The Story of the Great War, Volume 5: Battle of Jutland Bank; Russian Offensive; Kut-El-Amara; East Africa; Verdun; The Great Somme Drive; United States and Belligerents; Summary of Two Years' War
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 5: Battle of Jutland Bank; Russian Offensive; Kut-El-Amara; East Africa; Verdun; The Great Somme Drive; United States and Belligerents; Summary of Two Years' War
World War, 1914-1918
"Another interesting point about their advance is the fact that the
Russians practically in no place used guns of the heaviest caliber,
and that the preliminary artillery fire in no place lasted above
thirty hours, and in many places not more than twelve hours.
"Last summer's experience is not forgotten by the Russians and there
has probably been the most economic use of ammunition on any of the
fronts in this war commensurate with the results during these
advances. Rarely was a hurricane fire directed on any positions
preceding an assault, but the artillery checked each shell and its
target, which was rendered possible by the nearness of our front
lines.
"In this way avenues were cut through the barbed wire at frequent
intervals along the line through which the attacks were pressed home
and the flanking trenches and the labyrinths were taken in the rear or
on the flanks before the Austrians were able to effect their escape.
The line once broken was moved steadily forward, taking Lutsk six days
after the first attack, and one division reaching its maximum advance
of forty-eight miles just ten days after the first offensive
movement."
CHAPTER XXIV
PROGRESS OF THE BUKOWINIAN CONQUEST
On June 21, 1916, the Russians gained another important victory by the
capture of the city of Radautz, in the southern Bukowina, eleven miles
southwest of the Sereth River, and less than ten miles west of the
Rumanian frontier. This river Sereth must not be confused with a river
of the same name further to the north in Galicia. The latter is a
tributary of the Dniester, while the Bukowinian Sereth is a tributary
of the Danube, which latter it joins near the city of Galatz, in
Rumania, after flowing in a southeasterly direction through this
country for almost two hundred miles.
The fall of Radautz was an important success for various reasons. In
the first place, it brought the Russian advance that much nearer to
the Carpathian Mountains. In the second place, it gave the invading
armies full control of an important railway running in a northwesterly
direction through the Bukowina. This railway was of special
importance, because it is the northern continuation of one of the
principal railroad lines of Rumania which, during its course in the
latter country, runs along the west bank of the Sereth River.
In Galicia, General von Bothmer's army successfully resisted strong
Russian attacks along the Hajvoronka-Bobulinze line, north of
Przevloka.
Without cessation the furious fighting in the Kolki-Sokal sector on
the Styr River continued. There General von Linsingen's German
reenforcements had strengthened the Austro-Hungarian resistance to
such an extent that it held against all Russian attempts to break
through their line in their advance toward Kovel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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