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Page 31
The German armies advanced steadily, and though the Russians made a
brave stand at many places they could do nothing. On the Wisloka they
hung on for five days, but they were attempting an impossibility. From
that time on each day marked a new German victory, and in spite of the
most desperate fighting the Russians were forced back until, on the
11th, the bulk of their line lay just west of the lower San as far as
Przemysl and then south to the upper Dniester. The armies were in
retreat, but were not routed. In a fortnight the army of Dmitrieff had
fallen back eighty-five miles.
The Grand Duke Nicholas by this time understood the situation. He
perceived that it was impossible to make a stand. The only thing to do
was to retreat steadily until Germany's mass of war material should be
used up, even though miles of territory should be sacrificed. It should
be a retreat in close contact with the enemy, so that the Austro-German
troops would have to fight for every mile. This meant a retreat not for
days, but perhaps for weeks. It meant that Przemysl must be given up,
and Lemberg, and even Warsaw, but the safety of the Russian army was of
more importance than a province or a city.
On May 18th the German War Office announced their successes in the
following terms: "The army under General von Mackensen in the course of
its pursuit of the Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of
Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica.
Under the pressure of this advance the Russians also retreated from
their positions north of the Vistula. In this section the troops under
General von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as
the region northwest of Kielce. In the Carpathians Austro-Hungarian and
German troops under General von Linsingen conquered the hills east of
the Upper Stryi, and took 8,660 men prisoners, as well as capturing six
machine guns. At the present moment, while the armies under General von
Mackensen are approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower San, it
is possible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In the
battles of Tarno and Gorlika, and in the battles during the pursuit of
these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69 cannon,
and 255 machine guns. In these figures the booty taken by the Allied
troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north of the Vistula, is not
included. This amounts to a further 40,000 prisoners. Przemysl
surrendered to the German's on June 3, 1915, only ten weeks after the
Russian capture of the fortress, which had caused such exultation."
General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital of Galicia.
On June 18th, when the victorious German armies were approaching the
gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were estimated at 400,000 dead and
wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, besides 100,000 lost before Marshal von
Hindenburg's forces in Poland and Courland. On June 23d Lemberg fell.
The weakness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion of her
ammunition supplies, but great shipments of such supplies were being
constantly forwarded from Vladivostock.
When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then German Emperor,
was present. It is interesting to look back on the scene. Here is a
paragraph from the account of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau: "The Emperor
had hurried forward to his troops by automobile. On the way he was
greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons. On the
heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then,
from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen
attention the progress of the battle for the crossing."
While the great offensive in Galicia was well under way, the Germans
were pushing forward in East Prussia. Finding little resistance they
ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, and established themselves
firmly in that province. The sweep of the victorious German armies
through Galicia was continued into Poland. On July 19th William the War
Lord bombastically telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the
effect that he had "paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come"
and was on the eve of "delivering a coup on the western front that will
make all Europe tremble."
It would be futile to recount the details of the various German
victories which followed the advance into Poland. On July 24th, the
German line ran from Novogard in the north, south of Przasnysz, thence
to Novogeorgievsk, then swinging to the southeast below Warsaw it passed
close to the west of Ivangorad, Lublin, Chelm, and then south to a point
just east of Lemberg. Warsaw at that time was in the jaws of the German
nutcracker.
On July 21st, the bells in all the churches throughout Russia clanged a
call to prayer for twenty-four hours' continual service of intercession
for victory. In spite of the heat the churches were packed. Hour after
hour the people stood wedged together, while the priests and choirs
chanted their litanies. Outside the Kamian Cathedral an open-air mass
was celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd. But the German
victories continued.
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