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When the bandage had been removed from his eyes, the Austrian officer handed over a letter of capitulation from General von Kusmanek, which ran as follows: "In consequence of the exhaustion of provisions and stores, and in compliance with instructions received from my supreme chief, I am compelled to surrender the Imperial and Royal Fortress of Przemysl to the Imperial Russian Army."
The two met in an angle in front of the great fortress of Przemysl. The northern, or first, army faced, as will be seen, directly towards the Russian frontier. It was the operative wing; upon its immediate action and on the rapidity of the blow it was to deliver depended the success of this first chapter in the Eastern war.
Sept. 15 -First battle of Soissons fought. Sept. 20 Russians capture Jaroslau and begin siege of Przemysl. October 9-10 Germans capture Antwerp. Oct. 12 Germans take Ghent. Oct. 20 Fighting along Yser river begins. Oct. 29 Turkey begins war on Russia. November 7 Tsingtro falls before Japanese troops. Nov. 9 German cruiser Emden destroyed. December 11 German advance on Warsaw checked.
If Austria could succeed, Przemysl might be relieved, Lemberg recaptured, and Russia forced back so far on the south that Warsaw would have to be abandoned. On the other hand if the East Prussia effort were successful, the Polish capital would certainly fall. These plans, if they had developed successfully, would have crippled the power of Russia for at least six months.
To the southeast, Boehm-Ermolli was battering the Baligrod-Lutoviska front, almost in the same position he occupied at the end of January in the first attempt to relieve Przemysl.
Here were three pictures from the Galician fighting: "Wounded by shrapnel near Przemysl, bandaged by comrade, and helped to house; only occupant old woman. Lay on straw two days, no food. Called to men passing; they had me moved in cart seventy miles to hospital. Stayed eight days; started on train, then taken off for three days, then to Budapest."
The fighting in this region represents one of the important phases of the war, for it prevented the relief of Przemysl; temporarily saved Stryj and Lemberg for the Russians; enabled them to send reenforcements into the Bukowina, and, finally, inspired the German General Staff to plan the great and decisive Galician campaign, which was to achieve the task wherein Boehm-Ermolli and Von Linsingen had both failed.
The campaign began in January amid the deepest snow, and continued during February in the midst of blizzards. The Austrians were divided into three separate armies. The first was charged with the relief of Przemysl. The second advanced in the direction of Lemberg, and the third moved upon Bukovina. The first made very little progress, after a number of lively battles.
Here the Russians once more inflicted severe losses on the Austrians, but being in danger from a flanking movement by the Forty-second Croatian Infantry through the Dniester forests, they retired from the Bukowina on to Russian territory on June 12, 1915. The capture of Przemysl and of Stryj terminates the second stage of the Austro-German offensive in Galicia.
The Russian defense in the Vistok Valley collapsed on May 10, 1915; the German center had almost arrived within striking distance of the important railway line from Tarnow via Dembica and Rzeszow to Jaroslav north of Przemysl. At Sanok the battered remnants of the Russian troops who had escaped from the passes maintained themselves with the greatest difficulty.
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