across.
The Hun and Tartar invasions flooded Europe centuries ago by this way,
and the Delatyn is still called the "Magyar route." The passes vary in
height from under a thousand to over four thousand feet. The Dukla and
Uzsok passes were to be the main objective, as through them lay the
straightest roads to Lemberg and Przemysl. The former is crossed by
railway from Tokay to Przemysl, and the latter by rail and road from
Ungvar to Sambor. A railroad also runs through the Vereczke from
Munkacs to Lemberg, and another through Delatyn from Debreczen to
Kolomea. So far as concerned means of communication, matters were
nearly equal, but geographical advantage lay with the Russians, as the
way from Galicia to Hungary is by far an easier one than vice versa.

[Footnote 2: There are two passes named Beskid.]

CHAPTER XXXVI

BATTLE OF THE PASSES

Before proceeding with the opening of the second winter campaign in
the Carpathians, the reader should remember that, as stated in the
beginning of this narrative, a Russian army under General Radko
Dmitrieff (a Bulgarian), held an advanced position on the
Dunajec-Biala line, extending from the Vistula to Zmigrod, northwest
of Dukla. This force was consequently beyond the zone of the
Austro-German offensive, but, as events proved, it had not been
overlooked, for it was here that the heaviest blow was finally to
fall. It is also important to bear in mind that the Russian armies
occupying Galicia and the northern slopes of the Carpathians were not
conducting an isolated campaign on their own account; they formed an
integral part of the far-flung battle line that reached from the
shores of the Baltic down to the Rumanian frontier, a distance of
nearly 800 miles. Dmitrieff's force represented a medial link of the
chain--and the weakest.

Over the slushy roads of the valleys and into the snow-laden passes
the Germanic armies advanced, each of the widely deployed columns with
a definite objective: From Dukla, Lupkow, and Rostoki to relieve
Przemysl; from Uzsok through the valley of the Upper San to Sambor;
through Beskid and Vereczke northward to Stryj, thence westward also
to Sambor; over Wyszkow to Dolina; via Jablonitza to Delatyn; and
across Kirlibaba and Dorna Vatra into the Bukowina. Opposed to them
were the Russian Generals Brussilov, Ivanoff, and Alexieff,
respectively.

Correspondents with the Teutonic troops in these weeks wrote in
wonderment of the scene