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Page 28
The first German objective was the city of Lodz. Von Hindenburg knew
that he must move quickly before the Russians should get up reserves.
His campaign of destruction had made it impossible for aid to be sent to
the Russian armies from Ivanov, far in the south, but every moment
counted. His right pushed forward and won the western crossings of the
marshes. His extreme left moved towards Plock, but the main effort was
against Piontek, where there is a famous causeway engineered for heavy
transport through the marshes.
At first the Russians repelled the attack on the causeway, but on
November 19th the Russians broke and were compelled to fall back. Over
the causeway, then, the German troops were rushed in great numbers,
splitting the Russian army into two parts; one on the south surrounding
Lodz, and the other running east of Brezin on to the Vistula. The
Russian army around Lodz was assailed on the front flank and rear. It
looked like an overwhelming defeat for the Russian army. At the very
last moment possible, Russian reinforcements appeared--a body of
Siberians from the direction of Warsaw. They were thrown at once into
the battle and succeeded in re-establishing the Russian line. This left
about ninety thousand Germans almost entirely surrounded, as if they
were in a huge sack. Ruzsky tried his best to close the mouth of the
sack, but he was unsuccessful. The fighting was terrific, but by the
26th the Germans in the sack had escaped.
The Germans were continually receiving reinforcements and still largely
outnumbered the Russians. Von Hindenburg therefore determined on a new
assault. The German left wing was now far in front of the Russian city
of Lodz, one of the most important of the Polish cities. The population
was about half a million. Such a place was a constant danger, for it was
the foundation of a Russian salient.
When the German movement began the Russian general, perceiving how
difficult it would have been to hold the city, deliberately withdrew,
and on December 6th the Germans entered Lodz without opposition.
The retreat relieved the Russians of a great embarrassment. Its capture
was considered in Germany as a great German victory, and at this time
von Hindenburg seems to have felt that he had control of the situation.
His movement, to be sure, had not interfered with the Russian advance on
Cracow, but Warsaw must have seemed to him almost in his power. He
therefore concentrated his forces for a blow at Warsaw. His first new
movement was directed at the Russian right wing, which was then north of
the Bzura River and east of Lowicz. He also directed the German forces
in East Prussia to advance and attempted to cut the main railway line
between Warsaw and Petrograd. If this attempt had been successful it
would have been a highly serious matter for the Russians. The Russians,
however, defeated it, and drove the enemy back to the East Prussian
border. The movement against the Russian right wing was more successful,
and the Russians fell back slowly. This was not because they were
defeated in battle, but because the difficult weather interfered with
communications. There had been a thaw, and the whole country was
waterlogged. The Grand Duke was willing that the Germans should fight in
the mud.
This slow retreat continued from the 7th of December to Christmas Eve,
and involved the surrender of a number of Polish towns, but it left the
Russians in a strong position. They were able to entrench themselves so
that every attack of the enemy Was broken. The Germans tried hard. Von
Hindenburg would have liked to enter Warsaw on Christmas. The citizens
heard day and night the sound of the cannon, but they were entirely
safe.
The German attack was a failure. On the whole, the Grand Duke Nicholas
had shown better strategy than the best of the German generals.
Outnumbered from the very start, his tactics had been admirable. Twice
he had saved Warsaw, and he was still threatening Cracow. The Russian
armies were fighting with courage and efficiency, and were continually
growing in numbers as the days went by.
During the first weeks of 1915 while there were a number of attacks and
counter attacks both armies had come to the trench warfare, so familiar
in France. The Germans in particular had constructed a most elaborate
trench system, with underground rooms containing many of the ordinary
comforts of life. Toward the end of the month the Russians began to move
in East Prussia in the north and also far south in the Bukovina. The
object of these movements was probably to prevent von Hindenburg from
releasing forces on the west. Russia was still terribly weak in
equipment and was not ready for a serious advance. An attack on sacred
East Prussia would stir up the Germans, while Hungary would be likewise
disturbed by the advance on Bukovina. Von Hindenburg, however, was still
full of the idea of capturing Warsaw. He had failed twice but the old
Field Marshal was stubborn and moreover he knew well what the capture of
Warsaw would mean to Russia, and so he tried again.
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