CHAPTER XL.

FROM STORM TO CALM.

When the Germans entered Warsaw the German High Command had to decide what the next move was to be. Should they entrench on the ground already won, and make the line of the Niemen, the Narev, and the Vistula a great bulwark of defence which would defy all Russian counter-attacks for many a day to come, or should they push their armies forward? There were good reasons why a halt should be called on the river line. The troops were weary with long months of fighting, and badly needed rest. On the other hand, the Russian armies were not crushed, but it seemed likely that another big push would destroy them altogether. With Warsaw gone, the southern railway cut, and the Narev line crumbling, it appeared almost impossible for the Russians to escape. The army in Courland was almost within striking distance of the Petrograd railway, and once this was captured in the neighbourhood of Dvinsk and Vilna, the whole Russian front would be split up into separate armies, each of which might be destroyed. Another great effort, and the Tsar would be on his knees suing for peace.

The die was now cast; the Germans decided to push forward. The Russians were in perilous plight; for on the right the Germans bade fair to envelop their armies, and in the centre von Mackensen was thrusting them back towards the Marshes of the Pripet, in which they might be caught. The Grand Duke's business was to get his armies away eastward, and to refuse at all costs to fight pitched battles. In this he succeeded, and by doing so wrote his name high on the roll of great generals.

You will remember that the bridges across the Vistula at Warsaw had been blown up. Prince Leopold now collected a number of the thousand-ton barges which ply on the river, and constructed a floating bridge, across which he carried a railway line. By 10th August he began to advance; but he found himself constantly held up by Russian attacks, and he made but slow progress. By 16th August von Gallwitz was across the Petrograd line, and von Mackensen was within twenty miles of Brest Litovski. The Russians had already fallen back, and were lying in front of the railway from Ossowietz through Bialystok to Brest. They were, however, still holding out in front of the old city and fortress of Kovno.

Glance at the position of Kovno. You see (page 311) that it stands on the Niemen, at the point where the course of the river swings to the south. Should Kovno fall, the other fortresses on the Niemen would be in great peril, and the enemy would have a direct route to Vilna, where they would be in the rear of the Russians. On the day that Warsaw fell, the Germans were near enough to Kovno to begin the bombardment. For twelve days they rained shells upon the forts, while the infantry fought for the outworks. By this time the city had been stripped, and its valuable contents had been sent eastwards. Nevertheless it had to be held while arrangements were made for the Russian line to retire. The gunners in Kovno stuck to their posts for twelve desperate days, and all the time the big siege howitzers of the enemy played havoc among them. Nevertheless, the Russians held on, and, what is more, continued to work their guns.

By Sunday, 15th August, the forts were in ruins, and two days later the heroic garrison yielded. The Germans claimed 20,000 prisoners and over 200 guns. The Russians, however, were fully prepared for this loss. The holding of Kovno was a forlorn hope, and the men and guns in it were sacrificed to gain time.

The fall of Kovno meant that the Russian right must now retire, and a day later it was clear that the centre must retire too. The Germans had cut the railway to the north of Brest, and were now attacking the western forts of the stronghold. Next day Novo Georgievsk, which had been besieged for about three weeks and was now a huddle of ruins, had to yield, and 20,000 of the garrison, along with 700 guns, most of which had been rendered useless, fell into the hands of the Germans. Shortly before the surrender, a daring Russian aviator was entrusted with the maps and secret papers of the fortress. He ascended, and though furiously assailed by the anti-aircraft guns of the enemy, managed to fly clear and carry the precious documents into safety.

Two of the three great fortresses forming the Polish triangle had now gone; Brest alone remained, and its doom was already sealed. While the Russians were preparing for a further retirement, their right, which rested on the Baltic Sea, was threatened with a new danger. On Sunday, 10th August, a German fleet tried to force a way into the Gulf of Riga; it was beaten off, but the attempt was renewed on the 15th and on the 16th. During a thick fog the Germans got into the Gulf on the 16th, and two days later tried to land troops at an unfortified port on the road to Petrograd. Four very large flat-bottomed barges, filled with troops, attempted to get ashore on the 20th; but the Russian light craft swooped down upon them, and captured or destroyed the whole of the landing force. Meanwhile a naval battle was going on throughout the length of the Gulf. The Russians lost an old gunboat, while the Germans had eight destroyers and two cruisers either sunk or put out of action, and a submarine driven ashore. On the 21st the Germans left the Gulf. Their attempt to outflank the Russian right had failed.

During the previous twenty days the Germans in the centre had pushed forward no less than one hundred miles; but the Russian armies had eluded them, and no crushing battle had taken place. The Germans had not yet given up all hope of overwhelming the Russians, but for the time being they were anxious to secure a strong line on which they might maintain themselves during the coming winter. They had also a new campaign in view. Already they were thinking of forcing a way through the Balkans to Constantinople, so as to open a road to the east and fling such forces into Gallipoli as would drive the British and French into the sea.

