Simultaneous attempts to force the San were made by those
portions of the Austro-Hungarian I. and IV. Armies posted on
the lower San, but though partial successes were achieved, no
tangible results were possible in view of the Russians' powerful
counter-attacks, particularly as the Russians had succeeded in
taking the W. bank of the San at Bicllny, Zarzecze and Mona-
sterz. For this brought the X. Corps of the Austro-Hungarian I.
Army over to the W. bank of the Vistula, and the IV. Army had
to take over the defence of the whole line of the San. To the W.
of Warsaw the Russians were extending still further westward,
and bringing up forces to the Lower Bzura, where the Russian
I. Army was being formed.
On Oct. 21 Hindenburg and Dankl were grouped for attack in the order arranged, and on the 22nd Dankl advanced to the assault. In the battle of Ivangorod which followed (Oct. 22-7), some fine initial successes were obtained by the I. Army and the German Guard Res. Corps fighting on its left wing, but the 3yth Honved Div., fightingonthe right wing, was placed in a very criti- cal position by the extremely violent attacks of the Russian XXV. and XIV. Corps. Embittered fighting persisted for the next few days on the I. Army's front. On Oct. 24, Hindenburg was attacked along the whole of the front by the Russian II. and V. Armies, but was able to repulse all their assaults. On Oct. 26 the Rus- sians drove their right wing forward through Gadin, Osmolin and Lowicz. Here four Russian Corps forced back two German Landwehr Bdes., Korda's Cav. Corps and some German Land- sturm. Hindenburg's main force, four Corps strong, was opposed by six Russian Corps, and the seven Austro-Hungarian Divs. posted in the direction of Ivangorod had to cope with double their own numbers.'
As there was no prospect of a successful issue, and as an enforced retreat had in places already set in, the battle was broken off on Oct. 27. Leaving Dankl's army to put up an ob- stinate resistance along the line Kiclce-Gura-Opuczna-Opatow- Sandomierz, Hindenburg led his army back to the line Sieradz- Jedrziejow. The Guard Res. Corps was to remain on the left wing of the I. Army, while Field-marshal Lt. Frciherr von Haner's Cav. Corps, newly formed out of the 2nd, 3rd and oth Cav. Divs., was to constitute a liaison between the two armies.
Battle of the Opatowka (Oct. ji-Nov. 2). The Russians pursued the Austro-Hungarian I. Army with their IX. and IV. Armies, the German IX. with their V. and II. Armies. Meanwhile the newly formed I. Army on the Russian right wing advanced on Kutno. By Oct. 30 the Austro-Hungarian I. Army had reached its position and strengthened it technically against all emergen- cies. On Oct. 31 the columns of the Russian IX. Army appeared at Opatow and proceeded to attack violently both there and on the Opatowka. At Kielce the fighting was of secondary im- portance, but E. of Opatow the Russians were aiming at a break- through. On Nov. 2 Dankl's right wing retired behind the Koprzywianka, exposing the flank of the Austro-Hungarian IV. Army fighting on the far side of the Vistula.
In view of the vigorous Russian pursuit and the impossibility of holding the Koprzywianka any longer with troops that were already greatly exhausted, the. Austro-Hungarian higher com- mand agreed to the retreat behind the Nida proposed by the I. Army command. On Nov. 3 the I. Army with the Guard Res. Corps, reached the area W. of the Czarna and Czarna Nida and on the 4th shook off the Russian IX. Army completely. On Nov. 5 the army crossed the Nida and on the 6th continued its march into the area round Cracow.
The German IX.' Army, which remained practically un- molested during the whole retreat, commenced its further retire- ment to the Silcsian frontier in the night of Nov. 3 and 4, arriving there on the 5th.
Battle of Chyrow (Oct. ij-Nov. 2). The Austro-Hungarian II. Army had advanced to the S. of the III. Army, without en- countering enemy opposition, but under the most unfavourable conditions imaginable. The leading division reached Kroscienko on Oct. 9, only to find the Chyrow defile, through which the advance to the area E. of Przemysl was to be made, blocked by the Russian XXIV. Corps. Gen. von Tersztyanszky's column
(the IV. Corps), which had pushed on further to the E., reached , Turka after taking the Uszok pass by hard fighting.
