Field Marshal von Hindenburg
Field Marshal von Hindenburg
While appearing to be merely a border raider, the Cossack had to veil his main army and clear its path through bridgeheads, forts, and blockhouses, and he was well suited to this kind of work. Moving at the rate of eight miles a day in advance of the infantry and the big guns, he maintained a continual skirmish with cavalry scouts, infantrymen, and gunners in places that had been fortified, and even armored trains.
In all, the Cossack in the Galician campaign, proved himself not only a most efficient soldier but well behaved. Previously, his reputation had been an evil one. Naturally, there were reports of brutality and savagery, but none were proved. In fact, neither on the part of the Russians nor the Austrians was there manifest any of the "frightfulness" attributed, rightly or wrongly, to combatants in the western theatre of war.
It was, of course, not to the interest of the Russians to mistreat the people of Galicia. They came, in their own estimation at least, as deliverers, not as despoilers. As for the Austrians, they were in their own country when in Galicia. When they penetrated north into Russia, it appears that they did little wanton damage. On their return, it is true, they laid waste a large part of the province of Volhynia, burning villages and farmsteads as they proceeded. But this was dictated by military exigencies, in order to delay and inconvenience their pursuers.
There was an occasion when it might have been supposed there would have been excesses. This was when after an Austrian defeat, the Russian van, composed of three divisions of Cossack cavalry, pushed through Halicz in pursuit of the enemy. The victorious troops swept through a country, full of Jews, and utterly undefended. It was a garden of plenty, a rich and fertile country. Instead of presenting a picture of desolation and ruin after the Russian army had passed, its cattle still grazed in the fields, the fields were full of shocks of grain, and chickens, ducks, and swine wandered about the streets of the town.
There was not a single wrecked house in the town itself, only a few buildings, such as warehouses near the railway station, having been demolished by the Russians in order to hasten the departure of the enemy.
There was another significant incident at the neighboring town of Botszonce. Here the retiring Austrians attempted to make a stand, but were shelled out by the Russians with their heavy guns. There were only three buildings in the city which were not reduced to ruins. These were two churches and the Town Hall, which, having a church-like spire, the Russians evidently took for a church of worship, also. In this connection, we may quote here a second proclamation which the Grand Duke Nicholas, as Commander in Chief of the Russian forces, distributed in the districts of Austria captured by the Russians. It was designed to prevent ill feeling between the people and the invaders. It was dated September 17, and read:
"To the inhabitants of Austria-Hungary:
"The Government of Austria declared war against Russia because the great empire, ever faithful to its historical traditions, could not forsake inoffensive Serbia, nor acknowledge its enslavement.
"On entering the Austro-Hungarian territory, I declare to you in the name of the great Emperor, that Russia, which has spent its blood many times for the emancipation of nations from the yoke of foreigners, only seeks the rehabilitation of right and justice.
"Russia also brings liberty and the realization of your national views. For many centuries the Austro-Hungarian Government planted among you discord and enmity, for it knew that as a result of this strife its dominion over you would continue.
"On the contrary, my sole aim is that each and every one of you may grow and prosper and keep at the same time the precious inheritance of language and faith of your fathers.
"Let every one of you, united to his brothers, live in peace and harmony with his neighbors, respecting their national rights. Being convinced that you will cooperate with all your strength to realize this, I call upon you to welcome the Russian troops as faithful friends who are fighting for the realization of your greatest ambitions."
Now, to return to the campaign which had been waged by Von Auffenberg:
While he may be said to have lost this preliminary campaign, his army was unbeaten. Immediately it fell back into the powerful and carefully built line of defenses in front of Lemberg, extending over a front of seventy or eighty miles, from the vicinity of Busk on the north to Halicz on the Dniester, on the south. An irregular extent of volcanic hills, some containing extinct craters, extended along the greater part of its length, and ended on the south in a ridge parallel to the Gnita Lipa as far as the Dniester. The northern end of this territory was skirted by the railway running due east of Lemberg. The Austrian left rested north of the railroad on the River Bug and the lake district around Krasne. Artificial fortifications improved these natural defenses. There were many miles of trenches with barbed-wire entanglements, and at different points massive fortifications of concrete and steel. The position was difficult to take at any point.
On August 26 and 27, 1914, after the forces of Russky and Brussilov had been joined, the Russians immediately began their attack along the entire front. The days that followed were replete with furious charges. Positions were taken only to be surrendered. Bayonet fighting figured largely in the clashes. After two days, though the Austrian lines were still intact, the Russians claimed a victory. Events came about in this way: After he had forced the crossing of the Zlota Lipa on August 26, and his right wing had connected with Russky on the north, Brussilov had extended his left, by forced march through a country almost devoid of roads, as far to the south as the valley of the Dniester. On August 31, 1914, the main body of this flanking body arrived in front of Halicz. On the day following, September 1, 1914, a furious attack began. More guns were brought up and a fierce attack was concentrated near the little village of Botszonce, where the enemy had taken a position. Afterward, the condition of the field, which had been literally plowed up with shell fire and strewn with the débris of cannonading and accouterments, showed how terrific the conflict had been. The final assault was made by the Russian Ninth and Fifty-ninth Infantry under cover of a heavy shell fire. Enormous losses were sustained, butthe Russians were enabled to make a breach some kilometers wide in the Austrian line.
Then the entire Austrian line began to give way. A desperate stand was made as a last resort in the village of Botszonce itself, but this was turned into a useless sacrifice when the Russians, pushing forward heavy guns, unlimbered them on the same hills where the Austrians had fought so determinedly and quickly reduced the town to ruins.
On September 3, 1914, the Austrian retreat began in earnest. Where the fighting had been hottest around Botszonce and Halicz, the Russians claim they buried 4,800 Austrian dead and captured thirty-two guns, some of which had been mounted by the Austrians but taken before they could be brought into use. The Austrian reports deny such figures, while claiming heavy losses by the Russians.
There was a fine steel bridge across the river Dniester at Halicz, and the extreme right of the retiring Austrian army crossed this, with, the Russian cavalry pursuing. The bridge was destroyed and also the only other bridge in that region of the Dniester at Chodorow. In such wise was the pursuit southward delayed until pontoons could be thrown across the stream by Russian engineers.
This was done on the following day, whereupon Cossack cavalry to the strength, it was reported, of three divisions, crossed the river and came up with the retiring enemy. Behind the cavalry at a short distance came several divisions of Brussilov's infantry, which rapidly pushed across the south of Lemberg toward Stryj.
After the extreme right of the Austrian line had been shattered and Russky had been victorious in his attack on the other extreme, the whole line fell apart quickly and while the entire front was exposed to attack, the Austrian left was being enveloped from the direction of Kamionka by a flanking movement. One end of the Austrian line was being broken and the other bent back. The Russians increased the fury of their attack and it was not long before the entire Austrian army was in retreat.
