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
After the battle of Lubaczow the Russian line drew back about twenty
miles. For the defense of Lemberg the front ran in a concave form
from along the River Tanev, five miles from Rawa-Ruska, down to
Grodek and Kolodruby; then eastward behind the Dniester to Zuravno
and Halicz. The marshes of the Dniester, then swollen by heavy
rains, formed a good natural defense; the intrenchments on the
hills north of Grodek to Rawa-Ruska protected the approaches to
Lemberg from that direction. The weakest spot lay around Janov,
fifteen miles north of Grodek, where the level ground would permit
the easy transport of heavy artillery. This position had been fortified
with trenches and wire entanglements. Here also were concentrated
the troops withdrawn from other parts of the line, and four armored
trains with quick-firing guns from the depot at Rovno. General
Ivanoff had no intention of making any decisive stand against the
"phalanx"; neither did he think of risking his armies in a battle
for Lemberg. That town was certainly of great military and political
importance--worth a dozen Przemysls--and worth fighting for. But for
that he would need artillery in enormous quantity. Von Mackensen
carried 2,500 guns with him, as well as siege trains of heavy howitzers.
Ivanoff possessed none of these, and could therefore hope only to
fight rear-guard actions while retiring before Von Mackensen. In
any other part of the Galician line except the center he had little
to fear. We left Von Linsingen forcing the Dniester at Zuravno. He
got the bulk of his army across, the main advance commanded by
Von Bothmer, who captured the northern heights and penetrated the
forests near the Stryj-Tarnopol railway. They were less than fifty
miles from Lemberg.
The "retreating" Brussilov suddenly turned round and fell on Von
Bothmer's advance. The fight lasted three days, with the result that
the Austro-Germans were obliged to fall back across the Dniester,
leaving behind 2,000 killed and wounded, besides 17 guns, 78 machine
guns, 348 officers and 15,430 men as prisoners, June 8-10, 1915.
On June 11, 1915, however, the Germans renewed the attack on Zuravno,
recaptured the town, and on June 12 were five miles north of it. By
June 13 they had made ten miles, when Brussilov lashed out again.
Within two days the Germans were back on the Dniester. Von Mackensen
had meanwhile concentrated a new series of heavy batteries around
Jaroslav and formed a new "phalanx" (with reenforcements) west
of the San between Piskorovice and Radymno. Another attempt was
preparing to break through Ivanoff's right wing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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