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Schematic plan · World War I (Eastern Front 1914)

Battle of Tannenberg (1914)

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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, Heavily wooded groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingLeft wingRight wingReserveReserveGunsGuns010 km20 kmN

Germany (Ger 8th Army, 187,000 men under Gen von Hindenburg) attacked Russia (Rus 2nd Army, 160,000 men under Gen Samsonov) in Germany. The CAA Database of Battles records 72 hours of fighting on a front of 120 km, a frontal attack, double envelopment against hasty defense, and that Germany won. Losses: Germany 13,212 (7%), Russia 120,000 (75%).

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 Hindenburg

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry41,935
Germany centreInfantry55,914
Germany right wingInfantry41,935
Germany reserveInfantry34,946
Germany artillery (818 guns)Artillery12,270
Gen von HindenburgCommander—
In this plan187,000

Russia

Gen Samsonov

UnitArmMen
Russia left wingInfantry36,240
Russia centreInfantry48,320
Russia right wingInfantry36,240
Russia reserveInfantry30,200
Russia artillery (600 guns)Artillery9,000
Gen SamsonovCommander—
In this plan160,000

What the sources report

GermanyRussia
Strength, this plan187,000160,000
Losses, this plan13,212120,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 280, “Tannenberg”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
72 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Flat, Heavily wooded
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
120 km (attacker), 120 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker187,00013,2120818Frontal attack; Double envelopment; Breakthrough; Pursued
Russiadefender160,000120,0000600Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Annihilated

Attacker’s advantages leadership +2 · training +1 · logistics +1 · intelligence +1 · initiative +1 · surprise +2 · 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.