On September 2, 1914, Lemberg was in the hands ofthe Russians. This city, otherwise known as Lwow or Löwenberg, was first known as Leopolis, being founded in 1259 by the Ruthenian Prince Daniel for his son Leo. His history had been a checkered and stormy one. In 1340 it had been captured by Casimir the Great; it had been besieged by the Cossacks in 1648 and 1655, and by the Turks in 1672; it had been captured by Charles XII of Sweden in 1704, and bombarded in 1848. As capital of the crownland of Galicia, it had come to be a handsome city, of many parks, wide boulevards, three cathedrals, many churches, and a great number of important public monuments. It was the seat of a university which contained a highly valuable library of books and manuscripts and a great many treasures of historic and antiquarian interest. Its population was about 200,000.
The Austrians declared that Lemberg had been evacuated in order to save all these treasures from destruction. It is certain that the civil population of the town was strongly opposed to its being defended. It was cosmopolitan and contained elements, doubtless in the minority, who sympathized with Russia and who welcomed the Russian troops with great enthusiasm. Whatever other reasons may be given for its abandonment, however, the fact remains that any attempt to hold it would have been futile.
After the Russians had taken possession of Lemberg, tranquillity again prevailed. Although it was crowded for a considerable time thereafter with Russian soldiery, there was no violence, disorder, or confusion. On every hand were seen Russian soldiers of all branches of the service fraternizing with the people of the place. If a soldier even jostled a civilian accidentally he saluted and apologized. No drunkenness was permitted. A considerable number of Austrian policemen continued to patrol the streets, with a Russian badge on their arms, however.
Austrian surgeons and nurses, left in the town when the Austrian troops retreated, continued to help care for Austrian wounded, also left there, and received the same pay for their services as their Russian associates of the same rank. AustrianRed Cross attendants were allowed to walk about the streets at will, unmolested.
After its occupation by the Russians, Lemberg at once became a huge hospital base. For the care of wounded that daily came in from the front, there were forty-two immense institutions.
The inhabitants of Lemberg welcomed the Russians as deliverers. A deputation came to General Russky and requested him to make known to the czar the readiness of the whole Slav population of the city to be loyal "sons of Russia." In surrendering the government to Count Bobrinsky, whom the czar appointed Governor General of Galicia, M. Rutovsky, Mayor of Lemberg, said:
"Not without our cooperation have the Austro-Hungarian troops left Lemberg, without firing a shot. There was no struggle here, thanks to our efforts. We believe your excellency has been informed that your troops found here cooperation and a cordial reception.
"In proffering the government of this capital, allow me to express my gratitude to the former military governor, who lessened our hardships."
In his reply, Bobrinsky outlined the principles of his policy:
"I consider Lemberg and East Galicia the real origin of Great Russia," he said, "since the original population was Russian. The reorganization will be based on Russian ideals. We will immediately introduce the Russian language and Russian customs. These steps will be taken with the necessary care.
"We shall at first limit this to the appointment of Russian governors and other officials. Many of the present officials will not be replaced. We shall forbid the convocation of your Legislature during the war. All social and political organizations must be discontinued, and may resume their activities only by permission. These precepts obtain only in East Galicia; West Galicia will be treated differently."
The Russians considered Lemberg to be of great strategical importance. Railroad lines radiated from it in all directions giving its captors direct communication with Kiev and Odessa, with their fortified positions at Dubno and Rovno and thenceto Petrograd, with Brest-Litovsk and Warsaw—save only for the inconvenience of changing the gauge at the frontier. Soon after crossing the frontier, the Russians had changed the gauge of many of their engines and cars to fit the Austrian gauge. They found at Lemberg thirty locomotives and a large number of railway cars left there by the Austrians.
When on September 3, 1914, the Russians entered Lemberg, the official Russian announcement of its taking was as follows:
"Seven days of the most stubborn fighting in Eastern Galicia have resulted in a complete victory for the Russians. Five Austrian Corps were completely routed, and in retreating in disorder westward, abandoned their arms and baggage.
"Besides an enormous number of killed, the Austrians lost not less than 40,000 prisoners, including many generals. The roads of retreat of the Austrians are so encumbered with carts, guns, and impedimenta that the pursuing troops are unable to use the roads. Panic is spreading among the Austrian troops. During the seven days the Russians have taken over 200 guns, several colors, and about 70,000 prisoners. Lwow (Lemberg) is in our hands."
Russia received this report with great joy. The news of the occupation of the town was conveyed by Grand Duke Nicholas to the czar. The Fourth Class of the Order of St. George was bestowed on General Russky for "his services in the preceding battles." The Third Class was given him for the capture of Lemberg. The Fourth Class of the same Order was bestowed on General Brussilov. Throughout the empire, Thanksgiving Services were held to celebrate "the reunion with Galicia." General Count Bobrinsky was appointed Governor General of the province.[Back to Contents]
DANKL'S OFFENSIVE AND RETREAT
Let us now turn our attention to the scene of operations further north. There, it will be recalled, was taking place the principal Austrian offensive by the First Army commanded by General Dankl. In the middle of August, he was being held up by the armies of Generals Ewerts and Plehve, who barred his way toward Lublin and Kholm. A strong offensive was not attempted then by the Russians against him, as they were gathering strength and waiting until Dankl's army should be cut off from reenforcements. It was desired that their advance take place at the same time as the completion of the advance on Lemberg of Russky and Brussilov. Finally, on September 4, 1914, the brief official announcement was made by Russia:
"Our armies on September 4 assumed the offensive along a front between the Vistula and the Bug."
Coming as it did, when the Russian people were rejoicing over the taking of Lemberg, this news was greeted with great enthusiasm.
It will be recalled that when Russky's army advanced, a portion of the Austrian Reserve Army, commanded by Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, was hurriedly withdrawn from the position it held in Poland on the left of the Vistula, across the rear of Dankl's army, to assist General von Auffenberg.
This was referred to as an "advance," in a "communiqué" published by the Austrian General Staff on September 3, 1914. It is probable that at that very early date some German troops also were being brought up for the same purpose. Some of the Austrian reenforcements had been joined with Von Auffenberg's army and had shared in its reverses. Some had remained to screen Dankl on the right.
After Von Auffenberg's army began to encounter difficulties and its progress was stopped, the gap between its left and Dankl's right and rear grew too large for safety, so that therewas a hurrying of forces from the left bank of the Vistula to fill the gap. Later, as the Russian strength grew, an entirely new Austrian army was assembled, consisting, it seems, of portions of the Third or Reserve Army under Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, which was augmented by two corps withdrawn from the Serbian frontier, and also some German troops.
The "Fourth" Army, under the command of the Archduke, was referred to thereafter in official announcements by Russia as the "Tomaszow Army." To strengthen Dankl's left, which lay upon the Vistula at Opolie, German troops from Breslau also were brought up.
