WAR AND THE WEATHER 609 



cially trying. It is interesting to note that the Belgian troops who were 

 interned in Holland after the fall of Antwerp accidentally crossed the 

 Dutch frontier in the dark, rainy night of their march. 



These autumn rains were not limited to the Franco-Belgian war 

 zone. In the eastern campaign, in late September, we read that the 

 roads were quagmires and that the German troops who were advancing 

 against the Russians were greatly hampered by the difficulty of moving 

 the heavy guns and armored motor cars. In early October the rain and 

 mud in this district interfered with the movements of both armies, but 

 the Russians had the advantage because their field guns and wagons are 

 especially designed for going through mud and soft ground, as a result 

 of their development in districts where there are few good roads. The 

 German artillery and automobile trucks, on the other hand, built low 

 for service on hard ground, were moved with great difficulty or not at all. 

 Hence the rain and the mud fought on the side of the Russians. The 

 troops of the Czar got more of their artillery into action, and used it 

 sooner. The Germans even found it impossible to protect themselves in 

 the customary roofed-over trenches, because the soil was so saturated 

 with water. 



Late in October, in the campaign around Warsaw, heavy rains seem 

 largely to have defeated the German plan of operations. The deficiency 

 in railroads was to be made good by means of long trains of fast motor 

 cars, but the mud was so deep that whole roads are reported to have been 

 blocked with abandoned German transports and guns. In the advance 

 towards Warsaw, the German artillery was so much delayed by the mud 

 that it could not be brought up to strengthen the advance guard. The 

 Russians captured many guns which had been abandoned in the mud. 

 The big Krupp siege guns, which proved so effective in the west, where 

 the roads are good, were a serious handicap in the east. Up to the end 

 of October no important fortress had been taken by bombardment by 

 the Germans in the east. In the west, fortress after fortress fell under 

 the heavy gun fire. In such a region, of lowlands and swamps, winter 

 cold, by freezing the ground, will make campaigning easier. 



It is clear from these few illustrations that modern warfare has in 

 no way become independent of the handicaps imposed by rain. Motors 

 instead of horses are used to pull artillery and supply trains, but the 

 guns have become heavier, and deep sticky mud is just as serious an 

 obstacle as it ever was. 



The grim specter of winter began to rise above the horizon as far 

 back as the middle of September, and almost every day since then has 

 brought some new evidence of the nearer approach of the cold, and the 

 snow, and the suffering which are sure to come with the shortening days 

 and the lowering sun. Modern wars are intense. They do not come to 

 a dead stop in winter. The armies do not go into winter quarters as 



