Battle of Herend
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| Battle of Herend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ruvelkan Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ruvelkan SR |
 Imperial Separatists | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Adrián Katona Aram Kevranian Zurab Kobalia Marekhi Gabashvili Norhad Hekimyan Thomas Kocharyan |
Paloma Keresztes Alexander Vincze Martin Barna Veronika Krjalian Dorina Horváth Albert Márton | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 38 divisions | 29 divisions | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 101,000 casualties | 77,000 casualties | ||||||
The Battle of Herend, fought between 5 September 1916 and 20 October 1916 in the Matra mountains near the town of Herend, was a key engagement that is considered the turning point in the western theater of the Ruvelkan Civil War. Following her army’s capture of Püspökladány, Imperial Separatist General Keresztes began transporting her troops via rail to break the Red Army Siege of Aszód. In response, Communist General Katona dug in approximately two-thirds of his army in the mountains in and around the old mining town of Herend. The Separatist Southern Army halted their advance several kilometers outside of Herend and began amassing their forces for an attack.
The extreme terrain of the mountains made it difficult for both sides to maneuver, often taking days to coordinate attacks and set up static artillery positions to support infantry assaults. As a result of this, Keresztes began granting her officers and unit commanders significant autonomy to pursue what they believed was the best course of action to complete their objectives. Shock trooper tactics implemented by Keresztes Imperial Fusiliers played an important role in overwhelming Red Army strongpoints and allowed the Imperials to deploy their Line Divisions where they could affect the most damage.
After bloody mountain-top engagements, the Imperials finally overwhelmed the Red Army defenders in mid-October. The threat of encirclement and having suffered heavy losses in both Herend and in the ongoing Siege of Aszód forced General Katona to withdraw to Pannonhalma without having completed his objective of securing the southwest.