Siege of Kaunas (1915)
| Siege of Kaunas | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eastern Front during World War I | |||||||
2nd Fort after German bombardment | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| German Empire | Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Karl Litzmann | Vladimir Grigoriev | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Unknown 1,360 guns |
66,000 1,370 guns | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 10,000 killed, wounded and captured |
~45,000 total 1,300 guns (of which 350 were heavy), 100 machine guns, 20,000 rifles, 810,000 shells. | ||||||
The siege of Kaunas took place from 12 August to 18 August 1915 and with a quick German victory against Russia.
The Imperial German Army launched the Riga–Šiauliai offensive in summer 1915, quickly advancing through Lithuania towards Kaunas, which the Germans reached in July. The Kaunas Fortress garrison had 66,629 men with 1,370 guns, commanded by Vladimir Grigoriev (Russian: Владимир Григорьев). The attacking Germans had four divisions under the command of Karl Litzmann.