German counterattacks had continued for several days without pause.
After the first successes of the Russian offensive, the front was gradually turning into a heavy and exhausting struggle simply to hold positions.
Across many sectors, the initiative was already shifting toward the Central Powers.
German artillery increasingly struck supply roads, headquarters, and reserve assembly areas.
Russian formations that only days earlier had been advancing now found themselves forced more and more often to defend or withdraw to new positions.
But the front had not collapsed yet.
Despite the growing chaos, many units still held their ground and attempted to resist the German pressure in an organized manner.
Traffic along the roads of Galicia barely stopped either day or night.
Fresh reserves, artillery batteries, and ammunition wagons still moved toward the front.
In the opposite direction stretched columns of wounded soldiers, shattered formations, and medical convoys.
The thunder of artillery almost never disappeared from the air.
On one sector of the front, a Russian infantry regiment held a line near a ruined village that had already changed hands several times over the past days.
Almost every building had been destroyed by artillery fire.
The streets had become nothing more than shell craters, burned beams, and shattered stone walls.
Soldiers sat inside hastily fortified trenches among mud and broken brick.
Many looked completely exhausted.
Some had barely removed their coats for days.
Behind them, German artillery continued firing heavily.
Shells regularly struck the positions and the roads behind the front.
Inside one shelter, a Russian captain studied a map together with several officers.
Nearby stood an exhausted messenger who had just arrived from a neighboring battalion.
—"The left flank pulled back again," he reported quickly. "The Germans are pressing along the road."
The captain exhaled irritably.
—"And the reserves?"
The messenger only shook his head.
—"They say they've already been redirected to another sector."
Silence briefly filled the shelter.
Everyone understood far too well that reports like these were becoming more common across the front.
Nearby, a young Russian soldier sat against the trench wall, silently staring toward the ruined village ahead.
Beside him, an older sergeant slowly cleaned mud from his rifle.
—"Not long ago we were the ones advancing," the soldier said quietly.
The sergeant gave a short nod.
—"We were."
After a pause, he added:
—"Now the important thing is making sure we aren't the ones getting overrun."
Another heavy German shell screamed overhead.
The explosion struck somewhere very close.
Earth collapsed into the trenches.
Someone shouted that a messenger had been wounded.
Almost immediately, German machine guns opened fire again above the positions.
Russian soldiers quickly pressed themselves against the ground.
On a neighboring sector, German formations attacked again after a short artillery preparation.
Small groups of German infantry rapidly emerged from the smoke.
Russian artillery attempted to strike the advancing troops, but communications between the batteries and front-line positions constantly broke down.
Field communication lines were repeatedly destroyed under shellfire.
Messengers were forced to move through battlefield chaos beneath artillery fire.
During the first moments of the assault, Russian formations still held their positions.
Several machine-gun crews continued firing heavily at the advancing Germans.
But then, on one flank, part of the formations began withdrawing after an especially severe bombardment.
Neighboring companies almost immediately lost contact with one another.
German assault groups quickly attempted to exploit the gap between the positions.
Inside one shattered trench, a young sub-lieutenant tried to stop retreating soldiers.
—"Back to the line! The position is still holding!"
But some of the men were barely listening anymore.
Some continued firing.
Some attempted to carry wounded men away.
Others simply withdrew together with the retreating groups.
Behind them, thick columns of smoke still rose above the roads under artillery fire.
Medical wagons and the remnants of formations withdrawn from battle slowly moved along the shattered roads.
Inside the headquarters, commanders gradually began realizing that if the Germans continued pressing at this pace, the front could begin collapsing far faster than expected.
Inside the headquarters of the Southwestern Front, the atmosphere had become steadily heavier over the past days.
Telegraph reports arrived almost without interruption.
Fresh marks constantly appeared across the maps, showing German counterattacks, withdrawals of Russian formations, and sectors where communication had once again collapsed beneath artillery fire.
Although the front still held, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the offensive was gradually losing strength.
During another staff conference, several generals silently studied the map spread across the table.
Aleksei Brusilov stood beside the map, carefully listening to the newest reports.
Nearby stood Alexander Kerensky, who had remained at the front for several days already.
One штабной officer quickly delivered the latest situation report:
—"The Germans continue increasing pressure between two corps sectors. After the withdrawal of neighboring formations, the situation there has deteriorated."
Another general tiredly added:
—"Some regiments have practically lost the ability to continue offensive operations after the last attacks."
The room briefly fell silent.
Reports like these had become increasingly common over recent days.
The Russian Army still continued resisting, but many formations had been exhausted by continuous fighting.
The units had suffered heavy casualties.
Some formations had spent days almost without leaving attacks and counterattacks.
One of the generals irritably ran his hand across the map.
—"If the Germans continue pressing here, we'll have to close the sector with reserves immediately."
Kerensky frowned.
—"Which reserves exactly?"
Nobody answered for several seconds.
Then one of the staff officers calmly said:
—"Skoropadskyi's corps."
Kerensky immediately looked up.
—"The Ukrainian corps?"
—"The corps has not yet been fully committed to the heaviest frontline fighting," the general answered. "The formations still maintain organization, the artillery remains intact, and the corps can move quickly to the threatened sector."
Kerensky remained silent for several moments.
Over the previous months, the issue of Ukrainization inside the army had increasingly become a source of political tension within the Provisional Government and military command.
On one hand, Ukrainian formations often maintained better discipline and internal order.
On the other, many politicians feared the growing influence of large national formations inside the army.
Kerensky slowly looked back toward the map.
—"You are proposing to commit a major Ukrainized formation to one of the key sectors of the front?"
