Dawn over Galicia arrived almost simultaneously with the beginning of one of the most powerful artillery bombardments the Russian Army had launched during the entire war.
At first, a distant rumble from individual heavy guns rolled across the front.
Then, seconds later, the entire horizon seemed to explode at once.
Thousands of Russian guns opened fire against the Austro-Hungarian positions.
The ground shook continuously.
Enormous columns of smoke, earth, and fire rose almost immediately above the front line.
Heavy howitzers methodically struck second-line fortifications, artillery batteries, and communication sectors, while lighter batteries blanketed the first trench line beneath uninterrupted shellfire.
In some sectors, the bombardment became so dense that entire stretches of Austro-Hungarian defenses simply disappeared beneath the explosions.
Russian artillery officers carefully observed the results of the barrage through binoculars and periscopes.
Forward observers almost continuously transmitted corrections back to the batteries through field communication lines, telegraph stations, and liaison officers.
Reconnaissance aircraft circled above the front.
Even many experienced officers admitted that the preparation for the offensive looked enormous in scale.
On one sector of the front, a young Russian artillery lieutenant shouted over the thunder of the batteries to his commander:
—"The Austrians won't endure this kind of fire for long."
The older colonel continued watching the enemy positions through binoculars.
—"The real part begins after the infantry moves forward."
At the same time, on the opposite side of the front, Austro-Hungarian formations endured the first hours of the Russian assault.
Inside the forward trenches, conversation had become almost impossible.
Earth continuously collapsed into the dugouts.
Telegraph lines and field communication lines were torn apart one after another beneath the bombardment.
Messengers increasingly lost contact with neighboring units while attempting to move between positions under constant shellfire.
Part of the fortifications had already been destroyed by direct hits from heavy shells.
Inside one shelter, an Austro-Hungarian officer attempted to restore communication with nearby formations.
Around him sat stunned soldiers covered in dust and dirt.
Another heavy explosion shook the entire bunker.
Someone quietly cursed in German.
The officer quickly checked his watch.
The Russian artillery preparation had already continued for several hours.
And the intensity of the fire only continued increasing.
Inside the Russian headquarters, the first reports were beginning to create cautious optimism.
Some sectors of the Austro-Hungarian line had already stopped returning fire.
Reconnaissance reports stated that parts of the enemy fortifications had been destroyed, several artillery batteries suppressed, and reserve movements detected behind parts of the Austrian front.
During one conference inside Southwestern Front headquarters, Brusilov carefully studied the incoming reports.
Nearby stood army representatives, staff officers, and several liaison officers.
One of the generals reported:
—"On the sector of the Eleventh Army, the artillery preparation appears highly effective. Austrian artillery fire has noticeably weakened."
Another officer immediately added:
—"Reconnaissance also confirms the destruction of portions of the first trench line."
Kerensky, who had arrived at headquarters during the night, became visibly more animated after the first reports.
For weeks, he had desperately needed the success of this operation.
—"Then the army is still capable of advancing," he said with visible relief.
Several generals remained silent.
Because while the artillery was indeed functioning almost perfectly, everyone understood that the real test would begin only once the Russian infantry climbed out of the trenches and advanced under fire.
Closer to dawn, the artillery barrage gradually began shifting deeper into the Austro-Hungarian defenses.
That meant the infantry attack would begin soon.
Inside the forward Russian trenches, officers already prepared the soldiers for the assault.
Some checked rifles one final time.
Others silently crossed themselves.
A few attempted nervous jokes, but most conversations quickly faded.
Too many already understood what happened after artillery preparation ended.
On one sector, a young sergeant quickly moved along the trench line.
—"Prepare yourselves!"
Soldiers rose from their positions, adjusted belts, checked bayonets, and silently waited for the signal.
Dense clouds of smoke still hung above the shattered Austro-Hungarian positions.
Heavy shells continued exploding somewhere ahead.
Then the order for the assault rang out across the trench line.
And thousands of Russian soldiers climbed from the trenches toward one of the final great offensives of the old Russian Army.
The first waves of Russian infantry began climbing out of the trenches almost simultaneously across the entire offensive line.
