History of the World War, Volume 3 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest warMarch, Francis A., Jr.
History
History of the World War, Volume 3 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest war
March, Francis A., Jr.
World War, 1914-1918
On May 13th the German War Office announced their successes in the
following terms: “The army under General von Mackensen in the course
of its pursuit of the Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of
Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica.
Under the pressure of this advance the Russians also retreated from
their positions north of the Vistula. In this section the troops under
General von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as
the region northwest of Kielce. In the Carpathians Austro-Hungarian and
German troops under General von Linsingen conquered the hills east of
the Upper Stryi, and took 3,660 men prisoners, as well as capturing
six machine guns. At the present moment, while the armies under General
von Mackensen are approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower
San, it is possible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In
the battles of Tarno and Gorlika, and in the battles during the pursuit
of these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69
cannon, and 255 machine guns. In these figures the booty taken by the
Allied troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north of the Vistula,
is not included. This amounts to a further 40,000 prisoners. Przemysl
surrendered to the Germans on June 3, 1915, only ten weeks after the
Russian capture of the fortress, which had caused such exultation.”
General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital of Galicia.
On June 18th, when the victorious German armies were approaching the
gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were estimated at 400,000 dead and
wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, besides 100,000 lost before Marshal
von Hindenburg’s forces in Poland and Courland. On June 23d Lemberg
fell. The weakness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion
of her ammunition supplies, but great shipments of such supplies were
being constantly forwarded from Vladivostock.
When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then German Emperor,
was present. It is interesting to look back on the scene. Here is
a paragraph from the account of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau: “The
Emperor had hurried forward to his troops by automobile. On the way he
was greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons.
On the heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and
then, from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen
attention the progress of the battle for the crossing.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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