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Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1914)

Alsace-Lorraine I

All battlesInvasion of Lorraine: engagement 1 of 2The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveLeft wingRight wingReserve010 km20 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Invasion of Lorraine recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 1 in date order). France (Fr 1st & 2nd Armies, Army of Alsace, 457,000 men under Gen Joffre) attacked Germany (Ger 6th &7th Armies, 345,000 men under Gen Moltke) in Germany. The CAA Database of Battles records 96 hours of fighting on a front of 225 km, a frontal attack against delaying action and fortified defense, and that Germany held. Losses: France 65,340 (14%), Germany 32,880 (10%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

France

Gen Joffre

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry109,680
France centreInfantry146,240
France right wingInfantry109,680
France reserveInfantry91,400
Gen JoffreCommander—
In this plan457,000

Germany

Gen Moltke

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry82,800
Germany centreInfantry110,400
Germany right wingInfantry82,800
Germany reserveInfantry69,000
Gen MoltkeCommander—
In this plan345,000

What the sources report

FranceGermany
Strength, this plan457,000345,000
Losses, this plan65,34032,880

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 262, “Alsace-Lorraine I”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
96 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Delaying action, Fortified defense
Front width
225 km (attacker), 225 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Franceattacker457,00065,3400—Frontal attack; Penetration; Repulse
Germanydefender345,00032,8800—Defensive plan; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.