ested. For over a week the struggle raged; a
half million men were brought up in groups and flung against the
Russian front. Shell, shrapnel, bullets and asphyxiating bombs finally
wore down the Russian resistance.

Incapacitated by physical exhaustion and outnumbered by three to one,
the Russian infantry gave way on June 13, 1915. The "phalanx" drove
into their ranks and advanced rapidly in a northerly direction on its
great flanking movement. But the Russian spirit was not broken, for at
this critical moment General Polodchenko rode out with three regiments
of cavalry--the Don Cossacks, the Chernigov Hussars, and the Kimburn
Dragoons. They dashed into the unbroken lines of the triumphant German
infantry like a living hurricane, sabered the enemy, and put thousands
on the run. Swerving aside, they next charged deep into the German
rear, mauled the reserves into confusion, hacked their way out again
and captured several machine guns. The most remarkable feature about
this extraordinary exploit was the fact that the losses sustained by
the cavalry amounted only to 200 killed and wounded. The effect on the
"phalanx," however, was such that no more attacks were made that day,
and the Russians were able to retire to the hills near Rawa-Ruska.
Ivanoff 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