tor of
Tannenberg, Von Hindenburg--who meanwhile had been raised to the rank of
field marshal--had been put in supreme command of the combined German
and Austro-Hungarian armies in Poland. Though he was fighting now on
territory concerning which he had at least no superior knowledge than
his adversaries, his energy made itself felt immediately. He pushed the
advance of his four armies at an overpowering rate of speed and forced
the Russians, who apparently were not any too sure, either about the
strength of the opposing forces or their ultimate plans, to fall back
everywhere. By October 5 the Russians, attempting to make a desperate
stand near Radom, had been forced back almost as far as Ivangorod, and
within the week following the Austro-German army, still further south,
had reached the Vistula between the Galician border and Ivangorod. The
advance of the Germans as well as the retreat of the Russians took place
under terrific difficulties, caused by torrential rains which poured
down incessantly. Some interesting details may be learned from a letter
written about that time by a German officer in charge of a heavy
munition train: "From Czestochowa we advanced in forced marches. During
the first two days roads were passable, but after that they became
terrible, as it rained every day. In some places there were no roads
left, nothing but mud and swamps. Once it took us a full hour to move
one wagon, loaded with munitions and drawn by fifteen horses, a distance
of only fifteen yards.... Horses sank into the mud up to their bodies
and wagons up to their axles.... One night we reached a spot which was
absolutely impassable. The only way to get around it was through a dense
forest, but before we could get through there it was necessary to cut an
opening through the trees. For the next few hours we felled trees for a
distance of over five hundred yards.... For the past eight days we have
been on the go almost every night, and once I stayed in my saddle for
thirty consecutive hours. During all that time we had no real rest.
Either we did not reach our quarters until early in the morning or late
at night. What a bed feels like we've forgotten long ago. We consider
ourselves lucky if we have one room and straw on the floor for the seven
of us. For ten days I have not been out of my clothes. And when we do
get a little sleep it is almost invariably necessary to start off again
at once.... Even our food supplies have become more sca