Franz Josef’s Armies
Part Six: Komarów Day Four
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
March 2022

Sometimes, usually when I could use some money, I regret designing/writing things like Infantry Attacks: Franz Josef's Armies. At others, I remember that I got to choose the topic, I didn’t have to attend any committee meetings, and I didn’t have to worry about the tenure committee. And while Franz Josef’s Armies won’t be a best seller for us, it’ll still be read by fifty times as many people as would any academic tripe I might churn out. So I’m feeling pretty good about it.

Franz Josef’s Armies is an expansion book for Infantry Attacks: Fall of Empires, which is all about the August 1914 battles of Kraşnik and Komarów, neither of which is a name known by anybody, despite a size equal to or greater than the famous August 1914 battles on the Western Front or in East Prussia. Rather than adding more battles, Franz Josef’s Armies deepens the coverage of Kraşnik and Komarów by adding new sets of pieces for Austria-Hungary’s two national regular armies (the Imperial-Royal Austrian Landwehr and Royal Hungarian Honvédség), as well as the fierce Bosniaken, and new scenarios for the actions of those forces at the two battles.

Plus, there’s a whole lot of historical background, and “battle games” that weave together the scenarios from Fall of Empires and Franz Josef’s Armies to tell the stories. Let’s have a look at the penultimate (you know, next-to-last) chapter.

Chapter Nine
Komarów, Day Four: The Center

Scenario Sixty
Surprise Attack
29 August 1914
Having identified the scratch group on the right flank of the Austrian VI Corps for what it was, the Russian Fifth Army staff immediately planned to take advantage by crushing this side of the central Austrian position and rolling up the opposing Austrian corps. The Russians came on a broad front at dawn, with particular weight given to the attack on the motley assemblage guarding VI Corps’ flank.

Conclusion
The Russians deeply dented the Austro-Hungarian position, but the scratch force did not break. The situation had become serious, but not yet hopeless, when advances by the rest of VI Corps forced the Russians to break off their offensive here lest they become the ones outflanked. The seeming success of the Landsturm here would become one of the General Staff’s arguments for continuing to deploy them in the front lines, ignoring how they had been buttressed by the elite Feldjäger battalions.

Notes
The defenders are the same mixed bag we’ve seen before, ranging from hapless Lansturm to elite Feldjägers, and this time they’re caught by surprise. The Russians have to achieve a lot in order to win, but against defenders like this, they have a good chance of reaching them.

Scenario Sixty-One
Rachanie Heights
29 August 1914
On the left wing of VI Corps, corps commander Svetozar Boroevic belayed his orders to constantly attack until the Russian offensive on his right had been quelled. That gave the 39th Honvéd Infantry Division the opportunity to bring up its artillery and ammunition and actually plan its next attacks rather than fling troops forward at the closest enemy. The whistles blew at 10 a.m. and the “Hungarians” – most of them actually Slovaks – surged forward once again.

Conclusion
The Fourth Army command decided to count this attack as a success, but it failed to gain the heights just north of Rachanie. That would have little impact on the course of the battle as a whole, which would be decided just to the north-west of this action where the Austrians tried to turn the right flank of the Russian Fifth Army. But it did add several thousand more casualties to the lists, losses which the Dual Monarchy once again could not afford.

Notes
This is a big scenario, with the Honvéds potentially reinforced by a march brigade of limited utility but giving them plenty of numbers. The Russians have a very strong position, and since they’re dug in their field guns get that Russian defensive bonus. It’s going to be a long day for the sons of the Tatras.

Scenario Sixty-Two
Die Bosniaken Kommen
29 August 1914
Ordered to turn the right flank of the Russian Fifth Army, Gen. Blasius Schemua of the Austrian II Corps placed the 13th Landwehr Division under the command of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of 25th Infantry Division. The archduke in turn spent a leisurely morning at the Hotel Zentral in Zamosc and turned the actual conduct of the battle over to FML Eduard Edler von Kreysa of 13th Landwehr Division. Kreysa kept most of his suddenly enlarged force packed tightly together except for Col. Karl von Stöhr’s 1st Bosnian-Hercegovinan Infantry Regiment. The Bosnians would dash forward once the Russian lines had been ruptured, Kreysa had planned, but when they reached the front the found the Russians rather unruptured.

