Riga!

This is coolbert:

From the  "Weapons and Warfare Military History and Hardware" web site we have an excellent description of the Battle of Riga, 1917.

The German army during the Great War [WW1] for the first time at Riga using in an institutionalized manner all aspects of the blitzkrieg offensive.

"The Orchestration of Destruction: The Battle of Riga"

Blitzkrieg warfare as characterized by:

* Infiltration [Hutier] tactics.

* Poison gas as delivered by artillery shell.

* Ground strafing aircraft.

Artillery as used by the German massed in prodigious numbers, an overwhelming and highly effective bombardment for which the Russian had no answer.

"The creeping barrage surged forwards after 5 hours and 10 minutes of pounding . . . the main barrage had delivered 10, 500 tons of high explosive on to the Russian defensive system – the equivalent of 500 B-52 bomber payloads. The devastation was made more horrific by the densest utilisation of gas shells since the technology was introduced and by the relative accuracy of the fire."

NOT ONLY the use of poison gas but the accurate delivery of poison gas!

Artillery fire intense and ACCURATE!

Blitzkrieg also incorporating pursuit for which the ground strafing aircraft played an important role. Get the enemy on the run and keep him on the run in a relentless manner, no mercy shown.

coolbert.