By the end of 1915, the enemy had exhausted its resources and was digging entrenchments. The Germans poured concrete into their firing points and dugouts (some of these fortifications have survived to this day). The labyrinths of trenches and ditches grew larger every day, dozens of kilometers of railways: regular and
narrow-gauge, locomotive and horse-drawn were built near Smorgon on both sides of the front, including a 19-kilometer branch from
Prudy station to the "648th verst" post on the Molodechno-
Lida road. Numerous bridges and ferry crossings were also built across the Viliya, dozens of kilometers of causeways were laid in the swamps north of Smorgon to Lake
Vishnevskoye. "Track warfare" had begun. The terrain between the German and Russian trenches was relatively flat and open, sloping from west to east, creating favorable conditions for the use of chemical weapons. On 12 October 1915, for the first time on the Russian front, the Germans used gas in the Smorgon sector against the 3rd Guards Infantry Division. Gas attacks became more frequent from April 1916. Significant damage was caused by a chemical attack on 2 July, when in an hour and a half the gas penetrated more than 20 kilometers toward Molodechno. 40 officers and 2,076 soldiers of the 64th and 84th Infantry Divisions were poisoned. There were even more casualties on 2 August. During the night, the Germans released gas on the positions of the
Caucasian Grenadier Division eight times at half-hour intervals. 286 people died, 3,846 were injured. From 18 March to 29 March 1916, 20 kilometers north of Smorgon, near the village of
Vishnevo and Lake Naroch, the
2nd Army advanced. In the Smorgon sector, near the villages of
Chernyaty,
Gorydenyaty and
Dubatovka, divisions of the
10th Army distracted the enemy with daily artillery shelling, machine gun and rifle fire, ensuring the main attack. However, the Germans prevented the Russian advance, holding their positions. Throughout June, sappers of the 52nd Sapper Battalion of the
26th Army Corps dug a tunnel into the enemy rear to height 72.9 (Golden Hill) In autumn, in order to somehow ease the situation on the
Galician front, the Germans carried out a number of attacks on the city, but all these attacks were repulsed. After the
February Revolution, the morale of the troops was undermined. The new authorities decided to carry out a psychological operation – to send the
Women's Battalion to Smorgon. From 7 July to 10 1917, in the battle for Novospassky Forest (south of Smorgon, near Krevo), the unit entered into combat with the enemy. Initially, the battalion performed well: it successfully repelled 14 German counterattacks, showed courage, stopped retreating male soldiers and robbers, and took alcohol from servicemen. However, in the end, the women, having come under fire from the Germans, weakened and became confused. From July 19 to 23, a new attack was organized, also near Krevo. Despite the significant numerical advantage of troops and artillery – 16 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions, about 800 guns and a 13-day ration of shells, the Russian army's offensive failed. After the battles, there were cases of
fraternization with the Germans and refusals to continue military operations. On 4 December, in the town of
Soly, ten kilometers west of Smorgon, and ten days before the signing of the general armistice at Brest (15 December 1917), the Germans concluded an armistice along the
Western Russian Front. == Memory ==