CHAPTER XXII
FIGHTING IN THE CARPATHIANS
Accompanying the renewed Russian efforts against Lemberg and Kovel in the beginning of September, 1916, fighting broke out again with greater vigor in the Carpathians. Numerous local engagements took place on September 1, 1916, none of which, however, brought any successes to the attacking Russians. They were more successful on the following day, September 2, 1916. South of Rafailov, in the region of Kapul Mountain and also near Dorna Vatra, the Austro-Germans lost some strongly fortified positions and the Russians thereby captured some heights. Considerable fighting also occurred on both banks of the Bystritza near the Rumanian border. These successes were somewhat extended by the Russians on September 3, 1916. On the following day small engagements developed southwest of Zabie and in the region of Shypoth. Strong Russian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses southwest of Fundul Moldowi. Finally, on September 5, 1916, these continuous Russian attacks lasting day and night somewhat undermined the Austro-German resistance and resulted in a slight Russian advance along the entire line of attack.
On September 6, 1916, the Russians attacked southeast of Zielona, about thirty-five miles southwest of Stanislau, and on the Bagaludova west of the Kirlibaba Valley, on the border between the Bukowina and Hungary. Both of these attacks were repulsed. The Austro-Germans promptly replied with counterattacks near Zielona and west of Shypoth on September 7, 1916. The Russians registered some successes on the following day, September 8, 1916, west and southwest of Shypoth as well as near Dorna Vatra. On the same day the Austro-Germans were also forced to retreat northwest of Mount Kapul, a neighborhood in which more or less fighting had been in progress ever since July, 1916. This mountain peak is about 5,000 feet high. Again on September 9, 1916, the Russians gained some ground west of Shypoth after attacking at many points in the southern Carpathians. The heights east of the Cibo Valley, about three miles west of Mount Kapul and just within the Hungarian line, were also occupied by Russian forces.
Attacks again occurred in the Mount Kapul sector on September 10 and 11, 1916. On the latter day the Russians finally succeeded in capturing Mount Kapul, after first having occupied a ridge to the north of it. Almost 1,000 prisoners as well as some machine guns and mortars fell into their hands. This success apparently encouraged the Russians to other efforts in this territory.
On September 12, 1916, they attacked in the Carpathians along the entire line from Smotrych, southwest of Zabie, to the Golden Bystritza, without, however, making any headway.
Part of the position on Mount Kapul lost by the Austro-Germans on September 11, 1916, was recovered on the fourteenth. To the west, in the Cibo Valley, the fighting continued, but here too, as along the balance of the eastern front, fighting gradually slowed down during the rest of September, 1916.
During the first half of October, 1916, fighting in the Carpathians was of a rather desultory nature. Neither side, though frequently undertaking local engagements, registered any noticeable successes. Suddenly on October 14, 1916, simultaneously with the increased vigor shown by the Russians in Volhynia and Galicia, the Central Powers launched a violent offensive movement along the entire Carpathian front, from the Jablonica Pass down to the Rumanian border, on a front of some seventy-five miles.
Especially heavy fighting occurred near Kirlibaba, in the Ludova sector, and south of Dorna Vatra. In the latter region the Russians were thrown back over the Negra Valley. These early successes, however, led to nothing of importance. After October 15, 1916, up to the end of the month only local engagements took place. By that time weather conditions in the Carpathians had become too severe to permit of any extensive operations.
Just as on the other parts of the eastern front the Carpathian sector showed comparatively little activity during the month of November, 1916. Only at one point, in the region south of Dorna Vatra, did there occur an action of somewhat greater importance. The Russians there had gradually gained some ground by a series of small engagements. About the middle of the month the Austro-Germans launched a strong counterattack and regained all the ground, inflicting at the same time heavy losses on the Russians. At other points occasional artillery duels took place, and at many places small local engagements between outposts and patrol detachments occurred almost daily.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER XXIII
WINTER AT THE EASTERN FRONT
With the beginning of December, 1916, the severity of the cold weather became so pronounced that activities at the eastern front had to be reduced to a minimum by both sides. During the first week of December, 1916, considerable fighting, however, continued in that part of the Carpathians just north of the Rumanian border, especially in the vicinity of Dorna Vatra and Kirlibaba. This, too, gradually decreased in violence, and during the second week of the month only minor engagements between outposts and the usual trench activities occurred.
