THE BATTLE ON THE STOKHOD RIVER

In preceding chapters we have learned of the successful onslaught which the Russians made against the Austro-German lines during the months of June and July, 1916. Along the entire southern part of the eastern front—from the southern base of the Pinsk salient down to the Austro-Russo-Rumanian border—the troops of the Central Powers had been pushed back many miles.

From June 4, 1916, to August 1, 1916, the Russians had regained some 15,000 square miles in Volhynia, Galicia, and the Bukowina. Lutsk, Dubno, and Czernowitz were some of the valuable prizes which had fallen into the hands of the czar's armies. At the beginning of August, 1916, they now threatened the important railway centers of Kovel and Lemberg, the latter the capital of Galicia.

In defending the former the Austro-German armies had made a determined stand on the banks of the Stokhod River. This bit of water has its origin some ten miles west of Lutsk, from which point it winds its tortuous course for about one hundred miles in a northerly direction toward the Pripet River, of which it is a tributary. Its northern part flows through the Pripet Marshes. Its southern part, up to about the village of Trojanovka, forms a salient, with its apex on an almost straight line drawn between Kolki on the Styr and Kovel on the Turiya. This salient, as well as the part of the Stokhod between the southern base of the salient and its origin, formed a valuable and very formidable natural line of defense for Kovel against any attacks from the northeast, east, and southeast. Here the Austro-Germans had thrown up strong defensive works and were resisting with all their might.

On August 1, 1916, the most furious kind of fighting took place in the Stokhod sector. By that time the Russian attack, begun a few days before, had made considerable progress, so that the Russians were at some points some few miles west of the river. Time and again the Russians heavily attacked the German-Austrian lines. In most places, however, the latter not only held, but were even strong enough to permit of repeated powerful counterattacks. This was especially true in the region of the bend of the Stokhod near the villages of Seletsie, Velitsk, and Kukhari. Very heavy fighting also developed at many points north of the Kovel-Sarni railway. Near the village of Smolary the Russians attacked three times, but were thrown back as often, and between Witoniez and Kiselin six Russian attacks followed each other in rapid succession, encountering the most stubborn resistance.

Without abatement the Russians threw themselves against their opponents' lines in this sector on the following day, August 2, 1916. But the Germans protected themselves with such a well-directed and furious curtain of artillery fire that the czar's troops could make no further progress in spite of exceedingly heavy losses. Again Witoniez and Kiselin were the center of desperate fighting which gradually spread to the forest near Ostrow, north of Kiselin, and to the region near the villages of Dubeschovo and Gulevitchie.

As the fighting progressed it became more and more evident that the Austro-German command had determined to make a stand at the Stokhod at any cost. The special correspondent of the London "Times," observing the fighting from the Russian side, described its furiousness and the ever-increasing resistance of the Austro-Germans as follows:

"From an observation point eighty feet above the ground in the swaying foliage of a huge oak, a few versts distance from the battle field, I obtained an extraordinary view of the country and of the Russian artillery preparation. The country here is as flat as a board and marshy, with the slow-flowing Stokhod oozing in the midst of beds of water lilies. The difficulties of an advance are almost incredible, yet our troops forded the river in places, passing mazes of barbed wire sunk in the water.

"The cannonading continues day and night, at times reaching such violence that it is impossible to distinguish sounds; it is simply a continuous roar like thunder. At night the whole sky is illuminated by bursting shells, searchlights, and star bombs. The town is filled with wounded."

During the night of August 3 to 4, 1916, the stiffening of the Austro-German defensive found expression in a series of very violent German attacks against the village of Rudka-Miryanskaia, which formed a very strong salient in the Russian positions. This little hamlet—it is hardly more than that—is situated on the river Stavok, a tributary of the Stokhod. Austro-German forces advanced from three sides. Throughout the entire night the fighting for the possession of this point was kept up. Attack after attack was repulsed by the Russians. But in the early morning hours the latter were forced to evacuate the village and to retreat more than 500 yards to the east. A few hours later reenforcements arrived and the Russians once more gained possession of the village, in the streets of which the sanguinary kind of hand-to-hand fighting raged for hours. As a result the Austro-German forces were finally thrown back beyond the river Stavok. Before long, however, fresh Austro-German troops launched new counterattacks and regained most of this territory, holding it thereafter in the face of a number of violent Russian counterattacks.

Considerable fighting occurred likewise on August 3, 1916, both somewhat farther north and south of this position. In the former direction Russian detachments crossed the Stokhod at some points near Lubieszow and occupied a series of heights, where they fortified themselves strongly. To the south Ostrow again was the center of bitter engagements, which, however, yielded no definite results.

