THE GERMAN COUNTEROFFENSIVE BEFORE KOVEL
An extensive offensive movement was developed on June 19, 1916, by
General von Linsingen. The object of this movement apparently was not
only to secure the safety of Kovel, but also to threaten General
Brussilov's army by an enveloping movement which, if it had succeeded,
would not only have pushed the Russian center back beyond Lutsk and
even possibly Dubno, but would also have exposed the entire Russian
forces, fighting in Galicia and the Bukowina, to the danger of being
cut off from the troops battling in Volhynia. This movement developed
in the triangle formed by the Kovel-Rafalovka railroad in the north,
the Kovel-Rozishtchy railroad in the south, and the Styr River between
these two places. The severest fighting in this sector occurred along
the Styr between Kolki and Sokal.
On the other hand Russians scored a decided success in the southern
corner of the Bukowina where a crossing of the Sereth River was
successfully negotiated.
Artillery duels again were fought along the Dvina front as well as
along the Dvina-Vilia sector. In the latter region a number of
engagements took place south of Smorgon, near Kary and Tanoczyn, where
German troops captured some hundreds of Russians as well as four
machine guns and four mine throwers. A Russian aeroplane was compelled
to land west of Kolodont, south of Lake Narotch, while German
aeroplanes successfully bombarded the railroad station at Vileika on
the Molodetchna-Polotsk railway.
With ever increasing fury the battle raged along the Styr River on the
following day, June 20, 1916. Both sides won local successes at
various points, but the outstanding feature of that day's fighting was
the fact that in spite of the most heroic efforts the Russian troops
were unable to advance any farther toward Kovel. Ten miles west of
Kolki the Russians succeeded in cross- [see TN] of Gruziatin, two miles
north of Godomitchy, the small German garrison of which, consisting of
some five hundred officers and men, fell into Russian captivity. Only
a short time later, on the same day, heavy German batteries
concentrated such a furious fire on the Russian troops occupying the
village that they had to withdraw and permit the Germans once more to
occupy Gruziatin. How furious the fighting in this one small section
must have been that day may readily be seen from the fact that the
German official statement claimed a total of over twenty thousand men
to have been lost by the Russians.
Hardly less severe was the fighting which developed along the Stokhod
River. This is a southern tributary of the Pripet River, joining it
about thirty miles west of the mouth of the Styr. It is cut by both
the Kovel-Rovno and the Kovel-Rafalovka railways, and forms a strong
natural line of defense west of Kovel. In spite of the most desperate
efforts on the part of large Russian forces to cross this river, near
the village of Vorontchin northeast of Kieslin, the German resistance
was so tenacious that the Russians were unable to make any progress.
Large numbers of guns of all calibers had been massed here and
inflicted heavy losses to the czar's regiments. Another furious
engagement in this region occurred during the night near the village
of Rayniesto on the Stokhod River.
To the north heavy fighting again developed south of Smorgon, where,
with the coming of night, the Germans directed a very intense
bombardment against the Russian lines. Again and again this was
followed up with infantry attacks, which in some instances resulted in
the penetrating of the Russian trenches, while in others it led to
sanguinary hand-to-hand fighting. However, the Russian batteries
likewise hurled their death-dealing missiles in large numbers and
exacted a terrific toll from the ranks of the attacking Germans. Along
the balance of the northern half of the front a serious artillery duel
again was fought, which was especially intense in the region of the
Uxkull bridgehead, in the northern sector of the Jacobstadt positions
and along the Oginsky Canal.
German aeroplane squadrons repeated their activity of the day before
and successfully bombarded the railroad stations at Vileika,
Molodetchna, and Zalyessie.
The well-known English journalist, Mr. Stanley Washburn, acted at this
time as special correspondent of the London "Times" at Russian
headquarters and naturally had exceptional opportunities for observing
conditions at the front. Some of his descriptions of the territory
across which the Russians' advance was carried out, as well as of
actual fighting which he observed at close quarters, therefore, give
us a most vivid picture of the difficulties under which the Russian
victories were achieved and of the tenacity and courage which the
Austro-German troops showed in their resistance.
Of the Volhynian fortress of Lutsk, as it appeared in the second half
of June, 1916, he says:
"This town to-day is a veritable maelstrom of war. From not many miles
away, by night and by day, comes an almost uninterrupted roar of heavy
gunfire, and all day long the main street is filled with the rumble
and clatter of caissons, guns, and transports going forward on one
side, while on the other side is an unending line of empty caissons
returning, mingled with wounded coming back in every conceivable form
of vehicle, and in among these at breakneck speed dart motorcycles
carrying dispatches from the front.