In the last part of August and the first part of September, 1914, there was considerable confused fighting between detached forces on both sides in the frontier country between Zamosc and Sokal. Both sides claimed successes. The Russians claimed that their wedge was driven through successfully to Tomaszow and that there a severe defeat was administered to the Austrians.
From there the latter retired to the swampy land about Bilgoraj and upon Tarnograd. The tactics of the Russians had put a last barrier between the two principal sections of the Austrians. Interest thereafter centered in Dankl's First Army.
Fighting on the Lublin-Kholm front, having been purely defensive on the part of the Russians, at first, had grown fiercer as days passed, until there was continuous battle along the entire line. When Von Auffenberg had been defeated and his right and rear threatened, the condition of the northern army seemed so critical that General Dankl decided to force the issue. He might fall back or break through the Russian defense. He decided to attempt to pierce the line between Lublin and Kholm. On September 2, 1914, the Tenth Austrian Army Corps led the assault against the weaker part of the Russian line and reached within eleven miles of Lublin. There it was halted, and so the Austrian offensive seems to have spent itself.
As we have seen, the Russian offensive began definitely on September 4, 1914. According to the Russian official announcement, two days later, "the enemy's center, lying in the region West of Krasnostaw (this being almost due north of Zamosc,about halfway to the center of a line drawn from Lublin to Kholm) was particularly disorganized. The Forty-fifth Austrian Regiment including the colonel, forty-four officers, and 1,600 men were surrounded, and surrendered." The same announcement stated that "a German division, coming to the aid of the Austrians, was attacked on the left bank of the Vistula." Presumably, the Russian troops there had come from Ivangorod.
After the Austrian First Army began to retire, it was followed by the Russian forces along its line. And this line, at first, was approximately eighty miles. As it retired, the left wing being hemmed in by the River Vistula, and the right feeling steady pressure from Russian forces on the right, where direct retreat was prevented by the swampy nature of the country, the front was contracted until it was less than forty miles.
This had been accomplished by the time the army reached the San, where it was necessary to effect a crossing by four or five bridges at different points. Dankl was highly praised for the manner in which he handled his army during this retreat, and saved it from destruction. In Russia, it had been assumed that the retreat would degenerate into a panic and the fate of the First Army was regarded there as practically sealed. Russian strategists themselves speak in high terms of the way Dankl handled his army in this crisis.
The Austrian advance on this front had its high mark on a line drawn from Opolie on the Vistula, through Krasnostaw to Grabiowiec, whence the line curved southward toward Tyszowce. And it was in the region of the latter place that the Austrians claimed a big success, though this was denied by Petrograd.
After the Russian advance on this front from Lublin and Kholm, as we have seen, had begun with the "disorganization" of the Austrian center at Krasnostaw, the next attempt was to strike at the Austrian left, starting at Opolie and developing thence along the entire line as far as Turobin.
It was on this wing of the Russian army that the chief strength had been assembled, the other parts of the line being left comparatively weak. Reasoning that even if the Austrians were able to break through the front, where it was weaker, it wouldonly make more certain their being surrounded finally, all new troops that arrived were shifted over to the right wing.
On September 5 and 6, 1914, the Russians attacked the Austrian army at Tomaszow, situated northeast of Krubessiow and southeast of Rawa-Russka. The Austrian army retired.
Near Frempol, the Russian cavalry rushed big convoys of the enemy in the direction of Lublin. Troops and convoys which were moving in the direction of the road leading from Josefow to Annopol were dispersed by Russian artillery on the left bank of the Vistula.
Detachments of the Fourteenth Austrian Army Corps attempted an attack near Rawa-Russka, during the night of September 7, but were repulsed. Near Tomaszow the Russians took an enemy aeroplane.
Aerial battles were not infrequent. Captain Nesteroff, one of the most daring of Russian aviators, sacrificed his life in a successful attempt to destroy an Austrian aeroplane. He was returning from the front after an aerial reconnaissance when he saw an Austrian aeroplane hovering over the Russian forces with the intention of dropping bombs.
The Russian aviator immediately headed straight for the Austrian machine at full speed and dashed into it. The force of the impact caused the collapse of both machines, which plunged to earth, both aviators meeting instant death.
The fortress of Nikolaieff, twenty miles south of Lemberg, was taken by the Russians after severe fighting. The fortress was one of the most modern military strongholds in Austria, being supplied with all the newest forms of defense and offensive weapons. It had steel cupolas, masked ranges of earthworks, and guns of modern type and heavy caliber.
The Nikolaieff fortress commanded the passage of the River Dniester. At the fortress forty guns of the heaviest type and stores of all kinds were captured. Like Lemberg, the fortresses had been well stocked with provisions, which fell into the Russians' hands.
After occupying Nikolaieff the Russians undertook, after allowing their soldiers only two hours of rest, a night march forthe purpose of attacking new positions occupied by the enemy. A Russian battery, placed on the Vistula River, engaged with success an Austrian steamboat armed with rapid-fire guns.
About the same time troops were sent by train from the east of Lemberg to near Chelm, and put in action against Austrian infantry intrenched on a long line, which included the village of Michailowka. The Russians entered the village the same night, the Austrians having fallen back to a half circle of small, steep hills which overlooked the town. Some houses had been set afire, but the flames had been extinguished by the villagers themselves.
At three o'clock the following morning the attack on the hills began. The Austrians occupying them numbered 15,000, of which a large number were in a deeply wooded gorge. The Russian artillery swept the crest of the hill and shelled the gorge with shrapnel. The Austrians replied strongly.
At noon the position was stormed. The Russians, at the word of command, rose with cheers and rushed the hill. Austrian guns to the left cut them down badly. Later, after a desperate, brave fight, the position was taken. The gorge was full of dead men lying in heaps. Officers said they had never seen so many dead lying in a single place. The troops gave the place the name of "The Valley of Death."
It was reported that the Austrian general commanding the defense watched some of his men being disarmed after the battle. Presently the Austrian standards were brought up from the gorge. At this sight, it was said, the Austrian general drew his revolver and shot himself dead.
On September 5, 1914, Austrian troops which had been stationed behind the Grodek Lake district passed the railway lines of Rawa-Russka and Horynier, and on the next day advanced to Kurniki. On the following day a heavy battle began between these forces and a strong Russian force advancing northward. Two days later the Austrians opened their offensive on a forty-mile front, having the better of the conflict until September 11, especially on the southern wing near Lemberg.
The Austrians then retired because of the necessity which had arisen for a new grouping of their forces, the north wing of theirarmy near Rawa-Russka being threatened by superior Russian forces near Krasnik and between Krasnik and the battle fields of Lemberg.
