The assassination of the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo on July 28, 1914 was the fuse for the outbreak of the First World War. The original intention of the Austrian commander-in-chief Marshal Konrad was to concentrate his main forces around Lemberg (present-day Lviv, Ukraine). From there the Austrian forces could attack either between the Vistula and Bug rivers and threaten Russian, then, Poland and especially Warsaw, or move north-east towards Dubno, separating the Russian forces in Ukraine from those in Poland and defeating those meandering on internal lines.
The Austrian plan was not without logic, especially in the first case. But there was one key parameter. In order to pressure the numerically superior Russians in the Warsaw area they would have to be pressured from the North by the German allies of the Austrians. Thus, with a wild move, the southern leg of which would be the Austrians and the northern the Germans, the Russian forces, exposed in the enclave of Russian Poland, would be encircled and crushed.
But the Germans intended to maintain a defensive posture on the Russian Front in pursuit of the rapid crushing of France. On the other side of the hill the Russian Army adopted a strategic concentration plan that provided for the deployment of two armies against the German forces of North Prussia (Northwestern Front).
South of them, the forces of the Southwestern Front were deployed (formation corresponding to the Army Group) under General Ivanov. His forces consisted, from north to south, of the 4th Army, under the German-born General Anton von Zalza (with 5 SS), the 5th Army, under General Pavel von Plewe, also of German origin (6 SS). Next was the 3rd Army, under General Nikolai Rutsky , the strongest of all (10 SS). This army was eventually divided and with half of its forces formed the 8th Army , the command of which was taken over by General Brusilov.
Strategic moves
The Austrian commander-in-chief decided to move first, before the Russians completed their mobilization and took advantage of their numerical superiority. At best, even without German help, he hoped to inflict serious damage on the enemy. The Austrians especially feared a massive Russian invasion with masses of cavalry. Such a wave of cavalry could, they believed, reach a great depth in their formation, destroy stores, plunder, destroy, undermine the morale of citizens and soldiers.
To this end Conrad gathered the bulk of his own cavalry divisions intending to unleash them first against the Russians and accomplish what he believed his opponents wanted to do. On August 9, 1914 the Russian 9th Cavalry Division (MI) crossed the border in the Tarnopol region. Another attempt by the Russians to cross the border was repulsed by the Austrian 4th MI . The Russians did not seem to persist with their cavalry, so Conrad decided to throw his own cavalry into the fray.
On 11 August 1914 he ordered 10 MI to cross the Vistula River and carry out "strong reconnaissance", covering the advance of friendly armies. On August 15th the Austrian cavalry crossed the border. Within just two days, however, it became apparent that this mission was beyond his capabilities. The only notable engagement, on August 19, resulted in the defeat of the Austrian cavalry. Conrad decided to limit the needless attrition of the cavalry and ordered a retreat. After all, the bulk of the infantry had now gathered and was ready for the attack.
Opposing forces
From West to East, Conrad extended General Dunkle's 1st Army with I, V and X SS (10 Infantry Divisions – MP- 2 MI, an independent Infantry Brigade). East of this was deployed the 4th Army under General von Auffenberg, with the II, VI, IX and XVII SS (9 MP, 2 MI) and finally further east was deployed the 3rd Army under General von Brudermann with the III, XI and XIV SS (18 MP, 4 MI). The Austrian left flank was covered by one SS (2 MP, 1 MI) under Lt. Gen. Kummer, while the right XII SS under Lt. Gen. Kevets while the arrival of the 2nd Army was awaited from the Serbian front.
Against the Austrian armies in Galicia were deployed the Russian armies of the Southwestern Front, under General Ivanov. Ivanov's four armies (4th, 5th, 3rd and 8th) were deployed in pairs. The 4th of von Zalcha, which at that moment had six MP and 3 MI, and the 5th of von Plebe with 10 MP and 5 MI, at that moment, constituted the northern pair. The 3rd under Rutsky and the 8th under Brusilov formed the southern pair. Between these two Russian concentrations there was a gap more than 70 km wide
The Russians had deployed this way based on information they had from the Austrian traitor Colonel Randle and their plan provided for the encirclement, from the south, of the Austrians, east of the river San. However, since Conrad had deployed his forces further west, precisely because of Randle, in reality, the Russians had nothing to surround. Instead, the gap that existed between their armies could be exploited by the enemy.
Also due to the staggered, west-to-east Russian formation, the Russian 4th Army had its right flank exposed to the staggered marching, also west-to-east, Austrians. The same was the case with the left of the Russian 5th Army. When Ivanov became aware of Conrad's change of plans he ordered, on 23 August, his 4th and 5th Armies to switch fronts to the westernmost. However, this move did nothing to improve the situation on the right of the 4th Army, which still remained completely uncovered.
