Heroic Story of the Czecho-Slovak Legions/In the Carpathians
III.
IN THE CARPATHIANS.
The story of Captain “S.“ proves the terrible ordeal trough which Czech officers had to go before they were able to fling off their Austrian uniform, and it was long time yet before he got to Siberia. His days of “fighting“ continued for another five months, almost without interruption. Again and again his Ruthenian company was wiped out, and again it was replaced by others. He continued his narrative:
We had been on the River San, near Mielez, from Oct. 11 to Oct. 18. Then we got orders to fall back to reserve positions. We had not been able to dislodge the two Russian companies. Our whole division had failed in the task. It was the 24th Division and the 14th Army Corps came to replace it! We left our positions during the night, expecting to get to comfortable quarters somewhere before morning. We needed a rest. Instead of a rest we got orders at 4 a. m. to march for another part of the front. It was somewhere near Grembov. Our rest was to consist of six days’ marching. We walked through Grembov after six days, on the Russo-Galician frontier. We crossed the bridge of the Visla at Sandomierz, on Oct. 26. The Russians had again fallen back. The Germans were pressing them hard, and were threatening an advance on Warsaw and Ivangorod. The Austrian armies had orders to support their offensive by a strong attack on the right.
It meant for me a continuation of five months more “fighting“ before I got my “chance“. They were five terrible winter months. Most of the “fighting“ was in the Carpathians. I was often waist-deep in snow. From Sandomiers the landscape was one of utter desolation. The war fiend had passed over it hither and thither for three months. Some German regiments had passed there before and razed every village to the ground. I saw the first two villages, Ozarov and Tarlov, in smouldering ruins. Not a house, cottage, or hut was left. We marched on, passing innumerable “extinct“ villages, till Oct. 29. We were about fifty kilometres south of Ivangorod. We dug trenches. We were told that the Russians were recrossing the Visla. We were to help to cut off their retreat. It was not true. We soon learned it.
HOPELESS CONFUSION.
The Russians inflicted a severe defeat on the Austrians and Germans at Ivangorod. They came on once more like a torrent. Our whole division broke up and fled helter-skelter, the cavalry getting away at a gallop. Such hopeless confusion I had never seen before! The greater part of the division got as far as the River Opatuvka. Here things became inextricable. The artillery got stuck in the sand and quagmires. Our convoys got jammed behind the artillery. We were ordered to make a stand. It was to give the artillery time to get out of the sand. We fought hopelessly and desperately. On Nov. 1 and 2 it was a fight of forty-eight hours without an instant's repose. On the second night we were shifted over to the Second Division. This division had lost nearly all its men. But our division was nearly as bad. We had from fifteen to twenty men left per section. I had lost more than half my company. Still the orders were to hold out. My Ruthenians this time obeyed.
The corporals came and told me they had no more cartridges. Every round had been fired. “Go and get some more from the fellows behind.“ I said. They returned, and said the “fellows behind“ had none. I sent them a second and a third time. Each time they returned with the same story-no ammunition left. The last time they added that the “fellows behind“ had gone. The regiments to my right and left were going. The companies on each side of me had left their trenches. I was acting the colonel in the beer cellar that day. I simply sat in the trenches, and gave orders. But it was no use. I had to get up at last. “I shall go and see if there is any ammunition; come along with me,“ I said to one corporal. I got back a few hundred yards when I came across a Landsturm captain. He looked at me surprised. “What are you doing here?“ he asked. “I am looking for ammunition,“ I said. “My men have none left.“
“You have no business staying where you are,“ he replied, “I shall report you if you don’t order your men to fall back!“ I pretended to be astonished. “My orders were to hold out,“ I said. “Don’t you see that all the companies have left!“ he exclaimed. I went back to order my company to do the same. It was not easy to got back into the trenches. The Russians kept firing, out without coming nearer. I got back to my men, and gave them orders how to get away. Each section in little groups. Only little groups remained. I left the trenches last, and then it was a problem which way to go. The Landsturm captain was gone. Every man of the regiment had vanished. We trudged back aimlessly. It was a sorry retreat. I found other officers and men wandering about. Nobody could give any command. Nobody had any orders. We walked back several kilometres.
FOLLOWING THE SUN.
At night we got to a place called Klimentoff. It was a place of wild confusion. The sooner out of it the better! I asked other officers and other officers asked me in what direction we were to retreat. It was no longer a question of ammunition, but of food. None of us had any rations for three days. The officers who survived after that battle could be counted on one's fingers. The last captain I had seen was the Landsturm captain who had disappeared. All the rest of us were lieutenants or sub-lieutenants. We discussed the retreat. It was decided to follow the direction of the sun to the west.
