On the latter day the Germans made an attack in force south of Ilukst, ten miles to the northwest of Dvinsk, and took the village of Garbunovka, capturing over 1,000 Russians and some machine guns. On the next day, October 9, 1915, the Russians attempted unsuccessfully to regain these positions and were also defeated to the west of Ilukst, north of the Ponevesh-Dvinsk railroad. On the 10th, attacks west of Dvinsk and Vidzy, north of the Disna, had no better results. Throughout the following week, October 10 to 17, 1915, the Russian army continuously attacked along the entire line west and south of Dvinsk. In some instances they succeeded in breaking temporarily and for short distances through the German line. But in no case did this lead to a lasting success and, in some instances even, the Germans closed the line again so quickly that the Russian detachments who had broken through were cut off from their main body and fell into the hands of the Germans. Both on October 22 and 23, 1915, the Russians launched strong attacks near Sadeve, south of Kosiany, which were repulsed in both instances. On the latter day the Germans again attacked northwest of Dvinsk, near Ilukst, and captured some Russian positions as well as over 3,500 men and twelve machine guns, maintaining their hold on the former in the face of strong Russian counterattacks on October 24, 1915. Small German detachments which had advanced toward the north of Ilukst on that day, however, had to give way promptly to superior Russian forces. In spite of this the Germans repeated the experiment on the following day with stronger forces and at that time gained their point. On October 26, 1915, the Germans broke through the Russian line south of the Ponevesh-Dvinsk railroad, between the latter city and the station of Abele, but had to give up part of the newly-gained positions during the night only to regain it again the next morning. A Russian attack against this position undertaken later on that day, October 27, 1915, broke down under German artillery fire, before it had fully developed. In a similar way the most furious kind of fighting took place throughout this period on the Riga salient. There, too, the Russians, successfully held the Germans at a safe distance. In the second half of October, 1915, when Von Hindenburg apparently had become convinced that he would not succeed in taking Dvinsk before the coming of winter, if at all, the German general began to shift the center of his operations toward the north and massed large forces against Riga. According to some reports as many as six army corps were concentrated at that point. The country there, though different from that in the vicinity of Dvinsk, was hardly less difficult for the Germans and offered almost as many opportunities for natural defenses to the Russians.