Conclusion
In furious fighting the Bosniaken kicked the Russians out of Miacyzn before darkness brought an end to the fighting – neither side showed much eagerness for night combat in this campaign. The 25th Infantry Division had engaged in more rest days than it had combat so far, and the Bosnians went into action fairly fresh, immediately showing why they would earn a reputation for ferocity in close combat.

Notes
Finally, we get to use the fierce Bosniaken, with their sky-high morale and special close-assault fighting skills. This is just a small scenario; the Bosnian regiment operated separately at Komarów, one of the many stupid decisions by their division commander that would cost the Austrians a real victory in the battle.

Scenario Sixty-Three
Stepchildren of Vienna
29 August 1914
“Vienna’s other regiment,” the 84th “Freiherr von Bolfras” Infantry Regiment lacked the prestige of the Deutschmeister, but was likewise a very solid formation. FML Kreya of 13th Landwehr Infantry Division added it to his own 25th Landwehr Brigade for an assault on Miaczyn, as the Austrians attempted to turn the right flank of the Russian Fifth Army.

Conclusion
Despite the concentrated force, the Austrians could make only limited progress against the Russians. Both Landwehr and Common Army regiments formed up in dense storm columns that suffered terribly from Russian field and machine guns, and by nightfall Miaczyn remained in Russian hands, with the Austrian camping within sight of the town.

Notes
The Viennese are on the attack, both Landwehr and Common Army regiments, but their forces are spread out at the Russians have been able to prepare their defenses. It’s a big scenario, forcing the Austrians to achieve a great deal with their huge force.

Scenario Sixty-Four
Repelling Cavalry
29 August 1914
While half of Kreysa’s Landwehr division assaulted Miaczyn on a very narrow front, his other two regiments deployed to the north to protect the division’s rear. The Russians had, as he feared, moved to attack his own vulnerable flank and soon enough the Landwehr faced an entire division of Cossacks. The Russians lacked firepower, but had the mobility and the inclination to wreak havoc on the Austrian divisions advancing toward the south-east if only they could get past the infantry.

Conclusion
The Cossacks probed throughout the day, but the Landwehr managed to fend off all but small patrols that filtered past them. Even so, the Austrians had detailed half a division as a flank guard when every man was needed to turn the Russian right flank. The 9th Cavalry Division had been given this task by Auffenberg at Fourth Army, but neither Schemua or Kreysa called on it to fulfill its role, while Archduke Peter dallied at the Hotel Zentral. The Austrians had only a very small window to destroy the Russian Fifth Army, and they were helping to close it themselves.

Notes
This is an unusual scenario, with a full division of Cossacks (you’ll need some August 1914 Cossacks to round out the Russian force) trying to force their way past the Landwehr and storm off the south edge. They can just ride past, but this is August 1914 so of course they’re required to fight them first. That could be a problem.

Scenario Sixty-Five
Road to Komarów
29 August 1914
At the hinge between the battered VI Corps in the Austrian center and II Corps making a sweeping out-flanking move, the Austrian IX Corps had orders from Auffenberg to “advance boldly” into the space between them. Even as Archduke Peter and II Corps dithered, the two divisions of IX Corps attacked into the gap, where the Russian XIX Corps had been left alone for the previous day to dig in and prepare its defenses.

Conclusion
Already FML Johann von Friedel’s Landwehr division began to show signs of wavering, and while his Czech-Sudeten regiments made some progress they could not hold their gains in the face of heavy Russian fire. By nightfall the 26th Landwehr Infantry Division had fallen back to its start lines, leaving heavy casualties behind.

Notes
Austrian morale has dropped after the previous day’s fighting, but so has that of the Russians. The Russians hold all the defensive cards, but the Austrians get to pick where they’ll attack and can concentrate there. As always, artillery favors the Russians and there’s going to be another long casualty list for Franz Josef’s men.

And that’s Chapter Nine (which joins the scenarios from Chapter Nine of Fall of Empires). Next time, we’ll wrap up with Chapter Ten.

You can order Franz Josef's Armies right here.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published an unknowable number of books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold. Leopold knows the number.

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