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Beyond was the first big town in East Prussia, Gumbinnen, scene of the first World War I battle between Germans and Russians. Chernyakhovsky's left wing skirted the Rominter Heide, a deer forest once held sacred to Kaiser Wilhelm's royal hunting, captured Goldap 18 miles inside Germany.
Seven days after the offensive began, Stalin broke his silence, announced that the Red Army had reached 19 miles into East Prussia on an 88-mile front.