latter, in order to find a point big enough for an effective attack,
had to be frontal in nature; that means, it had to be directed against
the main part of the crescent-shaped trench. But, whenever such a
frontal attack would be executed and just as soon as the attackers
would be inside of the sides of the crescent, machine guns and rifle
fire from its two horns would hit them on both flanks and frequently
destroy them utterly. In order to make the Germans advance far enough
into the crescent, advanced trenches had been built in front of its
horns, which were connected with the main part of the crescent by
communicating trenches.

These advanced trenches were manned by comparatively small forces,
whose duty it was to offer a sufficiently strong resistance to draw a
fairly good-sized number of Germans. This purpose having been
accomplished the troops in the advanced trenches would give way and
retire by means of the communicating trenches into their main
positions. Again and again the Germans followed them into the
death-dealing hollow, to be decimated unmercifully in the manner
described above. At the same time Russian guns would open fire and
direct a sheet of shells toward the back of the attacker, thus cutting
off most effectively any reenforcements which might have made it
possible for the Germans to either storm the main trench or withdraw
at least that part of their attacking party which had not yet fallen
prey to Russian ingenuity. It is said that General Russky contrived to
throw out fortifications of this nature around Dvinsk in an immense
circle which had a diameter of twenty miles and with its circumference
formed a front of almost two hundred miles. Of course, this front was
not in the form of an unbroken line. There were any number of places
along it that could be occupied by the Germans practically at will.
But once there the next advance would invariably bring them face to
face with a new obstacle, kill hundreds of them, and frequently result
in the withdrawal of the remnant to its main line, from where another
advance would be attempted promptly on the next day.

One other feature of these fortifications contributed a great deal to
their becoming practically impregnable. The Russian engineering troops
saw to it that all these works were built as narrow as possible and
were dug as deep as the ground permitted. It was this fact which made
the German artillery fire so surprisingly ineffective at this po