CHAPTER LXXII
AUSTRIANS AGAIN ASSUME THE OFFENSIVE
On December 14, 1914, the Russian General Staff announced that it had "discovered the enemy trying again to assume the offensive in Galicia." Two days later, Austro-German columns were pouring over the Dukla. It was understood that three new German army corps had been sent to the eastern front, making nine new corps since the beginning of hostilities, and that three Austrian corps were withdrawn from Serbia. The number of troops entering Galicia through the mountain passes was estimated at 175,000 men.
This movement compelled the Russians to withdraw the raiding parties which had invaded Hungary. It is unlikely, however, that Russia had planned to invade Hungary in force, so long as Przemysl and Cracow stood firm. As the situation then was, it would have been a perilous feat to send an army any distance across the mountains. Before such an invasion could be attempted, it was first necessary that the positions of the Russians in western Galicia and Poland should be greatly strengthened.
When the new Austro-German reenforcements arrived in Galicia over the Dukla, the extreme southern end of the Russian line below Cracow was pushed back from advanced positions west of the Raba to and over the Dunajec. But the Russians did not regard the menace from this quarter as a grave one. Announcement was made by General Sukhomlinoff, the Russian Minister of War, on December 23,1914, that it had been stopped "absolutely." We have said before that it was at the Austrians, rather than the Germans, that the Russians wished at this time to strike a telling blow.
On December 28, 1914, General Dankl's army sought to help the main German forces by passing over the Nida near its junction with the upper Vistula above Tarnow. The Russians suddenly were reenforced at this point by troops who swam the ice-filled stream, attacked the Austrians on their flank, drove them back, and took 10,000 prisoners.
It was about this time, when Radko Dmitrieff was operating so successfully in the neighborhood of Tarnow, that General Brussilov resumed the offensive in Galicia. He was able to feed and munition his army from Kiev. Practically all the railroad system of Galicia could be utilized by him for maneuvering troops and distributing supplies. His troops numbered only about 250,000, but their strength was increased by railway facilities. General Brussilov could afford to send a large force under General Selivanoff to help invest Przemysl.
To the Russians, however, Przemysl was not of immediate importance. The fortress commanded the railroad leading past Tarnow to Cracow, and would have been badly needed, it is true, if the army of Dmitrieff at Tarnow had been attacking Cracow. But the army of General Ivanoff had been forced by this time to retire about fifty miles north of Cracow. Therefore, the smaller force commanded by Dmitrieff was unable to do anything against Cracow from the east; and so it withdrew from the upper course of the Dunajec River and became intrenched along the more westerly tributary of the Dunajec, the Biala.
The Russian line extended from the Biala to the Dukla Pass in the Carpathians. Still farther eastward, all along the lower valleys of the Carpathians, the army of General Brussilov was holding out against a large Austro-Hungarian force. This was under the command of General Ermolli.
The chief offensive movement of Ermolli in December, 1914, was directed toward the relief of Przemysl. As has been indicated, his lines ran through Grybov, Krosno, Sanok, and Lisko, thereby putting a wedge between the army of Brussilov and that of Dmitrieff. He attacked Dmitrieff from the east along the line of the Biala and the Dunajec. In Christmas week Dmitrieff administered a heavy defeat to him, and took nearly thirty thousand prisoners and many guns. In this way he helped prepare for new plans which Grand Duke Nicholas and his staff had prepared for the Russian army in Galicia for the new year.
Cracow had successfully resisted assault, and seemed likely to hold out against the best efforts of the Russians. The gateway to Silesia had been closed. Hindenburg had achieved one of his chief objects in forcing the central Russian forces back. He had paid a huge price in men in order to establish a deadlock of warfare in trenches, about midway in the big bend of the Vistula. Nevertheless, from the German viewpoint, the result achieved was worth it.
If the battle for Silesia had been won in November, 1914, by General Russky and General Ivanoff on the field in front of Cracow, Italy and Rumania might have been brought into the fight by their continued advancing movement. Austria and Hungary thus might have been attacked and overcome by huge forces from three sides. If Austria-Hungary fell, the overthrow of Germany might have been threatened. Hindenburg's strategy had put this out of the range of possibility.
It was such developments as have been mentioned that caused the Russian commander in chief to decide on Hungary as the next object of attack. He planned to bring direct pressure upon Vienna and Budapest and so force first the Hungarians and then the Austrians to ask for terms of peace. If they did not, he counted on Italy and Rumania entering the war and assuring victory for the Allies.
