The Forty-eighth Infantry Division of the Russian army had long been
dreaded by the enemy. Their bravery and dash, their grim and almost
desperate courage, had earned for them the name of the "Terrible
Division."
Their leader was the redoubtable General Korniloff, a man of iron will
and heroic courage. He was a worthy descendant of that other great
Korniloff, whose dying words, "Lord, bless Russia and the Czar, save
the fleet and Sebastopol!" are inscribed on his monument near the
Malakhoff Hill, where he fell in the great assault of 1855. A tiger
to his enemies was Korniloff, but very gentle where his own men were
concerned, solicitous for their wants and comforts. Though they were
among the bravest fighters in the Russian army, their leader never
threw their lives away recklessly. As for him, they believed him to
bear a charmed life. "Korniloff" was their war-cry, and they felt safe
in his hands.
In those brave days when the Russians were attacking in the
Carpathians, in the spring of 1915, Korniloff's men were ever foremost
in the fighting. Mowed down repeatedly by the German and Austrian guns,
which defended the ground yard by yard, they came back to the charge
again and again with a furious _élan_.
The way of the Russians was barred by a commanding eminence held by two
divisions of the enemy. From this height the fire had been devastating
and unceasing, and the position seemed impregnable. Formidable defences
of barbed wire guarded all the approaches, and mines and other
murderous devices defied all their efforts to take the stronghold.
But Korniloff determined to accomplish the almost superhuman task.
Deliberately he set about breaking down the defences. Two regiments
were assigned to the task. Night by night they worked in as much
secrecy as the darkness afforded, pressing on under a withering fire
until at last the road was clear. Then they took the height by a
furious assault, and were masters of the position that had galled them
for so many months. Five thousand men had defeated twelve times their
number. The Austrian general, with his staff, was taken prisoner, and
when he learned of the numbers which had opposed his big army he broke
down and wept with rage and grief. "Korniloff is not a man," he said;
"he is an elemental force."
The Russians were now masters of this important strategical position.
The town of Ivla lay in front of them, within reach of their guns,
but it was strongly fortified; while in the neighbouring forests the
enemy was concentrating in great numbers. The fighting continued with
unabated fury.
It was in April, 1915, and the rugged slopes of the Carpathian hills
and mountains were brightened with the new green shoots of the foliage,
with the vivid splashes made by broom and poppy, anemone, and other
variegated blooms.
The Austrian forces were receiving reinforcements rapidly, and
the Russian general and his division, in their new position, were
hard pressed. They were almost isolated, practically surrounded by
sixty thousand fresh enemy troops. The Russians kept up a solid and
heroic defence, but the enemy gave them no rest. Soon Korniloff's
much-weakened force was in a desperate situation. All their bravery and
sacrifice had been unavailing; the enemy was gradually gaining upon
them.
Calm and self-possessed, General Korniloff viewed the situation. "We
are too feeble to resist any longer," he told his officers; "we must
attack." This was Korniloff's method. He called his men together and
explained how things stood. A small force must attack the Austrians
and thus cover the retreat of the main body. He called for volunteers,
and from the serried ranks that presented themselves formed a small
detachment pledged to make the supreme dash. It was a forlorn hope,
this attack, but it might save the rest of the division, which was
otherwise doomed to fall into the hands of the enemy.