The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War
World War, 1914-1918
On the last day of October, 1915, renewed fighting broke out again on
the Strypa, near Sikniava, where the Russians had concentrated strong
forces. The Austrians met a strong attack with a prompt counterattack
and carried the day. As before, the fighting, once started at one
point on the Strypa, quickly spread. On November 2, 1915, the
engagement at Sikniava was continued, and a new attack developed near
Buczacz with the usual more or less negative result for both
sides--maintenance of all attacked positions without gain of new
territory. Another series of very bitter clashes occurred between
November 4-7, 1915, near the village of Sienkovce on the Strypa.
During the same period fighting went on also at many other points of
that small river, which by this time had seen the flow of almost as
much blood as water.
Southeast of the village of Visnyvtszyk on the Strypa seven separate
Russian attacks were launched within these four days. On the 7th a
strong attack was made also in the neighborhood of Dubno from the
direction of Rovno without gaining ground. Isolated attacks of varying
extent took place for a few more days. But by that time severe winter
weather restricted operations in this sector just as it had done along
the balance of the eastern front. Of course occasional attacks were
started whenever a lull in the snowstorms or a favorable change in
temperature made it possible. But, generally speaking, the Styr and
Strypa section now settled down to trench fighting, artillery duels,
and minor engagements between advanced outposts. The Russian losses
during the month of November, 1915, as far as they were inflicted by
Austro-Hungarian troops, totaled 78 officers, 12,000 men, and 32
machine guns.
Late in December, 1915, on the 24th, the Russians, disregarding
climatic conditions, once more began an extensive offensive movement
in East Galicia and on the Bessarabian border, with Czernovitz, the
capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bukowina, as its
apparent objective. It lasted until January 15, 1916, or
twenty-three days, interrupted only occasionally by a day or two of
slightly decreased activity. Its net result for the Russian army, in
spite of very heavy losses in killed, wounded, and captured, was
only the certainty of having inflicted fairly heavy losses on the
German and Austro-Hungarian troops opposing them. Territory they
could not gain, at least not to a large enough extent to be of any
influence on the further development of events. The severest
fighting during these operations took place near Toporoutz and
Rarawotse on the Bessarabian border. Much of it was at very close
range, and on many days the Russians made three and four, sometimes
even more, successive attacks against one and the same problem.
Especially bitter fighting occurred on January 11, 1916, when one
position was attacked five times during the day and a sixth time as
late as ten o'clock that night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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