On Christmas Day, 1914, under such conditions, began the great battles of the Carpathians, which continued for many months to be a crisis of the war. The Russians were outnumbered, but their position was favorable. On December 25 they advanced on the Dukla Pass. Meanwhile fierce fighting continued at various points in Galicia. In the neighborhood of Tuchow, south of Tarnow, the Russians, on observing the advance of the Twenty-sixth Austrian Brigade, slipped past on parallel roads and surprised the Austrian rear. The Russians opened fire with machine guns and virtually annihilated the whole brigade. In two days' fighting in southern Galicia, near the Carpathians, the Russians captured more than 4,000 prisoners, including a major of the General Staff and five other officers, besides three heavy guns and two machine guns. In this region the Russians were moving small detachments through the mountain passes.
Many spectacular engagements took place during the development of the Russian offensive among the mountain spurs of the Carpathians. On Christmas Day, 1914, two Russian infantry regiments, under a murderous fire and wading waist deep in the icy water of the River Jasiolka, dislodged by bayonet charges the Austrians from their line and took as prisoners four officers and 150 men. On the same day an inferior force of Austrians surprised a Russian detachment and took 4,000 prisoners.
In another engagement south of the Vistula, in the region of Tarnow, the Russians drove back the Austrians from the Tuchnow-Olpiny line. The enemy abandoned ten rapid firers and the Russians took prisoner 43 officers and more than 2,500 men. The next day, December 2, 1914, continuing the pursuit of the Austrians, the Russians captured 8 machine guns and about 1,000 prisoners. The Russians occupied the heights near Siedfizka, on the left bank of the Biala River. This gave them possession of a twenty-mile strip of territory separating the two Austrian forces.
Late in December, 1914, all attacks by the Austrians in the territory between the Pilica and the upper reaches of the Vistula ceased and the Russians assumed the active offensive in this region. They cleared the left or easterly bank of the Nida River by the capture of an obstinately defended Austrian position which was taken by storm.
South of the Vistula, or astride it on the front from Opatow across the Biala River to Biecz, the Russians took prisoners 200 officers and 15,000 men in their sweeping process. A retreat of Austrians in Galicia along the Lisko-Sanok-Dulka-Zmigrod front was precipitate, the nature of the country favoring them, the corridor-like valleys and passes preventing the Russians from pursuing them over parallel roads or harassing their flanks. Only six roads cross the Carpathians, two of which are little more than mountain trails. Owing to the unbroken character of this region, the Russian cavalry was able to do little scouting, while the extreme cold interfered with the work of aeroplanes.
In western Galicia the Russians made progress in spite of the almost impassable condition of the country due to mud, driving the enemy from the front of Stromnik-Gorlice-Jasliska, taking guns and a large number of machine guns.
The year of 1914 closed with the Russian troops advancing in western Galicia, having stormed several fortified works of the enemy, east of Zakliczyn, making prisoners of 44 officers and 1,500 soldiers, and capturing 8 machine guns.
Southwest of Dukla Pass the Russians had dislodged the Austrians from positions they had strongly fortified. They had also realized an important success south of Lisko and had repulsed counterattacks by the enemy in the Carpathians at Uzsok Pass and renewed sorties by the garrison at Przemysl.
Early in January, 1915, the Russians developed great activity in Bukowina and the Carpathians, without making much impression on Austrian positions which they attacked on the Sucwaza River, in the Upper Csermosz territory, and also further west, on the ridges of the Carpathians. In the district of Gorlice and to the northwest of Zakliczyn determined Russian attacks were repulsed. During the fighting at Gorlice the Austrians stormed and captured a height south of there.
During the second week in January, 1915, heavy rains put a stop temporarily to the Russian offensive southward in the direction of Neu Sandek, and at the same time to the Austrian offensive in Russian Poland. A thaw following rain converted the whole country into a vast morass. It was physically impossible for the Austrians to bring up heavy artillery, without which the Russian position along the Nida River could not be forced.
The Russian lines on the east bank of the Nida followed the heights, which were admirably suited for intrenchments and well covered with positions for the Russian artillery fire. There was little firing, however, except an occasional artillery duel when the fog permitted and sporadic local infantry firing. Conditions were similar east of Cracow, the adversaries being well intrenched on opposite sides of the Dunajec River.
During this time another determined sortie was made by the garrison at Przemysl, preceded by extensive cavalry reconnaissance. The Austrian infantry then advanced in force in the direction of a wood near the city. The Russians opened fire, but the Austrians rushed forward and gained the cover of the woods. They continued to push forward and the Russians permitted them to advance close to their position before making a serious attempt to halt them.
With the fighting thus at close range, the Russians opened a terrific fire from rifles and machine guns. The battle raged for several hours, with heavy losses on both sides. The Austrians then retired to the fortress.
