In the eastern theatre of war fighting still continues on
a huge scale. The Germans under General Mackensen are striving their hardest to reach Lemberg. Though it must be admitted that they have made a considerable amount of progress during the week, and are nearer their objective than they were, it must not be assumed that they will be successful. The Russian counter-attacks are vigorous and often very successful, and it is by no means impossible that what happened before Warsaw in the winter will happen in the case of Lemberg. The flood of invasion will be stayed out- side the city. In any case, we are quite sure that the Russians will fight their hardest, and if they have to abandon Lemberg. which, remember, is not a Russian but an Austrian city, they will abandon it as they did Przemysl—i.e., with the minimum of loss. We must not forget that the Russians are always specially formidable in retreat, and that the further they are pushed back the more difficult it will be for the Germans to extricate themselves for work on the Flanders or Italian front.
