The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1915-08-27
RUSSIANS HAD RESOLVED
ON A RETREAT
ALWAYS FIGURED ON DRAWING AN INVADING
ARMY into THE INTERIOR
(AssOciated Press)

Petrograd, Aug. 27.-The evacua-
tion of Poland was decided upon by
Russia in 1910, declares the Russky
Invalid, the Russian military organ,
in a discussion of the general staff's
before-the-war plans for the defense
of the western frontier.
Before the war;" says the journal,
Russia anticipated that in the event
of war Austria and Germany, because
of their rapid means of mobilization
and immense technical resources,
would turn their attention first of all
against Russia. To frustrate this
plan it was decided in 1910 that the
Russian territory jutting into Ger
many and the fortified places west of
Brest-Litovsk should not be organic
ed for a state of war. The region
further east was chosen for the con-
centration of the Russian forces.
cit would have been dangerous to
attribute too great an Importance to
and to have held on to the Narew and
Vistula, with their fortified towns. It
is better to take advantage of the
depth of our theater of war to draw
the German armies far from their
base and to force them to exhaust
themselves. To this end it was nee
essary to sacrifice the Polish salient.
Three months have elapsed since the
Russian army started to put this plan
into execution. Constant marching,
fighting and privations weaken the
enemy. There are already evidences
that the moral force of the German
army is weakening in its attack, and
prisoners confirm that the weakening
is not only moral, but physical.
''This war will be decided by the
armies in battle, and it is of no inn
portance where this battle will take
place. Thus our retreat assures us
victory, for our armies are only now
beginning to develop, while an abun-
dance of munitions of war awaits US
in the near future, thanks to the
mobilization of the national industry
and to the orders placed abroad,
whereas for the moment the enemy is
in favorable position in this regard.
"A glance backward shows that at
the beginning of the war the Ger
mans threw the mass of their army
against France. This leap forward or
their part had happy results for us
for we advanced into enemy terri
tory, notably in Galicia; now the
tables are turned. However, it is i'm
possible to hamper the liberty OF
movement of the Russian army in any
particular region or on any particular
frontier, and it would be impractica-
BILE to waste garrisons in defending
fortified towns which are none toe
safe, as the Austrians did in Prze.
mysl. That is why, examining, after
year of war, the map of the Rus
sim front, we see the necessity fol
the living Russian armies TO man.
euver and deploy on their base line
This would be the most useful object
to aim at, especially in view of the
situation which has prevailed since
the month of April.
"At the present time we have
against us nearly all the German cav
airy, nearly all of the Austrian army
and more than half of the total Ger.
man forces-about 20 divisions-anC
the enemy artillery has numerous
guns of all calibers. The Russian
army is offering a heroic resistance
it is not only standing up under the
most hellish fire, but it is infictine
countless losses upon the enemy, and
wearing them out, notwithstanding
his technical perfection. We are get.
ting nearer to our supplies of am
munition, by means Of which we viii
correct our line and throw back the
enemy. If only for this reason We
can say that the evacuation of War.
saw, the line of the Vistula, Ivan.
gorod, Novo Georgievsk will make
certain that the Russian offensive
this time will be definite and IRE
sistible.
"At the Threshold of the second
year of war Russian has the most
definite plans for the issue of the
campaign, while maintaining at the
same time the firm resolution to wage
this fight to victorious end"