New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-02-11
Grand Dukes Right Wing
Crosses Carpathians
Toward Capital.
INVADERS VICTORS
IN DESPERATE FIGHT
Take KOziouka Height in
Battle without Prece-
dent i'm History

lBy Cable to The Trbun..l
Petrograd, Feb. 10.-The columns Of
the right wing OF the great Russian
army battling along the line OF the
Carpathians. have fnsEy forced their
way through the barrier, and are fight
/ ing south OF the mountains, around
Bartfeld and Svidnik, on the northern
edge Of the wide plain which sweeps
southwark to Budapest, $50 miles
away.
( This advancing force not only
/ threatens the Hungarian capital, but
/ also the rear Of the immense army OF
Austrians and Germans, which has
pushed its way noAhward through
| Lupkow Pass, further eastward, only
to meet a disastrous defeat from the
Russians on the Galicisn side Of the
mountains.
Though these successes and the un-
official announcement that the Rus
SLAMS extreme left has continued its
retiring movement in Bukowins so far
| that CzeTnowitz, the capital of that
Austrian crown province, has been
abandoned, are of the greatest impor-
lance to military experts, general inter-
est is to-day centred on the terrific
fighting on the Galician side of Juk-
holka Pass, about thirty miles south
of Sanok. This, the official bulletin Of
the General staff says, was the scene
of a bayonet conflict without prece-
dent in history"
Twenty-Five Attacks Made.
In this battle the Germans brought
up their best renforcements to aid
the Austrian army. and themselves led
the attack. Backed by heavy artillery
they assaulted the Russian position
on the heights of Koziouwka twenty
two times. but found themselves under
an enfiading fire from the Russians
on parallel hills, and were cut off
from the main German column. They
we're then attacked by the Russian
infantry, who drove them back at the
point Of the bayonet.
Attack followed counter-attack until !
the Russians, by final assault, which
| lasted two hours, left the snow-clad
| hillsides strewn with dead. After
most stubborn resistance the German
regiments finally were definitely driv-
en- out. A Russian officer claims per-
/ sonslly to have counted upward OF
! 900 German dead before the Russian
positions on this hill. He described
this engagement as typical Of the
battles which are occurring daily in
the Carpathian Mountains.
The fighting here seems to have been
as desperate and sanguinary as that
which has occurred before the Warsaw
lines during the last week, and just as
unsuccessful for the Germans. The
latter have now assumed the offensive
on the southern border of East Prus-
STA. and as a result another important
battle is developing in that region.
Retire in Bukowina.
AT the other extreme end Of the line
. in Bukowina--the Russians are fall
ing back before superior Austrian
forces, but still hold the greater part
of that province.
According to unofficial dispatches the
Russians have reached Wloclawek, on
the lower Vistula, thirty-fve miles
southeast Of Thorn. AS they were last
reported at Sierpec, it is believed the
Grand Dukes columns north of the
I lSlulh nave IhhuS Il IhONt hnlCH may
enable them to interfere with the
transfer of troops from Poland to East
Prussia, as Wloclswek is on the rail
way from Lowicz to Thorn.
From the dimensions of the battles
in the Carpathians and their rapid Sc
quence IL is believed that the decisive
moment in the southern campaign is
very near. This view is strengthened
by the hurried redistribution Of Ger
man forces in Hungary, which number
about 100000 men. They are attempt
ing the task of capturing the initiative
In some selected openings toward the
north, while the Austrisns maintain
passive defence in huge numbers In
better known passes, especially those
westward of the region where the fight
ing has been heaviest.
German Offensive Crippled.
The German offensive already has
been crippled by appalling losses in
men both along the Rawka and the
Bzura last week and in the fierce
struggle for the heights commanding
the Tukholka Pass. These two failures
leave them with the bitter conscious
ness Of an absolute want Of men for
their campaign. Their frantic rush
ing Of army corps hither and thither
| ls regarded here not as masking
plan, but as masking the absence OF
plan. They are undoubtedly throw
ing tremendous energy into the search
for any chance opening on the bor-
ders Of Hungary and Galicia, but the
force behind their blows is weakening
ominously.
The Austro-Germsn army, amounting
probably TO 100000 men, is moving
eastward Of Nadvornsy in a broken
country toward the Bukowins frontier.
presumably with the object Of at
tempting 10 envelop the Russian left
wing. The retirement of the Russian
column from Kimpolung followed the
Austrian occupation of Kirlibsbs. a
movement which made the Russian po-
sition at Jskobeny untenable, as Kirli-
baba covers the only practicable access
to Kimpolung Pass. Operations there
evidently must wait on decisive results
in the other section OF the Csrpathians.
German Plan Sacrificed.
The steady forward movement Of
the Russians in East Prussia, their
!