3,300 feet high. This mountain range is barren of all
vegetation--no sheltering trees or shrubs adorn its slopes. The route
of the Germans crossed Lysa Gora south and in front of the ridge of
Koziowa, where the Russian lines, under General Ivanoff, lay in
waiting. Passing down the bald slopes of Lysa Gora toward the valley
of the Orava River, the advancing German columns presented a
conspicuous target for the Russians on the opposite slopes of Koziowa,
screened by thick forests. Here one of the most desperate battles of
the campaign ensued on February 6, 1915, between Von Linsingen's
Austro-German army and Brussilov's center.

In close formation and with well-drilled precision the Germans
attempted to storm the position at the point of the bayonet. Again and
again they returned to the charge, only to be repulsed with severe
losses. As many as twenty-two furious bayonet charges were made in one
day, February 7. Wherever a footing was gained in the Russian lines,
there a few minutes ferocious hand-to-hand _melee_ developed--Saxon
and Slav at death grips--the intruders were expelled or hacked down.
Great masses of Austro-German dead and wounded were strewn over the
lower slopes of Koziowa. For five weeks Von Linsingen hammered at the
Russian front without being able to break through. So long as the
Russians held the heights it was impossible for their enemy to emerge
from the passes. These two, Vereczke and Beskid, so close together,
may literally be described as twin tunnels. Owing to the highland
between them, the two columns moving through could not cooperate; if
one side needed reenforcements from the other, they had to be taken
back over the range into Hungary to the junction where the roads
diverged. It was sound strategy on the Russian side to select Koziowa
as the point from which to check the Germanic advance. For the time
being, with Dukla and Lupkow in their hands and the exits of Uzsok and
Rostoki strongly guarded, the defense of Koziowa held Galicia safe
from reconquest. The attacks against Koziowa continued beyond the
middle of March, 1915. On the 16th of that month the Russians captured
a place called Oravcyk, about four miles westward, from where they
could threaten the German left, which had the effect of keeping Von
Linsingen still closer to his mountain passages. The fighting in this
region represents one of the important phases of the war, for it
prevented the relief of Przemysl; temporarily saved Stry