On November 11, 1914, the Russians, advancing on Cracow from the direction of Jaroslav, occupied Miechow and Dynow. The forces operating farther south seized Lisko. It now seemed to the Russians that the enemy would not be able to make an effective stand east of Tarnow and the Dunajec River and so the Russians would find themselves once more on the lines they had been forced to abandon hastily six weeks previously, when the Germans first made their rapid advance to the Vistula. It was as a result of this campaign and the course of the Russians in conceding smaller successes in order to concentrate their forces at the most important point that the Austrians found themselves driven back now at every point, while the Russians advanced for the possession of the western part of Galicia. It was the hope of the Russians that their advance in Galicia would soon set free their Cossack divisions for a new invasion of Hungary.
On November 12, 1914, the Russians sustained a defeat near Czernowitz, capital of the Austrian province of Bukowina. The Austrians made an unexpected movement, crossing the Pruth, a few kilometers north of Czernowitz and suddenly attacking the Russian right wing. The Russians were completely surprised and after a short resistance decided to fall back upon their base, which seemed free. However, they were then taken under fire by Austrian artillery, which caused great losses among the Russian detachments. The battle field was strewn with corpses. Russian forces in the Stryj valley also were forced to retire with heavy losses by a surprise attack from an Austrian armored train and Austrian cavalry.
The Russian offensive in Galicia toward Dounaietz nowhere encountered resistance. The Russians occupied Krosno and inflicted heavy losses on the Austrian rear guard.
It should be noted that during the middle of November, 1914, the campaign on which the Russians were concentrating their attention was against the Austrians. The Russian campaigns had consistently adhered to the principle that in military operations important results are obtained by bringing every force to bear upon a single point until the desired end is accomplished. The Russians still followed this policy.
The operations in East Prussia and in western Poland were for the time being made secondary while all energy was devoted to pushing forward the campaign against Cracow. When they were now within fifteen miles of it, an appeal was sent by the city to the Germans for reenforcements. The civilians of the place removed themselves from the fortified area and the inhabitants generally fled the locality. The German colony left for Berlin and Bavaria.
Cracow was surrounded by a triple line of fortifications of which the outer line contained fifteen forts, eleven on the north, and four on the south bank of the Vistula. The defenses on the north were much stronger than those on the East, where the San River and the fortresses of Jaroslav and Przemysl were once regarded as a secure barrier against Russian advance. The Russians already had broken down that barrier and only two small streams lay between their eastern army and the last stronghold of Galicia.
On November 15, 1914, the Austrians defending Przemysl again attempted a sortie, this time with greater success than before. It forced back the Russians on the north side of the fortress to the heights of Rokietnica, with small Austrian losses. A second sortie was repulsed by Russian artillery and cavalry and heavy losses inflicted on the Austrians.
In Galicia we now find the Austrians west of the Donajec River, along the front from Tarnow to the Vistula. The Austrian line then followed the Biala River for a few miles until it cut across to take advantage of the Wisloka, north and south of Jaslo. From there east the Austrians were retreating into the passes of the Carpathians.
These latter troops were relatively small bodies, whose main object was to prevent the Russian cavalry from making raids into Hungary. Opposite Tarnow the Austrians were prepared to put up a most stubborn resistance, for they regarded the holding of this part of their line as essential. Unless they could hold back the Russians there, they reasoned, the latter would have a chance to break through and cut off the Austrian army that was retreating from Sanok and Jaslo. A Russian advance north of Cracow, they figured, would tend to cut off the entire Austrian army from its German ally. This was an object for which the Russians were striving.
Abandonment by the Austrians of Central Galicia and the gathering of their armies toward Cracow soon began to show results in the stiffening of their resistance to Russian advance. As the Austrians retreated westward their front decreased in length with consequent strengthening of their line. It was their desire that this strengthening should enable them to extend northward along the Warthe River, thus freeing some of the German troops for service in the army that was advancing from Thorn.