"Our troops held each of the positions for several days, sometimes for weeks."
Against the backdrop of the grandiose battles in Poland, the battle for the Dniester looks like an episode. But the actions of the 11th Army of the Southwestern Front provided the most valuable resource - time, which in the situation that developed after the Gorlitsky breakthrough was the main factor.
The battle of Zhuravnenskoye was a defensive-offensive operation of the 11th Army of the Southwestern Front. The 6th, 22nd and 18th Army Corps, with their actions on May 24 - June 2, 1915, pinned down significant enemy forces. As a result, the South German army suffered a major defeat.
The alignment of forces
The southern German army of A. von Linzingen, acting synchronously with the group of A. von Mackensen, pushed the 11th Russian army in mid-May. Despite successful counterattacks by Russian troops on May 15-17, the 18th Army Corps withdrew to Zhuravno and Kalushch, and the 22nd to Mikolaev. Continuing to advance, the enemy crossed the Dniester on the night of May 24.
The central place in these battles belonged to the operational group of Lieutenant-General V. I. The corps commander recalled: “In the middle of the night I was lifted out of bed. The chief of one of the attached divisions from the 22nd corps called with a question if I would allow him to withdraw his division across the Dniester, he had already prepared and partially strengthened a very advantageous position on the opposite bank of the river. Having forbidden him to undertake anything like that, I, on the contrary, strictly ordered him to immediately go on the offensive himself. If necessary, I told him, he can transfer his reserves from the left bank of the Dniester, while I will support his offensive with the actions of neighboring divisions. Soon there was a report that our offensive was developing successfully, the Finnish division went ahead. These circumstances and the arrival of fresh units of my army corps became a turning point in our operations in this sector of the front along the Dniester River."
By May 26, the Austro-German units were concentrated on the left bank at the bridgehead at Zhuravno. In this situation, the flank attack of the 6th Army Corps and the units attached to it was of decisive importance. The success of the actions of the Gurko group was largely facilitated by the fact that, in turn, its right flank was covered by the swampy floodplain of the Dniester. To the left of the grouping from the 6th and 22nd Army Corps were the 18th Army Corps and the 3rd Guards Division with one brigade from the Gurko corps.
Zhuravenskoe offensive
On May 27, the offensive of the Russian troops began. The official report assessed the success of Russian weapons in two-day battles: “On the left bank of the Dniester, in the Zhuravno region, after a stubborn battle, we threw the enemy behind the railway line. Several villages passed into our hands, and during the capture of the village of Bukachovtsy we took 800 prisoners with 20 officers. During May 28, by the heroic efforts of our troops, significant enemy forces, which had crossed at Zhuravno to the left bank of the Dniester and spread to the entire Zhuravno-Sivki front, were thrown back with heavy losses for the enemy on the right bank. In a stubborn battle, we took 17 guns, 49 machine guns, 188 officers and up to 6,500 Germans and Austrians. Among the prisoners there is a completely surrendered company of the Prussian Guards Fusilier Regiment."
Parts of the German 3rd Guards Division suffered a heavy defeat at the village of Vyshniyev, suffering significant losses.
From May 26 to May 28, inclusive, the trophies of the Russian troops amounted to 348 officers, 15 431 lower ranks, 17 guns and 78 machine guns. Taking into account the fighting on May 24-26, when the enemy offensive was repelled, a total of 18 thousand Austro-German soldiers and officers were captured, 23 guns were captured.
To assist the Austro-German troops retreating to the right bank of the Dniester, the enemy launched an offensive along both banks of the Tismenytsya River, capturing the village of Hrushov on May 28. But then it was thrown back by the Russian troops, and in the following days the battles, which had the character of oncoming ones, again resulted in the offensive of our divisions. On May 31, 1200 prisoners with 29 officers and seven machine guns were captured in the battles at Tismenytsya and Stryi, and in the battles at Zhuravno on June 1-2, 202 officers, 8544 lower ranks, six guns and 21 machine guns were captured. On June 3, Gurko's troops went on the defensive - the offensive operation ended.
As a result of the operation, the South German army suffered a serious defeat. The enemy was thrown back to the right bank of the Dniester, Russian troops approached the city of Stryi, a large railway junction - 12 kilometers were left to it. The Zhuravnenskaya victory forced the enemy to curtail the offensive in the Galich direction and to engage in regrouping of forces.
The current situation (the withdrawal of neighboring armies as a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough) forced the Russian command to roll back the victorious offensive and go on the defensive. The Southwestern Front began a strategic withdrawal, and the troops of the 11th Army retreated with rearguard battles, because the rollback of Russian troops from Lvov and Przemysl threatened its rear.
Gurko recalled: “The retreat of the entire Southwestern Front was carried out, one might say, in stages - we were successively moving to a number of new positions prepared in advance on the left banks of the local Rubicons - tributaries of the Dniester. Our troops held each of these positions for several days, sometimes for weeks. The planned withdrawal was ensured by the success achieved in the Zhuravno operation.
The victory that saved the front
The operation at Zhuravno is an operational and tactical victory for the Russian army, and even with elements of strategic success. Trophies of the Russian troops from May 24 to June 2 inclusive - about 28 thousand prisoners, 29 guns, 106 machine guns. It is worth remembering that the victory was won against the bleak background of the second half of the 1915 campaign.
The main enemy of the 6th, 22nd and 18th Army Corps of the 11th Army were the German corps of Hoffmann (130, 131 and 132nd Infantry Brigades) and Marshal (48th Reserve and 19th Infantry Divisions, the main forces of the 3rd Guards divisions), the Austrian 5th Army Corps (64th Infantry Brigade and 34th Infantry Division). The official Austrian description of the fighting at Zhuravno notes the serious losses of the Austro-German troops (including the guard). So, in a battle on May 27, the enemy admits the loss of two thousand people from the 3rd Guards Infantry and 40th Honored Infantry Divisions, and the 14th Infantry Brigade lost up to 50 percent of its strength by May 28.
The operation at Zhuravno not only showed the high activity of the Russian army during the defensive period, it contributed to a change in the enemy's operational planning. The fact that the divisions of the 11th Army not only withstood the strongest onslaught of the Austro-Germans, but also had a major success, defeating them and throwing them over the Dniester, led to the collapse of the enemy's strategic plan - to go to the rear of Lvov and the main grouping of troops of the Southwestern Front. Only with the help of additional forces did the enemy manage to cope with the threat to his flank. But it was eliminated precisely due to the grouping in the main operational direction. The measures of the Russian command were absolutely competent, because only energetic actions lead to the disruption of the enemy's plan: he is forced to react to them, change goals and objectives. And actions on the flank of the advancing enemy are doubly effective.
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