The German attack began almost immediately after the artillery bombardment ended.
Small groups of German infantry quickly emerged from the smoke and dust ahead.
They advanced in short rushes between shell craters and shattered trenches, trying to close the distance to the Russian positions as quickly as possible.
Almost at once, German machine guns opened fire.
Bullets immediately began striking the parapets and trench passages.
On several sectors, German artillery still continued shelling the corps positions while gradually shifting its fire deeper toward the rear.
—"To your positions!"
Ukrainian soldiers quickly occupied the firing line along the trenches.
Machine-gun crews opened return fire almost immediately.
Fresh Russian artillery explosions erupted across the field ahead.
Inside one trench, a young infantryman hurriedly reloaded his rifle, trying not to look at the bodies lying beside the neighboring position.
Nearby, a sergeant calmly gave orders:
—"Don't expose yourselves unnecessarily. Let them come closer."
The German assault groups continued advancing.
Several soldiers had already managed to reach the shattered wire before the corps positions.
A fierce exchange of fire erupted almost immediately.
On the left sector of the defense, German formations managed to approach especially close after a heavy artillery bombardment.
One Ukrainian officer quickly ran between trenches under fire.
—"Machine gun here! Quickly!"
Behind him, several soldiers already dragged a heavy machine gun through a destroyed communication trench.
German grenades began exploding near the forward positions.
Someone shouted that the platoon commander had been wounded.
But the defensive line still continued holding.
Russian artillery gradually began answering more accurately.
Explosions now erupted directly among the advancing German groups.
Part of the German infantry threw themselves into shell craters.
But on a neighboring sector, another German group nevertheless managed to break into the forward trenches.
The fighting there immediately turned into close combat.
Gunfire, shouting, grenades — the narrow trenches once again became chaotic slaughter.
One German soldier burst through the smoke directly into the position of a Ukrainian squad.
Several shots rang out almost simultaneously.
The German collapsed into the trench.
Nearby, a grenade exploded.
Earth and smoke once again covered the position.
Not far away, Bolbochan and a group of cavalrymen temporarily fighting on foot near the corps flank attempted to seal a dangerous gap between the positions.
—"Don't let them through the trenches!"
Under heavy fire, his men quickly occupied a shattered trench sector and opened fire against a German group attempting to move around the flank.
The German attack gradually began losing momentum.
Despite the heavy bombardment and pressure, the corps still held its positions.
On some sectors, the Germans managed to break into the forward line, but reserve companies immediately attempted to seal the gaps.
Messengers continued forcing their way between positions under shellfire.
Telegraph lines once again broke apart beneath explosions, and more and more often orders had to be carried by runners.
Inside one temporary command post, Sliwinski quickly marked new positions on the map.
Nearby, Bezruchko received reports from the divisions.
—"The left sector is still holding."
—"At Handziuk's position the Germans tried breaking into the trenches, but they've been pushed back for now."
—"Omelianovych-Pavlenko's losses are heavy, but the line still holds."
Skoropadskyi silently listened to the reports.
Somewhere ahead, artillery thundered heavily once again.
After a brief pause, he calmly said:
—"The main thing now is not to let the front collapse."
No dramatic speeches were necessary anymore.
Everyone inside the headquarters already understood that if the Germans broke through this sector, the chaos behind the front would become even more dangerous.
German pressure continued until late into the evening.
After the first counterattacks, the enemy made several more attempts to widen the breakthrough between the retreating Russian formations and the positions of Skoropadskyi's corps.
The most dangerous situation developed on the left sector of the defense, where after another artillery strike part of the neighboring formations once again began withdrawing.
For a short time, a dangerous gap appeared between the positions.
German assault groups immediately attempted to exploit the situation.
Covered by machine-gun fire, they rapidly advanced through shattered trenches and shell craters between the lines.
On one trench sector, Ukrainian infantrymen could already hear firing almost directly against their flank.
—"The Germans are moving around us!"
Several soldiers immediately began turning a machine gun toward the gap.
Dense clouds of smoke still hung above the battlefield ahead.
Visibility constantly worsened because of artillery fire and the earth thrown upward by explosions.
Behind the line, the remnants of shattered formations still continued retreating along the roads.
Some officers attempted to stop the men and return them to the positions.
Shouting, curses, and the voices of medical orderlies echoed somewhere in the distance.
But closer to the corps sector, the situation gradually began stabilizing.
Reserve formations that Skoropadskyi had started moving forward during the first German attacks were now rapidly redeployed toward the most dangerous sectors.
Handziuk personally arrived at the left flank, where the situation had become especially difficult.
Amid the continuous thunder of artillery, he and his officers quickly distributed companies along the half-destroyed trench line.
—"Machine guns closer to the road, don't let the Germans pass between the positions, keep the messengers moving constantly."
No long speeches were necessary.
The soldiers already understood well enough that if the Germans broke through there, the chaos would only grow worse.
Soon afterward, German formations launched another assault along the gap between the positions.
Several assault groups managed to approach almost directly to the trenches.
But now the defense met them far more effectively.
Ukrainian machine-gun crews immediately opened heavy fire.