From the middle to the end of January, 1915, fierce snowstorms and bitter cold interfered with the activity of both Russians and Austrians. There were few engagements. Toward the end of the month, concentration of Austrian troops in Bukowina became stronger. On January 21, 1914, an Austrian force, including an infantry division with artillery, attacked the Russian front in the region of Kirlibaba, but was repulsed.
On the night of January 27, 1914, the Russians were driven back in the Upper Ung Valley from their positions on both sides of Uzsok Pass. This was one of the most important of the Carpathian passes, for the possession of which many important engagements had been fought since the beginning of the war. It was strongly intrenched and stubbornly defended in several good positions, one behind the other. It fell into the hands of the Austrians after three days of hard fighting. West of the Uzsok Pass, Russian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses. Near Vezeralles and Volovco battles ended with the Russians being driven from the heights of the pass. The Austrians took 400 prisoners.
During the latter part of January, 1915, there were no developments of importance in Galicia.[Back to Contents]
PART VII—RUSSO-GERMAN CAMPAIGN
CHAPTER LXXIII
FIRST CLASH ON PRUSSIAN FRONTIER
The first clash of arms between the Russian and German armies occurred on August 6, 1914, near Soldau, East Prussia. In this chapter we will follow the events which were taking place on this frontier, simultaneously with the movements of the German invasions of Belgium and France, the Austro-Serbian campaigns, the Russian invasion of Austria, and the campaigns in the other parts of the world. The general causes preceding the outbreak of the war have been fully narrated in Volume I, while the theatre of the following campaign is clearly described in the chapter on that subject. It is necessary at this time, however, to review the fighting lines before we bring the mighty German army and the Russian hosts into combat on their first battle ground.
We have seen that for many years previous to the outbreak of the great European War all the countries involved had been forced by political, economic, and social conditions to work, each country in its own way, toward the same main object—military preparedness. Many factors, of course, determined not only the means for achieving this result, but also the degree to which it was finally accomplished. At this time we are interested only in the results so far as they affected Russia and Germany at the beginning of the war.
When the armies gathered on the Russo-German frontier, both of these countries had reached a high degree of military efficiency. Germany, which for decades had been the acknowledged leader among the great powers as far as army development was concerned, had practically concluded the increases and improvements for the accomplishment of which its people had only recently submitted to a special scheme of very extensive taxation, the "Wehrbeitrag." By the results of this move, we find that the western defenses against France and indirectly against England profited much more than those in the east against Russia.
Russia, as its army stood ready to strike its first blow at Germany, had drawn to the fullest extent the obvious conclusions impressed upon it by its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Graft, which had played such great havoc during its last war, had been stamped out. The artillery equipment had been brought up to date and the troops in charge of it had increased vastly their skill in its use. Everywhere formations had been rearranged, increased and improved, and this rearrangement had affected especially the distribution of the empire's forces. Never before in its history had Russia concentrated so many troops in its eastern and central provinces.
In setting its armies into action, Germany faced by far the easier problem. Its territory was much more compact, its means of communication were vastly greater and superior, and racial differences between its various parts were practically nonexistent. With a total area of 208,825 square miles, the German Empire possessed 39,532 miles of railroad, whereas the Russian Empire in Europe, with 2,100,000 square miles had only 35,447 miles of railroad. The Germans had the further advantage of having brought all their means of transportation to the very acme of perfection, while the Russians were lacking in equipment as well as in organization.
The remarkable quickness and effectiveness with which the Russian army operated at the moment of war indicates not only an unexpectedly high state of preparedness, but also a remarkably high degree of leadership on the part of its generals.
The general staffs of both Russia and Germany were as well prepared to meet on the battle ground as far as it had been within human power and foresight. Each side had collected all available information concerning the other. The German genius for organization had proved itself especially valuable and fertile in this direction. On the basis of this knowledge, well-defined plans of campaign had been worked out, and the leaders of both sides had many opportunities to exercise their strategic abilities, not only by solving problems created by these plans theoretically across the tables in their respective war colleges, but also practically during the annual periods of maneuvers.
As the armies faced each other in the first week of August, 1914, the strategy of both sides was determined chiefly by three factors: (1) by the obstacles and defenses which nature itself had placed in the localities in which the fighting was likely to take place; (2) by the means of defense and offense which were available; (3) by political conditions.
