Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1914-12-06
HOW A COMMANDER
Directs A BATTLE
GERMAN NEWSPAPER MAN
DESCRIBES ONE or THE
BATTLES IN RUSSIA.
A TELEPHONE is USED


Correspondence of The Associated pre,s)
BERLIN, Nov &c. Newspaper cor
respondents as IS well known, have
seen almost nothing of the actual
lighting i'm this war, but on the Ger
man side, there Is now one account Of
"A battle written by one of the men
who watched it from the headquar-
ters Of the commanding general him
self, This was a recent engagement
fought on the east Prussian frontier
in Russia, ana it was described by
Captain Schickcrt the war corre-
spondcnt Of the Berlin Lokal An
2eiger What ne saw from the OBJ
scrVatlon post of General Won Morgen
is thus reported:
THE battlefield was spread out be-
fore us like a panorama. A slightly
rolling plain stretched away toward
forests on the horizon We could
clearly see the movements Of the in
fantry in a depression to our right.
Making good use Of the covering at
hand, a battalion was moving forward
TO reinforce its riflemen whose thin
eattleline was only just visible through
our iicld-glasses. II advanced in
close formation at double-quick across
she back of the ridge. How import
moment was shown by the bursting
Of Russian shrapnel over that ridge,
but some time after our men had
crossed it, Just like on drill said
bis cXcellency with a smile.
But the Russian artillery needs to
oe closely watched. A call from the
Y. regiment was announced from the
telephone The commander asks for
artillery support as the Russian en-
trenchmcnts have proven too strong
TO be taken by infantry From
booth in another shelter pit, where
the commander Of the division to
which the regiment belonged had
taken his position, we heard Captain
Oestcrech give the telephone order
to change the aim Then he rushed
to the nearest field telescope to watch
the bursting point of the first shot
fired at the new point After that he
sprang back into the pit and shouted
Twenty shorter with rapt atten-
tion we watched with our glasses the
further developments ana saw how
the shrapnel explosions moved closer
and closer to the southern edge of the
village, almost obscuring it with their
smoke. His eXcellenCy looked at his
watch. Just eleven, he remarked,
almost lunch time We saw the ring
of German rihemen drawing up closer
and closer around the village.
"A good quarter Of an hour later a
voice shouted from the telephone pit:
The commander Of the regiment asks
to have the artillery fire on w stop
ped, as he wants to take it by storm.
Captain Oestereich gave the corre-
spending order. We had already seen
sheafs of flame rising from w An
other quarter Of an hour and the
telephone rang again. The regiment
has taken W. Brave regiment
murmured his eXcelency to himself
Now, general, strike in further to tho
right he said turning to the next
protected pit. Battery open fire, or
dered the general, and Captain Oest-
ercich repeated it through the tele-
phone.
when the fire of the battery upon
the new target was well under way,
its commander turned TO one of the
newspaper men and remarked: We
have been in this position for nearly
two weeks and, so far as the circum-
stances permitted, we have fixed our
selves in a home-like way
Yes,' answered by colleague with
smile, and you have even shaved
yourself in celebration of the day
The captain, strOking his bronze
check, rejoined And my fragment
of a mirror, my only toilet article, was
cribbed by somebody while ! was do
ing it,
Another telephone call: The regi-
nent that took w. is under fire from
a heavy Russian battery and asks for
support This time the remedy was
not so easy. Where is our nearest
heavy battery" asked his excellency.
Tha antpin nniDtah II p a mo p
and his eXcellency continued: Then
telephone at once that it must shell
the Russians This time it was like a
prize guessing contest for us to find
the position of the Russian battery
only after we had been repeatedly
helped by the experts were we able
to discern the well-concealed point. A
captain of hussars stepped up to his
oXcellency and asked: Does your ex-
cellency order luncheon% The gem
eral looked at his watch and asked:
Can we have 1t soon?' he inquired.
1T can be brought up in quarter of
an hour was the answer.
At the appointed time orderlies ap-
peared with steaming dishes. But the
Russians made no pause for lunch |
The advance Of our troops further to
the right was much hindered by that
Russian fire, and our battery repeat
edly had to take hand. II was not
ill the shades of evening were draw !
ing over plain and forest that the
cannonade seemed to die down. i
His eXcellency turned to take leave
and wished the commander of the bat !
terry success We followed in his
iuite. Now. captain, we shall at last
have quiet remarked an Austrian
colleague "A great mistake. my
friend, answered the captain. toward
midnight the Russian batteries squan-
der an enormous amount of ammuni-
ton And with a smile he waved us
farewell salute"
Follies of Youth.
The fpllipg of Vouth haVp a bagis !