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superbattledroid — World map - 1915 - August-December
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Published: 2018-08-25 12:40:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 1461; Favourites: 4; Downloads: 0
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**Note: This is not a fully historically accurate representation as it belongs to an alternate history timeline.**
In September 1915 the Entente allies launched another offensive, with the French Third Battle of Artois, Second Battle of Champagne and the British at Loos. The French had spent the summer preparing for this action, with the British assuming control of more of the front to release French troops for the attack. The bombardment, which had been carefully targeted by means of aerial photography, began on 22 September. The main French assault was launched on 25 September and, at first, made good progress in spite of surviving wire entanglements and machine gun posts. Rather than retreating, the Germans adopted a new defence-in-depth scheme that consisted of a series of defensive zones and positions with a depth of up to 8.0 km (5 mi). On 25 September, the British began the Battle of Loos, part of the Third Battle of Artois, which was meant to supplement the larger Champagne attack. The attack was preceded by a four-day artillery bombardment of 250,000 shells and a release of 5,100 cylinders of chlorine gas. The attack involved two corps in the main assault and two corps performing diversionary attacks at Ypres. The British suffered heavy losses, especially due to machine gun fire during the attack and made only limited gains before they ran out of shells. A renewal of the attack on 13 October fared little better. In December, French was replaced by General Douglas Haig as commander of the British forces.
Bulgaria declared war on Serbia on 12 October 1915 and joined in the attack by the Austro-Hungarian army under Mackensen's army of 250,000 that was already underway. Serbia was conquered in a little more than a month, as the Central Powers, now including Bulgaria, sent in 600,000 troops total. The Serbian army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into northern Albania. The Serbs suffered defeat in the Battle of Kosovo. Montenegro covered the Serbian retreat towards the Adriatic coast in the Battle of Mojkovac in 6–7 January 1916, but ultimately the Austrians also conquered Montenegro. The surviving Serbian soldiers were evacuated by ship to Greece. After conquest, Serbia was divided between Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. In late 1915, a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece to offer assistance and to pressure its government to declare war against the Central Powers. However, the pro-German King Constantine I dismissed the pro-Allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos before the Allied expeditionary force arrived. The friction between the King of Greece and the Allies continued to accumulate with the National Schism, which effectively divided Greece between regions still loyal to the king and the new provisional government of Venizelos in Salonica.
On 24 September, General Yudenich became the supreme commander of all Russian forces in the region. This front was quiet from October until the end of the year. Yudenich used this period to reorganise. By 1916, Russian forces in the theatre had grown to 200,000 men and 380 pieces of artillery. On the other side the situation was very different; the Ottoman High Command failed to make up the losses during this period. The war in Gallipoli was using up all available resources and manpower. The IX, X and XI Corps could not be reinforced, and the 1st and 5th Expeditionary Forces were deployed to Mesopotamia. Enver Pasha, after failing to achieve his ambitions in the Caucasus, and possibly recognising the dire situation on other fronts, decided that the Caucasus front was of secondary importance. The rapid advance of the British up the river changed some of the Arab tribes' perception of the conflict. Realising that the British had the upper hand, many of them joined the British efforts. They raided Ottoman military hospitals and massacred the soldiers in Amara. On 22 November, Townshend and von der Goltz fought the battle at Ctesiphon. The battle was inconclusive, as both the Ottomans and the British retreated from the battlefield. Townshend halted and fortified the position at Kut-al-Amara, and on 7 December with his forces were surrounded the siege of Kut began. Von der Goltz helped the Ottoman forces build defensive positions around Kut, and established new fortified positions down river to fend off any attempt to rescue Townshend.
The Italians recuperated, rearmed with 1200 heavy guns, and then on 18 October 1915 launched Third Battle of the Isonzo, another attack. Forces of Austria-Hungary again repulsed this Italian offensive, which concluded on 4 November without resulting gains. The Italians again launched another offensive on 10 November, the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo. Both sides suffered more casualties, but the Austro-Hungarian forces repulsed this Italian offensive too, and the battle ended on 2 December for exhaustion of armaments, but occasional skirmishing persisted.