Russian artillery began striking the ground before the corps positions.
Heavy explosions quickly mixed with rifle and machine-gun fire.
Inside one trench, a young soldier hurriedly fed fresh ammunition belts into a machine gun.
Nearby, the crew continued firing almost without pause at German infantry moving through the shell craters.
Spent casings already covered the trench floor.
The machine-gun barrel had become so overheated that it constantly had to be cooled with water.
The Germans attempted several more attacks against the line, but gradually the assault began losing momentum.
On a neighboring sector, Omelianovych-Pavlenko managed to organize a short counterattack with a reserve company and push back a German group that had broken into the forward trenches.
The fighting once again turned into brutal close combat inside the shattered positions.
Grenades, point-blank gunfire, and the cries of the wounded mixed together in the thick smoke and mud.
But by evening, the German formations gradually began withdrawing back toward their original positions.
The front on the corps sector had held.
The losses were heavy.
Some companies had been severely reduced after hours of continuous combat.
Medical stations were already overcrowded with wounded soldiers.
Orderlies continued carrying men away from the forward positions even after the main attacks had ended.
Yet the worst possible outcome had still been avoided.
The Germans had failed to widen the breakthrough.
The front line on this sector gradually stabilized.
When the intensity of the bombardment finally weakened somewhat, officers inside one temporary corps headquarters were at last able to assess the situation more calmly.
Sliwinski quickly reviewed the latest reports.
Bezruchko marked new information across the map.
—"The withdrawal continues on the neighboring sectors," one officer quietly reported.
—"But our sector is still holding."
For several seconds, the only sound inside the building was the distant thunder of artillery.
Skoropadskyi silently studied the map of the front.
He understood perfectly well that this was not a victory.
German pressure would continue.
Across the entire front, the army was still gradually losing stability.
But for now, the corps had accomplished its main task — preventing the crisis on this sector from turning into a full breakthrough.
After a brief pause, Skoropadskyi calmly said:
—"Pass the order to the divisions. Strengthen the positions during the night. The artillery stays in place."
The officers immediately began transmitting the orders.
And above Galicia, the heavy smoke of artillery battles still continued hanging over the front.
By the end of the week, the situation at the front remained тяжелой.
The German offensive continued, Russian formations gradually withdrew on several sectors, and the June Offensive, which only recently had seemed like the beginning of a new turning point in the war, was increasingly becoming a prolonged crisis.
At the same time, however, different kinds of reports also began reaching the rear together with the frontline dispatches.
Newspapers increasingly published articles about the actions of Ukrainized formations and Skoropadskyi's corps.
Ukrainian newspapers in Kyiv especially embraced the topic.
The articles quickly spread among officers, students, officials, and Ukrainian organizations.
Some of the publications remained relatively restrained.
Others openly emphasized the contrast between the growing crisis of the army and the condition of the Ukrainized formations.
—"Ukrainian formations held their positions during German counterattacks."
—"General Skoropadskyi's corps maintained order during heavy fighting."
—"The Ukrainization of the army demonstrates its effectiveness at the front."
Articles like these increasingly appeared not only in smaller Ukrainian newspapers, but also in larger publications connected with moderate Ukrainian circles, industrialists, and sections of the nobility.
In many of the articles, Skoropadskyi's name gradually began turning into more than simply the name of a general.
It became a symbol of the idea that Ukrainian formations could preserve discipline and combat effectiveness even amid the growing crisis of the army.
Inside one office in Kyiv, several representatives of the Central Rada discussed the newest newspapers and front-line reports.
Issues from several publications lay scattered across the table.
Vynnychenko irritably threw one newspaper back onto the desk.
—"Skoropadskyi again."
One socialist nearby gave a tired smile.
—"Right now almost everyone is writing about him."
Vynnychenko remained silent for several seconds.
Then he coldly replied:
—"That's not what concerns me."
He tapped his fingers against one of the articles.
—"Look at how they present this."
One of the men quickly glanced through the text.
—"Ukrainian formations maintained order amid the general crisis of the front..."
After a short pause, he looked up.
—"And?"
Vynnychenko answered irritably:
—"Today the newspapers write about discipline and order. Tomorrow they'll start writing that only officers are capable of saving Ukraine from chaos."
The room briefly fell silent.
Some members of the Rada clearly did not fully share his concerns.
For many of them, the Ukrainization of the army still remained one of the greatest achievements of recent months.
But at the same time, more and more people were beginning to understand that the growing influence of Ukrainized formations automatically strengthened the influence of their commanders as well.
Especially commanders like Skoropadskyi.
Meanwhile, at the front, the corps continued holding its positions beneath German pressure.
Soldiers sat inside wet trenches beneath the endless thunder of artillery.
Medical orderlies carried away the wounded.
Messengers moved between positions beneath shellfire.
Very little heroism remained in these battles anymore.
Only exhaustion, mud, smoke, casualties, and the constant struggle to keep the front from collapsing further.
Yet against the background of that growing chaos, Skoropadskyi's name was beginning to appear more and more often — not only inside army headquarters, but far beyond the front itself.