caused considerable surprise when it was announced
officially on June 8, 1916, that the fortress of Lutsk had been
captured by the Russians on June 7, 1916.

The fortress lies halfway between Rovno and Kovel, on the important
railway line that runs from Brest-Litovsk to the region southwest of
Kiev. It is this railway sector, between Rovno and Kovel, that has
been the objective of the Russian attacks ever since the Teuton
offensive came to a standstill eight months ago, for its control would
give the Russians a free hand to operate southward against the lines
in Galicia.

[Illustration: An Austrian 30.5 centimeter mortar in position. The
gunner is ready and the officer is just giving the command to fire.
Meanwhile, another great 12-inch shell is being brought up for the
next loading.]

Lutsk is a minor fortress, the most westerly of the Volhynian triangle
formed by Rovno, Dubno, and Lutsk. The town is the center of an
important grain trade, and the districts of which it is the center
contained before the war a considerable German colony. It is supposed
to have been founded in the seventh century. In 1791 it was taken by
Russia. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop and at the outbreak
of the war had a population of about 18,000. During the war it
suffered a varied fate. On September 1, 1915, it was captured by the
combined German and Austro-Hungarian forces which had accomplished a
month before the capture of Warsaw and had forced the Russian legions
to a full retreat. Twenty-three days later it was evacuated by the
forces of the Central Powers and recaptured by the Russians on
September 24, 1915. Four days later, September 28, 1915, the Russians
were forced to withdraw again, and on October 1, 1915, it fell once
more into the hands of the Austrians. During the winter the Russians
had made a dash for its recapture, but had not succeeded, and ever
since the front had been along a line about twenty miles to the east.
The capture of the fortress was due primarily to the immensity of
the Russian artillery, which maintained a violent, continuous fire,
smashing the successive rows of wire entanglements, breastworks, and
trenches. The town was surrounded with nineteen rows of entanglements.
The laconic order to attack was given at dawn on June 7, 1916. Up to
noon the issue hung in the balance, but at 1 o'clock the Russians made
a breach in the enemy's position near the village of Podgauzy. They
repulsed a fierce Austri