By this time, August 10, 1916, it had become more or less evident that the Russian drive against Kovel had been stopped by the Austro-Germans. For a few days now a comparative reduction in the violence of the fighting in the Stokhod sector set in.

Local attacks, however, as well as counterattacks continued even during this period near Lubieszow and Zarecze, especially on August 11 and 12, 1916. Gradually, and concurrent with increased activity on other parts of the eastern front, engagements in the Stokhod sector became fewer and less important.

On August 18, 1916, however, the Russians somewhat renewed their activity. The first sign was increased artillery fire at various points. This was quickly followed by local attacks near Rudka-Czerwiszce, Szelwow, and Zviniache. Especially noticeable was the increase in Russian activity in the neighborhood of the first of these three places, where the village of Tobol, after having changed hands repeatedly, was finally occupied by the Russians. The latter were successful on August 17, 1916, in crossing the Stokhod in this vicinity at a point where they had previously been unable to make any progress. On the other hand, they were forced to evacuate some of their positions east of Kiselin.

Both on August 20 and 21, 1916, the Russians attempted to enlarge the success which they had gained near Rudka-Czerwiszce. In this, however, they were not successful, encountering the strongest kind of determined resistance and suffering considerable losses. Local engagements at various points on the Kovel-Sarni railroad and in the neighborhood of Smolary likewise terminated in favor of the Austro-German forces. During the balance of August, 1916, fighting on the Stokhod was restricted to moderate artillery fire, local infantry engagements, and extensive reconnoitering operations, carried on now by one side, now by the other, without, however, yielding any important results or changing to any extent the respective positions.

While the Russians were developing their attack against Kovel the balance of the eastern front was comparatively inactive with the exception of the Galician and Bukowinian sectors. The fighting which occurred there had as its object the capture of Lemberg and developed soon into a struggle of the first magnitude. It will be described in detail in the following chapter.

North of the Stokhod occasional local engagements occurred from time to time. Thus the Germans gained a slight local success on August 1, 1916, near Vulka on the Oginsky Canal to the northwest of Pinsk. On the same day considerable fighting took place near Logischin and on both sides of Lake Nobel, both in the same vicinity. The fighting on the banks of the lake continued during the next few days, but bore no important results.

Smorgon, the small but important railroad station on the Vilna-Minsk railway, just southwest of the Vilia River, which so many times before had been the center of furious fighting, again was made the scene of attacks on the night of August 2, 1916. At that time the Germans launched gas attacks on both sides of the railway. The attack opened at 1 o'clock in the morning and the gas was released six times with intervals between the waves. The gas attacks finished at 6 a. m. The use of gas was discovered in good time, with the result that the Germans, who were following the attacks, on attempting to advance, were met with rifle and machine-gun fire and suffered severe losses.

On August 3, 1916, considerable activity was displayed in the vicinity of Lakes Narotch and Wiszniew. The Russians there attempted to advance against the German field positions near Spiagla, but were promptly thrown back. Farther north the Germans gained some slight local successes by capturing a few advanced Russian trenches northwest of Postavy. At some other points, especially on the Shara, southeast of Baranovitchy, the railway center east of Slonin, lively hand-grenade battles occurred.

On the following day, August 4, 1916, the Russians made an attempt to cross the Dvina near Deveten, a few miles northwest of Dvinsk, but were repulsed. Another similar undertaking, attempted August 8, 1916, east of Friedrichstadt, met the same fate. On that day German batteries successfully bombarded Russian torpedo boats and other vessels lying off the coast of Kurland and forced them to retire.

August 10 and 11, 1916, brought a series of small, local attacks launched by the Russians south of Lake Wiszniew, near Smorgon and Krevo. They were all repulsed. These attacks were renewed on August 12, 1916, bringing, however, no better results. On August 13, 1916, considerable fighting took place in the region of Skrobiowa and along the Oginsky Canal, south of Lake Wygonowskoie. A lively local engagement developed on August 16, 1916, west of Lake Nobel in the Pripet Marshes, about sixty miles northeast of Kovel. The fighting lasted throughout August 17 and 18, 1916, and finally resulted in a repulse for the Russians, who lost some 300 men and a few machine guns.

A gas attack, launched by the Germans during the night of August 22, 1916, in the region south of Krevo, a little town north of the Beresina River and about fifty miles southeast of Vilna, brought no results of importance. The same was true of an attack against Russian trenches south of Tsirin, northwest of Baranovitchy, made after considerable artillery preparation on August 24, 1916.

Toward the end of August, 1916, the Russians again attempted at various times to cross the Dvina. In no case, however, were they successful. Even when they succeeded in launching their boats, as they did on August 26, 1916, near Lenewaden east of Friedrichstadt, they were driven back by the German fire.[Back to Contents]