Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-10-30
BY GEN. ERICH Won LUDENDoRFF

I pad railway connections. The Rus
slams had everywhere completely de-
stroyed the railways. The bridges
| over the Niemen and other large
| rivers had all been blown up, the
| railway stations burnt, the water sup
pnes destroyed and the telegraph
wires broken down The railways had
been torn up in places, and the sleep
ers and rails removed.
The military railway authorities,
with their labor and engineer COM
panies, and the telegraphists for the
| extremely important work of re-es-
tablishing the telegraph, had a colos-
sal work before them. The director
| of railways in the east knew his job.
One Line For Three Armies.
The completion of the railway
| bridge near Kovno was of the greatest
| Importance. 1t was possible to use ii
| by the end of September, and for
| long time it was the only channel for
supplies to the 10th and 18th armies
! and the right wing of Scholtz's army
group. At that time ! was satisfied
| If | could count on two trains a day
for Ida for the 18th army but. as it
| turned out, 1t was not so simple to
obtain the trains themselves, which
were required by the army.
| Communication with our own rail-
ways was very bad. On one occasion
the 18th army had urgently requested
a trainload of fodder and received a
trainload of settler water That is a
trltle during great war; but the well
| being of man and horse IS dependent
/ on a series of trifles. and so the latter
assume a great and disproportionate
Importance
| The Russian railways in Lithuania
and Courland had a surprisingly small
capacity, even in peace time. This
would not have been the case # Rus
STA had really needed the ports of
Windau and Libau for her domestic
and commercial existence.
On the long stretches from Wilma to
Smorgon and Wilma to Dvina condi-
tons were not so difficult, but even
here the provisional water tanks froze
in winter and there We're all sorts of
OBSTACLES, surmountable and insur-
mOuntable.
Ice Puts Army in Danger.
| 1t was long after Christmas before
traffic was made safe and compare
| lively regular on all the lines. so that
at last the longed-for leave trains
could be put on
And then a peculiarly critical situa-
ton arose. After a spell Of intense
cold the ice on the Niemen and Win
dau began to break up.
\ The masses of ice swept away the
I bridge across the Windau at Mosche-
XII. The sole means of communication
\ with Germany by rail was thus cut
| off. The floating ice dashed against
the railway bridge at Kovno and dis
placed the rails, but the bridge stood
firm. once more we passed through
! a period of great anxiety, although for
a different reason. If this bridge had
| also been destroyed the armies would
F., have been in a critical position
BY degrees the other bridges across
the Nlemen were completed. The eX-
| tension of the railways progressed;
traffic became regular and conditions
on the eastern front We're regulated
more satisfactorily.
| The railways have opened up the
country and facilitated the work of
civilization. To this extent these dis
| tricts are in our debt. Behind the
! front there arose a system of light
railways for the direct supply of the
troops
Roads Become SlOughs.
The roads in the districts occupied
! by the troops continued to be of great
| from Grodno to Ida, Kovno tot
Dvinsk and Tauroggen to Mitau were
| put into excellent repair. The other
roads were repaired as far as posi-
! Bile. At the season when the snow
was melting they were transformed
/ in places into Il slough in which
horses were drowned if they happen
ed to fall.
AS the work on the railways and
roads progressed the consolidation of
the front also went forward The
troops cut wood for themselves. and
some of the barb wire was manu-
| featured on the spot The proximity
of war underground made the con-
Strucion of the trenches peculiarly
difficult. The biologists rendered
good service to the troops in this
| connection.
Behind the front arose workshops
for the repair of all kinds of war ma
terial. The numerous captured Rus
sian machine guns were altered to
suit German ammunition in q special
ly erected factory.
! OF course / did not deal with these
matters in detail, and confined my
self to stimulating AMI organizing
activities.
l was particularly concerned about
the welfare of the men and the
horses.
Poor Dugouts For the Men.
The quarters were, in themselves,
not so bad. The war had passed COM
paratively rapidly over the region
which we finally occupied, and there
| fore had not been very destructive
Nor had the Russians burned down
everything, as they did further south
in Poland
All the same there remained a great
deal of work to be done in the con-
structions of billets for the troops,
especially close behind the line.
The dugouts. which took long
time to build. We're made as habitable
as possible by the troops. But only
those who have been through it can
know with how little officers and men
/ had to be satisfied, and were satisfied. ,
Hutments for men and horses had
| to be built further behind the line. !
| The troops became great experts at
this work Their artistic sense was
displayed in decorative embellish- |
ments of birch wood.
! There was not enough fodder for
the horses. There were no oats. and
green fodder was too scarce to be sup
piled in sufficient quantities, Many
horses died of debility. In the end
we had to add sawdust to their food. |
1t needed special care to prevent
the supplies which had been brought
up at such pains from going bad at
the railway stations. OF course there
were no sheds or tents there. I had
| to see to this also. Good will was
,.r,txy sal 1ttA 4. I4s1