The first major battle between Germany and Russia in WWI in August, 1914. While the Germans made their share of mistakes, the Russian campaign ran across problems from the start. When the Cossacks started to near the German borders they were already having major problems with supplies and especially communications. The latter would play the most important part in their downfall. They were unable to lay down their own communication lines and had to use the wireless in the open with simple encryption if any. Information was extremely important in a battle and the Germans had more than they could ever have planned for. The Russian plan was a basic pincer maneuver, but the two sides were never able to attack at the same time. The left Russian flank ended up taking a horrible beating and became encircled. The right flank would suffer a similar fate. The result of this was the death of some 30,000 Russian troops and the capture of about 90,000. While the Germans did heavy casualties this battle represented one of the greatest German victories ever.