Encounter battle
The three SS at von Zalcha's disposal were deployed in an approach formation about 32 km southwest of Lublin. The right wing of the 4th Army consisted of the 14th SS with two MPs. The 16th SS was deployed in the center and the Grenadier SS on the left. At the same time the Austrian 1st Army was marching directly northeast after having cleared the crossings of the Tanev River, east of Sandomierz, from the Russian cavalry.
At 09:00 on August 23 Lieutenant General Kirbach's Austrian I SS attacked the Russian 18th MP which formed the right wing of the Russian 14th SS in the forest near the village of Zeklikov. Further west the Russian 13th MI collided with the Austrian 3rd MI. In the ensuing jousting the Russians initially appeared to prevail. However, with infantry support, the Austrian cavalry defeated and routed their opponents. Now the right flank of the Russian 4th Army was completely uncovered.
At the same time, the Austrian 5th SS attacked the Russian 45 MP which was the left wing of the Russian 14th SS. So essentially a Russian SS was attacked by two Austrian SS with an enemy MI on its side. The "Russian" von Zalcha tried to react by launching a counterattack. But this was easily repulsed by the Austrians, with heavy losses for the Russians.
Thus the Russian 14th SS retreated defeated towards the village of Polisna. At the end of the day, the Austrians had pushed back the Russians about 25 km. approaching the Krasnik-Polisna line. The Austrian X SS which formed the right wing of the 1st Army had not yet been involved in the battle and was simply covering the flank of the V SS. On the night of August 22-23, Dunkle decided to continue his attack at first light.
The Austrians had detected the presence of the Russian 16th SS and SS Grenadiers. So Dunkle requested the help of Auffenberg's 4th Army. Von Zalcha, after the defeat of the 14th SS, sent two more of his SS to reinforce it. In order to cover the gap that would open up in his command, he asked for the help of von Plewe's 5th Army. The latter immediately responded and ordered his 25th SS, under Lieutenant General Zuyev, to reinforce the 4th Army.
However, Ivanov also intervened in the development of the battle, who ordered von Plewe to throw the rest of his SS on what he believed to be the uncovered right flank of the Austrian 1st Army. At the same time, in order not to widen the gap between his northern and southern armies, he ordered the latter to move directly to the west. Ivanov was however lucky because, on the same night, two more SS arrived in the area, the 18th and the 3rd Caucasian SS. So Ivanov ordered his 4th Army to hold at all costs to the held positions, as the 5th, 3rd and 8th Armies would attempt to crush the right flank of the entire Austrian formation.
Strategic and tactical defeat
At this point it was obvious that the Russian general had lost touch with events. The moves he planned might pay off in a few days. Immediately, however, they did not help his 4th Army avoid defeat. Besides, there was always the evil demon of the Russian Army, the incomprehension and aversion to responsibility. So while the 14th SS was in danger of collapsing, the 16th SS and Grenadier SS were not even informed of the changes in plans that had occurred.
So both these SS simply continued to move southwest, reinforcing the 14th SS with just one brigade. The two Russian SS met the Austrian V and X SS. The Russians concentrated their attack against the Austrian XX SS in order to break it and overwhelm the right flank of the 1st Army. Where it appeared that they were succeeding, however, he successfully intervened the Austrian 9th MI. The Austrian horsemen dismounted and fighting on foot stopped the Russian attack.
While the Russians were missing their wounds, it was the Austrians' turn to fight back. The Austrian X SS attacked the left flank of the Grenadier SS and forced the entire Russian SS into deep retreat, while the Austrian V SS took advantage of the gap between the Russian 14th and 16th SS and forced the 16th into retreat.> On the Austrian left the I SS continued to push back the Russian 14th SS.
The battle was progressing particularly pleasantly for the Austrians. So on the night of August 23, Dunkle planned to continue his attack with the ultimate goal of encircling and destroying the Russian 4th Army. However, when on the morning of the 24th the Austrians began to advance again, they found no Russians in front of them. Von Zalcha, not harboring illusions like Ivanov, decided to withdraw his hard-tested forces to the safety of Lublin.
The battle of Krasnik, as it was called, was over. The first serious battle, and in fact a regular battle, had ended with a victory for the Austrians. However, the losses of the winners were not light. In total, the Austrians had about 15,000 men out of action, most of them wounded. Russian losses were heavier. Over 19,000 Russians were killed or wounded and over 6,000 captured.