NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17192, 12 June 1916, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR.

Evidence that th© new Russian offensivo has been developed on a very wide front is furnished by the messages to-clay. Earlier reports dealt mainly with tho advance from the Putilovka to the Styr and with the occupation of Lutsk. The Styr has now been crossed north and south of Lutsk, and tho Austrians and Germans are said to be endeavouring to organise resistance to the west. The Austrian communique claims that attacks at Kolki, at Novo Aleksinetz and on the Strypa were repulsed, and if the offensive had been developed only from Kolki to the Galician border at Novo Aleksiuote the extent of front affected would bo ninety or a hundred miles. But the fresh reports announce tho capture of Buczacz, which is more than fifty miles south of the border.

Tho rupture of the Austrian line on the Strypa at Buczacz may prove to be more important even that the big break in tho Lutsk region. There have been many changes "between Lutsk and Rovno, and although a fairly static condition was maintained through the winter in Volhynia the earlier fighting suggested that changes on a considerable scale might reasonably be expected when the season permitted large movements. But on the Strypa tho Austrians had dug themselves in and had fortified their front on tho recognised German lines, and moreover tho character of tho country was not at all favourable for military operations against dofensivo positions. It is true that there was a long and fierce struggle during October of last year on tho soctor west of Trembovla, but this was clearly positional fighting, on the issue of which depended the strength or weakness of the opposing fronts during the winter.

There is a useful note on tho Strypa front in a recent number of the history issued by "The Times,'' which condenses the material facts into convenient form. "From the ZboroffTarnopol railway in the north to the Dniester in the south, between the Strypa and the Sereth," it says, " lies tho part of the Podolian high plateau which, at tho southern end of tho Eastern front, was throughout the autumn of 1915 the scene of the most important fighting. The valleys of tho

parallel loft-hand tributaries of tho Dniester cut the Podolian plateau into a series of square segments. Tho tableland between tho Strypa and the Sereth forms a slightly inclined plane rising towards tho west and the south. Most of it is a perfectly open high plateau, with hardly any forests, not oven trees, except on tho hills which lino the river valleys in the northern part, and, in tho south, in tho neighbourhood of the canyons. The drainago of a large part of that high plateau is rather poor and its depressions—though anyhow they still exceed a 3 a rule tho 1000 feet contour line—tend to bo marshy. Tho geological structure of tho country is, however, such that once tho river has cut down to tho sub-strata of sandstone the character of its bed and banks undergoes a complete transformation. The wide, marshy valleys, with their strings of little lakes, change into narrow canyons, of which tho banks descend erither in terraces or in straight, steep inclines; in tho local language tho slopo of a canyon is usually called by the expressive description of 'wall.' These canyons are the characteristic featuro of the Dniester belt."

Tho October fighting occurred on the Strypa, just outside the northeru end of tho gorge. The banks aro there low, and a few miles to the north the river 'forms a small lake. Between the lake and the upper end of tho gorge there aro several practicable crossings, but once the gorge begins no road leads into it for a stretch of fifteen miles until Buczacz is reached. The Russians were anxious to secure control of the low banks above the town of ' Sokoloff, aud after prolonged fighting they were established on the eastern bank, with commanding positions. The value of this success was seen later when the enemy attempted to open an offonsive across the river at Buczacz. This movement was promptly countered by a Russian offensive north of Sokoloff, and the Austrians had to abandon their own attack in order to meet the Russian development.

Curiously enough, there is no indication of a special Russian offensive on the sector west of Trembovla, where the passago of tho Strypa might seem to be. most easily forced, and it is to be inferred that the Austrians took particular precautions to strengthen their front where it had been shown to be weak. But this is probably not the whole explanation. Tho river might be forced and the enemy's front on the right bank breached, but the crossing would have to be made on a narrow front and consequently it would bo difficult to debouch. The main thrust on the Strypa, therefore, has been made at the bridgehead at Buczacz, roughly fifteen miles to the south, and the success of tho offensive is shown by the capture of the village of Potokzloty, which is west of tho Strypa, a dozen miles south of Buczacz and only some five miles from tho Dniester. It is claimed, indeed, that the Austrian front has been broken everywhere between Buczacz and the Dniester, that the Russian advance guard has reached the Zlota Lipa, and that progress is being made on that river and along the Dniester.

The Russians should now reap the benefit of tho capture of Uszieczko in February. That was an isolated action, involving many weeks of patient preparation and finally tho storming of a very strong bridgehead. Tho town itself lies in the gorge or canyon of tho Dniester, at this point 500 ft or 600 ft deep, at tho confluence of tho Dzuryn and the Dniester, commanding an important bridgehead. The road to Horodenka aud Kolomea crosses the Dzuryn and then runs up the Dniester for half a mile before crossing that river, and a powerful series of works has been constructed in the angle of the two rivers. The Russians bad really to storm a double series of works before they hold the Dniester bridgehead, and their achievement was a difficult one. But tho strategic, value of the success was worth the price. Uszieczko gives them the chance, while the Austrian front to the north is broken, of forcing tho passage of the Dniester and of turning the whole Austrian position south of the river, including Zaleszcziki, on the Dniester, the ridge between tho Dniester and the Pruth aud the city of Czernowitz.