Evening star., 1915-01-22
Gen. Won Mackensen Tells of
Difficulty of Advancing
Against Russians.
DECORATED BY KAISER
FOR DECEMBER VICTORY
Commander of Ninth German ARMY
Receives Highest Prussian
Military Decoration.

HEADQUARTERS. NINTH GERMAN
ARMY, IN POLAND, December 81, by
courier to Berlin and mail to London,
January 10.-Short days, miSera BILE
roads and stubbornly resisting enemy
are the three-fold difficulties prevent
ing rapid progress in the eastern cam
paign. according to Gen. Won Macken-
sen, commander of the Ninth German
army. with whom the correspondent of
the Associated Press dined this even
ing.
Effective Shelling of the enemyS po-
sitions. without which no infantry at
tack against an intrenched enemy is
possible in these days of modern, rapid
/ firing rifles and machine guns, can be
carried on only during five or six
hours of daylight Infantry attacks
cannot be pressed home in the same
short period.
The Russians. although at times suf-
fering reverses. with high losses in
killed. wounded and prisoners. show
no signs of breaking and are fighting
for each yard of ground between the
German army and Warsaw.
Even after the Russians have been
forced from one strong line, as at
Wloclawok kutno or Lodz. effective
pursuit by the Germans Is impossible
The long nights give the Russians
abundant time to take off their troops
and trains practically unmolested and
to occupy another position equally as
strong as the one from which they have
| been elected at such expenditures of
effort. For these reasons Gen. Won
Mackensen expects that progress in
the Polish campaign will be slow.
Mackensen Is Honored.
! Cen Won Mackensen. as much as any
of the generals on the active list at
! the outbreak of the war, has fulfilled
! in the field the expectations based on a
/ promising career in peace. In the early
weeks of the war he was in temporary
| eclipse. rumor attributing to him a
share of the responsibility for the pro-
| Jected retirement across the Vistula
and the abandonment of eastern Prus-
! sia to the Russians. which led to the
| retirement of the former army COM
| mander and the appointment of Won
| Hindenburg. He retained his COM
mand. however, and the brilliant work
OF his corps at Tannenburg, the battle
| of the Masurian lakes and In the later
operations led to his selection as COM
mander of a newly formed army. For
its achievements In the battle Of Kut-
| no-Wloclawok. by which the right
| flank of the Russian army in Poland
Merit, the highest Prussian military
decoration. and the special thanks of
the emperor.
At the outset OF the war the Russians
| were accustomed to make more dar-
, ing use of their artillery in advance
positions, but since their heavy losses
in guns. the general said. they had
been guarding their cannon jealously
and taking as few chances with them
as possible. They apparently had felt
their losses in artillery seriously as
among the recent captured cannon
were field guns of an antiquated type
Russians Lack Ammunition.
The Russian artillery of the modern
! type. said Gen. Won Mackensen. was
| very good, the heavy mortars par
! ticularly so. The Russians apparently
ammunition supply, for days Of al
! most uninterrupted quiet would be fol-
lowed by furious cannonadeS.
| Far less use Is being made Of avia-
| tors on this front than in the west
| Russian aviators, said Gen. Won Mack
| ensen, were almost never encountered
| In the beginning OF the war the Rus
! chimes, but suffered severely from the
! fire of their own comrades until Cen
| Rennenkampf, so prisoners reported
! had given orders not to fire at any
aviators, Russian or German. The Ger
| man aviators are out at every oppor-
! tunity. but there are few clear days
and the flying time on these is very
! short.
| Gen. Won Mackensen spoke with ap-
soldiers. who. although in the trenches
| and In constant battle during Six
weeks of the Polish winter, were
cheerful and enthusiastic.