Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Eastern Front 1914)

Battle of Gumbinnen

All battlesThe 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.
Flat, Mixed groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsGuns010 km20 kmN

Germany (Ger 8th Army, 120,000 men under Gen von Prittwitz) attacked Russia (Rus 1st Army, 150,000 men under Gen Rennenkampf) in Germany. The CAA Database of Battles records 12 hours of fighting on a front of 64 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against hasty defense, and that neither side won. Losses: Germany 20,000 (17%), Russia 20,000 (13%).

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

Germany

Gen von Prittwitz

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry27,720
Germany centreInfantry36,960
Germany right wingInfantry27,720
Germany reserveInfantry23,100
Germany artillery (300 guns)Artillery4,500
Gen von PrittwitzCommander—
In this plan120,000

Russia

Gen Rennenkampf

UnitArmMen
Russia left wingInfantry34,380
Russia centreInfantry45,840
Russia right wingInfantry34,380
Russia reserveInfantry28,650
Russia artillery (450 guns)Artillery6,750
Gen RennenkampfCommander—
In this plan150,000

What the sources report

GermanyRussia
Strength, this plan120,000150,000
Losses, this plan20,00020,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 279, “Gumbinnen”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
12 hours
Winner
the draw
Terrain
Flat, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
64 km (attacker), 64 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker120,00020,0000300Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Penetration; Stalemate
Russiadefender150,00020,0000450Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Penetration; Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages training +1 · intelligence +1 · combat effectiveness +1

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.