THE RUSSIANS

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 83, 7 April 1916, Page 3

THE RUSSIANS

FIERCE FIGHTING

140 MACHINE-GUNS IN ONE I TRENCH. ■ ■ . I

The I'olloAving description of the lighting near the Roumanian frontier is sent by the Exchange Telegraph Company's Petrograd correspondent: — ! From Avounded officers and others back from tiie front I have obtained . stpJving details of the great offensive, sbili pending, of General Ivanoff's southerh . group of armies. One of my' authorities, Avhoi Avenfc through-^ the battles of the Bsiira last winter,* declares that Ihe present fighting far . exceeds these- for desperation, ferocity, nnd the percentage of losses Avhidi both sides bear Avithout flinching. First of .importance are the operations cast of Czernowitz, Avhich, it., successful, will roll up, the --.'whole. Austro-German line. ■''*■'' ; The Austrian artillery, concentration has proved far inferior to ours, and o. complete Russian- victory in the guii'duel is:■ the result. < The enemy positions at Toporoutz and. Ravanzo wero totally destroyed., In eighteen hours' pro. the Avoods /were •ra/ed so that not one tree stood tipright. ..Tli-3 trenches wero levelled, aaid the. smaller hillocivs used by the Austrians to protect their ( Jaeger cmt-posts were blown away, i. The. charges of our troops hi close formation . against hundreds of machine-guns, all firing without a l>reak, is one of the greatest feats .of ths war. Tivi the, .bayonet -fights ; which '"followed/only a iaw . on either;, side were left'alive. !

HOIST WJTH THEIR OWN

PETARD. » The R-avan/e attack ■ produced many dramatic incidents, ".'i'hjjs Russians, sheletring behind their .rolling shields, advanced on the first Austrian trench. Before the trench, as was expected, Avas a mine. . Volunteers offered to rush over -tho mine,; so that'it might bo exploded, ensiling safety for the men to follow. The Austrian bombers, seeing their j chance, rushed put. ' As they crossed ' their own minefield iin 'explosion,/; killed \aIJ, and one 'of their bombs,' | gwided by a freak, f«ll and exploded ; behind the/ attackers' shields. More •A.u_str'iau^, again Anth bombs •aclvaHced andl af hand-tbjhhnd ftght■fpllowecl. • * -I, v J^ast of'Tovopouiz Ayas some of;the ' bloodiest fighting' on record. After two days' unbroken fighting/ .the iiustriaris were too exhausted to..bury ( tkeir, dead. They made holes tin the J snow, laid tho bodies in the holes, ■ and covered them :ig:iin with show. Next day hand-to-hand fighting raged over the same area. The bodies Avert) ' lacked and pushed out of tho snoAv ; and mixed Avith them lay tho newly killed.. This gruesome scene made such a deep impression on v-both sides i hair a. truce ayhs. ad'rang»d, and the dead wore decently interred: •■■■■}

At Buozacz, "the key to the position,, th«> Strypa-' runs through a ravine, and the east slope ot the hillock which forms it is mined. The 'enemy had other deferisiA re devices, one being tho blowing of poisonous £as out of tho mouth.'of a tunnel dug through iho hill. Only'such' of /Mir men as were collecting behind tho roiling shields could stand the gas., Tills they did by bending close to the shields and letting the gas .drift ovei-hesul.'" Austrian bombers ' advanced on the shields. All were killed.

The result was a trench .fignt Avith bayonets which lasted half an hourl The trench remained in the Russians' hands, ."-nd at one poiiU the Austrians lost in bayoneted 3000 in en killed and several hundred Avouncled.

MAyS VERSUS MECHANISM. The G?rm;ans further north on the Strypn, tinder Bothmar, are being !( similarly hard pressed. Here; too,'i at- 'Burk:-koy. is, a. strongly-defended j bridgehead. .Hei*e in ;t captured second trench, half a mile long, werecounted 140 cemetitcd machine-gun eiKplacomr-nts. The first : . trenches, were lightly . held, and, after volun-t«-ers had bombed the obstacles in front to bits, they Avere taken with a rush.

The Austrians AA'ere surprised, and ■liearly .' lost their Archducal ' Commander. Our men crossed snow-<<-»vered marsli country which had not borne traffic the day before. An increase in the frost made it passable. Austrian outposts Avere overpoAvered, and a. dash Avas made into a thinlymanned advance trench, behind which. AA*as, seen ' a group Oif stafE officers riding-alon,ff the front of a second trench. From orison era it was later learned that this was the Archduke rind his staff. The Archduke and his suite galloped away, leaving a dend orderly.