The attack by the Russians on the Opolie-Turobin section of the line seems to have been a powerful one and the Austrians retired southward, paralleling the course of the Vistula. For nineteen miles the Russian cavalry was engaged with the rear guard of the retreating forces. There was particularly fierce fighting at Suchodola and also at Krasnik. At Frampol, there was a strong Russian cavalry charge. From this point, the Austrians were forced back on the left into the morasses about Bilgoraj and the right and the center were crowded together as they drew near the San. By that time, Russia claimed to have sent 10,000 prisoners back to Lublin. These movements were all the first days of September, 1914.[Back to Contents]
BATTLE OF RAWA-RUSSKA
During the time that Auffenberg's army had been retaining the position before Lemberg, a new line of defense had been instituted in his rear. This line ran from Grodek to Rawa-Russka, and thence along the railroad line toward Narol. As the Russian forces between the armies at Tomaszow had not as yet gotten as far as Tarnograd, the far left of Von Auffenberg's troops, or those of the Archduke, which were a continuation of Von Auffenberg's army at this point, were for a brief time almost in touch with the fringe of Dankl's army on its way to the San. But there was no combined and determined stand at any time. The entire army fell back, set upon getting across the river.
It is probable that on the line from Grodek to Rawa-Russka there were more than 1,250,000 men in the armies on both sides. The line was more than sixty miles long, but the struggle wasconcentrated on certain points and fighting elsewhere was not important. The most critical points were at Grodek on the far south, where a position of considerable strength was occupied by the Austrians, and at Rawa-Russka.
One advantage which accrued to the Austrians was that they occupied positions which had been well fortified before the battle of Lemberg, probably in anticipation of a retreat. Nature, itself, protected their right at Grodek against a turning movement. They had excellent railway facilities in their rear. The advantages possessed by the Russians were those of numbers and the fact that they were encouraged by victory.
The battle had its beginning about September 8, 1914, round the position at Grodek, where the Austrians had retreated after the capture of Lemberg. It was on the extreme north of the line, however, that they first began to give ground. There they were not able to make any extended stand because the enemy, besides attacking them fiercely from in front, began to envelop their left.
The fighting went on over a large extent of ground. At several places large numbers of Austrian prisoners were taken. The upper part of the Austrian line was forced steadily back, not without desperate fighting, and finally the entire line became doubled back on itself at a sharp angle from Rawa-Russka. Here the fighting was terrific.
Rawa-Russka was a small Galician city, inhabited chiefly by Jews. The greater part of the town was old, but there was a modern settlement near the railway station, the town being one of the chief railway centers in that part of Galicia. There, two lines cross, one a branch of the main line to Cracow, from a point near Jaroslav to the frontier at Sokal, and the other extending northwesterly from Lemberg to the Polish frontier at Narol. There were at Rawa-Russka large railroad works, roundhouses, sidings, and storage yards.
As the big battle began to develop on September 8, 1914, it was seen that Rawa-Russka was the place where it probably would be decided and the best efforts of both sides were exerted there. The defenses on the point of the angle of the Austrian line, justbehind which was the town, were in extent no longer than six, or at most eight, miles. Nevertheless, during eight days, there were as many as 250,000 or 300,000 men engaged here in night and day fighting.
After the first two days, the Russians concentrated their attack on the very apex of the Austrian angle, atop the bluffs at the edge of the ten-acre battle field. During eight days, the Russians stormed this point repeatedly. In a single mile the Austrians made no less than eight distinct stands.
Some points before being evacuated were taken and surrendered several times, and then retreat was only for a short distance, followed by just as determined resistance. The courage and determination of both armies was equally admirable.
One position held by Austrians for hours was in a stubble field. It was necessary to hold this point while a better position was being dug a few hundred yards behind in a slight dip in the ground. The rain of shrapnel was so heavy about this place that later it was not possible to pick up a handful of dirt from it without finding therein pieces of lead. For a mile across the field where the Austrians had lain, bloody bandages and pieces of equipment were strewn thickly.
Behind this line, two or three hundred yards, was another line just beyond a small ground swell, where the Austrians placed themselves in fairly deep trenches. The Russians took this trench, but being unable to advance farther, dug themselves in on their side. The next day they were driven out by the Austrians. Afterward the trench presented the strange appearance of a ridge of earth with a trench on each side—with Austrian relics on one side and Russian relics on the other.
Day by day the Russians drove the Austrians back farther, until at last, the Austrians were holding a deep trench on the slope of the crest of the last ridge of hills defending the town itself. Immediately over the ridge the Austrian batteries were concentrated. The last trench was not more than four hundred yards in front of the Russian guns.
Nevertheless, the Russians were unable to make any advance against this position until they brought up and put into positiona considerable number of heavy howitzers. Then slowly they began to crumble the Austrian defenses. Notwithstanding this bombardment, the Austrians held on for more than a day. Then the Russians stormed the entire top of the hill and seized the few guns which they had not already put out of commission. The hill was taken at the point of the bayonet. This was the decisive moment in the whole conflict.
From the center of the field where this action was taking place the Russian wedge extended to the north and south. The Austrian center was broken when night fell and the Russians were dropping shells into the outskirts of Rawa-Russka. Attacks by the Russians followed, making it impossible for the Austrians to hold the town and it was abandoned by the Austrian forces. In any event it soon would have been enveloped in the rear, considering the way events were shaping themselves on the southerly end of the line, and the defense would have been costly.[Back to Contents]
RUSSIAN VICTORIES—BATTLES OF THE SAN
Early in September, 1914, the Russians attacked strongly fortified positions at Grodek. This was during the time when the Russian northern army was busy driving back the enemy from Frampol to Biloraj. The defenses of Grodek, which included the position at Sadowa-Wisznia, were protected by a chain of six lakes and considerable ground cut up by dikes.
The Russians were commanded by General Brussilov, who duplicated here the tactics of continuous and heavy attack with which he had overcome the resistance of the Austrians at Halicz.
The Austrians had taken stand on a group of heavily wooded hills. In order to reach this, the Russians were obliged to cross a plain about three miles wide, in a series of parallels, while subjected to fire from machine guns and rifles.
It was not until three days later that they were able to gain a position where their guns could reach effectively the trenches of the Russians. When the assault was made with bayonets, the trenches were found heaped with bodies. According to the Russians, the prisoners they took said they had been without regular food for many days and had subsisted on raw potatoes and wild pears. Continually harassed by the Russians, they had not time to bury their dead and so the living had fought on while the remains of their fallen comrades decayed beside them.
A brief account of the affair from the Russian viewpoint is contained in the announcement from the Russian Headquarters Staff, made September 14, 1914:
"The army of General Brussilov, against whom the Austrians made their last desperate onslaught has, on taking the offensive, captured many guns, prisoners, and artillery parks, the numbers of which are now being reckoned. General Brussilov testifies that his troops displayed the highest energy, stanchness, and gallantry. The corps commanders calmly and resolutely directed their troops and frequently wrested the victory at critical moments. General Brussilov specially mentions the distinguished services of General Radko Dmitrieff."
