New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915: April-September, 1915Various
History
New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915: April-September, 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
This does not apply, of course, to the wounded, and in the present case
the Russians, through the enforced rapidity of their retreat, must
necessarily in many instances have left their wounded on the field of
battle to fall into the hands of the pursuing enemy. Certainly the
Russian losses were heavy. Equally certain is it that the battle for the
Carpathian passes is now history.
This is evident from a brief review of the Russian position on the
Carpathian front, with particular reference to the necessary lines of
communications and an outline of the present Russian position as
accurately as it can at present be determined. It must be stated at this
point, however, that this position is a matter of doubt, as reports
from Vienna and from Petrograd are greatly at variance as to what has
been accomplished.
It was noted last week that the Russian line formed a huge crescent, the
longer arc of which (and this was the Carpathian front) extended from
Bartfeld north, then east along the Carpathian crests, north of Uzsok to
a point on the Stryi River. This line is over 100 miles long. It was
dependent for supplies on five roads, three of which were fairly good
dirt roads, the other two railroads; of the latter one runs through
Uzsok, and is so far east that only a small section of the line was
reached by it.
The main line, however, has been supplied from the remaining four, all
of which turn off either from the one lateral railroad from Przemysl to
Jaslo or from the dirt road between Jaslo and Sanok, and run south to
the various passes. As this latter road simply loops the railroad
between these two points, the entire Russian Carpathian line may be
considered to have been supplied by the lateral railroad from Sanok to
Jaslo. In proportion to the number of troops that had to be fed and
supplied, these lines were only too few, and the marvel is that Russia
was able to keep up the necessary flow of food and ammunition throughout
her effort against the Carpathian passes. The possession of all of these
roads was the sine qua non of Russian success. The loss of any one of
them would affect so many miles of her line that the whole line would
have felt the influence.
The Austrian troops are said to have reached the lower San, but no
particular point is mentioned. Nothing is said about the upper San or
the stretch of Galicia between the two. It may, therefore, be assumed
that the Russian left is on the Vistula, near the confluence of the San,
and that the general line runs from there south, probably through
Rzeszow along the valley of the Wistok River, occupying the wooded hills
east of that river, and bending eastward slightly toward the upper San.
This means that all of the lines of communication that supplied the
Carpathian front except the line through Uzsok Pass are now in Austrian
hands.
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