Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-24
BOLSHEVST ARMY |
HAS 70 DIVISIONS
Morale Poor and Desertions
Serious-Rich Harvest
Gained From Poles.
BY PAUL SCOTT MOwRER.
ny Cable to The Star and Chicago
Daily News. Copyright, 1920.

| ny Cnble to The Star and Chicago
Daily News. Copyright. 1920.
! WARSAW. Poland, July 19.-Fron
military specialists of long experience
men who rarely make mistakes
the writer has obtained Information
regarding the strength and quality OF
the bolshevist army.
This army now consists of about
seventy divisions. of which about
! nifty are on the Polish front The
others are in the Crimea. the eau
| casus and Siberia.
theoretically. each of these di-
visions Is composed of three brigades
| or three regiments each. or a total of
! 1000 combat troops, but in practice
they often fall below that standard.
| ineir equipment consists partly OF
supplies captured from Denikin, Kol-
chak ana Yudenitch. 1t is hetero-
geneous but sufficient
Troops Morale Poor.
The morale of the troops is poor
Ihcy are drawn into the army by
the promise of higher pay and better
1000. or are conscripted by force.
They do not know or do not care
what they are fighting for. but know
mat II they refuse to fight they will
chinese troops are sometimes used
TO drive the others into battle. De
sertions are numerous. Sometimes
whole units surrender in a body
WITHIN the last two months stra-
tegical and tactical liaison. which was
ably improved. This is supposed to
nave been due to the cessation of
political interference with the army
leaders by the soviet dictators.
The technicians for the general
stan are believed to have been re-
nf h. al n
oy the process of sei1ng their
families as hostages and threatening
TO execute their wives and children
if they refuse to serve or if they
serve unfaithfully. There are laso a
certain number of German officers
In the soviet STATS.
Line II Not Continuous.
The soviet counter offensive on
Minsk. following the Polish offensive
on kiev. was the best planned and
best executed operation the bolshe-
Wiki had yet conducted on this front
The nghting is in no way comparable
to that with which the Americans
became familiar in France. The
fronts are several hundred kilo-
meters long and the effective forces
engaged are insufficient to form a
continuous line. Trenches are few
and far between
The points particularly contested by
tHe oolShe'ik ana the PoleS are the
roads. railways. river crossings and
villages. At such points few trenches
are dug and few wires are strung.
Except at one or two places, where
intensified fehting has tended to con-
solidate the fronts. either side can
Dreak through the line anywhere by
concentrating division or two upon
1t. Conditions are almost ideal for
cavalry raids. In recent battles the
roles TOOK SO many prisoners that
they dn't know how to feed them.
So tiny gave them one square meal,
ture. and sent them back to their
comrades.
Bolsheviki Occupy Ida.
WARSAW. July 10 (by the Associ-
ated Press).-The Poles are with
drawing to the south and southwest
from the railway junction of Ida.
which has been occupied by the boil
sheviki in their drive in the direction
of Grodno. .a
This bolshevik sweep across Lithu-
ania is giving the soviet forces pos
session of rich harvest. as they are
occupying thousands Of acres planted
by the Poles. the grain and hay now
standing In stacks.
The Polish population is fleeing be-
fore the bolshevik onrush. the peas
ants crowding the roads with their
livestock and vehicles loaded with
household goods.
The food in the warehouses at Bel
ostok, stores there for the use of the
children. who are fed by the Ameri-
can Relief Association. is being load
ed upon cars for shipment to safer
place. The refugees in the Bielostok
region also are being removed as a
precautionary measure.
1t is said in Polish quarters that
the retreat on the northern front is
being continued in an orderly way
according to plan. The Poles. it is de-
clared. lost little rolling stock and
not a single working locomotive. 1t
is at Ida that the railway gauge
gauge to the standard width.
BoIshevik Attack Fails.
All the bolshevik attacks along the
southern front have been repulsed.
The soviet troops have been repeat
eddy attempting to break through
here, with Lemberg as their objective.
Gen. Budenny is using cavalry for the
most part in this effort. but the in
fantry likewise is attempting to force
stretches of the old Russo-German
line. These attempts, however, have
been unsuccessful.
Poland's preparations to continue
the fight. despite her reverses. par
ticularly in the north. continued dur
ing Sunday and Sunday night. The
negotiations conducted from London.
with the view to bringing about an
armi stice. have not affected the work
no definite news of any agreement
with the soviet government having
been effected had reached Warsaw UP
to an early hour this morning.
UncOnfrmed Report.
LONDON, July 17.-Novorossisk, on
the eastern shore of the Black sea;
Ekaterinodar about seventy miles
northeast of Novoressisk; Tanganrog,