von Motke
21st August 1914, Coblenz.
Colonel General Helmuth von Motke was worried, he had just replaced Karl Von Bulow as the commander of the 2nd Army with Paul von Hindenburg. Von Bulow had failed to capture Liege and so the attack into Belgium was still hung up on the fortress. The attempt by Erich Ludendorff to lead a night attack by one of the infantry brigades had been a disaster, thousands of men had died in the failed assault. Ludendorff had not been killed but he had been wounded in the action and it was likely he would take several months to recover from his injuries. Ludendorff had been recommended by von Bulow for the Pour Le Merite, had he succeeded in the action he would have received the award, but his heroics had not delivered the city.
While von Motke was having to deal with the failure to capture Liege and enable the decisive blow to swing into France, he was faced with a limited Russian offensive into East Prussia. The General there von Prittwitz was not sure that he could hold the Russians and had requested permission to fall back behind the Vistula. Von Motke was adamant that the fortress at Konigsberg be held, he would do to the Russians what the Belgians were doing to him. A defensive posture would have to do in the east, with the attack in the west so far behind schedule and the Allies including the British reinforcing rapidly he would need every man available to win in the West, in the east he could trade space for time.
Colonel General Helmuth von Motke was worried, he had just replaced Karl Von Bulow as the commander of the 2nd Army with Paul von Hindenburg. Von Bulow had failed to capture Liege and so the attack into Belgium was still hung up on the fortress. The attempt by Erich Ludendorff to lead a night attack by one of the infantry brigades had been a disaster, thousands of men had died in the failed assault. Ludendorff had not been killed but he had been wounded in the action and it was likely he would take several months to recover from his injuries. Ludendorff had been recommended by von Bulow for the Pour Le Merite, had he succeeded in the action he would have received the award, but his heroics had not delivered the city.
While von Motke was having to deal with the failure to capture Liege and enable the decisive blow to swing into France, he was faced with a limited Russian offensive into East Prussia. The General there von Prittwitz was not sure that he could hold the Russians and had requested permission to fall back behind the Vistula. Von Motke was adamant that the fortress at Konigsberg be held, he would do to the Russians what the Belgians were doing to him. A defensive posture would have to do in the east, with the attack in the west so far behind schedule and the Allies including the British reinforcing rapidly he would need every man available to win in the West, in the east he could trade space for time.
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