Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-10-29

poets less promising. I considered
whether we should not content our.
selves with a thrust, on Ida Cos mile!
east of Grodno and about $50 mile,
north of the Dvinsk line).) 1 rejected
this idea. because all similar endeav
ors during the preceding summer
campaign to accomplish an outflank.
ing movement had been unsuccessful
Accordingly ! still pinned my faitf
to the bigger scheme, because its sue.
cess would bring a more substantial
reward. In this case also we were
compelled to take leap in the dark
1t was clear that the 10th army
needed achievements, and the troops
which had been investing Novo Geor.
gievsk were employed for this pur.
pose
A Period of Great Anxiety.
The Sth and 18th armies had, ii
the course of the operations, become
so concentrated that it was possible
to withdraw divisions. in addition tc
those already ear unmarked for the
west They were conveyed to Kovno
and from thence they were assigned
to the left wing of the 10th or the
right wing of the Sth army.
heavily attacked from wilma. The
enemy had brought reinforcement
from Poland to the north. In the
hope of turning the enemy's flank
the 10th army like the troops it con.
fronted, had been reinforced on the
north in the direction of Vilkomir
The fighting was particularly heavy
on the northern bank of the wilma
(north of Vilna),
We passed once more through a pc
Rod of great anxiety. I would have
gladly expedited the early stages OF
the operations, but the capacity OF
the Wirballen-Kovno railway was
limited, owing to its unfinished con-
dition. Everything took an endless
time, and in addition to this the roads
were bad and the troops were nc
longer fresh.
At last, on September 8, the ad-
vance began. The Niemen army made
good progress toward Dvinsk- Jokob-
stadt. Near Uziany their right wing
advanced along the Kovno-Dvinsk
road and very soon drove the enemy
back beyond Novo AleXandrovsk. The
enemy made a stand at both bridge
heads and the fighting here was long
and severe.
The left wing of the 10th army,
south of Vilkomir $50 miles north
west of Vilna)). made good progress
on the first two days toward the Villa
above Wilma. Further on, however,
they were only able to force the Rus
slams back across this river by de-
grees.
Great Sweep by cavalry.
Between the inner wings of the two
armies, from Dvinsk to the Villa, the
cavalry divisions had more room to
maneuver. In the first place they had
to fight their way through the lake
country between Vilkomir and Sven,
tsiany, which was taken on the 18th.
From here the divisions were diverted
toward Molodetchno GO miles south
east of Vilna) and the Molodetchno-
Polotzk railway. half way between
the two places.
1t was now possible to bring up
the cavalry divisions of the Sth army.
The Wilma Molodetchno-P olotzk rail-
way near Smorgon ESQ miles east of
Vilna) and eastward had been reach
ed by the 14th. and the Russian right
wing on the Villa, northeast of Wilma,
seriously threatened. The Orscha-
Minsk railway was also cut in the
neighborhood of Borissoff
Here, as had so often occurred in
the east, the cavalry found a new field
for their activities. The German cav
airy have everywhere given proof of
their brilliant dash and courage.
(This movement had cut the two
principal railways in the rear of the
Russians. The cavalry forces which
made the raids were operating on a
front of more than 80 miles and the
easternmost force had ridden about
100 miles through the Russians rear
area.)
Russians Defeat Scheme,
The 10th army made repeated eff
forts to transfer troops from their
front to the left wing. The move
ments were difficult to carry out and
took up a great deal of time; they
imposed a tremendous strain on the
troops, for the roads and weather
were bad and hindered progress. The
infantry divisions were not able to
relieve the cavalry divisions quickly
enough in their foremost positions.
With their weak artillery they were
unable permanently to hold Smorgon
$50 miles east of Vilna). The latter
place was recaptured on the 10th by
forces from Wilma after plucky re-
sistance on the part of the 1st cavalry
division.
The Russians had realized the dam
ser which threatened them and hal
brought up reinforcements by rail to
the region east of Dvinsk; these re-
Inducements very soon made their
to the south of that town.
They were able to wheel and effect
a wholesale withdrawal in the direc-
ton of Molodetchno with their infan-
try and toward Dorschitzy with their
cavalry. The great retreat along the
Russian front from Poland into West
Russia had, unfortunately, progressed
so far that their troops, which had
been brought up north. were able to
reach Villa in time. The German en-
veloping movement came to a stand
still. Its strength was insufficient to-
overcome the enemy resistance. a.
Has TO Quit For the Winter.
During the gradual advance from
Wilma on Smorgon I saw clearly that
the operations would have to be
broken off. A continuation of the
was out sof the question.
In the long run 1t was impossible to
keep tho left wing Of the 10th army