Now we must return to the doomed fortress of Brest. On the day that the German warships left the Gulf of Riga, Prince Leopold was close to the western walls of the fortress, while von Mackensen, east of the Bug, was threatening to take the forts from the rear. On 25th August Brest Litovski fell. It had held out long enough to enable the Russians to get away with the guns and supplies, and only a little wheat was left behind. Soon after the Germans entered the place a mine exploded and destroyed a thousand of their troops.

You will see from the map on page 311 that the Russians, who had been holding the front around Brest, could use two railways to help them in their retreat. Most of them, however, had to retire on foot through the Marshes of the Pripet. Prince Leopold, in following them up, had to fight his way through the great forest region which lies to the north of Brest. It is said that in the recesses of this forest the European bison, elsewhere extinct, is still found. In the woods on the edges of the marshes the Russian rearguards fought fierce delaying actions, while their comrades trudged, unhasting but unresting, eastwards. Happily, the summer had been fairly dry, and it was possible for large numbers of men and guns to cross the swamps. By the end of August the Germans were thirty miles east of Brest, and were well within the marshy region.

Meanwhile, the chief interest of the struggle lay in the north. On 28th August von Buelow began his great attack on the line of the Dvina. In all the valley of that river, from Dvinsk to Riga, there is no crossing save at the little town of Friedrichstadt, some fifty miles from the coast. Below the town great stretches of marshy forest line the left bank of the stream, and no road follows its course on that side. On the other side the ground is harder, and along the line of the river runs the main Riga-Vilna Railway. The Russians held the left bank of the river, and von Buelow urged his men to the assault in the following words: "After the brilliant campaign on the Russian front, and the occupation of many cities and fortresses, you must make one more effort to force the Dvina and seize Riga. There you will rest during the autumn and winter, in order to march on Petrograd in the spring." On the morning of 2nd September the Russians were forced back for ten miles from the left bank of the river; but the bridgehead at Friedrichstadt still held out.

* * * * *

With the close of August the worst was over, and the turn of the tide had come. The tornado had blown itself out, the skies were clearing, and those who had been hurled back by the mighty blast were able to keep their feet and hold their own once more. The Russian line was nearly straight; the wings were hard pressed, but they could still resist; and the centre was too far within the Pripet marshes for easy capture. The struggle for dear life was over. Thenceforward the Russians were masters of their fate. They could retreat when and where they chose into the limitless expanses of their land. If they halted to fight a battle, it was because they saw some advantage to be gained, not because they were compelled to do so.

With the passing of all immediate danger, confidence surged up in their breasts, and at this moment the Tsar placed himself at the head of his soldiers. "We shall," he said, "fulfil our sacred duty to defend our country to the last." The Grand Duke Nicholas, who had so long borne the heat and burden of the day, gladly yielded place to his sovereign. Twice before in the history of Russia had a Tsar come forward to lead his armies in the day of dire peril. What Peter[59] and Alexander I.[60] had done, Nicholas II. now did. It was a sign to the whole Russian people that the war was to be waged to a triumphant end. The Germans were prepared to make a separate peace with Russia; they believed her to be crushed and broken and war-weary. Now came the reply: the Tsar, the head and front of Russia both in Church and in State, followed the example of his forefathers in the hour of trial and took chief command.

* * * * *

Look carefully at the large map on page 311, and find Grodno, on the Niemen. At the end of August the Russians were holding a salient round this fortress. September was but three days old when Grodno fell, and the Russians had to retire in order to avoid being surrounded. They had two railways to help them in their retreat--the main line to Petrograd and a line connecting with the Riga-Vilna-Rovno Railway. At all costs the enemy must be held back from these railways until the guns, troops, and stores in and around Grodno could be got away. Rearguards behind Grodno and a screen of troops farther north, where the Germans had to cross a district of lakes and forests, fought gallantly, and by 12th September the salient was clear. The Germans claimed to have captured 4,000 prisoners; but even if they did so, the price was not too high to pay for the safety of the army corps that escaped.

Now we must turn to Vilna, against which von Hindenburg had prepared a great thrust. On 2nd September a ten days' struggle began fifteen miles to the north-west of the city. By sheer weight of artillery the trenches of the Russians were carried, and a gas attack gave the Germans an important pass between a group of lakes which formed the main defence of the fortress on their left. Other forces were pushing up from the south, and retreat was again necessary. By the 13th it was clear that Vilna must fall. The Germans had cut the Petrograd railway only twenty miles from the city.

The forces in front of Vilna had only one good railway line by which they could retire eastward, and only one good road--a causeway running across the marshes towards Minsk. On 15th September it was discovered that some 40,000 German cavalry, with 140 guns, were sweeping round so as to cut the railway and capture the causeway. Here was a terrible danger. If the cavalry could hold the railway and the causeway, the Russians in the Vilna salient would be surrounded, and nothing could save them. Not an hour must be lost. Vilna was abandoned on 18th September, and the troops were hurried eastwards by means of the road and railway. Rearguards on the right fought desperate holding battles, but on the 20th the gap through which the Russians were retreating had shrunk to little more than fifty miles. The Minsk railway was in danger; only the causeway, densely packed with guns, wagons, convoys, ambulances, and troops, was clear.

