between the Vistula and the Bug--practically
the last line of defense, for the Warsaw-Kiev railway had been
broken down. The German troops and the corps under the command
of Field Marshal von Arz alone from the 15th to the 18th of July,
1915, took 16,250 prisoners and 23 machine guns.

It was announced by the Germans that according to written orders
captured during this action the Russian leaders had resolved to
hold the positions here conquered by the Germans to the utmost,
regardless of losses.

The same day that brought the report of this Russian retreat on
the south brought the news that in the adjoining sector to the
west of the Upper Vistula the army of General von Woyrsch had met
resistance from the Russians behind the Ilzanka after the Russian
defeat on July 13, 1915, that, however, Silesian Landwehr on the
18th had captured the Russian defenses at Ciepilovo by storm, and
that the Russian line at Kasonow and Barenow was beginning to yield.
The army of General von Gallwitz had now taken up positions along the
whole Narew line from southwest of Ostrolenka to Novo Georgievsk.
The Russians, however, as already indicated, were still holding
fortified places and bridgeheads on the right bank of the river.
In this sector the number of prisoners taken by the Germans had
risen to 101 officers and 28,760 men.

In the sector next adjoining, passing onward around the enveloping
lines, that lying between the Pissa and the Szkwa, the Russians
likewise had retreated until they stood directly on the Narew.
Here the Slavs had been favored by forests and swampy land which
made pursuit difficult.

At the extreme left end of the German line a magnificent success
had been achieved in the occupation of Tukkum and Windau. This
capture brought the Germans to within fifty miles of Riga, seat of
the governor general of the Baltic provinces. They were, however,
destined not to make any substantial progress in the direction of
that city for many months to come.

Blow fell upon blow. The question "Can Warsaw be held?" began to
receive doubtful answers in the allied capitals. The colossal coordinate
movement of the Teutonic forces in these July days had received so
little check from the Russian resistance that the British press
had begun to discount the fall of the Polish capital. Shortness
of ammunition and artillery was ascribed as the cause of Russia's
failure to make a successful stand against the onrushing Teutons.

On July 20