There is no doubt that the engagement here referred to was one of the most bitterly and desperately contested of the war. But the conflict on many fields was being conducted on a scale so huge that it loses much of its importance in a general survey. On the day following the announcement just quoted, the Grand Duke Nicholas briefly announced that "the Russians, after occupying Grodek, reached Mocziska, and are now within one day's march of Przemysl."
While Brussilov's center was moving on to Mocziska, which is about forty miles west of Lemberg, his left was advancing southwesterly along the railroad line to Sambor, and on to Chyrow. The latter place, however, was not taken until September 24, 1914. The fortress of Przemysl was thus cut off from the south.
When Grodek fell, Brussilov's soldiers had been marching and fighting without pause for longer than three weeks. The featsof endurance they had performed were extraordinary but without delay they pursued the Austrians from Grodek with the same alertness that they had shown in following them from Halicz.
In the meantime, as we have noted, Rawa-Russka had been taken. Like Brussilov, Russky was not inclined to give an enemy he had bested any chance to recuperate, and while Brussilov was pursuing the Austrian right from Grodek to Chyrow on the south of Przemysl, Russky was following up his success with equal vigor, driving toward Sieniawa the shattered forces which had opposed him.
Sieniawa was occupied on September 18, 1914, the same day that Brussilov took Sambor. Jaroslav was captured by assault on September 21. There was hard fighting on the way there, around Javorow, fifteen miles east of Przemysl, where the Russians claimed to have taken 5,000 prisoners and thirty guns. In such wise was Przemysl cut off on the north, east, and south. Behind its defenses, what was left of Von Auffenberg's army took refuge.
The Austrians also had met with reverses where Dankl's army had been falling back before the troops of Generals Ewarts and Plehve. It has been shown that the continuity of the Austrian defenses had not been effective in the region northwest of Rawa-Russka, though it extended beyond the frontier between Tomaszow and Tarnograd. After the conflict at Tomaszow, the line of the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand above Rawa-Russka to that place had been bent back on the Rawa-Russka-Jaroslav railroad, while the main body of Dankl's troops fell back on the line of the San.
Never was the Russian pressure on its rear relaxed. The pressure was especially strong from the Russian right which had fought the battle of Krasnik, after clearing the Opolie-Truobin district. The larger portion of the Austrian troops crossed the San near its junction with the Vistula. Probably they hoped that while they might place themselves, on the other side, in touch with the Austrian railroads, the river would be a barrier behind them against the Russians.
It appears that General Dankl, anticipating the necessity of falling back across the San, had been sending his transports back in advance of his retreat, almost from the time the retreat began. In fact, some of the transport trains had been sighted and subjected to shell fire as early as September 9, 1914, from the left bank of the Vistula. Not until September 12 did the army itself reach the banks of the San.
Two heavy rear guards, to north and east, were left to hold back the oncoming Russians, while the main body and the baggage were crossing the river on September 12. The Vistula protected the left of one of these rear guards, the San protected the right of the other. Thus the two formed an arch between the two streams.
Marshy ground made difficult the attack on their front, but, nevertheless, they seem to have been unable to prevent the Russians from piercing the screen before the crossing of the river had been completed. There was great slaughter. The Russians claimed that they took 30,000 prisoners. The artillery of the Russians was highly effective in shelling the bridges while the Austrians were passing over them in solid masses. Beside the large number of those killed by shell fire many were reported to have been forced into the water and to have drowned.
Neither was there respite for the Austrians on the other side of the river, although, in theory, the forcing of the passage of the San by an invading army was considered an impossible task. Enormous sums had been spent by the Austrians in an attempt to make it impregnable.
Along the upper or southern part of its extent it was protected by the powerful position of Przemysl and by Jaroslav. From there a light railroad, which had been built solely for strategic purposes, ran parallel and close to its left bank almost to the point where it joined with the Vistula.
As they retired, the Austrians destroyed bridges behind them. But they were not able to destroy all, otherwise a few days' rest might have been vouchsafed the First Army. By quick work the Russians seized and maintained a hold on the bridge at Kreszov, on the frontier a few miles west of Tarnograd. Asan official communiqué from Petrograd put it: "The Russians leaped across the river on the very shoulders of the retreating enemy."
The victory on the San, September 12-19, 1914, may well be considered one of the most important of the campaign. There is no way of estimating the Austrian losses, over and above the 30,000 prisoners the Russians say they took, but they probably were heavy. Still more important was the fact that the Russians had broken down the barrier which the Austrians had sought to put between themselves and the invaders. Save for the fact that the Austrians were now in touch with their railroads, and for the moment within reach of security, being under the shelter of Cracow, their position within the triangle formed by the Vistula was no more safe than it had been when they were above it.
The Russians reported that within that triangle they seized an enormous amount of supplies of every kind. Moreover, with the advance on Krzeszov, the last of the invading Austrians had been forced from Russian soil. No longer was an enemy left in the provinces of Podolia or Volhynia.
It must be recalled also that Russian troops which were based on Ivangorod also had intercepted German reenforcements on the left of the Vistula as they hastened across Poland to the aid of Austria. The guns of the Russians also had shelled the transports of the Austrians as they retired along the right bank. The Russian right, pressed on the retiring Austrians, had been able to spare a large number of troops, and these it had thrown across the Vistula at Josefow. These, acting as reenforcements of the Russian troops already on that side of the river, had hurried southward, paralleling the advance of the main army on the right bank and brushing aside whatever forces of the enemy they met.
In this way they were able to prevent any help from that quarter coming to the Austrians. Also, when their comrades were delivering a final blow to the Austrians at the crossing of the San, they were busy on the opposite side of the Vistula driving back a large Austrian force and occupying the important place of Sandomierz. They encountered and overcame near Sandomierzthe Second German Landwehr Corps under General Woyrsch. In the neighborhood of and at the town they reported that they had taken 3,000 prisoners and 10 guns.[Back to Contents]
SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS OF SEPTEMBER, 1914
Let us now briefly summarize the Russian strategy during this month of portentous development, September, 1914, which concluded with the advance down the left bank of the Vistula and the occupation of Sandomierz.
It will be recalled that, being more or less prepared, Russia had found herself invaded by armies operating in three different directions over an extended front. These armies contained in all about a million men. The weakness of this advance, the Russians saw, consisted in this: that the farther two armies of invaders, advancing in divergent lines, proceed, the farther they become separated. Thus it is more difficult for them to act in harmony or for either to protect the flanks of the other.
For this reason the Russians were satisfied to allow the First or northern Army of the Austrians to advance almost without resistance until it came within artillery range of its first main objective—that is Lublin and the railway line to Ivangorod and Warsaw.
