t night to cross the Strypa River at its junction with the
Dniester. Other parts of the front, especially near Olyka and along
the Bessarabian border, were again subjected to heavy artillery fire.

Although, generally speaking, the Austrians restricted themselves in
most instances to a determined resistance against all Russian attacks,
they took the offensive in some places, without, however, making any
more headway than their adversaries. By the end of March, 1916,
aeroplanes became more active on this part of the front, just as they
did further north. On March 28, 1916, both sides report more or less
successful bombing expeditions, which on that day seemed to bring
better results to the Austrians than to the Russians, though these
operations, too, must be considered of minor importance. Increasingly
bad weather now began to hamper further undertakings, just as it did
in the north, and by March 31, 1916, the Russian activities seemed to
have lost most of their energy. Along the entire southeastern front
thaw set in and the snows were melting. Although the territory along
the Austro-Russian front, south of the Pripet Marshes, is not as
difficult as further north, not being equally swampy, the fact that
the line ran to a great extent along rivers and through a mountainous,
or at least hilly country, resulted in difficulties hardly less
serious. Rivers and creeks which only a few weeks before held little
water suddenly became torrents and caused a great deal of additional
suffering to the troops on both sides by invading their trenches.

The Russian offensive had barely slowed down when the Austrians
themselves promptly assumed offensive operations. But here, too, it
must be borne in mind that, although we used the word offensive,
operations were altogether on a minor scale and restricted to local
engagements. Some of the heaviest fighting of this period occurred
near the town of Olyka, on the Rovno-Brest-Litovsk railroad. Just
south of this place repeated Austrian attacks were launched against a
height held by the Russians, both on April 1 and 2, 1916, but they
were promptly repulsed.

On April 3, 1916, another attack in that neighborhood, this time
northeast of Olyka, near the villages of Bagnslavka and Bashlyki, also
failed to carry the Austrians into the Russian trenches. On the same
day Austrian attacks were reported northwest of Kremenets on the Ikva,
along the Lemberg-Tarnopol railway and in the vicinity of Bojan