GERMANY RUSHES REINFORCEMENTS
When Lemberg fell the Russian advance covered a line extending from far up in Eastern Prussia, near Tilsit, across the frontier and on down south into Austrian Galicia. Königsberg was hearing the sound of the Russian guns and its besiegers seemed on the verge of victory. A central column of mighty strength was pushing its way into Germany, despite a stubborn resistance. Then the tide turned. German reinforcements were brought up and under General von Hindenberg the Germans administered a severe defeat to General Rennenkampf's army near Allenstein, in which it was claimed that 60,000 prisoners were taken. Other reverses were suffered by the Russians and soon after the middle of September they had been forced to retire from German territory, the German troops following them into Russia, where a series of minor engagements occurred near the frontier.
GENERAL RENNENKAMPF'S DEFEAT
The operations leading to the defeat of General Rennenkampf's Russian army by the Germans were as follows:
From September 7 to 13 the Russians took a strong position on the line from Angerburg to Gerdauen, Allenburg, and Kehlau, the left wing resting on the Mazurian lakes and the right wing protected in the rear and flank by the forest of Frisching, whose pathless woods and swamps furnished an almost impregnable position. The Russians devoted great efforts to intrenching their position and brought up besides their heavy artillery. Russian cavalry scouted far to the west and south, but otherwise the army-undertook no offensive operations in the days following a battle at Tannenberg.
The German forces, according to the German official account, were composed of the Second, Third, Fourth and Twentieth corps, two reserve divisions and five cavalry divisions.
General von Hindenburg, the German commander, meanwhile was assembling every available man, depriving the fortresses of their garrisons and calling in all but a bare remnant of the force protecting the southern frontier in the vicinity of Soldau, adding them to reinforcements received from the west.
General von Hindenburg again resorted to the customary German flanking movement, and since the German right, protected by the forest and marshes, seemed too strong, he adopted the daring strategy of sending the flanking force to the lake region to the south, the same character of movement by which the Russian Narew army had been defeated on August 28, in the vicinity of Ortelsburg, and which in case of failure might have been equally as disastrous for the Germans.
STRATEGY IS SUCCESSFUL
The strategy, however, succeeded, although General Rennenkampf offered a desperate resistance to the frontal attacks. After three days' fighting the Russians were forced back slightly in the center. When the flank movement of the Germans was discovered already threatening the flank, a counter-movement was launched with a new army collected at Lyck, including the Twenty-second corps and parts of the Third Siberian corps, just arriving from Irkutsk, and the balance of the defeated army. The counter-attacks failed and on September 10 the Russians began to fall back on their main position, retreating in good order and well covered.