The Vistula–Bug offensive from July 13 to August 28, 1915, was a major Central Powers offensive with the decisive role of the German Imperial Army during World War I on the Eastern Front to defeat the forces of the Russian army in South Poland and Galicia.
Background The German General Staff and the Austro-Hungarian Army High Command paid great attention to the actions of the Army Group of Field Marshal A. von Mackensen, which was to play the role of the southern blade of the “scissors” that cut off the Russian armies from the escape routes to Brest-Litovsk. On July 11, A. von Mackensen received a directive to go on the offensive from July 15–16, first with the forces of the Army of the Bug, and then with the 11th and 4th Armies. The main blow was delivered on both banks of the Wieprz River to capture Russian positions on the Wolica and Voislavka rivers. To the right, the Army of the Bug advanced on the Hill, to the left, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, to Lublin. The operation was supported by active actions: from the left flank - by the army of Colonel-General Remus von Woyrsch against Russian positions from Pilica to the Vistula, from the right flank - by crossing the Bug and advancing to Vladimir-Volynsky of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army.Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 618-620
The task of the 4th, 3rd and 13th Armies on the left flank of the Northwestern Front was to prevent the breakthrough of the Central Powers to Brest-Litovsk and ensure the evacuation of Warsaw. The left flank of the 13th Army on the Bug River is provided by the 8th Army of the Southwestern Front (Russian Empire). The right flank of the 4th Army on the western bank of the Vistula was supported by the 2nd Army, which was defending the approaches to Warsaw. By the directive of the Stavka of July 5, it was precisely the southern front of the armies of the North-Western Front that was considered as the arena of the main and decisive blow of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops. However, the events on the Narew River in July 1915 shook this confidence.Стратегический очерк войны 1914-1918 гг. volume 4. p. 71
The armies of A. von Mackensen did not have such a rich supply of shells as the army group of Max von Gallwitz, but they could provide both the conduct of defensive operations and try to break through fortified positions. By the beginning of July, the Russian armies from the Vistula to the Bug were supplied with ammunition to a degree that made it possible to conduct defensive and offensive battles for a short time.С.Г. Нелипович, Русский фронт Первой мировой войны. Потери сторон 1915, 2022, p. 570
Battle On July 13, the German Army of the Bug of General of Infantry Alexander von Linsingen captured Starogród in the sector of the Russian 4th Cavalry Corps and pushed back the 2nd Caucasian Army Corps. On July 15, the German armies began to approach the Russian positions, and Linsingen struck the Beskids, XXIV Reserve and XXXXI Reserve Corps against the Russian troops of the 13th Army, Infantry General V. Gorbatovsky. The Germans captured a well-fortified position, but the Russian 2nd Caucasian, 29th and 31st Army Corps organised defences on the main fortified line.Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 625
On July 16, the German 11th Army attacked the positions of the Russian 3rd Army west of the Wieprz River with a shock group from the Guards, X Corps and XXII Reserve Corps. The 9th, 10th, 3rd Caucasian and partly the 14th Army Corps were pushed back. But despite the capture of 6,000 Russian prisoners and the introduction of reserves (1st Cavalry and 119th Infantry Divisions) into battle, the Germans failed to break through the main defensive zone. At the same time, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army went on the offensive against the junction of the Russian 13th and 8th Armies. On July 14, the Austro-Hungarian troops completely captured the western bank of the Bug River near Krystynopol, and on the night of July 16 they crossed the river north of Sokal. In the evening, the 2nd Siberian Army Corps arrived in the Russian 3rd Army. On July 17, he was thrown into counterattacks in order to restore the situation, but by the end of the day it was only possible, together with the 10th Army Corps, to gain a foothold in the forest near the Orchowiec village. The pressure of the German strike group on the 3rd Caucasus Army Corps managed to create a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Wieprz River and create a threat to the flank and rear of the Russian troops. As a result, in front of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, Russian troops began to retreat. In the evening, two guards regiments arrived in Krasnostav, but soon the city was captured by the German Guards Corps. Both flanking armies of Army Group's Mackensen failed to move forward.Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 622-624
On July 18, the Austro-Hungarian I and II Corps crossed the Bug River in the sector of the 8th Army of the Southwestern Front. The Russian 12th Infantry Division was outflanked and pushed back. A gap formed between the 19th and 60th Infantry Divisions; Aleksei Brusilov sent the 14th Infantry and 11th Cavalry Divisions there. The centre and the right flank of the army from 7 am went on the offensive against the Bug army and partially recaptured the lost trenches. However, events in the neighbouring 3rd Army forced V. Gorbatovsky at midnight on July 9 to order the withdrawal of the right flank and centre of the 13th Army.С.Г. Нелипович, 2022, p. 573
