THE WAR IN THE EASTERN THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 7

THE WAR IN THE EASTERN THEATRE

BRILLIANT SUCCESS IN OPEN COUNTRY RUSSIAN .VICTORY NEAR OP.ATOW,' > By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright "Times" and Sydney "Sun" Services. London, July 5. 'A correspondent with the : Russian forces in Southern Poland describes the readjustment of the line at this point to conform with the Galician retreat., > The operations were brilliantly' carried out, the Russians achieving an' important success near Opatow, which resulted in the complete' break-up of the symmetry of the Austro-German pursuing movement. ' • The battle was peculiarly interesting, because it was fought in the open Without trenches by one hundred thousand men with four.hundred guns.' The. Austrians and Germans lost nearly thirty thousand killed, wounded, arid prison- , ers. Th 6 enemy's' strength was nearly double that of tho Russian, and they did not expect that the supposedly demoralised Russians would offer resistance outside the fortified lino. , - ' , , V, - m The battle commenced on tho lotp by an attack, upon a, German corps. Then tho Russians, using- Opatow as an axis, swung furiously upon the Austrians. The attack was characterised, by smart Cossack work, -the ' Cossacks . riding round the Austrians and hitting the lino of communications. At the same time the infantry attacked the main column, crumpling up the entire Austrian forma Immediately after this action the same troops made,a forced'night march over the mountain, attacking the German formation frontally, and inflicting , heavy losses. Unfortunately, ' they wero unable to/follow up the advantage lest they should leave a gap in the general rotiring line, . - -