Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-12-16
FIGHT WITH ENERGY
Russian Troops Need Restrain.
ing, Says an Officer. /
Go Into Battle F%earIessIy, but Display
No erutaI'ty-How They Routed
PanIe.Stricken German
Battery. =. \
by ALEXIS JEPlOFF,
international Newva Service.

Petrograd.-I have just had an IN.
terview with q Russian oficer invalid
ed home from East Prussia.
I'VE were U r from the first Of the
morale Of u soldiers" he said, 'but
this war has opened cur eyes, for all
that. Usually it Is tho duty Of Of.
fcers to urge their troops to advance
to victory. What We officers had to
do, however, was to hold them back
in their impetuous %onslaughts on the,
enemy.: The fact that unlike In the
Japanese war, the men know what
they are fighting for seems to give
them the needed energy and dash.
What l especially discovered in.
U men in this campaign is the great
Improvement in initiative and indie
pendent thinking. Our soldiers, too,
are displaying an utter lack Of -bru..
tally. I have seen German prisoners
blue with terror, at the prospect Of
tortures they had been taught to ex-
pect at our hands, and seen them
again after a few hours among our
men with smiles Of confidence and,
contentment. The attitude OF the Rus,
sian soldiers toward Germans may bo
described az that of good-natured tot.
rance and mild contempt, the atti,
tude of a good-tempered grown-up to
a little %schoolboy who badly misbe.
HAYES himself. .,5a., 81 .,s ,,a, .r,,. 4,
In the beginning Of August We were
sent out, to dislodge . German battery
from an intrenched position defended
by infantry l might say. that in
spite of rumors to the contrary, my
experience is that the fire of the Ger
man artillery is rather good. They
find their range rather quickly and
maintain a steady fire. Their mus
kerry at long range is poor. s.s5
Sour advance guard Of cavalry At-
tackled the enemy's trenches; German
artillery and rife fire played havoc
with them, but nothing stopped them.
The nearer w got to the village &C.
cupied by the Germans the weaker
became their resistance. They rallied
somewhat when we approached With
in 200 PAGES, and their artillery fire
became well-nigh intolerable to ,rns,
Their infantry shot at us almost point,
blank, but our men did not finch.
Meanwhile q squadron Of u cav
airy boldly attacked the German bat.
terry, surrounded It and in q minuteth0
issue was decided. e@
Here l witnessed q scene Of panie
the like Of which l had never seen
in the Japanese war. The Germans
al as If driven by q prairie fire. mot
only did the rank and file throw down
their rifles, but even the oficers
showed every sign Of a panic. AS they
ran they feverishly unfastened tleir
sabers, helmets, tunics-everything
which hampered them In their Wild
career.
In = few minutes we entered the
village. Here the Germans gave ~
9 backhander, firing ct US from vim
dows and cellars. When we had dis.
posed Of them the village presenteda
deserted appearance; the whole lpop-,
ulation seemed to have fed. In cot.
tages we found recently opened let-
tiers in which the villagers had lsen
warned that If tha Russians came
none would DO spared. A few peas
ants whom we unearthed were ster.
ror stricken. sau
1T is curious what our soldiers
think of the Germans they think
them rather harmless and coarse com
rades. l must Say, ,hoWevar,sthAtAsMo
have not experienced any o. thpps
German atrocities OF which wesheesd.
In all : Tor which 4 can per
Soaally vouch, their losses were CO..
lidsrably greater thar, ours.