The Washington times., 1915-07-29

LONDON. July 29.-The in1rneneity
and the ferocity Of the battle for War
saw. with all that success or failure
means to the opposing. armies. have
| caused most observers to lose sight Of
the fact that moro than nine months
ago the German hosts were nearer to
the capture Of the city than they are
today. and that they were compelled to
fall back to their own frontiers with the
prize literally within their grasp. AS an
example Of what the Russian soldier
can do when hard pressed, that first
Teutonic invasion Of Poland holds much
to reinforce the optimism among the
allies that Grand Duke Nicholas will
defeat the offensive that now is cngag-
Ing the greatest forces In military his
tory.
In predicting a new Russian stand OBJ
servers revert to the October campaign
as the basis for their view.
disastrously for the Germanic allies in
the east. Understanding the Russian
facilities for mobilization. little consid-
GRAFTON had been given In Berlin to the
TO hold the attention Of what forces the
Car could put In the field. But East
Prussia had been overrun. koenigsberg
had been invested and the Russian cav
airy was reaching nearly to the Vistula
between Thorn and Danzig. The Aus
TRANS, who had attempted an invasion
OF Poland, had been summarily elected.
Lemberg had been captured and nearly
half Of Galicia was in Russian hands:
Russia also was a factor In the war
First Blow At Poland.
General Won Hindenburg was called
from retirement to command the Ger
mans in East Prussia, and the rout Of
General Rennenkampf in the Masurian
lake region followed. This victory en-
couraged Berlin to organise for its first
blow at Poland.
On September rs General Won Hin
denburg was placed In chief COM
mand for the thrust at Warsaw. Two
days later tho first great counter
offensive was launched. Four armies
moved simultaneously from Teutonic
territory, all with Warsaw as their
objective. The hrst army advanced
Vistula and the railway to Wlocka-
week. The second. from Kalisz,7 was
aimed at Lodz The third. from Bres-
lau. moved toward Pietrokow and
an Austrian army. composed Of seven
corps 1.-TWO Germany and a few ad-
ditional units. under command OF the
Austrian general. Dankl. advanced
from Cracow along the left bank OF
theupper Vistula toward kielse.
Three Armies Before Warsaw.
The First, Second, and Third armies
converged on a front before Warsaw
on October 8. On tho night Of Oc-
tober l0-ll the first German guns
were heard in the Polish capital. On
that date the Germans were about in
the position the Germans now occupy,
to the west of the city. Their ad-
vance had caught the Russians un-
prepared and they met with little op-
position until they reached the Blonie
line. which in She last ten days has
proved a stumbling block to the Ger
manic ambitions. On October 1915
the main German body was only sew
en- miles from the city. and on the
urbs. Two days before panic had
taken possession Of the capital. On
The 16tl! 1t actually had been decided
to abandon the city and special trains
were held In readiness to carry away
the government officials and those
persons who desired to follow the
government.
The crisis came on October IT, For
seven hours on that day the Germans
might have entered the city unopposed.
Corps. comprising the main defense. had
been cut to pieces. 1t was utterly in
capable Of a further effort for the time.
yet for some reason-a mystery never
ceased. 1t seems reasonable to OBJ
servers that the attacking army was as
thoroughly worn out as the defenders
and was as incapable Of advancing as
the Siberians were Of offering resistance.
Relief of Capital.
When the attack was resumed the
few regiments left in the defense ha Il
been pulled together on the Radon road
and they managed to hold on for four
hours. while the first regiment from
Galicia. that had been travelling night
and day to reach Warsaw, detrained at
the station and marched to the lighting
line. This regiment, the Ninety-hrst
Siberian. was followed by a constant
stream Of re-enforcements drawn from
Galicia. from the Niemen and from the
reserves at Moscow and Petrograd. And
by October p the Germans were In a
behind the Posen frontier, where they
were pursued by the Russian cavalry.
General Dankrs Fourth army fought
a series Of desperate battles at Ivan
gorod, over much the same ground that
and sanguinary struggle. This Austro-
German force had met with no resistance
except minor actions at kielce and
Radon until 1t arrived on the left bank
Of the Vistula. opposite the fortress, on
October l6: and unlmbered Its guns for
a bombardment Of the post. Kozienice.
a little north Of Ivangorod and five miles
from the river. formed the center Of the
operations. Just as today 1t represents
the advanced position Of the armies that
are operating against the fortress.
Kozienice Is a little village situated
on the last elevated ground before the
country slips down to the level Of
tho stream. and from this vantage
point General >Dankl attempted to
throw a force across the river to take
1vangorcd in the rear. The area be-
tween the village and the river un-
der the best of conditions is low and
marshy and is commanded In part by
the guns Of the fortress and in part
by the ridge which had been strongly
fortified by the Austrians. General
Dankl had arrived at the Vistula
after q period Of hard rains and the
valley was a ruagmire.
The first attempt by his army to
force 1s way to the river was an
utter failure. The following night.
however. a Caucasian detachment
emerged from Iyanporo6 and In inkv