In the 3rd Army on the morning of July 18, the commander of the 2nd Siberian Corps Radko Dimitriev, under pressure from the Germans, unexpectedly withdrew troops, which also caused the withdrawal of the 9th Army Corps and the 3rd Caucasian Corps. The Austro-Hungarian VI Corps broke through the Russian positions and took 3,500 prisoners, but suffered significant losses (almost 7,000 men). Meanwhile, the Russian Guards Corps, the last reserve of the front on the southern flank, was advanced towards the Germans. The Germans were stopped, but L. Lesh doubted the possibility of holding an unfortified, accidentally occupied line. In the evening, the Germans resumed the offensive, broke through the orders of the 21st Infantry Division, forced the 14th Army and Guards Corps to retreat. The Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment was almost destroyed. At night, the defence of the 9th Army Corps was broken through. M. Alekseyev was forced to allow the 3rd Army to withdraw further.Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 624-626
The breakthrough was 32 km along the front and 12 km in depth, the Germans from the beginning of the operation captured 16,250 prisoners and 23 machine guns. Using the success of their neighbors, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army pushed back the Russian 4th Army. On July 17, the army of Remus von Woyrsch delivered a blow to the Grenadier Corps of the 4th Army with the Landwehr Corps. The breakthrough reached 10 km along the front and 6 km in depth. On July 18, the Grenadier Corps tried to counterattack, but was driven back, losing only 2,000 prisoners.Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 629-630
The withdrawal of the 4th Army as a whole went without interference from the German army. On the afternoon of July 19, at the request of M. Alekseyev, the Supreme Commander, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, arrived in Siedlce, where, having familiarised himself with the situation, he allowed the Chief of Staff of the North-Western Front to independently order the withdrawal of armies, if necessary, from the line of the Vistula River to the east, including evacuate Warsaw. In the evening, the 4th, 3rd and 13th Armies resumed their withdrawal, interrupting the fighting, regardless of their success. The complaint of the commander of the Guards Corps, General of the Cavalry V. Bezobrazov, about the actions of the commander of the 3rd Army, Leonid Lesh, who did not allow him to go on the offensive, was left without attention by M. Alekseyev.Стратегический очерк войны 1914-1918 гг. volume 4. p. 77-78
Von Mackensen's Army Group pursued the retreating. After the arrival of the 13th and 14th Infantry Divisions, Brusilov ordered to go on the offensive and take the right bank of the Bug River. Throughout the day of July 20, a stubborn battle went on in the sector of the 8th Army, many points and trenches passed from hand to hand. The 12th and 28th Army Corps managed to capture the first line of trenches. But against the 8th Army Corps, the Austro-Hungarians launched an offensive, expanding the bridgehead across the Bug River, and in the evening threw back the 12th Infantry Division and cavalry. By the morning of July 21, the Russian 12th, 13th and 19th Infantry Divisions reached the banks of the Bug River near Lake Bely Stok, captured 27 officers and 1,466 soldiers, 2 machine guns, but could not recapture Sokal and suffered heavy losses. A. Brusilov noted the "extraordinary stubbornness of the enemy."Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 629-630
On July 20, the Army of the Bug attacked the left flank of the 13th Army, pushing the 2nd Caucasian Corps. Counterattacks were not successful. The 29th and 31st Army and 4th Cavalry Corps were driven back. Gorbatovsky will anxiously inform Alekseyev that there are no more prepared defensive positions in the rear of the 13th Army. The German 11th Army successfully repelled Russian counterattacks, but could not move forward. The Russian and German Guards Corps fought a stubborn battle north of Krasnostav, but to the right of the Guards the 2nd Siberian Army Corps was thrown back; on the morning of July 21, the 5th Siberian Rifle Division retreated. Only by noon counterattacks of the 9th Army Corps and the Guards Rifle Brigade managed to restore the situation. By evening, the Germans forced the 9th and 14th Army Corps to withdraw. The Austro-Hungarian 4th Army approached the Russian positions until noon on July 20 and fired at them. In the afternoon, in a stubborn battle, the IX and X Corps broke through the centre of the Russian 4th Army. The Russian 15th and 25th Army Corps lost 6,000 prisoners.С.Г. Нелипович, 2022, p. 576
Evert and Lesh accused each other of untimely and too far withdrawal of troops. To return the lost positions from 5 o'clock on July 21, a detachment of Major General A. Veselovsky (three regiments of infantry) went on the offensive, he was supported by the combined brigades of the 6th and 8th Infantry Divisions. 400 Austro-Hungarian soldiers were taken prisoner, the Austro-Hungarian 24th Infantry Division was driven back to their original positions. The 37th Honvéd Infantry Division and the 47th Reserve Division, brought into battle, drove out the Russian 15th and 25th Army Corps from their position. The situation on the left bank of the Vistula was even more unfortunate. The 16th Army and Grenadier Corps retreated beyond the Vistula.С.Г. Нелипович, 2022, p. 576
On July 22, Alekseyev was forced to issue a directive on the gradual withdrawal of the 3rd, 4th and 13th Armies to the previously prepared position of Ivangorod-Kovel. The 4th Army retreated under constant pressure from the Germans. The Austro-Hungarian VIII, IX and X Corps drove back the 15th and swept the 25th Army Corps. At the front of 23 km, 48 officers and 12,400 Russian soldiers, 23 machine guns were captured. A. Evert considered the positions near Lublin more advantageous for defence than the line along the Wieprz River, but he asked for the assistance of the 3rd Army to organise stubborn resistance.Oesterreich-Ungams letzter Krieg 1914-1918. Bd. II. p. 634