Then the Russians delivered a blow with force at the weak Point between the two invading armies in the vicinity of Tomaszow. The Austrians, to meet this attack, were obliged to withdraw their reserve forces from the far left across the rear of the First Army. When these forces proved inadequate, the organization of a new army began, and this was thrown into the gap.
If it had been advanced immediately and simultaneously with the other two armies, the new army might have served its purpose,but the campaign, it seems, was already too far advanced. The strength of the Russians had been augmented, and after they had driven the wedge in at Tomaszow they retained it in place, and were able to widen the break by means of the operations which followed in the vicinity of Bilgoraj, and by driving back the Austrian forces above Rawa-Russka. In this way the First Austrian Army was left dangling at the extreme of its advance.
In the meantime Brussilov had made his well-planned turning movement along the Dniester on the far south, and had delivered his blow on Halicz. Russky at the same time was hammering at the Austrian front and left, penning in Von Auffenberg's army on an ever-contracting front, and throwing it back on its successive lines of defense on the Zlota Lipa before Lemberg, and from Grodek to Rawa-Russka.
The Austrians, pushed back from each of these, and with Cossack cavalry on their right, ranging over a considerable extent in southern Galicia, were forced to fall back, guarding as best they might their rear, westward toward Cracow.
When Von Auffenberg's army had been put in a tight place, busy taking care of its own safety, the Russians were able to devote their attention to the army Dankl had in the north. There was no chance of aid reaching it now, and it was weakened from efforts to force the barriers that had been put across its path.
The chief strength of the Russians was massed against the left of this army, for if that wing was broken the entire army would find itself hemmed in and must retreat in order to avoid being surrounded. And so, forced from Opolie along the Vistula, attacked constantly on its entire front and right flank from Tomaszow and Tarnograd, Dankl's army was forced down to and across the San and beyond it.
The movements of the Russians had been executed with great harmony. By September 23, 1914, Dankl's army had been driven by Ewarts and Plehve to the line of the Wisloka. Jaroslav was taken by Russky on September 21. Chyrow was possessed by Brussilov on September 24. Brussilov had entered Galicia at Woloczysk on the same day—August 22—that Russky had crossed the frontier and occupied Brody.
The Austrian losses, since the taking of Lemberg, according to an official statement made by the Russians on September 17, 1914, were 250,000 killed and wounded, and 100,000 prisoners with 400 guns, many colors, and a vast quantity of stores. We are not obliged to accept these figures. They are given here for what significance and merit they may have, but as coming from Russia. It was also reported by Russia that the rifles taken numbered almost half a million. The enemy's total losses were put by Russia at from 35 to 50 per cent. Even the small estimate is said by Austria to be an exaggeration.
The Russians now held all eastern Galicia, and were masters of Lemberg, Jaroslav, Brody, Busk, Tarnopol, Grodek, Brzezany, Sambor, and other towns of no little importance, and also of the railroads between these towns. They also were in control of the oil fields of Galicia, of considerable importance to them at this time, and of the valuable agricultural resources of Galicia, or of such part of it as they occupied. Przemysl alone held out. Russian cavalry was already trying the approach to the Carpathians from the Dukla Pass to the Bukowina.[Back to Contents]
INVESTITURE OF PRZEMYSL
Many fortresses lost a reputation of long standing for strength during the Austro-Russian campaign. Grodek and Rawa-Russka, with fine natural defenses and excellent works, were carried by assault after gallant resistance. Lemberg's defenses were reputed to be powerful, but no attempt was made to utilize them. The fall of Jaroslav has never been explained. It was considered generally to be stronger than Namur or Liege, and a prolonged resistance was anticipated there. It withstood attack for only two days. When heavy guns were brought to bear on it by the Russians the garrison withdrew. Przemysl seems, alone of all the Austrian defenses, to have justified its reputation.
Przemysl was not only a strongly fortified place but a beautiful city as well, surrounded with flower gardens and orchards. Its history, like that of Lemberg, had been a stormy one. Its population in 1914, including residents of its suburbs, was about 50,000, principally Poles and Ruthenes, who lived together in amity and great religious toleration. In September of that year, when the Russians made their whirlwind advance, there was, according to official reports from Vienna, an army of 80,000 based on the city, under the leadership of General Boroyevich.
With a large part of this army, Boroyevich was reported to have moved to the line of the Wisloka to give aid to Dankl's hard-pushed troops as they made their stand on that river. It was understood that many of Von Auffenberg's soldiers, as they fell back, were employed as a garrison for the fortress. At the time of its investment it was said to contain about 100,000 men, with its defense in charge of General Kusmanek. Afterward the strength of the garrison was increased.
It has been indicated previously how the railway communications had been broken on the east and south by the advance of the Russians after the fall of Grodek and the taking of Mocsiska. The isolation of the fortress of Przemysl was completed by the fall of Jaroslav and the occupation of Radymno, a town on the main Cracow railway on the left bank of the San, about eight miles east of Jaroslav and fifteen miles north of the fortress. And so it remained isolated, save for a short period when the tide of invasion was driven back. During this time it was again in communication with Cracow.
The Russians took it as a matter of course that the fortress would soon fall to them. Its fate was predicted in the newspapers of the Allies; but, in preparation for defense, stores of all kinds had been hurried into it, and plans had been laid for stout resistance. It had a determined commander in General Kusmanek.
The first shots were fired on September 18, 1914. The city was surrounded on September 20, and an unbroken bombardment with many desperate sorties ensued until October 2, when the Russians sent out a white flag to the city and demanded itssurrender. General Kusmanek's reply was that he would not discuss surrender until he had exhausted all powers of resistance. The attack reached its height on October 5, 1914. The Russians stormed again and again, hills of corpses outside the works testifying to furious attacks they made. They succeeded in carrying temporarily one of the outer works, eleven battalions having succeeded in approaching these defenses undetected, because of damage to an Austrian searchlight.
Suddenly they stormed the walls. The garrison retreated to the casemates, from which they defended themselves with rifles and machine guns. The Russians forced their way to the casements and a hand-to-hand struggle with bayonets, gun butts, and hand grenades followed. When Austrian reenforcements, hastily telephoned for, arrived, the attacking party was already retiring, leaving their dead and wounded in the casemates and on the wall. Rockets and light shells illuminated their retreat. There was desultory fighting during several days thereafter, and then the Russian army settled down to a routine investment, biding the time when their heavy siege guns could be brought up and the way made ready for an effective assault. On October 18, 1914, there was a battle to the east of Chyrow and Przemysl, which was successful for the Austrians. The fighting near Mizynico was especially severe. The Magiera Heights, which had been in the possession of the Russians, were occupied by the Austrians after a formidable bombardment by their artillery. At the same time Russian attacks on the east of Przemysl to Medyka Heights, on the southern wing of the battle field, which were especially directed against the heights to the southeast of Stryj and Sambor, were repulsed. A fresh attack of the Russians on the east bank of the river near Jaroslav also was repulsed.
