deserted by the Russians on the 13th. The Seventh
Russian Railway Battalion, under Captain Ratloff, brought up the
rear of the retreat to the Dembica-Jaroslav line. From Rzeszow
onward this battalion were employed in destroying stations, plants,
tunnels, culverts, rolling stock, and railway bridges, to hamper as
much as possible the German advance. It took the Austro-Hungarian
engineers between two and three weeks to repair the road and put
it into sufficient working order to transport their heavy siege
artillery. With uninterrupted labor and the most strenuous exertions
they could only reconstruct about four miles per day. Repairs and
renovations other than those of the railway system were necessary.
The wounded had to be sent back to hospital, and fresh troops had
to be brought up to fill the gaps torn in the Austro-German ranks
during all the severe fighting since May 2, 1915. It is not known
exactly what the series of victories cost the Germanic armies in
casualties, but it is known that their successes were dearly bought.
One fairly competent authority places the loss at between 120,000 to
130,000. From May 2 to May 12, 1915, the forces of Von Mackensen,
the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, and Boroyevitch von Boyna claim
to have captured 103,500 men, 69 guns, and 255 machine guns. A
retreating army must inevitably lose many of their number as prisoners,
besides their wounded must also be abandoned. Furthermore, the
Russian line of retreat led through rough and mountainous country,
where large bodies of troops could not be kept in touch with each
other. Thus it frequently happened that isolated detachments were
captured _en bloc_ without being able to offer any resistance. In
the neighborhood of Sanok and the watering places of Rymanow and
Ivonicz some of the biggest Russian base hospitals were situated.
These, of course, could not have been evacuated in time, and the
patients consequently swelled the number of prisoners. Most of
the guns captured by the Austro-Germans were those of the Russian
troops whose retreat from northern Hungary and the passes had been
intercepted.

They often sacrificed large bodies of troops to save their guns.
The lack of artillery was the main cause of their defeat; what
little they could save from the wreck was therefore husbanded with
jealous care. The German staff accurately calculated on the
preponderance of heavy artillery, and that Russia would be compelled
to bow low before the super