ABSTRACT
In this ride, a weak German Ostheer faced two Russian armies, one of which, the Niemen Army, advanced against East Prussia from the north and the other of which, the Narev Army, advanced against West Prussia from the south, from Congress Poland. Each Russian army initially disposed of four army corps and two cavalry divisions.1 The Germans faced the Russians with five army corps, six reserve divisions and four cavalry divisions. This force level is close to what was intended in the German deployment plan for 1893/94. This plan called for four army corps, six reserve divisions, and four cavalry divisions to be deployed to the east, while the remaining three-quarters of the German army deployed on the western border with France. However, while the force levels are similar, the operational intention of the deployment plan was different from the ride. The German plan called for an offensive from Posen in cooperation with the Austro-Hungarians, for which three army corps, four reserve divisions and three cavalry divisions were earmarked.2 That said, this ride is notable for the fact that it resulted in a similar battle to that fought by the German 8th Army in late August 1914, the so-called battle of Tannenberg.