The addition of reserves and the opportunity to reorganize their army, gave new fighting force to the Austrians about this time. Wherever the Russians retired they followed them closely and by reconnaissances were able to develop weak points in the Russian positions. On October 20, 1914, the Austrians had gained ground in several spots in a heavy, stubborn attack on the fortified positions of the Russians from Plotzyn to the highroad eastof Medyka, while a Russian counterattack was unable to make headway.
On the heights north of Nizankowice, Austrian troops scored another victory and took also the villages situated against the heights. In the southern wing the battle was carried on mainly by artillery. The modern field fortification system being liberally used by the Austrians, the battles had largely the nature of fortress warfare. On the same day the Austrians captured in the Carpathians the last point, Jablonki Pass, held by the Russians.
Thus we now see the Austrian army, which had been described as routed and destroyed in battles in Galicia, seemingly taking on a new lease of life, although appearing to have found an impenetrable barrier at the River San north of Jaroslav. On October 22, 1914, the Austrians retook Czernowitz, capital of the crownland of Bukowina, which had been in the possession of the Russians since early in the war. They also captured two field fortifications, situated one behind the other, to the southeast of Sambor.
For eight days a terrific fight was waged between the Russians and the Austrians on the line from Sambor, along the River San to Przemysl and Jaroslav, and then to the southward. The battle extended over a front of about sixty-five miles. The cannonading was uninterrupted. The Austrians had started the attack at Sambor, but were thrown back by vigorous Russian counterattacks. A concentration of Austrian corps then attempted an advance against Lemberg, with the intention of bisecting the Russian line. This attack was defeated with losses.
On October 31, 1914, the Austrians defeated a mixed Russian column near the Galician-Bukowinian frontier, north of Kuty. In middle Galicia by that date they had occupied Russian positions northeast of Turka, near Stryj, Sambor, east of Przemysl, and on the lower San. Several Russian attacks around Lisko were repulsed. At Lisko, Stryj, Sambor, and other points the Austrians took many prisoners. Near Stryj and Sambor the Austrians blew up a Russian ammunition depot.
On November 1, 1914, the Austrians claimed that they then had interned in Austria-Hungary, 649 Russian officers and 73,179Russian soldiers, not including the prisoners they had taken in the fighting in the district northeast of Turka and south of the Stryj-Sambor line. The fighting in this locality was renewed with greater intensity by both sides early in the month, fortune favoring first one and then the other. On November 2, 1914, two infantry divisions and a rifle brigade of Russians were dislodged from a strongly intrenched position.
About this time the czar's forces began concentrating their main attack northeast of Kielce in an effort to repeat the tactics by which they won important victories over the Austrians in the first days of the war. It was their plan, provided they were able to break through at this point, to turn southward against the rear of the Austrian army in Galicia, just as they did two months before, after the battle of Rawa-Russka.
The line of battle in the southeast now became more definitely outlined, extending from Turka through Nadworna and Kolomea to the Russian border just east of Czernowitz in Bukowina. The renewal of Russian attacks followed the bringing up of a new levy of reserves.
The Russians now advanced with fair success along the whole Vistula front. They secured Piotrkow and other places in such positions as to suggest that the Austrians were running the risk of being cut off from Cracow, their ultimate goal of retreat. A rear-guard defense was attempted by the Austrians at Opatow but without success, and the Russians took several hundred prisoners and six Maxims with a supply train.
On the San River, where the fighting had been severe for a fortnight, the Russians adopted the method of deliberately sapping their opponents' trenches, precisely as a besieging force saps its way toward a fortress. This proved a success. When the Russian sap burst in the trenches the Austrians retreated, and the Russians, taking advantage of the confusion, stormed the fortifications in the neighborhood and took them, capturing 5 officers, 500 men, and all the Maxims.
An Austrian column which had descended the north slope of the Carpathians in the direction of Narvoda, where it had intrenched itself, was attacked and driven back. This operation,being removed by more than one hundred miles from the nearest point to the great struggle, indicated that the Austrians, confident of victory, sent forces across the Carpathians to catch the Russians in the rear when the proper moment came.
This moment, it seems, failed to arrive, and the Russians, having the support of the native inhabitants, had little difficulty in dealing successfully with successive isolated attempts of the considerable Hungarian reserve bodies sent across the Carpathians at various points.
There was some activity about this time before Przemysl, which several times had been reported, incorrectly, as having been taken by the Russians. An attempt was made by the garrison at a sortie. The Russians allowed it to proceed until they could cut in behind, when the force was surrounded. When it found it was impossible to cut a way through either forward or backward, it surrendered. The Russians took about 2,000 prisoners.
On the Austrian retiring line from Kielce to Sandomierz the Russians succeeded on November 5, 1914, in breaking down the defenses of the enemy, and in stimulating a more or less orderly retreat into a hasty flight. Sandomierz, itself, an exceedingly important strategic point, which had played a vital part since the early days of the war, fell into the hands of the Russians. In fighting with the Austrian rear guard southward of Kielce the Russians took within a week 200 officers and 15,000 men prisoners, with scores of guns and Maxims.[Back to Contents]
AUSTRIAN RETREAT BEGINS
At this time the Russians were strongly established on the six-mile front of the left bank of the San River, between Nizko and Rudnik. The Austrian opposition there had been long and determined, but was finally broken early in November, 1914. The Austrians began a retreat along this front.
This retreat was such as to indicate less a general defeat than a general obedience to orders to withdraw. It is true that the Russians had been pressing with great energy upon the upper Vistula and San fronts, especially since the settlement of the main fight farther north against the Germans and mixed forces, but the Austrians were in possession of strong fortified positions which still were giving trouble to the Russians, in spite of their constantly increasing numbers.
It was now plain that the Russians had left the Galician front until the Vistula front had been cleared, when a proportion of the troops released there could proceed to add to the fighting force in Galicia, thereby causing the retreat of the Austrians along the whole front.
On November 5, 1914, the Russians achieved what the General Staff characterized as "the greatest victory since the beginning of the war." This was the recapture of Jaroslav. It was announced to the Allies by Grand Duke Nicholas in a formal message, which also stated:
"Following our successes upon the Vistula, a complete victory has just been gained by our troops along the whole of the front in Galicia. Our strategical maneuver has thus been crowned by what is incontestably the greatest success gained on our side since the beginning of the war. I am most confident of the speedy and entire accomplishment of our common task, persuaded as I am that decisive success will be gained by the allied armies." In the capture of Jaroslav the Russians took 5,000 Austrian prisoners.