Dense clouds of smoke and dust from the artillery bombardment still hung above the battlefield.
The ground before the Austro-Hungarian positions had been completely torn apart by thousands of shell craters.
In some sectors, the barbed wire had been almost completely destroyed by the heavy shelling.
In others, the obstacles still remained largely intact.
Russian assault lines moved forward through the shattered no-man's-land.
At first, the offensive truly appeared successful.
Across several sectors, Austro-Hungarian trenches had been nearly destroyed by the artillery preparation.
Stunned enemy soldiers emerged from ruined dugouts too late.
Russian infantry managed to storm the first defensive line before parts of the Austrian formations had fully recovered from the bombardment.
On one sector held by the Eleventh Army, a Russian battalion advanced rapidly through the shattered trenches.
A young captain jumped over a collapsed section of trench and immediately waved his men forward.
—"Don't stop! Forward to the second line!"
Behind him, soldiers cleared surviving dugouts.
Suddenly, an Austro-Hungarian soldier armed with a rifle burst out from a half-destroyed shelter.
One of the Russian infantrymen fired almost point-blank before the Austrian could react.
The soldier collapsed beside the entrance to the dugout.
Nearby, a surviving machine gun continued firing.
Bullets swept across the trench.
Several Russian soldiers immediately fell near a destroyed section of wire.
The others instinctively threw themselves into nearby shell craters.
—"Grenades! Quickly!"
One exhausted sergeant crawled forward through the mud and pulled the pin from a grenade.
Seconds later, the explosion silenced the machine-gun position.
The Russian assault line rose again and continued advancing.
On another sector of the front, the advance proved far more difficult.
Despite the massive artillery preparation, parts of the Austro-Hungarian fortifications had survived.
As soon as the Russian infantry emerged from the smoke, dense machine-gun fire struck them almost immediately.
The leading ranks were cut down across the open field.
A young Russian soldier, experiencing his first major offensive, threw himself into a shell crater beside a dead comrade.
The ground around him exploded continuously beneath shellfire.
Bullets whistled overhead.
Nearby, a junior officer attempted to raise his platoon.
—"Forward! Don't stay down!"
Part of the soldiers climbed back up and continued advancing in short rushes.
But others remained pressed against the earth.
Too many already understood that machine guns killed faster than any order ever could.
Russian artillery continued shifting its fire deeper into the enemy defenses.
Heavy explosions once again rose above the Austro-Hungarian positions.
In some sectors, this truly shattered enemy resistance.
One Russian company managed to storm a destroyed section of the first defensive line near Zboriv.
The fighting inside the trenches almost immediately became a chaotic mixture of gunfire, screams, and close combat.
Soldiers fired nearly point-blank.
Bayonets, grenades, and entrenching tools were used in the narrow trenches.
Inside one trench passage, a Russian sergeant suddenly encountered an Austro-Hungarian soldier only a few steps away.
Both tried to fire at the same moment.
The Russian was faster.
Behind him, another soldier was already throwing a grenade around the next turn of the trench.
After the explosion, thick smoke rose above the position.
Stunned Austro-Hungarian soldiers began emerging from the smoke with their hands raised.
—"Nicht schießen! Nicht schießen!"
They were quickly sent to the rear under guard.
By midday, Russian forces had genuinely managed to advance several kilometers on a number of sectors.
Some Austro-Hungarian units began retreating toward the second defensive line.
Columns of prisoners already moved toward the rear roads.
For the first time in many months, many officers cautiously began believing that the offensive might truly succeed.
At the same time, however, the front was gradually revealing another side of the battle.
Where the artillery preparation had been less effective, attacks quickly stalled.
On one sector, a Russian company was almost completely pinned down before an unbroken belt of barbed wire.
Austro-Hungarian machine guns continued sweeping the open ground.
Wounded soldiers screamed among the wire obstacles.
A young sub-lieutenant attempted to organize a breach.
—"Wire cutters here! Quickly!"
Two soldiers crawled toward the wire.
One jerked violently almost immediately and remained motionless.
The second nevertheless reached the obstacle and desperately began cutting through the wire under fire.
