Osowiec Fortress

When most people think of World War One they generally imagine the mud and endless trenches on the Western Front, but much of the heaviest fighting was done on the Eastern Front between Russia and Germany. Knocking out Russia was one of Germany’s main goals of the war since Russia was seen as a great threat to their power. A large obstacle that stood in their way however was Osowiec Fortress, one of Russia's Westernmost forts. Located in modern day Poland this fortification forced Germany to keep soldiers in the area instead of sending them where they were needed elsewhere. It also hindered the German advance into Russia making the fall of Osowiec crucial to their plans.

The fort itself was not heavily defended, with only a few companies of soldiers occupying it at a time. However it was easily defensible. Outside of the fortress were two defensive lines set up to stop an enemy attack before it even reached the fort. The first line was made up of a shallow trench network with barbed wire at the front. If the first line fell then they were to retreat to the second which had much deeper trenches as well as more barbed wire and areas for machine gun emplacements. If an enemy force made it through these two then they would have to face the tall walls and battlements that made up the forts outer defenses. Here Russian soldiers could easily shoot down at advancing enemy forces from a relatively safe position. If the attackers made it inside then they would have to fight in deadly close quarters combat. This layered defense system is what made it easy for such few soldiers to hold the fort.

In September of 1914 the Germans launched their first attack on Osowiec Fortress. The German 8th Army attacked with 40 infantry battalions (over 10,000 soldiers), far superior numbers to the few hundred defending Russians. A massive frontal assault was launched but they were repelled by Russian artillery. A few months later they would try again.