New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-26


tanned And Russia is not yet out. Her
campaign is now entering decisive stage; ;
if Germany does not put Russia out In the
next few weeks the coming of the autumn
rains will give the Russians the respite
which will save them. The next few
weeks, perhaps days, must decide the
story.
On the Dunajec.
The present is, then, an appropriate
moment to review the whole campaign.
In doing this purpose to pay little atten-
ton to the details of the campaign, but
only to set forth the several critical
phases, namely, the first German attack
upon the Dunajec; the Russian rally and
retreat from Galicia; the unsuccessful
fight for Poland, which ended in further
retreat; the loss Of the Brest-Litovsk line
with the last fortress; the final German bid
for victory about Wilma, which is in full
swing as | write.
When the campaign opened the Russian
line ran fairly straight from the Baltic to
the Carpathians, curving in little at the
Nemen and bullying about Warsaw. From
the Carpathians at the Dunajec line, the
Russian front ran at right angles, first on
the Hungarian and then on the Galician
side of the mountains, and finally rested
on the Rumanian frontier north Of Czerno-
WITT. which had changed hands number
of times.
The Germans had tried to force the line
of forts from Warsaw to the Baltic along
the Niemen-NarewB obr rivers and had
failed. They had tried to force the lines
before Warsaw at the Bzura-Rawka riv
ers and they had failed. Along the crests
of the Carpathians the Russians were
pushing on, fighting desperately and SEEM
ingly grinding to pieces the inferior Aus
tro- Hungarian forces. AS the Russians
were well intrenched on this line, it was
impossible to make any desperate assault
without terrible losses.
The Germans, therefore, selected the
front between the Vistula and the Carpa-
thions. behind the Dunajec- Bala rivers,
where the Bulgarian general, Radko Dimi-
trieff. the victor of Lule Burgas, COM
manded the Russians. His mission was to
stand on the defensive covering the flank
Of the Russian armies in the Carpathians,
covering the CracowL emberg railroad
and the less important railroad to the
south, which follows the foothills of the
Carpathians on the Galician slope, from
the Dunajec to the Rumanian boundary;
these were the lifelines of Russian power
| in Galicia; parallel to them ran the roads,
which were the veins, and the railroads
were the arteries.
If the Germans could break the Russian
lines on the Dunajec, then they could press
on along the railroads, moving east, and
might hope to cut off the Russian troops
in the several Carpathian passes, pushing
toward Hungary. The maximum profit of
such an attack would be the destruction
Of the whole Russian force from the Wis
tule 70 the Rumanian frontier.
To make the attempt Mackensen gath
cred huge mass of artillery and an army
outnumbering the Russian three or four TO
one He also collected an incredible
amount of artillery. In the last days OF
April he struck. In few hours Dimi-
trief's army. was literally blown into
atoms. Before the most terrible artillery
FIRE of the war the Russian army was not
event but literally dissolved; only shat
tered fragment was able to retreat, and
the retreat promptly became rout'
Now the huge German army swept east
along the railroads and highways, and the
orestion was whether the Russian divi-
s;ons IN the Carpathans could escape be-
fore the Germans arrived In their rear and
thus penned them between the German
torcos IN the northern side Of the passes
and the Austrian troops, who had Deen
holding them back as they strove TO get
into Hungary.
Twentv-odd miles east Of the Dunajec is
the Wislok River, which Is parallel 10 III
Thus rising in the Carpathians, flowing
north of the vistula, it offers line OF DE-
fence to an army retrsating from the