The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12): Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12): Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes
World War, 1914-1918
"In spite of all this," Captain Lehmann, one of the escaped officers,
reported, "the heroic garrison fought on, after their last sortie,
for fully forty-eight hours, against assaults of the Russians which
now set in with terrific violence. The men of the fortress were fully
informed of the situation by an announcement of the commander. They
knew that the provisions were at an end and this very knowledge
spurred them on to make their last sacrifice. Practically all the
nations of the monarchy were represented in the fortress. Tyrolese
Landsturm held the south, Hungarians the west, Ruthenians and Poles
the north, and lower Austrians the east. To this last battle the
troops marched out singing, striving thus to master their weakness.
On this occasion the above mentioned notice had fallen into the
hands of the Russians and the prospect had thus been opened to
them to seize the fortress with little effort. For two days and
nights all the works of Przemysl were taken under, an uninterrupted
terrible artillery fire, including that of modern howitzers of all
calibers, up to eighteen centimeters. Then followed an assault
at night on the east front, which, however, was again bloodily
repelled."
Starvation is conducive neither to good feeling nor heroism, especially
when it is superimposed upon an unbroken series of more or less
disastrous experiences. Misfortune and the so-called "tradition of
defeat" had dogged the steps of Austria's troops from the beginning
of the war; unlucky generals--Dankl, Auffenberg, and others--had been
relieved of their commands and replaced by "new blood"--Boehm-Ermolli,
Boroyevitch von Bojna, and Von Pflanzer-Baltin. Of these three, two
had as yet failed in carrying to success the German plans which
had taken the place of those of their own strategists. Hence it
is not at all improbable that the reports of dissensions among
the garrison, which leaked out at the time, were substantially
accurate. That jealousies broke out among the numerous races forming
the Austrian Army--especially between the Slavonic and Germanic
elements--is supported by strong evidence. The sentiments of the
Slav subjects of Austria leaned more toward Russia than the empire
of which they formed a considerable portion, while there was never
any love lost between them and the Magyars. However that may be,
the Slav regiments were reported to have refused obedience to the
general's order for the last sortie, which was eventually undertaken
by a force composed of the Twenty-third Hungarian Honved Division,
a regiment of Hussars, and a Landwehr brigade, altogether about
30,000 men. Everything depended upon the venture, for not only
were all their food supplies used up, but they had already eaten
most of their horses. Instead, therefore, of making southward to
where their comrades were fighting hard to tear themselves away
from the Carpathian passes, the sortie turned toward the east, in
the direction of Mosciska, twenty miles off, which was supposed to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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