s chief of staff,
and the general in command of the Third Russian Army Corps had
been demoted from their commands, and three new army corps (Two,
Three, and Fifteen) had been brought to Grodno. The ranks of the
remaining corps that had suffered in the "winter battle" had been
filled up with fresh recruits. Hardly had the German pursuit in the
forest of Augustowo come to an end when the freshly strengthened
Russians moved forward from their defensive lines in a counterattack.
The Germans had been engaged in the task of gathering and carting
away their enormous booty which lay scattered about the forest.
They now drew back from in front of the Russian fortified lines
to prepare positions close to Augustowo, and on a line running
roughly north and south from this place, with the forest in front
of them.

The Third Russian Army Corps advanced from Simno toward Lozdsisjo,
their Second Army Corps from Grodno by way of Kopiewo and Sejny
toward Krasnopol and other Russian corps advanced through the forest
of Augustowo. Here they soon struck strong German resistance, and
for several days vainly attacked German fortified positions.

On the 9th of March, 1915, a German offensive began against the
Russian Third Corps which held the right wing of the advancing
army. When this corps suddenly found itself threatened in the flank
from the north and in danger of being surrounded it hastily began
to retreat toward the east and southeast, leaving several hundred
prisoners and several machine guns in the hands of the Germans.
This withdrawal exposed the right flank of the adjoining Second
Army Corps, which by this time, March 9, 1915, had reached Berzniki
and Giby. The German attack was now continued against this corps.
It was cold weather, the thermometer was considerably below the
freezing point, and the roads were slippery with ice, so that dozens
of horses fell, completely exhausted, and the infantry could march
only two or three kilometers an hour.

On March 9 and 10, 1915, the battle flamed up at Sejny and Berzniki,
the Russian corps, which had developed its front toward the west,
being forced to swing about and face the north, whence the Germans
were driving down upon it. At Berzniki two Russian regiments made
up entirely of young troops were, according to the German account,
completely annihilated, and the commanders of the regiments captured.
It seemed as though the leader of the Russian armies saw approaching
a repetition of