Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-26

ID. c., SEPTEMBER rs
gary. The maximum profit of such an
attack would be the destruction Of the
whole Russian force from the Vistula
to the Rumanian frontier.
To make the attempt Mackensen gath
cred a huge mass of artillery and an
or four to one. In the last days Of
April he struck. In a few hours Dimi-
tireff's army was literally blown into
atoms. Before the most terrible artil-
lery fire of the war the Russian army
was not swept, but literally dissolved;
only a shattered fragment was able to
retreat, and the retreat promptly be-
came a rout
! Now the huge German army swept
east along the railroads and highways,
and the question was whether the Rus
sian divisions in the Carpathians could
escape before the Germans arrived in
| tween the German forces on the north
ern side of the passes and the Austrian
troops. who had been holding them
| back as they strove to get into Hun
gary.
Twenty-odd miles east Of the Duna-
jec is the Wislok river, which is par
allel to 1t; thus. rising in the Carpa-
| thtans, flowing north Of the vistula, 1t
treating from the Dunajec. But the
| Russian rout was too complete to per-
init a rally here, and the Germans
pressed on. At least one Russian divi-
sion, operating in the Dukla pass, was
| trapped and practically destroyed. but
| the rest were able to make good their
| retirement.
Rear Guard Fighting Effective.
| From the wislok to the San the Rus
sian retreat slowed down, and the rear
guard fighting became more effective.
The destruction of the railroads and
the bridges slowed up German advance.
Reinforcements were hurried to the
Russians. Three weeks after the first
disaster there was apparently good rea-
| son to believe that the Russians would
initial losses. They were now approach
ing the third line Of defense, the line OF
the San, the southern end held by the
fortress of Przemysl. which they had
captured before; the northern by the
field works about JarosIaw. that had
held back the Austrian drive in the
preceding November. II they could
rally here. they would still hold most Of
GaIicia.
Along the San in the last days of May
the Russians made brave stand. Pre-
mysl held back the flood for some days.
| and about the town and to the north
the Russians scored some local tri-
umphs. But the Germans now varied
l
fallen back from the Wislok they had
drawn their troops out of the Carpa-
| THAN passes and back upon the Dnies-
| ter river. Now the Germans reinforced
holding the Hungarian side of the
passes, and these armies came rushing
down the Galician slopes and forced the
| crossing of the Dnister east Of Pre-
| mysl.
Caught Between Two Jaws.
| The main Russian army about Pre-
mysl was now between two Jaws, one
made by Mackensen's army. which had
crossed the San at Jaroslaw and was
moving south and east of Przemysl: the
other made by the Austro German
army, which was south and east of
Przemysl and was moving north. After
an obstinate resistance the Russians
slipped from between the jaws. taking
ping Przemysl, which fell agin into
Austrian hands a mere empty shell.
The next defensive position of the
Russians was just west Of Lemberg, on
! the Grodek lakes, which cover the face
of the country from the Dniester to the
Bug. This was the strongest position
the Russians had yet entered Again
| the Germans were temporarily check
ed. Meantime they had renewed their
| tactics to the south. This time. using
/
an Austro-German army against the
| line Of the Dniester east Of Lemberg.
as they had before brought 1t up east
of Przemysl.
! But the Russians. taking the omen
| sive, pretty effectually defeated this
new army and turned 1t back without
/! permitting 1t even to reach the Dnies-
| ter line. But the superiority of the
Germans in artillery was now telling
; the story. The Russians were holding
! their lines with bayonets alone against
i huge parks of artillery and under a
| storm of fire. This could not last, and
June Q the Russians fell back from
| Lemberg to the Zlota Lipa river. a
of Galicia fell to the. Austrians. who
had lost it on the preceding September
| 1. The evacuation was orderly, the
rear guard fighting sustained. The
Russian army was in good shape again
End of Galician Campaign.
One more thrust the Germans leveled
against the Russians, and this sent
them back from the Zlota Lipa to the
Stripa. perhaps thirty miles east OF
Lemberg. And here the Galician cam
paign came to an end. 1t had latsed
approximately two months, from the
last days of April to July 1. In that
time the west to east distance covered
by the Germans from the Dunajec to
the Etripa was about 200 miles. Over
$4,000 square miles of territory had
been freed of the invader. All the
Russian conquests save thin slice OF
Galicia about Tarnopol had been re-
gained, perhaps 100000 prisoners had
been captured, and not less than half a
million Russians had been put out by
death and wounds. But the Russian
armies had not been enveloped or cap
tured.
After the first disaster about the Dun
ajec the grand duke had been able to
extricate his armies. He had defeated
the Austrians south of Przemysl and
south of Lemberg. Wherever the Rus
slams and Austrians fought without
German participation, the Russian su-
periority was still manifest. But mu-
nitions had failed the Russians and re-
: treat had been inevitable. Galicia had
i been lost to the car and the battle for
| Poland was now on.
On the Polish Salient.
| When the campaign opened the Rus
sian line had been fairly straight, with
a slight bulge about Warsaw. After
| the fall of Lemberg the front had been
SO bent back that Poland was like a
| nut between two Jaws of a nutcracker