It was a weary march. For three days we trudged along roads and across fields torn up by shells. We were hungry and starving. My soldiers found some turnips. They were our salvation. I never knew turnips were so delicious! We picked up stragglers from our regiment and formed a motley company. I was the only surviving officer of the whole battalion. The “battalion“ was reduced to 240 men, just the complement of a company. I remained in command till we got about thirty kilometres north-west of Cracow on the German frontier.
Here we were left almost to ourselves for sixteen days. It was perhaps the most wretched period of my “fighting“. The men got cholera and died. I reported a doctor, and we were isolated on a hill. Supplies were sent to us from a little village and handed to us across a fence. We had a few cottages on the hill where the worst cases got shelter. Eighteen of my men died of cholera. It was a wretched sight. The men when they felt they were dying crawled out, tried to sit up a few times, looked for a lump of earth or stone against which to lean, then fell over and gasped their last breath. A few days passed during which no more men died. It was decided then that the plague had left us, and we were supposed to be fit once more to go and “fight“.
On Nov. 16, in fact the order came. To the “fighting“ line once more. My “battalion“, now only 200 strong marched fifteen kilometres. Positions were assigned to it. The Russians were already near. We spent the rest of the day and the night digging trenches. We had not time to dig them deep enough. The ground was frozen. In the morning the Russians were already firing at us. We lay in our trenches, just deep enough to protect us against rifle bullets. We had orders to attack. But the order was absurd. We were not fit to attack. It was enough if the Russians did not attack us. They simply kept playing at us with their rifles and machine guns. We were three days, to begin with, in those shallow trenches, hardly daring to move! The order was repeated to attack, and my men tried. Forty men of the company fell as soon as it showed itself!
FROZEN TO THE GROUND.
We were three weeks, till Dec. 5, in those wretched trenches. Our feet and hands got frozen. Several of my men had to have their limbs amputated afterwards. The barrels of our rifles were frozen. Out of 200 men only fourteen had rifles that could be used. I longed for the Russians to come and “take“ us. But, alas! they never came. Our men became frozen to the ground. In the morning it was necessary for two men to pull up a third, and then half his clothes stuck to the ice. The great battle of Lodz was then being fought, and that was why the Russians did not attack us. They had orders simply to stop our advance.
I had been lying thirteen days without moving out of my trench. On Dec. 5 the order came to take the Russian positions. The Russians, we were told, had fallen back. We doubted it. But when we got to their positions we found it was true. Whither had they gone? It seemed incredible! For fifteen days we had been face to face with them. Their trenches were only 120 yards from ours. Yet they had succeeded in getting away bag and baggage without our seeing it! During that time my men vere probably frozen to the ground. They told me afterwards that they had found the Russians good fellows. My patrols several times spent evenings with them! One night a patrol of mine got to a little house. They found the door open, and walked upstairs.
While two men were upstairs, two others opened a back door down below and found a group of Russians. There was nothing to do but salute them politely. There was a moment’s hesitation between the two groups. The Russians were cooking potatoes, and my men thought they smelt fine. The Russians saw it, and invited them to come in. The two men upstairs came down and also joined. They shared the potatoes and the fire with the Russians. When they had eaten the Russians told them they were free to go. “No; we are your prisoners,“ said my men.“ We are your prisoners,“ said the Russians. Finally both sides yielded the point, and my men came away thinking the Russians were fine fellows. My Ruthenians understood the Russians very well, and could speak to them in their language.
We passed the Russian positions, and found traces of their retreat all along the country. They left little behind them. We marched nearly 100 kilometres (60 miles) till we got into touch with them again. The report then spread that it had only been a lure. The Russians, meanwhile, were victorious in the Carpathians. They threatened to penetrate into Hungarian territory. These were only rumours, but the Austrians felt very uneasy. Our position was on one side of the river Nida. The Russians had taken up good positions on the other side.
MARCHING AND SKIRMISHING.
We were about to settle down in trenches again when orders came for the 3rd Army Corps to march back. I belonged to the 3rd Army Corps, and therefore moved. The report first spread was that we were going to have a rest. Instead, we were all put aboard a train for the Carpathians. We were landed somewhere on the far outskirts of Przemysl. Marshal Conrad von Hoetzendorf was in command. He was to relieve Przemysl. We marched and skirmished alternately till we got to Lisko, about fifty kilometres south of Przemysl. Here we again got into a furious battle which lasted two days. We broke up repeatedly. We took shelter here and there. The Russians seemed to be in front and behind. I got into a fearful fight with my men in a hollow at a place called Vislok Velky. About 100 of my men were killed in bayonet charges.