Brusilov answered almost immediately:
—"I am proposing to commit a corps that is still capable of carrying out orders."
The room once again fell silent.
Several generals silently supported him.
The situation at the front was becoming too serious for political arguments.
German pressure continued increasing.
Some formations could barely hold their positions after days of continuous fighting.
Fresh formations were needed, units still capable of quickly occupying positions and stabilizing the sector.
Kerensky stared at the map for several more seconds.
Then he said shortly:
—"Very well. Commit the corps."
The order began being prepared almost immediately.
Skoropadskyi's corps was to move toward one of the most dangerous sectors of the front, where German formations were steadily expanding their pressure after the withdrawal of neighboring units.
At the same time, Pavlo Skoropadskyi remained inside the corps headquarters, studying the latest reports.
Until now, the corps had remained in reserve and had only gradually moved closer to the front.
But from the incoming reports, it was already obvious that the situation was deteriorating rapidly.
A communications officer quickly entered the room and handed over the new orders.
Skoropadskyi carefully read the document.
Nearby stood Oleksandr Sliwinski, who had already spent several minutes studying the map of neighboring sectors.
—"Looks like the Germans have finally started breaking through the neighboring positions," he said quietly.
Skoropadskyi calmly folded the papers.
—"Then it's our turn."
There was no unnecessary drama in his voice.
He had spent too long at war to view such orders any differently.
He understood perfectly well that heavy fighting awaited the corps ahead.
Within several hours, the columns of the corps were already moving along the roads of Galicia.
Infantry, artillery, supply wagons, and medical detachments steadily advanced toward the new sector of the front.
More and more often, they encountered wounded soldiers, shattered formations, and retreating units moving in the opposite direction.
Some soldiers silently watched the corps columns passing by.
A few briefly asked:
—"Reserves coming up?"
Others only tiredly stepped aside to let the artillery and infantry continue forward.
And somewhere far ahead, beneath the endless thunder of artillery, the German offensive continued steadily gathering strength.
The columns of Skoropadskyi's corps continued moving toward the front almost without stopping.
The roads of Galicia were overcrowded with troops, artillery batteries, medical convoys, and retreating formations.
The closer the corps approached the fighting, the stronger the general chaos of the front became.
Shattered formations appeared more and more frequently along the roads.
Some units still maintained order and withdrew in an organized manner.
Others moved together with wagons and wounded soldiers, having lost contact with neighboring formations and commanders.
In many places, the roads had been destroyed by artillery fire.
Wagons became trapped in mud.
Horses struggled to drag heavy guns across ruined sections of road.
Yet the corps itself still continued moving in relatively organized formation.
Officers constantly maintained communication between the marching columns, artillery batteries, and headquarters.
Sliwinski and Bezruchko worked almost continuously with maps and incoming reports, attempting to clarify the positions of neighboring formations and the direction of the German advance.
Inside one temporary corps headquarters established within the remains of a damaged school building, the divisional commanders gathered around the map.
Handziuk, Omelianovych-Pavlenko, Grekov, and several staff officers carefully listened to the latest reports.
Sliwinski quickly pointed across the map with a pencil.
—"The Germans are attempting to widen the breakthrough along the road north of the village. Neighboring formations are withdrawing unevenly after the last fighting."
Handziuk frowned.
—"If they push through there, they'll begin turning the flank."
Omelianovych-Pavlenko calmly asked:
—"What forces do the Germans have on that sector?"
Bezruchko answered almost immediately:
—"No exact numbers yet. But their artillery has increased significantly."
Grekov, who until then had silently studied the map, spoke shortly:
—"Then they'll try to develop the attack quickly."
Skoropadskyi silently looked over the map for several seconds.
Then he calmly began issuing orders.
The infantry divisions were to occupy defensive positions along the most dangerous sector of the front and stabilize the neighboring formations.
Grekov's cavalry division was tasked with covering the corps flank and maintaining communications with adjacent units.
Bolbochan received orders to conduct reconnaissance before the German positions and determine the direction of the enemy's main attacks.
After the short conference, the officers quickly departed toward their formations.
Artillery still thundered continuously across the front.
Soon afterward, the forward formations of the corps began occupying their positions.
On one sector, Ukrainian infantrymen rapidly strengthened defensive positions near a ruined village.
Soldiers dug new trenches directly among shell craters and shattered walls.
Nearby, artillery crews hurriedly deployed batteries.
The distant roar of German bombardment already echoed across the fields.
Close to the trenches, retreating soldiers from a neighboring Russian regiment passed by the newly arriving formations.
The men looked completely exhausted.
Some nearly carried each other as they walked.
One of them tiredly looked toward the Ukrainian troops.
—"You're fresh?"
A young Ukrainian soldier gave a short nod.
The Russian infantryman smiled bitterly.
—"Then the Germans will grind you down soon enough too."
Afterward, the retreating column silently continued toward the rear.
Yet despite the growing crisis across the front, Skoropadskyi's corps still maintained order.
Artillery batteries occupied their positions in an organized manner.
Officers continued maintaining control over their formations.
Messengers and telegraph operators maintained communications between headquarters and the divisions.
Soon German shells once again began exploding above the positions.
The heavy bombardment gradually moved closer toward the sectors now occupied by the corps.
Inside one trench, a young soldier nervously looked over the parapet.
Dense smoke rose above the battlefield ahead.
Nearby, an older sergeant calmly checked his rifle.
—"They'll come soon," he quietly said.
Several minutes later, German artillery sharply intensified its fire.
Then German assault groups began emerging from the smoke ahead.