So fell Przemysl. Its capture was not so much a Russian victory as an Austrian disgrace. By overcrowding the place with soldiers, and putting careless, ignorant officers in charge of them, the Austrians ensured its downfall. About 120,000 prisoners, including 2,600 officers, fell into Russian hands; about 1,000 guns were captured, 180 of them fit for use, as well as a large amount of shell and small-arm ammunition. Russia had obtained an excellent base from which to advance against the central passes of the Carpathians, and she had set free an army of 100,000 men for future operations.
The fall of Przemysl was greeted with great delight by the Allies, and it was thought that before the end of the summer Cracow would be sure to fall, Silesia would be entered, and the Russian legions would be sweeping through Hungary. Alas! these rosy hopes were soon to be disappointed. Within five weeks clouds began to gather in the East. The Russians were caught napping. The strongest army which Germany had ever mustered was hurled against them, and huge guns drove them remorselessly back from the soil which they had so hardly won. Less than forty days after the Austro-Germans began to move, Przemysl was once more in their hands. Nor was the retreat stayed until the Russians were driven far back on their own soil, and the very existence of their armies was at stake.
[Footnote 23: _Stan´is-low_, 75 m. S.S.E. of Lemberg. It has extensive railroad shops.]
In this chapter I shall tell you some stories illustrating the fierce fighting which took place in the Eastern theatre of war during the first three months of the year 1915. I have already told you that Russian women frequently disguised themselves as men and fought with great heroism in the ranks. A Russian girl named Alexandra Lagereva was awarded a commission early in the year for fine soldierly conduct in the field. During one of the battles fought near Suwalki her detachment was surrounded by the Germans, and forced to surrender. Alexandra noticed, from the way in which her captors looked at her, that they had guessed her secret. Perhaps for this reason they did not go through her pockets, in which she carried a watch and a compass.