This was the first time I was captured. I was taken prisoner with about thirty of my Ruthenians. I felt tremendously relieved, and thought that my troubles were over at last. I had no time to explain to the Russians, and they had no time to attend to us prisoners. We formed a small group waiting to know which way we might have to go. We were prisoners for less than ten minutes, when my silly Ruthenians, who had remained behind, came up with a reserve company and rushed the Russians. They thought they had done a glorious thing. I felt like murdering them. The Russians disappeared, and I thought what fools they were not to have kept us once they had us! I had an idea of running after the Russians. I wanted to beg them to take me along. But then I thought of my wife and child in Prague. If the Austrians saw I deserted, it was my wife that would suffer! There was a standing threat against any Czech who deserted to the enemy; his family would be imprisoned, and his goods confiscated.
The battle continued furiously. The Russians drove us back and we retreated again in disorder. We did not stop till we got to the Hungarian border. For the first time we were able to dig real trenches. The Russians did the same, and for six weeks we remained in those positions. We passed Christmas and New Year there. Every day there was some skirmish or other, but of small importance. For the first time I got into touch with many of my compatriots. The patrols in many of the regiments were composed of Czechs. They were commanded by Czech officers, and they often came at night and we talked. A certain agreement was established, and by that time my Ruthenian troops became more sympathetic with us.
MISSING PATROLS.
We established “friendly“ relations with the Russians. The Austrians had no idea of what was going on. From that time we sent regular patrols every night. They invariably got lost with the Russians. None of our patrols ever returned. They were reported as missing. Every time a patrol left under a Czech officer we shook hands and said, “Goodbye; we shall meet on the other side!“ We gave money to the men before they left. They promised to refund it when we got to Russia. We freely talked of the defeat of Austria. We expected an armistice any moment. It was agreed that Austria could not hold out for many weeks, not to say months. Even the Austrian officers agreed with us. They also talked freely of going over to the Russians if they got the chance.
It was on Feb. 1 that I was taken prisoner a second time. It was by a real surprise, but I was furious when recaptured. A small section was commanded by a Czech, Dr. E., of Prague, whom we all knew as a fervent patriot, and who afterwards became a member of our Provisional Government. The main forces were placed on two low hills. They gently sloped down to a hollow where a good road passed and led to a village some three kilometress behind where all our stores were concentrated. I was on the extreme point of the hill on the left. An Austrian regiment held the hill on the right. Down below in the hollow was Dr. E. in command of his little section. The Russians started along the road before dawn, and Dr. E. ignored them. They passed by his post, and actualy got to the village, and began removing our stores before the Austrian regiment noticed their presence and began firing.
I was awakened about five o’clock in the morning. The Russians had now started an attack all along the line. I hurriedly sent my men right and left. They could see nothing. I walked out of the trenches and went towards a wood behind us, from which I could see the village where the firing was liveliest. As I approached the wood I saw a line of men coming out that did not look like our own troops. I was sure they were Russians. But I wondered how they had got there. I walked up to them with my sword under my arm. They called to me, “Offizier,“ and I nodded. They made signs to me to hand over my sword. I did so. I was a prisoner a second time, and quietly joined their group. I offered to send over to my trenches and invite my men to surrender likewise.
ANOTHER DISAPPOINTMENT.
We were discussing the matter when an attack suddenly came on the flank. An Austrian lieutenant from another hill had ordered his company to attack the Russians. He led the attack, and came along at the head of his men, firing at the Russians himself with a rifle. The Russians were taken by surprise, and their first instinct was to kill me. They took me for a traitor. Three soldiers rushed at me with the butt-end of their rifles raised to smash my brains. I dodged, as I had never dodged in my life. I got several blows but they glanced off. I ran a few yards as fast as I could, and by that time the Austrians got near enough to drive back the Russians. We fell back, and the Russians started in pursuit.
I ran about 500 yards, and had the snow waist deep. The lieutenant ran with me, and his men followed. When I got to a place where I could breathe I turned on the lieutenant. I called him a beast, a pig, and all the names I could think of. If I had had my sword I could have run him through. I said: “Could you not see that you were exposing me to be killed by the Russians, you daft dog?“ Funnily enough he agreed with me! He admitted that he had done a silly thing!
The fight meanwhile continued. But the Russians got the advantage. Our troops on the hills around were dislodged. Most of them were rushed out of their positions by surprise. My own orderly was captured. He was taken into the Russian lines, but the poor devil pleaded, foolishly enough, to be allowed to return to me. He was very attached to me. He said he had all my things and wanted to bring them to me. The Russians were amuse, and told him, he might go. He actualy found his way back to our lines, and told us funny stories. He reported that our colonel and all his staff were taken prisoners. The colonel was found still asleep in his sleeping bag in a trench. The Russians shouted to him, “Vstavay“ (“Wake up!“), and had to yell into his ears. Even the firing had not awakened him. They pulled him out of his sleeping bag with only half his uniform on.