During several days before the general Austrian retreat along the Vistula front began, they were engaged in furious attack, their artillery fire being especially severe. It was evidently a supreme effort. The last engagement was over an extended front, enormous forces striving to prevent the Russians crossing the San at a point near Monastryzek. It was reported that reenforcements pushing over the Carpathians in an attempt to aid them were delayed in the snow-filled mountain passes.
We will have a better understanding of Russian tactics as worked out in the activities just referred to, if we consider herean official statement issued by the General Staff about this time concerning them. It read:
"Fierce combats on the River San and south of Przemysl, which have been going on for more than three weeks, resulted on September 5 in the general retreat of the Austrians.
"On the preceding night the Austrians made a last effort to repulse our troops who were crossing the San. Until a late hour the enemy attacked on an extended front, taking the offensive in dense, successive lines, but everywhere they suffered enormous losses and were repulsed.
"On November 5,1914, the enemy's columns commenced to move from the San in the direction of Dukla Pass across the Carpathians and south of Przemysl, seeking everywhere to leave the battle front. We pursued them energetically all along the line.
"The abandonment by the main Austrian forces of the line of the San is the result of the victorious battle fought at the end of September, the original purpose of which was to block the offensive of the Austro-German armies against Warsaw and Ivangorod.
"At the beginning of October our troops were engaged along a front extending for 330 miles and passing through Warsaw, Kozienica, Przemysl, and Czernowitz. Toward October 20 we succeeded in gaining a decisive victory on the left bank of the Vistula in the region of Warsaw.
"Following up our successes during the last eighteen days, on a front of 380 miles, we broke the resistance of the enemy who is now in full retreat. This victory enables our troops to proceed to a realization of further tasks to inaugurate a new period of the war."
This announcement is embodied here, not only for such information as it contains which coincide with established facts, but that the Russian viewpoint toward such events and the purpose behind Russian activities may be manifest.
To the south of Przemysl on November 7, 1914, the Russians, having increased their activities in the region considerably, took 1,000 prisoners. Warfare about the fortress now seemed to be entering a new phase, which the Russians initiated with greatartillery activity and an advance against Medyka. The Austrians responded with a closer concentration, with the fortress as their center. After the first attack on Przemysl, all damage to the fortress had been repaired and the outer forts strengthened by field fortifications, of a very strong character, and covered by battery positions.
A new railroad bridge was built at Nizankowice and communications with Chyrow, about twenty-five miles to the south, restored. Numerous trains had been used to transport wounded soldiers and useless Przemysl civilians southward and to bring back flour, Zwieback, and other supplies to the fortress. The arrival of many carloads of beer caused particular rejoicing.
On November 11, 1914, the Russians, advancing on Cracow from the direction of Jaroslav, occupied Miechow and Dynow. The forces operating farther south seized Lisko. It now seemed to the Russians that the enemy would not be able to make an effective stand east of Tarnow and the Dunajec River and so the Russians would find themselves once more on the lines they had been forced to abandon hastily six weeks previously, when the Germans first made their rapid advance to the Vistula. It was as a result of this campaign and the course of the Russians in conceding smaller successes in order to concentrate their forces at the most important point that the Austrians found themselves driven back now at every point, while the Russians advanced for the possession of the western part of Galicia. It was the hope of the Russians that their advance in Galicia would soon set free their Cossack divisions for a new invasion of Hungary.
On November 12, 1914, the Russians sustained a defeat near Czernowitz, capital of the Austrian province of Bukowina. The Austrians made an unexpected movement, crossing the Pruth, a few kilometers north of Czernowitz and suddenly attacking the Russian right wing. The Russians were completely surprised and after a short resistance decided to fall back upon their base, which seemed free. However, they were then taken under fire by Austrian artillery, which caused great losses among the Russian detachments. The battle field was strewn with corpses. Russianforces in the Stryj valley also were forced to retire with heavy losses by a surprise attack from an Austrian armored train and Austrian cavalry.
The Russian offensive in Galicia toward Dounaietz nowhere encountered resistance. The Russians occupied Krosno and inflicted heavy losses on the Austrian rear guard.
It should be noted that during the middle of November, 1914, the campaign on which the Russians were concentrating their attention was against the Austrians. The Russian campaigns had consistently adhered to the principle that in military operations important results are obtained by bringing every force to bear upon a single point until the desired end is accomplished. The Russians still followed this policy.
The operations in East Prussia and in western Poland were for the time being made secondary while all energy was devoted to pushing forward the campaign against Cracow. When they were now within fifteen miles of it, an appeal was sent by the city to the Germans for reenforcements. The civilians of the place removed themselves from the fortified area and the inhabitants generally fled the locality. The German colony left for Berlin and Bavaria.
Cracow was surrounded by a triple line of fortifications of which the outer line contained fifteen forts, eleven on the north, and four on the south bank of the Vistula. The defenses on the north were much stronger than those on the East, where the San River and the fortresses of Jaroslav and Przemysl were once regarded as a secure barrier against Russian advance. The Russians already had broken down that barrier and only two small streams lay between their eastern army and the last stronghold of Galicia.
On November 15, 1914, the Austrians defending Przemysl again attempted a sortie, this time with greater success than before. It forced back the Russians on the north side of the fortress to the heights of Rokietnica, with small Austrian losses. A second sortie was repulsed by Russian artillery and cavalry and heavy losses inflicted on the Austrians.
In Galicia we now find the Austrians west of the DonajecRiver, along the front from Tarnow to the Vistula. The Austrian line then followed the Biala River for a few miles until it cut across to take advantage of the Wisloka, north and south of Jaslo. From there east the Austrians were retreating into the passes of the Carpathians.
These latter troops were relatively small bodies, whose main object was to prevent the Russian cavalry from making raids into Hungary. Opposite Tarnow the Austrians were prepared to put up a most stubborn resistance, for they regarded the holding of this part of their line as essential. Unless they could hold back the Russians there, they reasoned, the latter would have a chance to break through and cut off the Austrian army that was retreating from Sanok and Jaslo. A Russian advance north of Cracow, they figured, would tend to cut off the entire Austrian army from its German ally. This was an object for which the Russians were striving.
Abandonment by the Austrians of Central Galicia and the gathering of their armies toward Cracow soon began to show results in the stiffening of their resistance to Russian advance. As the Austrians retreated westward their front decreased in length with consequent strengthening of their line. It was their desire that this strengthening should enable them to extend northward along the Warthe River, thus freeing some of the German troops for service in the army that was advancing from Thorn.
By the Russians a German advance in considerable force along the narrow battle front on the west bank of the river Vistula was regarded as a feint at the city of Warsaw, the intention of which was to draw Russian troops from their advance upon Cracow and distract attention from efforts to establish a strongly fortified defensive line from Kalisz to Cracow.[Back to Contents]