The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-11-19

cially the Third army, before he could
carry out his preparations for the coun-
ter attack. He was the more to be con-
graduated inasmuch as, in spite of the
retreat south of the Dniester and the
violent attacks which now began in
the north. he made his push north of
Zborow and carried through the oper-
alton without a hitch
/ HIS OWN AIDE SAVES ARMY
At Kalusch luck favored us The
Russian army had already paid too
( dearly for its early keenness to attack
and had made no further progress on
the. Lomnitza. The first German troops
I to arrive were consequently able,
thanks in part to the energetic inter-
vention of Major Won Dem Busche. of
my staff, 10 hold the position. On July
Is they succeeded in gaining ground,
and the crisis was overcome.
| The most violent of the attacks on
| the northern front was the one that
took place on July 81 south of Smot-
gon near Krewo; here the Russians
broke through a division of the Land
| weir occupying a very wide front
though 1t defended itself with sktraor-
binary courage.
/ For a few days things looked ex-
| tremely serious. until our reserves and
| artillery fire restored the situation.
The Russians evacuated our trenches;
| they were no longer what they had
| been.
Meanwhile the counter attack forces
had finished their march up between
Zhorow and the Sereth. Unfortunately
] the attack had to be postponed two or
three days, until July 10. on account of
, extremely bad weather. This was the
day on which the peace resolution was
d debated in the German Reichstag. The
| -. 1
was won over an area II miles in
breadth and 10 miles in depth. The
whole army was in high spirits. In
the Reichstag the victory for German
arms was called morale raiser"
RUSSIANS GO TO PIECES
The next day the push was continued
in the direction of Tarnopel which fell
on July 25, and the Russians began to
withdraw from our position south of
the Zborow Tarnopol railway. The
tactical counter attack developed into
an operation on a grand scale.
The disorganization of the Russian
front extended further and further to
the south The southern army. the Aus
trian Third and seventh armies, which
had a specially strong stiffening of
German troops, moved up. The east
ern' front was ablaze right into the
Bukovina. The Russian army retired
III uiSoEQSTt NuS ANNSVANNiSh hhO w
stroyed its backbone
On August . and 8 we succeeded by
steady fighting in rearhing the
Zbrutsch ton the frontier of Galicia and
Russia. about 40 miles from the start
ing poinD, and took Cznernovitz and
Kimpolnng. This was the utmost to
which we could effectively develop the
counter attack of July 10. 1t is true
that for a time / hoped that the Aus
trian Third and Seventh armies would
press forward into Moldavia. but the
Austrian powers of attack were not
equal to the task, and the Germans
alone were not strong enough.
Communication to the rear turned
out so difficult that the proper provi-
sioning of the armies could not be man
aged until the railways had been re-
paired. Large bodies of men were set
to work at this. but the destruction was
so thorough that weeks elapsed before
we could think of extending operations
to the south of the Dniester.
AUSTRIANS' STATE ALARMING
The German troops, as in the pre-
vious autumn, had done splendidly in
the open fighting they felt relieved
from the terrible grip of trench war
fare. But the Austrian army. in spite
of all the care lavished on it, showed
a diminution of fighting power which
was in the highest degree alarming.
On the Zbrutsch the struggle swayed
backwards and forwards for few
days longer; south of Czernowitz the
group of armies under the Archduke
Joseph. who had taken over the chief
command in Hungary from the En-
peror Charles, pressed a little bit
further eastward but although bat
ties had begun on the llumanian front,
the major operation was over.
Our advance north of the Carpa-
nw<sa etA nd
through the Bukovina toward Media
via, suggested the idea of resumng
operations against the Rumanian
troops and an attack on the lower
Sereth, whilst the Austrian armies re-
tanned their advanced position above
Czernowitz and to the south. Various
considerations led us to send the AL
pine corps TO Rumania and still further
weaken the western front.
RUMANIANS STOP MACkENSEN
1t was arranged that Mackensen's
group of armies was to make an adj
vance northward on the west bank of
the Sereth. and the southern group of
armies, under the Archduke Joseph,
from the Oitoz pass toward Otzna. The
battles began in the first half of Au-
gust and lasted into the second half.
They scored local successes in both
places.
BY means of French cooperation, the
Rumanian army had gained so greatly
in stability that strategic successes
seemed out OF the question for us as
long as the offensive In Bukovina re
manned at a standstill. For the pres
emit 1t was impossible to continue it.
The attacks of the groups of armies
under Mackensen and the Archduke
Joseph were arrested. The Rumanians,
in their turn. now made unsuccessful
attacks Gradually the fighting died
down here also.
Ludendorf now enters upon discus
sion of the critical political situation
that arose in Germany in 1917, due to
the danger of the army, the radicalism
that found voice in consequence of the
downfall OF the Russian autocracy and
the jealousies of the various states