We waited in vain about 600 yards behind the place where I had been taken, and hoped to be captured again. The silly Austrian lieutenant consented to surrender with me. But after two hours we got tired of waiting. The Russians, instead of coming on to where we were, had fallen back, taking with them all our provisions in the village. We slowly walked on and came across some stragglers. The rest of our regiment was collected some distance behind the village. My company was gone, but the regiment was reconstituted with reserves, and I got a new company. We were ordered to retake our positions, but the Russians had occupied them and strengthened them. They held them well, and we retreated ultimately about thirty kilometres into Hungarian territory. It rankled in my heart that I had not been able to remain a prisoner the second time, especially as I had 30.000 kronen in my belt that day. It was the regiment’s money which I had just received. I would have been glad to take it with me to the Russian side. I hated the lieutenant for having rescued me. He had killed two Russians with his own hand before I got free. But I did not feel grateful; it only made things worse for him.
SURPRISE BY THE RUSSIANS.
The Russian attack continued, and we retreated to a village called Vyrava. The whole of the month of February passed at that place. It was the beginnning of stationary trench warfare. On March 1 the Russians made a surprise attack. A series of fearful battles and engagements ensued. We were badly cut up. Our division lost 1,500 men in a single day. As usual, I had my share fighting in the very worst part, and I lost nearly my whole company. Only four of my men survived. Our battalion was diminished by one-half. One entire company was taken prisoner.
On the following day our positions were occupied by fresh troops I was sent to the village behind to reconstitute my company. The fighting continued till March 7. From March 8 to March 21 there was a complete lull. The moment for my taking “leave“ of the Austrians at last arrived. I did not expect it would be so soon. In a way it came as a surprise. We got a telephone message on the night of March 20 that the Russians were going to make a general attack the following morning. We did not believe it. But we took observations. I noticed that there was great movement on the Russian side. My corporals went scouting and came back saying they had seen many Russians on the march to the trenches. They were concentrating in great numbers. It was true, then, they were preparing a big attack. I did not care. I still pretended not to believe it. I told my men to go and sleep. They were too excited, I said, and took shadows for men. They came back to me and wanted to know what orders I gave them. “Go, lie down and sleep," I said. They went away wondering. They must have thought I was mad. My own orderly came and asked me what to do. “I shall stay up and watch,“ he said “No.“ I told him, “you must not bother. I am going to lie down lie down and sleep.“
During the night an order came from the colonel to be ready. The Russians were going to attack, and we were to hold our position to the last man. “All right,“ I said to myself: “we shall stay here to the last man!“ Two of my corporals again came during the night and wanted to know whether they were not to call the men to get ready. “Go and sleep,“ I said.
WAITING TO SURRENDER.
The Russians made their attack just before dawn. I heard it in my trench, but did not move. My corporals again came and wanted to know what to do. As they were talking there was firing already on all sides. I said we had orders simply to hold our positions. “Were they to fire?“ they asked. “No,“ I replied. I had some difficulty in keeping my men quiet. They were getting nervous. The battle was raging all round. Whole companies were surrendering right and left. The Russians were making progress at all points. One of my men fired a shot out of sheer excitement. I boxed his ears. I took out my revolver and I said: “Now the first man who attempts to leave his position and fly I will shoot down. Orders are to keep your positions and nothing more.“ My corporals grumbled but obeyed.
The Russians had already passed us to the right and left. Suddenly I saw them coming up to our trenches. I made a sign to them to come along. At that moment one of my sergeants started out of the trenches and ran away. I let him go. My men then seemed to understand. They climbed out of the trenches and waved to the Russians not to fire.
I went ahead, and the Russians called out. “Offizier!“ I nodded, and joined them. They passed me and made a sign to me in what direction to go. This time I was decided not to lose my chances. I followed my men, who were now as nimble as hares, and we got to a hill beyond which a lot of Russians were lined up for firing with their rifles. Their officer came forward and told me to get behind his men. I thought it a dangerous position, as the men soon started firing, and were answered by some distant companies. I asked the officer to let me get farther on. He refused to let us go, and said we would be all right where we were. I was standing up, and was about to light a cigarette, when a Russian soldier came up to me and roughly wanted me to give him my cigarette. I looked at him and refused. He threatened me. The officer saw it, and called him. He said a few words to him, and the soldier came back, saluted me, and apologised. I then offered him all the cigarettes he wanted out of my case.
I was anxious to get away. I did not went to be recaptured a third time. The officer finally consented to let us go. We walked beyond the woods until we got far out of rifle range, and joined other prisoners near a village. I now felt safe at last. The Austrians would get me no more. It happened that I also had surrendered to Radko Dimitrieff’s army. This time his headquarters had been changed. They were at Pilsno, whither we were conveyed by train. I was questioned, and gave full details of all I knew. As soon as the Russians knew I was a Czech they came and shook hands with me, and called me brother. Our train gradually took us through Jaroslav, Rava Ruska, and Sokal, and on April 1 we arrived at Kieff. I already had had a week’s rest, and I breathed the air of freedom, though a prisoner of war.