At the beginning of the war all but the last were absolutely known quantities, and as far as Russia and Germany were concerned this last factor could be figured out comparatively easily. For it was clear that if Germany would become involved in a war with Russia, Austria would be found fighting by its ally's side and vice versa. It was also fairly reasonable to assume, and had immediately become a fact, that under such conditions Germany would find itself involved with France too, which would mean that Germany's available fighting strength would have to be divided into two parts at least. It was, of course, a matter of fairly common knowledge that Germany's concentration was much more powerful on its western border than on its eastern, so that Russia could count with reasonable certainty on a comparative weak, even if well organized, resistance on the part of Germany at the beginning of war.
Germany's strategy in the east was influenced chiefly by its plan for the western campaign, which we have already considered in the preceding chapters. The fight against France seemed to be of greater importance and urgency to Germany than that against Russia. Why German strategy reached this conclusion does not concern us here. In passing, however, it may be well to remember that the German provinces adjoining France directly, or indirectly behind Belgium and Luxemburg, were of much greater importance and value to the Germans than their provinces adjoining Russia, and that even the temporary loss of these would probably have spelled disaster to Germany. Then, too, it was on the western side that England's influence was being felt; and, furthermore, the French army, though much less numerous than the Russian, was a more formidable adversary on account of its greater effectiveness, as well as of the certainty of its much quicker movements.
Russia had a preponderantly large advantage in numbers over Germany. The result of this fact, from a strategic point of view, was that Russia could dare much more than her adversaries. She could strike stronger, quicker, and with greater frequency in more directions, and could risk to extend her operations much farther. The fact that means of transportation, as has been pointed out, were much better developed in the German frontier provinces than in those of Russia, was a disadvantage only as long as Russia fought on its own territory, though even then, necessarily, the invading enemy would be hampered at least equally by the lack of transportation facilities.
Russia's natural advantage of greater numbers pointed clearly to an immediate offensive which would bring with it the promise of more advantages, while both German and Austrian conditions indicated with equal clearness as the safest and sanest strategy a policy of "watchful waiting," at least until such time when large enough forces could be spared from the western front or concentrated from available reserve sources to promise to a more aggressive policy a fair chance of success.
Thus Russia decided to strike immediately against Germany as well as against Austria. With the latter campaign we are not concerned here. How she devoted herself to this twofold task with all the power and means at her command we shall see in the following narrative.
The hosts of Russia were standing on the German frontier. In the four provinces adjoining Austria-Hungary a total of sixteen army corps, or one-half of all the Russian army in European Russia, were available. By July 31, 1914, the czar had ordered the general mobilization of army and navy. The German Ambassador in Petrograd was instructed to notify the Russian Government that unless this order was countermanded within twelve hours, Germany would immediately respond by mobilization of her army and navy. As the Russian mobilization had continued, Germany officially took the same step in the late afternoon of August 1, 1914, after a state of war had already been proclaimed for the entire empire on July 31, 1914.
The fighting forces on the German side at the beginning of the war on or near the east front included the First Army Corps at Königsberg, the Twentieth at Allenstein, the Seventeenth at Danzig, the Fifth at Posen, and the Sixth at Breslau. These mustered a total of forty-four infantry, twenty-one cavalry, and twenty-five artillery regiments, augmented by four battalions of rifles (Jaeger), and twelve formations of technical troops. The entire peace effectiveness of these formations was about 150,000 men, which at full war strength undoubtedly meant at least not less than 500,000 men, of whom about one-half were of the first line, the balance being made up of reserves and Landwehr troops.
The Russians drew up, in the face of the Germans, two armies: the Army of Poland and the Army of the Niemen. The latter in peace time centered in Vilna and consisted of five army corps; the former used Warsaw as its base and consisted of at least as many army corps. It now held a wide front from the Narev in the north to the valley of the Bug River. These two armies together had an effectiveness of almost twice as many men as the German forces, supported as they were by a series of well-garrisoned fortresses: Grodno, Osowiec, and Bialistock in the north; Lomza, Novo Georgievsk, and Warsaw in the center; and Ivangorod and Brest-Litovsk in the south. In its entirety the mobilization of these forces was completed about the third week of August, 1914, but by the end of the first week the Army of the Niemen had completed its mobilization, and it was from there that the first blow was struck.
This army was commanded by General Rennenkampf, one of the few Russian generals who had succeeded in coming through the Russo-Japanese War, not only with an untarnished, but even with an enhanced reputation. Its task was to invade the northern part of East Prussia, striking directly at Königsberg.
Small engagements, of course, took place all along the Russo-German border between the advance guards of the two armies from the day war had been declared.
On August 6, 1914, a Russian cavalry division crossed over into the enemy's country south of Eydtkuhnen. The next ten days saw many isolated advances of this nature, all of them initiated by the Russians, and most of them accomplishing their respective objects. One small force ventured as far north as the immediate proximity of Tilsit of Napoleonic memory.[Back to Contents]