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Schematic plan · World War I

Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive

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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 groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingLeft wingRight wingReserveReserveGuns010 km20 kmN

Germany (Ger 11th Army, Aus 3rd(-) & 4th Armies, 216,000 men under Gen Mackensen) attacked Russia (Rus 3rd Army, 219,000 men under Gen Dimitriev) in Austrian Galicia. The CAA Database of Battles records 48 hours of fighting on a front of 121 km, a frontal attack against prepared defense, and that Germany won. Losses: Germany 36,000 (17%), Russia 153,654 (70%).

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 wingInfantry49,601
Germany centreInfantry66,134
Germany right wingInfantry49,601
Germany reserveInfantry41,334
Germany artillery (622 guns)Artillery9,330
Gen MackensenCommander—
In this plan216,000

Russia

Gen Dimitriev

UnitArmMen
Russia left wingInfantry52,560
Russia centreInfantry70,080
Russia right wingInfantry52,560
Russia reserveInfantry43,800
Gen DimitrievCommander—
In this plan219,000

What the sources report

GermanyRussia
Strength, this plan216,000219,000
Losses, this plan36,000153,654

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 295, “Golice-Tarnow (Opening Phase)”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
48 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Spring, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Prepared defense
Front width
121 km (attacker), 121 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker216,00036,0000622Frontal attack; Breakthrough; Pursued
Russiadefender219,000153,6540—Defensive plan; Withdrew with heavy losses

Attacker’s advantages leadership +1 · morale +2 · logistics +1 · momentum +1 · initiative +1 · surprise +2 · combat effectiveness +2

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.