Page - 271 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

In the Shadow of the Gallows 271 From 16 to 20 November, the Battle of Kraków and Częstochowa raged, which was only a success for the Imperial and Royal troops to the extent that the Russian advance was halted. However, to the south, the Russians continued their push westwards. The Imperial and Royal 3rd Army, which had suffered heavy losses to the west of Przemyśl, was forced to retreat, leaving the encircled fortress far behind. The Russians were posi- tioned in the Carpathians, and threatened access to Hungary. Tisza demanded imme- diate measures from the Army High Command to protect Hungary. However, Conrad sought to take decisive action elsewhere and bet literally everything on a single card. If he had not succeeded, he would probably have been dismissed as Chief of the General Staff immediately. Again, there was a crisis within the Austrian leadership. Conrad faced particularly stiff resistance from the Imperial and Royal 4th Army under Arch- duke Joseph Ferdinand. Therefore, the Chief of the General Staff, together with Major General Roth, Commander of the Innsbruck XIV Corps, established a separate Army Group Roth, which was given the task of making a risky advance into the rear of the Russian 3rd Army. Roth was also attached to a German reserve division. The Com- mander-in-Chief of the Russian south-western front, however, General Ivanov, incor- rectly interpreted the Austrian intentions and believed that the Imperial and Royal 4th Army was retreating westwards. Now, it appeared the he might even succeed in breaking through to Bohemia and Moravia. The Army Group Roth was moved through to the Beskid Mountains, and on 1 December began an operation near Limanowa that took the Russians completely by surprise, during which the Russians were thrown back to Łapanów. Reinforcements were hastily brought in on both sides, and on 10 December, the Russians succeeded in pushing back Roth’s flank, which was exposed to the east. However, Conrad had also ordered the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army to attack. From the Carpathians, the group under Sándor Szurmay (38th Honvéd Infantry Division and a ‘combined’ division that had been hastily assembled) gradually pushed through towards Nowy Sącz. Now, Roth also positioned the VI Corps (under Major General von Arz) at Nowy Sącz. This finally forced the Russians to retreat. With his disposition of the Battle of Limanowa-Łapanów and the positioning of the 3rd Army at Nowy Sącz, and thanks to the clever choice of commander responsible for conducting the operation, Conrad had won an impressive victory. He had succeeded in offsetting the inferiority of numbers through manoeuvring and the exploitation of the inner line. He had impressively stood his ground against the army commander. This rendered any doubts about his leadership qualities redundant, and the leadership crisis was overcome. The Emperor awarded him the Military Merit Cross 1st Class. At the same time, Archduke Friedrich was promoted to Field Marshal and was granted permission to bear the field marshal’s baton of his grandfather, Archduke Carl, and his adoptive father, Archduke Albrecht.652