chełm within two days.

• German infantry and tanks broke through the Russian outskirts defenses and began clearing Chełm street by street.
• A German tank destroyed a Russian machine-gun position, allowing German soldiers to eliminate the defenders and advance.
• Russian mortars struck a German formation, but a Mark II fighter attacked the Russian position and enabled the German platoon to capture it.
• Aircraft from the 8th Air Corps supported the 17th Corps as German troops pushed through the ruins and steadily reduced Russian positions.
• A Russian division commander warned Lieutenant General Fyodor and Lieutenant General Golovin that casualties were severe and morale was falling.
• German forces captured one-third of Chełm in one morning, leaving the Russian commanders facing the prospect of losing the city within two days.

As the Russian defenders in Chełm faced mounting losses, Lieutenant Generals Fyodor and Golovin hoped the 22nd Army Corps would arrive in time. German Lieutenant General Seeckt learned that Russian reinforcements were approaching and ordered a coordinated strike to stop them while the assault on Chełm continued.

• Fyodor asked when the 22nd Army Corps would arrive, and Golovin said it was expected that afternoon but might be delayed by Boris.
• Fyodor and Golovin decided to ask General Dimitriev to urge Boris to bring the 22nd Army Corps forward.
• Seeckt heard that German troops had cleared nearly a third of Chełm and expected to capture the city by the following day.
• A staff officer reported that Russian reconnaissance had revealed about fifty thousand reinforcements advancing toward Chełm.
• Seeckt ordered fifty tanks and the 51st Infantry Division to attack the Russian reinforcements with support from the 8th Air Corps.
• Seeckt directed the 49th and 50th Infantry Divisions to keep attacking Chełm as German forces moved against the reinforcements.

The Russian 22nd Infantry Corps marched toward Chełm to reinforce its defenses, but German artillery and air attacks intercepted it on the road. The bombardment destroyed Russian guns and scattered the troops, leaving the corps in chaos before it could reach the city.

• Lieutenant General Boris ordered the 22nd Infantry Corps to hurry toward Chełm despite warnings that German forces were heavily attacking the city.
• The German 51st Infantry Division opened a heavy artillery barrage on the Russian columns, throwing their disorganized ranks into chaos.
• Boris ordered a counterattack to break through the German blockade as Russian officers tried to organize their troops.
• The 8th Air Corps sent bombers and fighters against the Russian reinforcements, targeting their artillery positions and assembling troops.
• German aircraft destroyed Russian guns and strafed the formations, sending the surviving soldiers fleeing in panic.

German air raids and an armored assault shattered the Russian 22nd Infantry Division before it could reach Chełm. Lieutenant General Boris watched his troops collapse, with some fleeing and others surrendering.

• German aircraft and artillery attacked the Russian troops, inflicting heavy casualties and destroying their morale.
• Lieutenant General Boris struggled to decide whether to advance or retreat as his forces fell into disarray.
• After the air raid, the German 8th Armored Division and three regiments of the 51st Infantry Division attacked the Russian troops.
• Russian weapons failed to stop the German tanks, which destroyed machine-gun positions and cut down retreating soldiers.
• A Major General Division Commander urged Lieutenant General Boris to retreat as the front line collapsed.
• The Russian 22nd Infantry Division broke apart under the German assault, and some Russian soldiers surrendered.

German forces steadily overran Russian positions in Chełm while the Russian 22nd Infantry Corps collapsed before reaching the city. After a failed breakout left Chełm encircled, Lieutenant General Fyodor and Lieutenant General Golovin agreed to contact the Germans about surrender terms.

• German troops captured a Russian barricade and continued clearing positions as Russian casualties mounted.
• Lieutenant General Fyodor and Lieutenant General Golovin learned that the reinforcing 22nd Infantry Corps had collapsed under German attacks.
• Fyodor and Golovin agreed to attempt a southward breakout, but German troops and tanks crushed the effort and completed their encirclement of Chełm.
• Russian officers and soldiers pressured Fyodor and Golovin to surrender, and the two generals sent someone to discuss surrender terms with the Germans.

Oscar learned that German forces were advancing successfully at Chełm and Zamość while Austrian troops struggled to hold off Russian attacks. After Russian troops surrendered at Chełm, he ordered General François’s 11th Corps to strike at Lviv and capture it within three days.

• Marshal von Hotzendorf reported that fierce Russian attacks had strained Austrian defenses, and Oscar urged the Austrians to hold until the German plan turned the battle.
• Oscar told Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf that the German 8th Army Corps was winning at Chełm and Zamość and that the Russian 4th Army Corps was nearing collapse.
• Oscar received news that Russian troops at Chełm had surrendered to the German 17th Corps, which had completed its mission early.
• Brigadier General Manstein proposed sending the 11th Corps, supported by Colonel Rommel’s remaining tanks, to seize Lviv and disrupt Russian supplies.
• Oscar ordered General François to attack Lviv and capture the city within three days.

Lieutenant General Ludendorff ordered Lieutenant General François to rush the German 11th Corps toward Lviv, backed by Colonel Rommel’s armored troops and air support. As the German forces advanced, General Dimitriev berated Lieutenant General Boris for the Russian defeats and ordered him to seek a chance to redeem himself.

• Lieutenant General Ludendorff ordered Lieutenant General François to take the 11th Corps from Lublin to attack Lviv, with trucks, Colonel Rommel’s armored troops, and air support.
• On October 10, the 11th Corps left Lublin for Lviv while part of the 8th Armored Division set out from Chełm; the German 17th Corps marched toward Zamość.
• General Dimitriev worried that the Russian 4th Army Corps had lost half its strength in three days and condemned Lieutenant General Fyodor and Lieutenant General Golovin for surrendering.
• General Dimitriev accused Lieutenant General Boris of causing the disaster at Chełm, and Boris blamed the German aircraft, tanks, and heavy artillery for his troops’ defeat.
• General Dimitriev berated Lieutenant General Boris, then told him to prepare to redeem himself through meritorious service.