Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War II (Eastern Front)

Battle of Lvov-Sandomierz

All battles
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 wingGunsReserveGunsArmourArmour010 km20 kmN

USSR (Sov 1st Ukrainian Ag, 1,200,000 men under Marshal Konev) attacked Germany (Ger Ag Northern Ukraine, 900,000 men under Gen Harpe) in USSR. The CAA Database of Battles records 384 hours of fighting on a front of 440 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against prepared defense, and that USSR won. Losses: USSR 37,400 (3%), Germany 198,000 (22%).

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

USSR

Marshal Konev

UnitArmMen
USSR left wingInfantry245,071
USSR centreInfantry326,762
USSR right wingInfantry245,071
USSR reserveInfantry204,226
USSR artillery (11,265 guns)Artillery168,975
USSR armour (1,979 tanks)Armour9,895
Marshal KonevCommander—
In this plan1,200,000

Germany

Gen Harpe

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry197,640
Germany centreInfantry263,520
Germany right wingInfantry197,640
Germany reserveInfantry164,700
Germany artillery (4,800 guns)Artillery72,000
Germany armour (900 tanks)Armour4,500
Gen HarpeCommander—
In this plan900,000

What the sources report

USSRGermany
Strength, this plan1,200,000900,000
Losses, this plan37,400198,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 505, “Lvov-Sandomierz”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
384 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Flat, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Prepared defense
Front width
440 km (attacker), 440 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
USSRattacker1,200,00037,400011,265Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Breakthrough
Germanydefender900,000198,00004,800Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew with heavy losses

Attacker’s advantages morale +2 · logistics +2 · momentum +1 · intelligence +2 · initiative +2 · surprise +1 · air superiority +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.