bove or eastward of that point, where the German-Russian frontier
touches the shore, the Baltic curls into a dent, 100 miles deep, forming
the Gulf of Riga. Near the southern extremity of this gulf, eight miles
from the mouth of the Dvina, is the city of Riga, ranking second only to
Petrograd in commercial importance as a seaport, and with a population
of about 300,000.

As the armies move across the frontier they come to a vast domain
projecting into this marsh country, like a great, broad tongue licking
the shore of the Baltic; this wide strip of German territory is East
Prussia--a country to be beleaguered. Not far below the tip of this
tongue, about five miles from the mouth of the Pregel River in the
Frische Haff, and about twenty-five miles from the seacoast, is situated
another embattled stronghold--the city of Koenigsberg which, since 1843,
has been a fortress of the first rank. These two cities in the following
pages will be the immediate objectives of the enemy forces operating on
this section of the eastern front.

It will be obvious why the lines of battle were less permanently fixed
here than in the more solid and mountainous sections of northern France.
Railroads and fairly well-laid highways do indeed traverse these swamps
in various parts, especially in German territory, but trenches could not
be dug in yielding mire. In yet another feature were the military
operations hampered by the nature of the terrain here; the use of heavy
artillery.

We have seen that one of the chief causes of success attending German
attacks in the other theatres of the war has been their use of heavy
guns. But in the fighting before Riga, we shall see when the Germans
seemed on the point of taking that city their heavy artillery was so
handicapped that it was rendered practically useless. Being restricted
by the marshes to an attack over a comparatively narrow front, they were
compelled to leave their heavy guns behind on firmer soil. The guns
which they could take with them were matched by the Russians; the
fighting was, therefore, almost entirely limited to infantry
engagements, in which the Russians were not inferior to the Germans.
Thus, we shall find the German advance on Riga was stopped before it
could attain its object.

In studying the fighting in this part of the eastern front, it will be
seen why the Germans were more successful below Riga, and why the
Russians were compelled to evacuate Vilna. Here is a broad ri