isloka in the
east. Between Tuchow and Olpiny, the Mountain Dobrotyn formed one
of the chief defensive positions, being 1,800 feet high and thickly
covered with woods.

Southward, the Lipie Mountain, about 1,400 feet, formed another
strong point. Just below Biecz, close to the road and railroad
leading to Gorlice, a mountain of 1,225 feet, called Wilszak, is the
strategical key to the valley of the lower Ropa. Between Biecz and
Bednarka, the line of defense followed the heights of the Kobylanka,
Tatarovka, Lysa Gora, and of the Rekaw; hence to the east, as the
last defense of the Jaslo-Zmigrod road, lay the intrenched positions
on the Ostra Gora, well within Brussilov's sector. Southward of
the Gorlice-Zmigrod line lay the mountain group of the Valkova,
nearly 2,800 feet high, the last defense of the line of retreat
for the Russian forces from Zboro.

The Wisloka was the third line of defense, only a river, and without
intrenchments. From Dembica to Zmigrod it runs roughly parallel
with the Dunajec-Biala line; its winding course separates it in
places from fifteen to thirty-five miles from the latter river.
Strong hopes were entertained that the Russians would be able to
stem the Germanic torrent by a firm stand on the Wisloka.

A fierce battle raged on the third and fourth of May, 1915, for the
possession of the wooded hills between the Biala and the Wisloka.
The Prussian Guard stormed Lipie Mountain and captured it on the
third; on the fourth they took Olpiny, Szczerzyny and the neighboring
hills at the point of the bayonet.

The Thirty-ninth Hungarian Division, now incorporated in the Eleventh
German Army under the direct command of Von Mackensen himself, had
advanced from Grybow via Gorlice on the Biecz railway line, and
were making a strong attack on the Russian positions on Wilczak
Mountain with a tremendous concentration of artillery. It seems the
Russians simply refused to be blown out of their trenches, for it
required seven separate attacks to drive them out. That accomplished,
the fate of Biecz was decided and the road to Jaslo--the "key" to
the Wisloka line of defense--was practically open to General Arz
von Straussenburg. Lying at the head of the main roads leading
into Hungary through the Tilicz, Dukla, and Lupkow passes, Jaslo
is the most important railway junction in the whole region between
Tarnow and Przemysl. It was at Jaslo that Dmitrieff had held his
headquarters for four months.

Just south