On 5 March 1917, he took command of the 4th Army, but a serious illness soon forced him to leave his post. In October 1917 he finally returned to active service but was still marked by the illness he had suffered. On 8 December 1917, Kirchbach received the title of count. At the beginning of 1918, after Operation Faustschlag, he was appointed military commander of all Austro-Hungarian troops in the Kherson Governorate with headquarters in Odessa. His task was to pacify the region and to retrieve as many resources as possible, but mainly agricultural products, from this fertile area.