t were prepared to defend their positions with a
stubbornness and determination unequaled by the case of any other
fortress with the possible exception of Riga and Rovno. The harder the
Germans drove their armies against Dvinsk the harder the Russians
fought to repulse them. The latter were greatly assisted in this by
the fact that strong reenforcements had been sent to this crucial
point from Petrograd and from other interior points. Still more
important was the beginning of considerable improvement in the Russian
supply of guns and shells. Even though, in that respect, Russky was
undoubtedly still far behind his German opponent, Von Hindenburg, yet
he was at that moment in a much better position than any other Russian
general. Dvinsk had to be held at all costs--the Russian General Staff
apparently had decided--and to Dvinsk, therefore, were sent all
available guns and munitions.

Originally the fortress of Dvinsk was far from being up to date or
particularly effective and imposing. It consisted of an old citadel
which, it is true, had been improved considerably; but even then its
outworks extended hardly farther than a mile beyond its own range. As
soon as General Russky assumed command he began feverishly to improve
these conditions. In this undertaking he was greatly assisted by the
nature of the countryside surrounding Dvinsk. Immediately to the
northwest, west, south, and southeast the River Dvina formed a strong
line of natural defense. Beyond that was a region thickly covered with
small and big lakes, which swung around Dvinsk as a center, in the
form of an immense three-quarters circle, starting to the south of the
Libau-Ponevesh-Dvinsk railroad and stopping just west of the
Dvinsk-Pskoff-Petrograd railroad. The diameter of this circle varies
from thirty miles to sixty. The ground between these lakes is swampy
in many places, difficult of approach, and comparatively easy to
defend even against superior forces, especially because most of it is
not entirely flat, but interspersed with hills and woodlands.

Throughout this entire district the Russians built a dense network of
trenches, and it was especially by means of these that the Germans
were repulsed not only successfully but with great losses to their
attacking forces. The more important of these earth fortifications
were built in a novel fashion. The main part of each had the form of a
crescent with its horns turned toward the enemy. Every attack from the