Hindenburg, who had been fighting in East
Prussia, had at last perceived that nothing could be gained there. The
vulnerable part of Russia was the city of Warsaw. This was the capital
of Poland, with a population of about three-quarters of a million. If
he could take Warsaw, he would not only have pleasant quarters for the
winter but Russia would be so badly injured that no further offensive
from her need be anticipated for a long period. Von Hindenburg had with
him a large army. In his center he probably had three-quarters of a
million men, and on his right the Austrian army in Cracow, which must
have reached a million.

Counting the troops operating in East Prussia and along the Carpathians,
and the garrison of Przemysl, the Teuton army must have had two
and a half million soldiers. Russia, on the other hand, though her
mobilization was still continuing, at this time could not have had as
many as two million men in the whole nine hundred miles of her battle
front.

The fight for Warsaw began Friday, October 16th, and continued for three
days, von Hindenburg being personally in command. On Monday the Germans
found themselves in trouble. A Russian attack on their left wing had
come with crushing force. Von Hindenburg found his left wing thrown
back, and the whole German movement thrown into disorder. Meanwhile an
attempt to cross the Vistula at Josefov had also been a failure. The
Russians allowed the Germans to pass with slight resistance, waited
until they arrived at the village Kazimirjev, a district of low hills
and swampy flats, and then suddenly overwhelmed them.

Next day the Russians crossed the river themselves, and advanced along
the whole line, driving the enemy before them, through great woods of
spruce out into the plains on the west. This forest region was well
known to the Russian guides, and the Germans suffered much as the
Russians had suffered in East Prussia. Ruzsky, the Russian commander,
pursued persistently; the Germans retreating first to Kielce, whence
they were driven, on the 3d of November, with great losses, and then
being broken into two pieces, with the north retiring westward and the
south wing southwest toward Cracow.

Rennenkampf's attack on the German left wing was equally successful, and
von Hindenburg was driven into full retreat. The only success won during
this campaign was that in the far south where Austrian troops were
sweeping eastward toward the San. This army drove back th