Siege of Novogeorgievsk


The Siege of Novogeorgievsk was a battle of World War I fought after the Germans broke the Russian defenses at the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and approached Warsaw.
The Russians decided to defend the fortress of Novogeorgievsk on Bug-, in Poland at the confluence of the Narew and the Vistula River. It was garrisoned with 90,000 men when they evacuated Warsaw on 5 August. The German army led by General Hans Hartwig von Beseler approached Novogeorgievsk with 80,000 men including part of the powerful siege train used to capture Antwerp in 1914, six 16 in and nine 12 in howitzers.
Novogeorgievsk was surrounded on 10 August and the bombardment began few days later and was concentrated on the north-eastern portion of the defenses, lying north of the rzeka Wisła. The German assault was helped after the capture of the fort's Chief Inspector with detailed plans of the fort's defences. After a heavy battering the Germans attacked 3 of the forts with 22 infantry battalions and captured two of them. The Russians were forced to the inner defenses north of the rzeka Wisła.
With no prospects of being relieved and with their inner defenses vulnerable to bombardment the Russians surrendered at the dawn of 20 August, losing 1,600 cannon and approximately 1,000,000 artillery shells. Casualties were approximately 90,000, which included 30 generals.

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