My War Memories, 1914-1918
tive services; Corps commanders no longer sufficed. General Otto von Below was appointed to this command and the army was given the name of the "Niemen" Army. General von Scholtz was given the command of the 8th Army in his place.
We held the Dubissa line by hard fighting. Shavli could not be held permanently and it was only possible to bring back a part of the plentiful leather supplies which were of such great importance to us.
As early as May we had to abandon the town to the enemy, and remained due south of it. Our cavalry stood on the banks of the Windau from Kurschany downwards as far as Hasenpot ; every now and then their line was broken by the enemy, but in spite of that they held the line of the river.
On the evening of May 7th the 3rd Cavalry Brigade took Libau. We were well aware that the Russian forces there were of very little value, but we did not know of the condition of the fortifications. Libau had been abandoned as a military port before the war. The extensive military harbour works were evidence of the ambition of imperial Russia, bent as she was on extending her power. The town contained some important industrial establishments, including one of the largest barbed wire factories in Russia. Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffmann suggested that a surprise attack should be made, and I agreed to this. Our troops were not very numerous. The 3rd Cavalry Brigade under Colonel von der Schulenberg, two or three battalions and a few batteries belonging to the Reserve Divisions already on the spot, were to approach the town from the east, whilst a Landsturm battalion approached it from the south along the coast and torpedo boats attacked from the sea. The fortress was not seriously defended. The fortifications were blown up by the garrison, and the coast guns turned out to be dummies. The weak garrison of 1,500 men surrendered when our troops forced their way in from the south and east. The taking of Libau was not a martial achievement worthy of a permanent place in history, but it was a happy little enterprise which all who took part in it recall with pleasure. Its most valuable feature was that :1$3W& earned out without any loss, It was always my endeavour