ick forests. Here one of the most desperate
battles of the campaign ensued on February 6, 1915, between Von
Linsingen's Austro-German army and Brussilov's center.

In close formation and with well-drilled precision the Germans
attempted to storm the position at the point of the bayonet. Again
and again they returned to the charge, only to be repulsed with
severe losses. As many as twenty-two furious bayonet charges were
made in one day, February 7. Wherever a footing was gained in the
Russian lines, there a few minutes ferocious hand-to-hand _melee_
developed--Saxon and Slav at death grips--the intruders were expelled
or hacked down. Great masses of Austro-German dead and wounded
were strewn over the lower slopes of Koziowa. For five weeks Von
Linsingen hammered at the Russian front without being able to break
through. So long as the Russians held the heights it was impossible
for their enemy to emerge from the passes. These two, Vereczke
and Beskid, so close together, may literally be described as twin
tunnels. Owing to the highland between them, the two columns moving
through could not cooperate; if one side needed reenforcements from
the other, they had to be taken back over the range into Hungary
to the junction where the roads diverged. It was sound strategy
on the Russian side to select Koziowa as the point from which to
check the Germanic advance. For the time being, with Dukla and
Lupkow in their hands and the exits of Uzsok and Rostoki strongly
guarded, the defense of Koziowa held Galicia safe from reconquest.
The attacks against Koziowa continued beyond the middle of March,
1915. On the 16th of that month the Russians captured a place called
Oravcyk, about four miles westward, from where they could threaten
the German left, which had the effect of keeping Von Linsingen
still closer to his mountain passages. 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.

Meanwhile, what had Von Pflanzer-Baltin accomplished with Army
C--the third column? His path lay through Jablonitza, Kirlibaba,
and Dorna Vatra; his task was to clear the Russians out of the
Bukow