End of the battle of Przasnysz

On the evening of 27 February 1915 Russian Siberian troops took Przasnysz. That same day the commander of the German army group, General Max von Gallwitz, ordered a retreat towards the border of East Prussia. So ended the battle that had begun a few days earlier with the German encirclement of the town.

A prize for three days

On 23 February the German divisions closed the ring around Przasnysz and broke into its outskirts. On the morning of 24 February the 1st Reserve Division of General Kurt von Morgen’s corps took the town by storm. The Russian 63rd Infantry Division, which had defended it, was routed. According to German figures about 10,000 soldiers were taken prisoner, and the victors captured 36 guns. The capture of Przasnysz was meant to crown the successes the Germans had won in those days in Masuria.

The German troops, however, were exhausted. For several days they had been marching through mud softened by the thaw, dragging their artillery and supplies with difficulty. Meanwhile the Russian command, worried that the Germans might reach the Narew, speeded up its counter-attack. Two fresh Siberian corps entered the fighting: the I Corps attacked from the south and the II from the east, from the Ostrołęka area. From the west the I Turkestan Corps attacked.

The Russian counter-attack

On 25 February the Siberians pushed back the German 36th Reserve Division and began to threaten the rear of Morgen’s corps. Gallwitz ordered him to go over to the defensive. On 26 February the Russians came up to the town itself, and during the night their first units broke into the outskirts, though they were repulsed. The German Eastern command, General Erich Ludendorff and his staff, concluded that holding Przasnysz was too costly and that forces had to be saved for the defence of the border.

On 27 February Gallwitz issued the order to retreat. That day the 1st and 4th Siberian Rifle Divisions broke into the town from several sides. According to Russian accounts, units of the 1st Division reached the centre at about 7 p.m. to the sound of bells, and many German soldiers covering the retreat were taken prisoner. The Germans withdrew northwards, towards Chorzele and the border, harried by Cossacks.

Outcome

The Russians proclaimed a great victory. Their communiqués spoke of the defeat of two German corps and of more than ten thousand prisoners, though this figure probably covered all the fighting on the approaches to Przasnysz. According to Polish studies the Entente press called the battle “the Marne of the Eastern Front”. After the defeat of the Russian 10th Army in Masuria, it was an important consolation. The Germans had managed neither to reach the Narew nor to hold the line from Mława through Przasnysz for good.

The Russians did not, however, exploit their success. The pursuit was slow and the cavalry was given no clear tasks, so the Germans managed to break contact and occupy fortified positions near the border. The town itself, shelled and captured twice within a few days, was largely destroyed. Fighting on this sector was to flare up again in March.