The Russian expedition in the Dobrudja, which was supported by a
Rumanian division and a mixed division of Serbs and Slavs, partially
recruited from prisoners captured by the Russians, failed to work in
harmony, and the protection of the Rumanian left became, after the
capture of Turtekaia, a negligible factor which ultimately collapsed
entirely. Thus we see in the beginning that through no bad faith the
southern assets on which Rumania depended proved to be of little or no
value to her.
[Sidenote: The case with Brussiloff's army.]
There still remained the Russian agreement to cooperate in Galicia and
the Bukovina. I can speak of this situation with authority because I had
been on the southwestern front almost without intermission since June,
and know that there was every intent on the part of Brussiloff to carry
out to the limit of his capacity his end of the programme. The success
of this, however, was impaired by a situation, over which he had no
control, which developed in Galicia in September. It must not be
forgotten that all the Russian troops on the southwestern front had been
fighting constantly for nearly three months. When I came through Galicia
on my way to Rumania I found Brussiloff's four southern armies engaged
in a tremendous action. Early in September they had made substantial
advances in the direction of Lemberg, and were in sight of Halicz on the
Dniester when they began to encounter terrific and sustained
counter-attacks.
[Sidenote: Efforts to cooperate with Rumania.]
That the force of this may be understood I would mention the case of the
army attacking Halicz. When I first went to the southwestern front in
June, there were facing this army three Austrian divisions, three
Austrian cavalry divisions, and one German division. In September, at
the very moment when Brussiloff was supposed to be heavily supporting
Rumania, there were sent against this same army--on a slightly extended
front--three Austrian divisions, two Austrian cavalry divisions, two
Turkish divisions, and nine German divisions. The army on the extreme
Russian left, whose duty it was to participate in the offensive in the
Bukovina, had made important advances toward Lemberg from the south, and
just at the time that Rumania entered the war it also was subjected to
tremendous enemy counter-attacks. For several weeks it held its position
only with the greatest difficulty and by diverting to itself most of the
available reserves. Something more than one army corps did endeavor to
cooperate with Rumania, but the situation I have described in Galicia
made it impossible for sufficient supports to reach the Bukovina
offensive to enable it to fulfill its mission.
[Sidenote: Reasons for delay in munitions.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account