Behind them, artillery explosions continued rolling across the earth.
The air itself smelled constantly of smoke, gunpowder, and freshly torn soil.
Despite the losses, the Russian Army still continued advancing.
And for now, most soldiers still believed that the offensive might truly become the beginning of a great victory.
By the evening of the first day of the offensive, the entire front of the Southwestern Front had already become an unbroken line of smoke, fires, and shattered positions.
Artillery continued firing almost without interruption.
Heavy batteries struck the second line of Austro-Hungarian defenses while field artillery supported the advance of the Russian infantry.
Evening fog slowly thickened above the battlefield, mixing with the smoke from explosions and burning fortifications.
Across several sectors, Russian formations had genuinely achieved serious successes.
Some Austro-Hungarian units began hurried withdrawals.
In certain places, Russian troops managed to break through the first defensive line and establish themselves on newly captured positions.
Columns of prisoners moved along the shattered roads toward the rear.
Among Russian soldiers, a cautious feeling increasingly appeared that after months of crisis, the army was finally advancing successfully once again.
On one sector of the front, a group of Russian infantrymen sat inside a recently captured Austro-Hungarian trench.
Around them lay shattered beams, overturned ammunition crates, and the bodies of the dead.
One soldier heavily lowered himself beside the trench wall and removed his helmet.
—"Looks like we actually broke through."
Nearby, an older sergeant slowly drank water from his flask.
—"We broke through the first line."
After a brief pause, he looked toward the distant artillery flashes.
—"The important thing is that tomorrow we don't have to storm all of this again."
Not far away, medics carried wounded soldiers out from a destroyed trench sector.
Some of the wounded still attempted to walk on their own.
Others were dragged across mud and shell craters on ground sheets.
Near a field dressing station, a young military doctor worked almost without stopping.
His hands and uniform were already covered in blood and dirt.
Another wounded soldier was placed directly on the ground beside the others.
—"Shrapnel wound to the stomach," a medic quickly reported.
The doctor gave a short nod.
Heavy guns thundered again somewhere behind them.
The offensive continued.
On another sector of the front, Austro-Hungarian units attempted to organize defenses along the second line.
Surviving officers hurriedly regrouped soldiers after the Russian breakthrough.
Some formations had already lost a significant portion of their manpower.
Communications between neighboring sectors continued breaking down.
Inside one Austro-Hungarian headquarters, a major irritably threw a map onto the table.
—"The Russians broke through the first line on several sectors at once."
A liaison officer quickly answered:
—"German reserves still haven't arrived."
The major remained silent for several seconds.
—"Then we'll have to hold the front ourselves."
Despite the heavy situation, the Austro-Hungarian defenses had not yet collapsed completely.
In many places, resistance remained fierce.
Some Russian attacks had already begun losing momentum by evening.
Units became mixed together after the fighting.
Officers increasingly lost contact with neighboring formations.
Field communication lines were regularly destroyed under shellfire.
Messengers had to force their way through artillery fire and battlefield chaos.
On one sector, a young Russian officer attempted to locate a neighboring battalion that was supposed to support the continued advance.
Instead of the expected attack on his flank, he found only smoke, shell craters, and scattered groups of disoriented soldiers.
One of them tiredly said:
—"Our commander was killed this morning. We don't even know where our company is anymore."
For now, such problems still did not appear catastrophic.
Nevertheless, optimistic reports continued arriving at headquarters throughout the evening.
Telegraph dispatches reported captured positions, prisoners, and continued advances.
The first reports about the success of the offensive were already being sent to Petrograd.
During the evening conference, Kerensky looked far more confident than he had only days earlier.
—"The army is advancing once again," he said while studying the front maps.
Several generals cautiously shared his optimism.
Even many officers who had doubted the operation only days earlier now began believing that after months of crisis, the Russian Army had finally managed to regain the initiative.
Throughout the night, artillery explosions continued flashing across Galicia.
Russian formations fortified their newly captured positions, moved ammunition forward, and prepared to renew the offensive at dawn.
After long months of retreats, meetings, and chaos, the front was finally moving forward once again.