n the Bukowina at this stage became
an unnecessary expenditure of strength and energy. The fate of
eastern Galicia was being decided 140 miles away, on the banks
of the River San, to which region we will now direct the reader's
attention.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXII

RUSSIAN CHANGE OF FRONT--RETREAT TO THE SAN

After the Russian troops retreated from the Lower Wisloka northward
toward the confluence of that river with the Vistula they held
the two important bridgeheads of Sandomierz and Rozvadov.

On May 14, 1915, Ivanoff's right was being forced toward the Vistula
in the vicinity of Opatow. This right wing was the army under General
Ewarts, which since December, 1914, had been stationed in strongly
fortified positions on the Nida in Russian Poland. The front extended
across the frontier into western Galicia and joined on to the right
wing of Dmitrieff's Dunajec-Biala front, which was shattered between
Otfinow and Gorlice. The retreat of Dmitrieff's army was in an
easterly direction along Tarnow, Pilzno, Dembica, Rzeszow, and
Lancut to Przevorsk on the San; from the region of Gorlice and
Ciezkovice along Biecz, Jaslo, Frysztak, Krosno to Dynow, Dubiecko,
and Sanok, the latter also on the San. The troops that Brussilov
extricated from the passes and those with which he held the northern
part of the western Carpathians against Boehm-Ermolli were now
likewise concentrated on the San. A glance at the map will show
that the Russian front on the San from Przevorsk down to Sanok
forms a shield between the Germanic advance and the two towns of
Jaroslav and Przemysl. It will also be observed that General Ewarts's
forces about Rozvadov are on the west side of the San, that is
to say, nearer toward the advancing Austrians under the Archduke
Joseph Ferdinand.

The retreat in Galicia necessitated modifications in the Russian
front in Poland on the way to Warsaw. The line south of the Pilica
had to be withdrawn and positions on the Nida abandoned to conform
with the retreating line in Galicia. New positions were taken up along
Radom and across the Kamienna River. The pivot or hinge from which
the line was drawn back was the town of Ivanlodz, about fifty-five
miles southwest of Warsaw. North of Ivanlodz the front remained
unaltered. While this line shifting was in progress (in Poland) the
German troops hung closely to the heels of the retiring Russians,
evidently mistaking the motive behind the