In this battle, the Russian army lost in: 1) the pre-war preparations were hasty, the military mobilization was insufficient, and many troops were supplied only to meet the amount of mobility for 3 days, so that they could not rapidly expand the victory after the victory in the early stage of the campaign; 2) the two armies lacked coordination and tacit understanding with each other and even had discord with each other and could not form a real superiority in strength; 3) the lack of light and mental warfare literacy and lack of common sense communication means caused our enemies to lose the initiative; 4) the topographical advantage of Lake Masuria destroyed the possibility of the Russian army concentrating on attacking the German army.
Russian troops in the snow
However, it is not so much that the mistakes of the Russian army caused their defeat as the correctness of the German army is the key to the victory of this battle, the German army won in: 1) the pre-war preparation and military mobilization are very sufficient, although the strength of the troops is less than half of the Russian army, but the combat literacy of the troops is extremely high and the logistics support is sufficient, and the railway transportation within the territory is fast and rapid, and a large number of troops can be transported to the designated position in the shortest possible time so that the battle plan can be implemented without compromise; 2) the battle plan and the commander are quickly adjusted. From the initial division of troops to resist the 2 armies of the Russian army to the concentration of forces to break through each of the troops, and the original commander of the 8th Army, Plitwitz, was quickly replaced by the successors Hindenburg and Ludendorff due to tactical misconduct; 3) the troops from the commander down to the grass-roots officers and men cooperated sincerely, rationally and pragmatically, boldly and bravely, in the case of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, their concerted cooperation and tacit cooperation saved the 8th Army, which was once in a predicament and dazed, Hindenburg came forward to stabilize the hearts of the army and pleaded with the Kaiser for reinforcements, while Ludendorff judged the situation and resolutely took measures and dared to let the middle-level officers and men adjust the local combat plan on the spot according to the development of the war situation to obtain the greatest results, and they were not afraid of the initial defeat of the war, they dared to take advantage of the Russian army's lack of coordination and annihilation tactics of frontal containment of the two wings to annihilate the enemy in front of them as much as possible; such boldness had to be admired; 4) The change of geographical advantages in internal operations, making full use of the favorable conditions of the Masurian Lake Graben to divide the Russian Northwest Front into two. Adopt a one-by-one-by-one approach to victory in the end of "one against two". It can be said that the victory of the German army in the Battle of Lake Masuria was higher than that of the Russian army in the overall military level, and the advantages at the tactical level were all cast by the overall strategic level of leadership, and the Russian army should be said to be defeated.
German positions in the middle of ice and snow
So what inspired the Battle of Lake Masuria for individuals or corporate teams facing difficulties and challenges?
I think there are 3 points:
01 Carefully prepared for full mobilization
It has to be said that not doing a good job has laid a big foreshadowing for the defeat of the Russian army, even if the victory was achieved with the superiority of troops in the early stage of the war, it is really difficult to say whether the follow-up can expand the results of the battle and implement the battle plan for a long time. For a team to be fully prepared to meet the challenge from top to bottom, not only psychologically, but also in terms of technology, personnel, materials and a series of other elements to make a good reserve, not to fight unprepared battles is the common sense of the soldiers For the team.
02 Rational and pragmatic, courageous and bold
Based on accurate analysis and judgment to collect all information, when grasping the enemy and us or internal and external situations, boldly adopt strategies and tactics that ordinary people dare not think of to achieve the greatest results, which is why the German army has achieved brilliant results in the ratio of losses several times that of the Russian army when the strength of the Russian army is smaller than that of the Russian army. Rigorous research is therefore essential foundational work for a team, and bold tactical development is a necessary means of achieving as many and great things as possible within the constraints of limited resources.
03 Sincere cooperation and resolute implementation
Even the God of War combination needs to work together from top to bottom, and at the same time, the high execution ability of grass-roots officers and men is also an important condition for ensuring victory. Seamless collaboration and tacit cooperation among team members coupled with tenacious execution ability are the guarantee of career success.
The Battle of Lake Masuria can be said to have ended with the German army close to complete victory, so that the German army on the eastern front temporarily gained a breathing space, but as early as the beginning of the First World War, the German army formulated the Schiffin plan because the Russian army launched a war in time on the eastern front and had to be changed, from the original concentration of forces on the western front to defeat Britain and France in one fell swoop and then solve the "first and one" of Russia on the eastern front into a protracted war in which the troops were divided into two roads and "one against two" on the east and west fronts. In this sense, although the Russian army lost to the Battle of Lake Masuria but reached the macro strategic level of the entire World War I at a higher level, whether 'one against two' can cross the simple mathematical logic to become "one wins two" will always become a mysterious adventure for mankind to constantly explore challenges.