ff was now
compelled to draw reenforcements from other parts of the line to
strengthen his front at Rawa-Ruska. This meant weakening Ewarts's
against the archduke and Brussilov against Boehm-Ermolli. The downfall
of the Dunajec-Biala front had been attributed by the Russian War
Staff to overconfidence or neglect on the part of General Dmitrieff,
who was subsequently relieved of his command and replaced by General
Lesch. At an official inquiry Dmitrieff was exonerated and reinstated
on the reasonable ground that, whatever precautions of defense he
might have taken, they would have proved ineffective against the
preponderance of the German artillery.

After the battle of Lubaczow the Russian line drew back about twenty
miles. For the defense of Lemberg the front ran in a concave form
from along the River Tanev, five miles from Rawa-Ruska, down to
Grodek and Kolodruby; then eastward behind the Dniester to Zuravno
and Halicz. The marshes of the Dniester, then swollen by heavy
rains, formed a good natural defense; the intrenchments on the
hills north of Grodek to Rawa-Ruska protected the approaches to
Lemberg from that direction. The weakest spot lay around Janov,
fifteen miles north of Grodek, where the level ground would permit
the easy transport of heavy artillery. This position had been fortified
with trenches and wire entanglements. Here also were concentrated
the troops withdrawn from other parts of the line, and four armored
trains with quick-firing guns from the depot at Rovno. General
Ivanoff had no intention of making any decisive stand against the
"phalanx"; neither did he think of risking his armies in a battle
for Lemberg. That town was certainly of great military and political
importance--worth a dozen Przemysls--and worth fighting for. But for
that he would need artillery in enormous quantity. Von Mackensen
carried 2,500 guns with him, as well as siege trains of heavy howitzers.
Ivanoff possessed none of these, and could therefore hope only to
fight rear-guard actions while retiring before Von Mackensen. In
any other part of the Galician line except the center he had little
to fear. We left Von Linsingen forcing the Dniester at Zuravno. He
got the bulk of his army across, the main advance commanded by
Von Bothmer, who captured the northern heights and penetrated the
forests near the Stryj-Tarnopol railway. They were less than fifty
miles from Lemberg.

The "retreating" Brussilov suddenly turned round and fe