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Schematic plan · World War I (Eastern Front 1914)

Battle of Łódź (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.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingCentreReserveLeft wingRight wingReserve010 km20 kmN

Germany (Ger 9th Army, 260,000 men under Gen Mackensen) attacked Russia (Rus Northwest Army Group, 400,000 men under Grand Dk Nicholas) in Russian Poland. The CAA Database of Battles records 288 hours of fighting on a front of 120 km, a frontal attack, double envelopment against hasty defense, and that Germany won. Losses: Germany 60,000 (23%), Russia 95,000 (24%).

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 Mackensen

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry62,400
Germany centreInfantry83,200
Germany right wingInfantry62,400
Germany reserveInfantry52,000
Gen MackensenCommander—
In this plan260,000

Russia

Grand Dk Nicholas

UnitArmMen
Russia left wingInfantry96,000
Russia centreInfantry128,000
Russia right wingInfantry96,000
Russia reserveInfantry80,000
Grand Dk NicholasCommander—
In this plan400,000

What the sources report

GermanyRussia
Strength, this plan260,000400,000
Losses, this plan60,00095,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 286, “Lodz”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
288 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Cold, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
120 km (attacker), 120 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker260,00060,0000—Frontal attack; Double envelopment; Penetration; Withdrew
Russiadefender400,00095,0000—Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages leadership +1 · 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.