When the Allies withdrew from Gallipoli in December, the Caucasus Army's Chief of Staff General Nikolai Yudenich believed Turkish forces would take action against his army. This concern was legitimate: Bulgaria's entry into the war as Germany's ally in October caused serious alarm, as a land route from Germany to Turkey was now open and would allow for an unrestricted flow of German weapons to the Turks. A "window of opportunity" appeared that would allow the Russians to destroy the Turkish Third Army, as the British required assistance in Mesopotamia (now modern day Iraq). Britain's efforts to besiege Baghdad had been halted at Ctesiphon, and they were forced to retreat. This led to an increasing number of attacks by Turkish forces. At the same time, the Turks desperately tried to invade the Sinai Peninsula and take the Suez Canal, but stiff British resistance hindered the advance.
On the far eastern front, the Chinese opened the Incheon front in Japanese controlled Korea. The invasion however quickly developed into a second Gallipoli, with the invading forces being unable to break through the enemy defensive lines. At the same time, on 9 October, the British Indian army, backed up by several Australian and New Zealand divisions invaded south-western China in the vicinity of Tibet. They managed to gain three hundred kilometers of land before being bogged down by the Chinese. The fighting in south-west Asia would last for several years, result in millions of casualties and accomplish nothing in a political, economic and diplomatic sense.
August 5 The Germans occupy Warsaw.
August 6–10 Japanese establish a third beachhead in mainland China
August 6–13 Battle of Nanjing strait
August 6–15 Allies land at Suvla Bay
August 6–21 Battle of Sari Bair, part of the August Offensive. Last and unsuccessful attempt by the British to seize the Gallipoli peninsula.
August 7 Battle of the Nek, a phase of the August Offensive.
August 7–19 Battle of Chunukai in mainland China
August 21 Russian defeat against the forces of a young Mannerheim. Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
August 21–29 Battle of Hill 60, part of the August Offensive.
August 26 – September 19 Sventiany Offensive, a phase of the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive.
September 1 Germany suspends unrestricted submarine warfare.
September 5–8 The Zimmerwald Conference of anti-militarist European socialist parties is held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland.
September 8 Nicholas II removes Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, personally taking that position.
September 19 The Germans occupy Vilnius. The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive ends.
September 25–28 Battle of Loos, a major British offensive, fails.
September 25 – October 15 Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, a phase of the Battle of Loos.
September 25 – November 6 Second Battle of Champagne.
September 28 Battle of Es Sinn.
October 7 – December 4 Serbia is invaded by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria.
October 12 Edith Cavell executed.
October 14 Bulgaria declares war on Serbia.
October 14 – November 9 Morava Offensive, a phase of the Central Powers Invasion of Serbia, Bulgarians break through Serbian lines.
October 14 – November 15 Ovche Pole Offensive, a phase of the Central Powers invasion of Serbia, Bulgarians break through Serbian lines.
October 15 The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Montenegro declares war on Bulgaria. Several allied nations declare a war on China.
October 16 France declares war on Bulgaria.
October 17 – November 21 Battle of Krivolak, first of the Salonika Front.
October 18 – November 4 Third Battle of the Isonzo.
October 19 Italy and Russia declare war on Bulgaria.
November 4-6 Battle of Banjo. A massive Chinese army lands in Japanese Korea in hopes of stopping the seemingly unstoppable Japanese advance into mainland China.
November 10 Pro-Central Powers Iranians seize Shiraz from pro-Entente forces and arrest all British citizens in the city.
November 10 – December 2 Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
November 10 – December 4 Kosovo Offensive, a phase of the Central Powers invasion of Serbia, Serbians pushed into Albania.
November 14-30 Russian forces from the Caucasus occupy Tehran.
November 17 Armed by Ottomans and Germans, the Libyan Senussi cross the border and attack Egypt from the west.
November 22–25 Battle of Ctesiphon
November 27 The Serbian army collapses. It will retreat to the Adriatic Sea and be evacuated by the Italian and French Navies.
December – July, 1916 Battle of Lake Tanganyika.
December 6–12 Battle of Kosturino
December 7 The First Siege of Kut, Mesopotamia, by the Ottomans begins.
December 15 Russians occupy Hamadan. The allies launch an invasion of south-western China from British India in hopes of stirring a Tibetan rebellion against the Chinese.
December 19 Douglas Haig replaces John French as commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
December 23 Carl Zimmermann orders the retreat of all German forces and civilians in Kamerun to the Spanish colony of Río Muni.