Suddenly, in this moment of peril, the German thrust weakened. While the cavalry were sweeping round to the rear, the artillery and infantry to the west of the fortress made no push. Owing to the bad and crowded roads they could only proceed very slowly, and thus the Russians were afforded what they most needed--time. No longer were they without arms and ammunition. The Russian factories had worked miracles, and now the Tsar's armies were able to meet the enemy on equal terms. On the evening of 20th September, when the retreating Russians were thirty miles east of Vilna, their right wing fell upon the German cavalry and drove them back with the bayonet. For some days there was heavy fighting, but by the end of the month the Russian line was straight again. Once more the Germans had been foiled.

Meanwhile the army of Brest, which had never been in serious danger, had been pursued, but the pursuers were now firmly held. On the Dvina von Buelow had made but little progress, while in the south Ivanov had held his ground, and had even won victories against the German right. He had overthrown a force moving against Tarnopol and another which was advancing further south, and had won one of the most successful of the smaller battles. Of course the Germans had made counter-attacks upon him, but they had been unsuccessful, and Ivanov had advanced in some places as much as twenty miles. His captures at the end of the month amounted to 80,000 men and many guns.

Thus the end of September saw the Germans held in check. They had won Vilna and Grodno, but they had failed to cut off the troops in these salients, and had not made good the line of the Dvina. Winter was almost upon them, yet they had not found a suitable position for winter quarters. Meanwhile the Russians were growing in strength every day.

* * * * *

During the terrible months from May till September the nation had suffered greatly, and misfortune had been heaped on misfortune. The spectacle of troops falling back day by day, the endless stream of wounded arriving at the bases, the highroads thronged with homeless peasants, and the seeming hopeless struggle would have broken down the spirit of most nations and brought about revolution; but in Russia, though there was some unrest, there was no revolution. Even the peasants who had lost their all, and had not where to lay their heads, bore their sufferings without complaint. A correspondent who talked with some of them tells us they felt that they were playing their part in defeating the hated enemy, as their fathers had done before them. They hoped for an early winter in order that their enemy might perish of cold and starvation, and they thought nothing of the sufferings that the winter would bring to them and their children. "I have heard them say again and again: 'We must win now, regardless of the cost and the time it takes. The sacrifices we have suffered are too great for us to hesitate at anything short of victory.'"

* * * * *

When the German cavalry were flung back from the rear of Vilna, the retreating Russians once more breathed freely. The end of the summer campaign had come, and still the Germans had delivered no smashing blow. During the month of October von Hindenburg strove fiercely to carry the line of the Dvina, in order to secure Dvinsk and Riga as winter quarters. The Russian right lay on the sea, and behind the river stretched a wilderness of marsh and lake almost impassable for troops and big guns. Riga and the line of the river south of it were defended by great stretches of bogland, and the patches of dry ground were cut up by many sluggish streams flowing in reedy channels. General Ruzsky, who was holding Dvinsk, had learned the lesson of Verdun and pushed out his defences far from the city. In the course of a big attack on 26th September the Germans came within eight miles of the fortress, but they could approach no nearer. An attempt to reach Riga by the coast road was foiled by the guns of the Russian fleet.

On 3rd October von Hindenburg began a new series of thrusts against the line of the river, but made very little progress, and when the Russian counter-attacks began the German losses were very great. Before long 50,000 of the enemy had fallen, and their goal was as far off as ever. Von Hindenburg now saw that he could not succeed against Dvinsk, and began a determined effort to capture Riga. He managed to win a marshy island in one of the arms of the river; but here he was stayed, and soon his troops were blown off the island. He was now fighting an army that was as strong as his own and could return shell for shell and shot for shot. By the end of October all his efforts against Dvinsk and Riga had come to nothing, and he was forced to dig in for the winter in a most inhospitable land. The snows were beginning to fall, bitter north winds were sweeping over the land, and no great movement was possible until the spring.

So the tragic year came to an end. The Russians had passed through their fiery ordeal, and had emerged with a new courage and a new hope. On the map the Germans looked like victors, but actually they had failed. The Russian armies were intact; the Germans could not push on in the wilderness, and at the close of the year they lay waiting the uncertain future amidst dismal swamps and meres.

[Footnote 59: In 1707, when Charles XII. of Sweden invaded Russia and bade fair to overrun the country, Peter the Great put himself at the head of his army, and on July 5, 1709, inflicted a great defeat on the Swedes and drove them out of the country.]

[Footnote 60: In 1812, when Napoleon invaded Russia and marched to Moscow (see Vol. I., p. 64), Alexander I. placed himself at the head of the army, and by wasting the country forced Napoleon to retreat.]