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s involved; especially a large number of the latter in the immediate vicinity of Lodz suffered terribly. In many of them not a single house or hut was left standing, and thousands of Polish peasants, who even at the best had no superfluity of riches, were deprived of everything they possessed. Fire added to the terror; for most of the houses were covered with straw, and the destruction of one was usually quickly followed by the burning of all others within reach. The losses of the Russians were not only very heavy in prisoners, but also in wounded and killed, although in the latter respect the invading armies suffered almost as severely. Generals Scheidemann and Welitschko, both corps commanders, lost their lives, while it was reported that General Rennenkampf, who failed to come to the rescue of Lodz in time, was placed before a court-martial. After Lodz had been occupied on December 6, 1914, Von Mackensen's army followed the retreating Russians. The latter offered the most stubborn resistance and a great deal of very close fighting took place. In many instances the Russian rear guard dug itself in wherever the ground offered possibilities to do so quickly and then frequently protected its positions with barbed wire. The storming of these of course caused the Germans heavy losses and delayed them sufficiently to allow the Russians to withdraw in good order. For the possession of Lowitz, one of the most important railroad junctions west of Warsaw, the battle raged more than two weeks. It began as early as November 25, 1914, but it was not until about December 15, 1914, that the Russians gave up this point. They had thrown up very strong fortifications on all sides of the town and the Germans under General von Morgen had to bring up a strong force of artillery before they could reduce the place. The result was that this little town which had been in the thick of the fighting so many times was finally almost entirely destroyed and the outlying countryside became a scene of the most complete and terrible devastation. Some of the most violent fighting before Warsaw occurred at this time along the upper Bzura and its southern tributary, the Rawka. The Russian line ran now almost straight from the influx of the Bzura into the Vistula, along the east bank of the former through Sochaczev, then along the east bank of Rawka through Skierniewice and Rawa, from there along some hills to the river Pilitza, crossing it at Ino
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