The II. Army came up against strong enemy forces, firmly established in well-prepared positions on the heights S. of Stary Sambor, and on those opposite the S. wing of Borocvic's army. With its main force, the VII. and XII. Corps, the II. Army attacked the enemy's position S. of Czyszki, on both sides of the Blozewka hollow and at Starasol. Tersztyanszky's group, coming from the S. was to take the heights S. of Stary Sambor and push forward with one column (the 38th Honved Inf. Div. and sth and 8th Cav. Divs.) through the Bystrycza valley to Sambor. Working in harmony with this attack, the S. wing of I the III. Army, which was opposed by numerically superior i Russian forces, was also to push forward. Gen. von Borocvic ! reinforced this wing by bringing up the III. Corps and the 23rd ] Honved Inf. Div. from the area N. of Przemysl, where they had just driven the Russians across the San. The II. Army aimed at forcing a decision with Tersztyanszky's group. But while the preliminary battles were being successfully conducted there, a heavy Russian counter-attack set in in front of the left army wing. This led to very heavy fighting on the heights S. of Stary Sambor, at Slochynia, Blozcw Gorna and Towarnia, and necessi- tated the putting in of all available reserves. The right army wing was able to achieve some successes in fighting down the Russian opposition, but an advance on the left wing by the XII. Corps | was quite impossible, for there the Russians were doing their i utmost to break through to Chyrow and Dobromil. The 2oth I Honved Inf. Div. and 34th Inf. Div. fighting on that wing had I to be withdrawn to the area E. of Towarnia and toward Blozew Gorna, and from Grodowice to Slochynia, and even after the j i7th Inf. Div. came on the field they could not stand against the overwhelming onslaught. Just when the situation looked most threatening, the i2th Inf. Bde. of the III. Corps arrived on the battlefield, and although not able to turn the scale it relieved the pressure on the Honved Inf. Div., which was the most exhausted. On the morning of Oct. 16, the Russians were resuming their attacks, when the III. Corps made its counter-attack directed against the heights of Czyszki, Guty and Wcgrzcliska. But though the coming into action of the III. Corps brought some relief to the fighting divisions, no success could be expected in view of the continuous vehement Russian attacks, and more especially, the devastating flank fire from the Czyszki and Magicra heights. To conquer these heights Boroevic now brought up the XL Corps also to the area S. of Przemysl. But in the night of Oct. 17-8, the Russians once more pushed forward with strong forces into the Blozewka hollow, and threw back the 2^nd Inf. Div. onto the heights E. of Nowcmiasto. The 34th Inf. Div. was likewise forced to give ground, and Blozew Gorna was given up to the enemy. On Oct. 10, the XL Corps, advanc- ing through Stroniowice and Tyszkowice on Mizyniec and Chodnowice, flung themselves into the battle, and drove the Russians back. Close by, a little further S., the 44th Inf. Div. stormed the Magicra height, and the advance of the III. ( '< was made considerably easier. When the 23rd Honved Inf. l)iv. attacked from Byblo, it carried the whole front with it. The 2 2nd I Inf. Div. recaptured Sanoczany, the 6th Inf. Div. seized B!" Gorna, and the z8th Inf. Div. worked its way through to the, 1 edge of a wood opposite the Wegrzcliska height. The danger of a break-through now seemed to be finally averted.
Meanwhile Tersztyanszky's group on the right wing of the II. Army had also had some hard battles. In the Bystn /a valley the 38th Honved Inf. Div. column, which had gone on ahead, succeeded in beating back through Zalokicc, Podbuz a ml Uroz the Cossacks who had been pushed forward to protect the Russian left wing. But on Oct. 18 the Russians brought up new forces through Boryslaw with which to attack this column in flank, whereupon the column had to be taken back to the heights W. of Zalokiec and Podbuz. In the meantime Gen. Hofmann'sl Corps, destined for the defence of the Carpathians, which had advanced over the Beskid Pass on Oct. 8, had taken Stryj and despatched a group to Drohobycz. This group came up in front of Drohobycz on Oct. 21, but the Russians in the meantime had