On December 17, 1916, the Germans, after considerable artillery preparation, started a more extensive offensive movement in the vicinity of Great and Little Porsk, about twenty-one miles southeast of Kovel. After considerable fighting, lasting all afternoon, nightfall put a temporary stop to this undertaking. It was, however, renewed during the early morning hours of the following day, and as a result the Germans occupied small portions of the Russian positions. These were held against a number of Russian counterattacks made during the following days. Minor engagements also occurred on December 16, 17, and 18, 1916, near Kabarowce, northwest of Tarnopol; in the Jezupol region of the river Bystrzyca between Stanislau and the Dniester; southwest of Vale Putna in the extreme south of the Bukowina; on the Narajowka River near Herbutow, about ten miles north of Halicz; and near Augustowka south of Zboroff.
During the balance of December, 1916, nothing of importance happened at any part of the eastern front, except that on December 25, 1916, the Germans violently bombarded the Russian positions in the region between Brody and Tarnopol in Galicia and farther south on the Narajowka south of Brzezany.
The first few days in January, 1917, brought little change on the eastern front. Engagements between small detachments occurred daily at a number of places. None of these was of any importance.
On January 23, 1917, the Germans after extensive artillery preparation launched an attack with considerable forces against the positions which the Russians had recently gained along the river Aa. Though meeting with stubborn resistance they were successful, and captured not only considerable ground, but also some 1,500 prisoners. The Russians were forced to retire about a mile and a half toward the north. During the next two days, January 24 and 25, 1917, they were forced back still farther. These gains the Germans were able to hold in the face of strong Russian counterattacks made on January 26 and 27, 1917, though they were unable to extend them.
During the last four days of January, 1917, engagements along the entire front increased occasionally in number and violence. On January 28, 1917, Russian troops attacked positions held by Turkish troops near the Galician village of Potutory, some seven miles south of Brzezany. At the point of the bayonet the Turks were forced to yield, and in spite of a number of counterattacks the Russians maintained their success. Fighting on January 29, 1917, was restricted chiefly to the vicinity of the river Aa, where the Germans again made some slight gains. This was also the case on January 30, 1917, when the Germans with the assistance of extensive artillery bombardments and a series of gas attacks captured some more Russian positions as well as about 900 prisoners and fifteen machine guns.
On the last day of January, 1917, practically nothing of any importance occurred at any point of the eastern front, the whole length of which was that day in the grip of ever-increasing cold.[Back to Contents]
PART III—THE BALKANS
CHAPTER XXIV
RUMANIA'S MILITARY STRENGTH
Finally the military power of Rumania was of enough consequence to warrant the greatest exertions on the part of diplomats to obtain its active support. With a population of close to 7,000,000, the little state could throw a respectable army into the field. In 1914 her infantry numbered well over a quarter of a million, her cavalry close up to 20,000, while her equipment included 600 modern cannon and 300 machine guns. Aside from this there was a considerable reserve to draw from. By the middle of 1916, just before she entered the war, it was estimated by good authorities that the Rumanian army numbered at least 600,000 men under arms and that about an equal number could still be counted on in the reserves. In theory at least, it was a well-trained army. The artillery of all classes numbered about 1,500 guns, but there was a marked shortage of really powerful cannon. The horse and field artillery were armed with Krupp quick-firers of 3-inch caliber, and the heavy and the mountain guns were from the Creusot works in France. The infantry was armed with the Austrian Mannlicher rifle, but of these arms Rumania possessed barely enough to arm her 600,000 men.
