s begun.

With the right of the army swinging up along the river Nida, northeast
of Cracow, the Russian left attacked the Dukla Pass in great force,
driving Austrians back and capturing over ten thousand men. On Christmas
Day all three great western passes were in Russian hands. The Austrian
fighting, during this period, was the best they had so far shown, the
brunt of it being upon the Hungarian troops, who, at this time, were
saving Germany.

Meantime von Hindenburg was pursuing his movement in the direction of
Warsaw. The Russian generals found it difficult to obtain information.
Each day came the chronicle of contests, some victories, some defeats,
and it soon appeared that a strong force was crushing in the Russian
outposts from the direction of Thorn and moving toward Warsaw. Ruzsky
found himself faced by a superior German force, and was compelled to
retreat. The Russian aim was to fall back behind the river Bzura, which
lies between the Thorn and Warsaw. Bzura is a strong line of defense,
with many fords but no bridges. The Russian right wing passed by the
city of Lowicz, moved southwest to Strykov and then on past Lodz. West
of Lowicz is a great belt of marshes impossible for the movement of
armies.

The first German objective was the city of Lodz. Von Hindenburg knew
that he must move quickly before the Russians should get up reserves.
His campaign of destruction had made it impossible for aid to be sent to
the Russian armies from Ivanov, far in the south, but every moment
counted. His right pushed forward and won the western crossings of the
marshes. His extreme left moved towards Plock, but the main effort was
against Piontek, where there is a famous causeway engineered for heavy
transport through the marshes.

At first the Russians repelled the attack on the causeway, but on
November 19th the Russians broke and were compelled to fall back. Over
the causeway, then, the German troops were rushed in great numbers,
splitting the Russian army into two parts; one on the south surrounding
Lodz, and the other running east of Brezin on to the Vistula. The
Russian army around Lodz was assailed on the front flank and rear. It
looked like an overwhelming defeat for the Russian army. At the very
last moment possible, Russian reinforcements appeared--a body of
Siberians from the direction of Warsaw. They were thrown at once into
the battle and succeeded in re-establishing the Russian line. This left
about ninety thou