rnow to Pilzno, along which the remainder of the
garrison would have to pass in order to retreat. On the hills west
of Pilzno the Russians still held a position to protect that road.
By the morning of the sixth everything had gone eastward, and the
Austrians had surrounded the town.

The small cavalry detachment that had been left behind as rear
guard cut through the Austrian lines and rejoined the main forces
on the Wisloka. The Austrians had been bombarding Tarno for months
with their heaviest artillery, destroying parts of the cathedral
and the famous old town hall in the process.

On May 7 the Russians withdrew from the Pilzno district, and the
Dunajec-Biala Russian front had ceased to exist. From the hour that
the Austro-Germans had broken through the line at Ciezkovice, on
May 2, 1915, the Russian retreat on the Wisloka had begun. Yielding
to the terrible pressure the line had increasingly lost its shape as
the various component parts fell back, though it gradually resumed
the form of a front on the Wisloka banks, where most determined
fighting continued for five days.

The Russians lost much of their artillery; they had to reverse the
customary military practice of an army in retreat. If the retreating
army is well equipped with artillery and munitions, its guns cover
the retreat and are sacrificed to save the men. During their retreat
the Russians had often to sacrifice men in order to save their
guns for a coming greater battle at some more important strategic
point. Many prisoners fell to the Germanic armies; according to
their own official reports they took 30,000 in the fighting of
May 2-4, 1915. What the Austro-German side lost in that time was
not made public.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXX

AUSTRO-GERMAN RECONQUEST OF WESTERN GALICIA

By the time the retreating Russians had reached the Wisloka they had to
some extent recovered from the first shock of surprise, and were better
able to attempt a determined stand against the overwhelming onrush
of the Austro-Germanic troops. Ivanoff hurriedly sent reenforcements
for Dmitrieff and Ewarts which included the Caucasian Corps of General
Irmanoff from the Bzura front. The heavy German guns belched forth with
terrible effect, and the Russians could not reply at the same weight
or distance. Bayonets against artillery means giving odds away, but
the attempt was made. With a savage fury that seems to belong only
to Slavs and Mohamme