Shortly before she definitely made her decision, this stock of arms was considerably augmented by shipments from France and England, and even from Russia, but on account of the fact that they must be shipped by a dangerous sea route and then across Russia, the time of transit covering six weeks, she was probably not very well supplied with ammunition.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER XXV
HOSTILITIES BEGIN
The first news of the actual fighting was given to the world through an official Austrian communiqué, dated August 28, 1916, announcing that, during the preceding night, the Rumanians had begun a determined attack on the Austrian forces in the Red Tower Pass and the passes leading to Brasso. On the following day another report added that the attempted invasion had become general and that the Imperial troops were resisting attacks in all the passes along the whole frontier. But, added the report, everywhere the Rumanians had been successfully repulsed, especially near Orsova, in the Red Tower Pass, and in the passes south of Brasso. In spite of these successes, however, the Austrians were compelled to retire their advanced detachments to a position prepared in the rear, as planned long before, because overwhelming forces of Rumanians were attempting a far-reaching flanking movement. As a matter of fact, the Austrians, never very determined fighters, and now especially demoralized by the recent success of the Russian offensive under Brussilov, were giving way all along the line before the Rumanians under General Averescu. On the same day a Rumanian official report gave a long list of villages and towns which the Rumanians had taken beyond the frontier, their Fourth Army Corps also having taken 740 prisoners. Within two days Averescu had advanced so rapidly that he was in possession of Petroseny, north of the Vulkan Pass, and of Brasso, beyond Predeal Pass. His troops were pouring through the Tolgyes and Bekas Passes up in the north in steady streams, and were advancing on Maros Vasarhely, a military base and one of the principal towns of central Transylvania. The Rumanians advancing by way of Gyimes, after a sharp encounter with the Austrians, had driven the latter back to the heights east of Csikszereda, a point over twenty miles inside the Austrian frontier. Finally, spirited fighting was taking place in the Varciorova Pass on the Danube, and here too the Austrians made a very poor showing.
Then on the last day of the month came the announcement from Bucharest that Russian forces had arrived on Rumanian soil and were already crossing the Danube over into Dobrudja, their left wing on the Black Sea coast being protected by ships of the Russian fleet. The commander of this force was General Zaionchovsky, who, together with his staff, had been welcomed in Bucharest by a throng of the enthusiastic inhabitants, women and children hurling bouquets of flowers on the Russians as they passed through the streets. Another peculiar feature of this event was the organization of a brigade of Serbians, interned soldiers who had escaped into Rumanian territory during the invasion of their country the year previously. These now became a part of the Russian contingent. Meanwhile in the north the Rumanians and the Russians had also joined forces, and on August 29, 1916, Berlin officially announced that the German-Austrian forces in that section had been attacked by the Russo-Rumanians in the Carpathians.
On the Danube the Austrian river fleet showed some activity. A monitor shelled Varciorova, Turnu Severin, and Giurgevo, situated on the Rumanian bank, and some small craft were captured at Zimnita. On the other hand, the Rumanians were reported to have begun a general bombardment of Rustchuk, an important Bulgarian port on the river. And on the night of the 28th the fact that the nation was at war was brought home to the citizens of the capital by an aeroplane and a Zeppelin, which sailed over the city dropping bombs, but doing very little harm. During the following month such raids were to be almost daily occurrences, and many were the women and children killed by the bombs hurled down from above.
On the 1st of September, 1916, came the announcement of a really striking victory for the Rumanians: Orsova, where heavy fighting had been raging since the first hour of the war and in which the Austrians were daily claiming success, was finally taken. Here the Austrians held a strong position, against which the Rumanians had hurled one assault after another, until they succeeded in taking two heights overlooking the town, each over a thousand feet high and thus forced the defeated enemy over the Cserna River, a northern branch of the Danube. This success caused some sensation, for now it appeared that the way was opening for an offensive across the southern portion of Hungary which should sever the Teutons and the Magyars from their Bulgarian and Turkish allies.
Badly beaten as they had been by Brussilov, the Hungarians and the Austrians were now considerably shaken. Again, Germany was called on to come to the rescue, as she had done before on the eastern front and in Serbia. Nor could the Germans afford to overlook the call, for there had been much agitation in Hungary for a separate peace. Indeed, Germany had for some time been preparing to relieve the situation as subsequent events conclusively proved. On the following day, September 2, 1916, her first blow was struck.[Back to Contents]