The 10th Army Corps was one of the best in the German Imperial Army. It consisted of the renowned front-line divisions - the 19th and 20th Infantry Divisions. The formations have established themselves as percussionists, being the "lifesaver" of the Kaiser's command in the most critical situations.
After the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army during the Brusilov breakthrough, Emperor Wilhelm II ordered his best forces to be immediately sent to the Russian front - removing a number of formations from the French front, as well as using a strategic reserve.
At the forefront of the avalanche of German troops rushing to help the ally, the 20th Infantry Division of the 10th Army Corps moved. The division was called "Braunschweig" and "steel". The unit was staffed by natives of the Duchy of Braunschweig - very stubborn and cold-blooded fighters in character. In the event of a crisis on the Russian or French fronts, a division capable of carrying out massive repeated attacks and sustaining massive losses was invariably brought into action. As part of the 2nd Army, the division fought at Charleroi and San Quentin during the Battle of the Border in 1914, and solved important tasks during the Battle of the Marne. The division is a "veteran" of the Gorlitsky breakthrough, acting at the forefront of this strategic offensive. One of the legends about the feats of the division said that at the beginning of the war, the unit was surrounded in the Vosges by an iron ring of French troops - and when asked to lay down their arms, its soldiers responded with an oath to die or break through. Indeed, having inflicted a desperate blow, the division escaped from the hands of the allies - and for this feat the Kaiser awarded it the name "Steel". The division had a distinctive sign in the form of "Adam's head" - as "hussars of death" and flamethrowers.
The commander of the Brunswick Steel Division during this period was Major General A. von Luttwitz, an officer with extensive combat experience, a participant in operations on both key fronts of the war and the former commander of its 40th Brigade. The 20th Infantry Division in 1916 included 3 regiments - the 77th, 79th and 92nd Infantry Regiments.
The 10th Army Corps was transferred from the French Lana, where it was in reserve, to Vladimir-Volynsky. And on June 3, 1916, almost immediately from the carriages, he rushed towards the flow of troops of the South-Western Front. The meeting of the opponents took place near the town of Kiselin.
And then I found a scythe on a stone …
The steel Brunswicks clashed with the iron arrows.
The enemy of the 20th Infantry was the Russian elite front-line division - the 4th Iron Infantry Division. The division (then a brigade) became Iron on Shipka - having defended a strategic pass during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. During the First World Brigade (division) fought in Galicia and the Carpathians, participated in the Lutsk breakthrough (only on May 22, capturing 147 officers, 4400 soldiers, capturing 29 guns and 26 machine guns) and was also a "lifesaver" of the Russian command. The commander of the compound was Lieutenant General A. I. Denikin, Knight of St. George's Arms and the Order of St. George of the 4th and 3rd degrees. The division consisted of: 13th His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, 14th Field Marshal Gurko, 15th Prince of Montenegro Nikolai I and 16th Emperor Alexander III rifle regiments.
Veterans of many battles later said that before that they had not yet had to take part in more fierce battles than at Kiselin. The iron arrows took the fierce blow of the Brunswicks. Without a break for 4 days, the Germans bombarded the Russians with tens of thousands of shells, and then stubborn and powerful infantry attacks followed. One fierce attack of the Germans was replaced by another. But the attempts of the Germans to push back their enemy to Lutsk were in vain - breaking against an insurmountable wall, like granite, of the valiant Russian infantry. And then the iron arrows launched a counterattack - almost destroying 2 German battalions and capturing several machine guns and two guns.
On June 7, after the 42nd attack, the Braunschweig infantry finally calmed down. And on the morning of June 8, the German 10th Army Corps, due to huge losses, was replaced by reserves and withdrew from the battle.
AI Denikin later also recalled thousands of German shells that destroyed the positions of his division, and 42 attacks by German infantry, repelled by iron arrows.
42 attacks in 4 days! Is it possible that some other armies, besides the Russian and German, could withstand such a military tension?
And the words on the German poster, hung in front of the position of the Brunswicks and intended for Denikin's riflemen - "Your Russian iron is not worse than our German steel, and yet we will break you" - was not destined to come true. The answer to the Germans of the iron shooters came true: "Well, try it."
According to the testimony of the prisoners, the German 10th Army Corps lost about three-quarters of its officers and more than half of the lower ranks during these four days. Particularly affected was the 20th Steel Division, in whose regiments 300-400 men barely survived. All in all, during the battles on the Russian front from June to November 1916, the formation actually changed its combat strength - for example, in the 92nd Infantry Regiment, losses per company were 160 people.
The prisoners of Brunswick said: “It was much calmer in France. We have not been subjected to such a defeat even once since the beginning of the war."
Iron riflemen also suffered heavy losses - especially the 14th and 16th regiments, which numbered only 300-400 men after the Kisely battle. But the battlefield remained behind them - it was abandoned by the 20th Steel Division, which crashed during 42 attacks on Russian iron.
