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
Incapacitated by physical exhaustion and outnumbered by three to
one, the Russian infantry gave way on June 13, 1915. The "phalanx"
drove into their ranks and advanced rapidly in a northerly direction
on its great flanking movement. But the Russian spirit was not
broken, for at this critical moment General Polodchenko rode out
with three regiments of cavalry--the Don Cossacks, the Chernigov
Hussars, and the Kimburn Dragoons. They dashed into the unbroken
lines of the triumphant German infantry like a living hurricane,
sabered the enemy, and put thousands on the run. Swerving aside,
they next charged deep into the German rear, mauled the reserves into
confusion, hacked their way out again and captured several machine
guns. The most remarkable feature about this extraordinary exploit
was the fact that the losses sustained by the cavalry amounted only
to 200 killed and wounded. The effect on the "phalanx," however,
was such that no more attacks were made that day, and the Russians
were able to retire to the hills near Rawa-Ruska. Ivanoff was now
compelled to draw reenforcements from other parts of the line to
strengthen his front at Rawa-Ruska. This meant weakening Ewarts's
against the archduke and Brussilov against Boehm-Ermolli. The downfall
of the Dunajec-Biala front had been attributed by the Russian War
Staff to overconfidence or neglect on the part of General Dmitrieff,
who was subsequently relieved of his command and replaced by General
Lesch. At an official inquiry Dmitrieff was exonerated and reinstated
on the reasonable ground that, whatever precautions of defense he
might have taken, they would have proved ineffective against the
preponderance of the German artillery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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