RUSSIA'S CAMPAIGN.

Mataura Ensign, 12 February 1916, Page 4

RUSSIA'S CAMPAIGN.

FICHTINC IN BUKOWINA. AN IMPORTANT SUCCESS. Beceivcd February 12, *••"> :'•"'• I , K'1"B0(;BA1), Kf'h. M. Fuller reports emphasise ihe importance ol the Russian success at. Ocio-zko (-10 miles north of (zernowitz, Ihe capital ol Biikowina,. If is a stronghold on a high ridge between the Dniester mid the /.mm near ihe point of I heir confluence. From thence the enemy was able to pour a galling .(ire on the Russian positions. The ea.si bank is precipitous and ihe slopes oi ihe ridge are covered with dense undergrowth, and was convened into a miniature Gibraltar. The .Russians drove numerous saps irom whence rhey availed the enemy with hand grenades and their batteries poured in high explosive., and shrapnel with unerring precision. The lirst Bussiaii success iook place at the end oi January, ltni, heavily reinforced, the enemy kepi the Russians al bay lor a week. Then the Russians won a. position enabling their heavy gutu to bombard the reserves across the river. Finally, after four days and nights of desperate fighting the Russians rushed the bridgehead on Tuesday and crossed the Dniester, though the epposite haul-: was eqtially precipitoiu; and sir<»ngly fortified.

It is I•cruvrtt'il that (ii'lli'i'al ti+jhliu rmolli was wounded in tin- heavy iijjcltr-

I'scieczko was the point of connection between General von Botluner's armies operating north of the river and the armies of General von Pilanzer and the Germans between the Dniest, r and the Pruth. The Russians have thus thrust a wedge between two parts of the enemy armies. The Russians are aLo threatening the (V.ernowitz Plateau north-east of Czernoivitz, which is the scene of strenuous fighting but is not yet decisive and is not mentioned in the official bulletins. The successes illustrate the importance of the recent reconstruction of the Russian artillery. Formerly the German artillery overwhelmed the Russian, but now the German fire has been .heaten down. The Russians provided ample shells and guns of the pattern of the French '•seventy-live-." These do not require concrete platform.-, whereas the German.* are forced to work their guns in two or three positions connected laterally .by rails which the Russian gunners readily pick out.