"The weather is dry and hot, and the lines of the road are visible for
miles by the clouds of dust from the plodding feet of the soldiery and
the transport. As the retreat from Warsaw was a review of the Russian
armies in reverse, so is Lutsk to-day a similar spectacle of the
Muscovite armies advancing; but now all filled with high hopes and
their morale is at the highest pitch.
"Along the entire front the contending armies are locked in a fierce,
ceaseless struggle. No hour of the day passes when there is not
somewhere an attack or a counterattack going forward with a bitterness
and ferocity unknown since the beginning of the war. The troops coming
from Germany are rendering the Russian advance difficult, and the
general nature of the fighting is defense by vigorous counterattacks."
Of the fighting along the Kovel front he says: "The story of the
fighting on the Kovel front is a narrative of a heroic advance which
at the point of the bayonet steadily forced back through barrier after
barrier the stubborn resistance of the Austrians, intermingled
occasionally with German units, till at one point the advance measured
forty-eight miles.
"After two days spent on the front I can state without any reservation
that I believe that the Russians are engaged in the fiercest and most
courageous fight of their entire war, hanging on to their hardly won
positions and often facing troops concentrated on the strategic points
of the line outnumbering them sometimes by three to one.
"I spent Thursday at an advanced position on the Styr, where the
Russian troops earlier forced a crossing of the river, facing a
terrific fire, and turning the enemy out of his positions at the point
of the bayonet. In hurriedly dug positions offering the most meager
kind of shelter, the Russians in one morning drove back four
consecutive Austrian counterattacks. Each left the field thickly
studded with Austrian dead, besides hundreds of their wounded who had
been left.
"From an observation point in the village I studied the ground of the
day's fighting, and though familiar with Russian courage and tenacity,
I found it difficult to realize that human beings had been able to
carry the positions which the Russians carried here.
"I was obliged to curtail my study of the enemy's lines and of the
position on account of the extremely local artillery fire, the shells
endeavoring to locate our observation point, which was evidently
approximately known. At any rate, two shells bursting over us and one
narrowly missing our waiting carriage, besides three others falling in
the mud almost at our feet, prompted our withdrawal. Fortunately the
last three had fallen in the mud and did not explode.
"Along this front the Russians are holding against heavy odds, but
they are certainly inflicting greater losses than they are receiving.
"The next day I spent at the Corps and Divisional Headquarters west
of the Kovel road. The forward units of this corps represent the
maximum point of our advance, and the Russians' most vital menace to
the enemy, as is obvious from the numbers of Germans who are attacking
here in dense masses, without so far seriously impairing the Russian
resistance.
"After spending three days on this front motoring hundreds of versts,
and inspecting the positions taken by the Russians, their achievement
becomes increasingly impressive. The first line taken which I have
inspected represents the latest practice in field works, in many ways
comparing with the lines which I saw on the French front. The front
line is protected by five or six series of barbed wire, with heavy
front line trenches, studded with redoubts, machine-gun positions, and
underground shelters twenty feet deep, while the reserve positions
extend in many places from half a mile to a mile in series behind the
first line, studded with communication trenches, shelters, and
bomb-proofs.
"It must not be thought that the Austrians offered only a feeble
resistance, for I inspected one series of trenches where, I was
informed, the Russians in a few versts of front buried 4,000 Austrian
dead on the first lines alone. This indicates the nature and tenacity
of the enemy resistance. I am told also that far fewer Slavs and Poles
have been found among the Austrians than in any other big action. It
is believed that most of these have been sent to the Italian front on
account of their tendency to surrender to the Russians.
"Another interesting point about their advance is the fact that the
Russians practically in no place used guns of the heaviest caliber,
and that the preliminary artillery fire in no place lasted above
thirty hours, and in many places not more than twelve hours.
"Last summer's experience is not forgotten by the Russians and there
has probably been the most economic use of ammunition on any of the
fronts in this war commensurate with the results during these
advances. Rarely was a hurricane fire directed on any positions
preceding an assault, but the artillery checked each shell and its
target, which was rendered possible by the nearness of our front
lines.
"In this way avenues were cut through the barbed wire at frequent
intervals along the line through which the attacks were pressed home
and the flanking trenches and the labyrinths were taken in the rear or
on the flanks before the Austrians were able to effect their escape.
The line once broken was moved steadily forward, taking Lutsk six days
after the first attack, and one division reaching its maximum advance
of forty-eight miles just ten days after the first offensive
movement."