Battle of Memel (MastahCheef117)

The Battle of Memel was a major action fought between the German 1st Army and the Russian 2nd Army. The city, very close to the border between Germany and Russia, was one of Hindenburg's first designated targets during the Baltic War. The 1st Army was ordered to take the city and to prevent the Russians from utilizing the port for the Baltic Fleet. The 2nd Army, supported by small elements of the 1st Army to the south, and both under the command of General Kerensky, were to defend the city and to not retreat at any costs - if required, troops would be drawn from the reserve of the center of the front behind the 3rd and 4th Armies if it was necessary to assist the Russian defenders.

The advance elements of the German 11th Infantry division arrived at the outskirts of Memel on April 6, and met fierce initial resistance from the Russian 9th and 37th divisions, who had constructed earthworks within the suburban houses of the city. The 11th division was then supplanted by additional German divisions, and were able to force the Russian troops into a retreat farther east, where the Germans met a large network of Russian fortifications running through the city, interconnected in long lines of defense. Both armies fell into a monotonous siege in which men fought hand-to-hand and in very close quarters for the remains of apartment buildings, stores and government buildings. On April 30, a squadron of the High Seas Fleet arrived, including several dreadnoughts, and assisted German troops with bombardment operations against the Russians.

These actions persisted for several weeks more until May 28, when Kerensky's 2nd Army, having suffered over 120,000 dead and wounded, and being constantly bombarded by German artillery and warships, signaled to the 1st Army that he was evacuating his defenses in the city and pulling eastward. Hindenburg's troops took complete control of the city on June 1, after annihilating stragglers and looters, and Hindenburg crossed the headlines of German newspapers everywhere, hailed as the Destroyer of the Russian Army. However, the Germans were not without casualties themselves; they had lost 60,000 dead and wounded, and several warships had been damaged by Russian coastal guns. Hindenburg spent another week replenishing the 1st Army before he ordered it off again.