LAND AND lW. A T E K. 
Marcn zy, lyio. 
D 
L 
-A^^^ 
V 
frontier railway, and supported with munitions 
from that line, being further supplied from its 
right by the railway which runs south-westward 
across the Frontier through Mlawa, the German 
line began to advance upon Monday, February 22. 
The district is one line between the Rivers 
Orzec and Lidynia, which rivers reach the fortified 
line defending the Warsaw railways about fifty 
miles away from Mlawa and Khorgele. 
The Germans advanced not quite half way to 
the defensive line, having, for the centre of their 
effort, the town of Przasnysz. Their right followed 
the railway line down from Mlawa, their left tho 
marshy river Orzec. They reached Przasnysz 
upon Wednesday February 24, after a carefully 
cO-ordinated advance in line of rather over twenty 
miles. Upon Thursday, the 25th, they over- 
whelmed the Russian outpost there (a Brigade 
with a few guns), announced a great victory, and 
re-formed their line for further advance. 
Another larger Russian advanced body, a 
whole division, occupying a swell of land at the 
point I have marked X on this sketch, detained 
them and fought very gallantly for thirty-six hours 
against far superior numbers in order to permit 
the arrival of three Russian Army Corps coming 
up along the direction of the arrows from the 
P Q R and S. The German siege train coming lip 
from the direction D had the advantage of the rail- 
way to supply it with its ammunition and to move 
its'hcaNT pieces. It had the disadvantage of being 
able to occupy no more than a rather narrow sector 
iW V between the marshes, and to this must be 
added the fact that the roads, or rather tracks, 
running latterly from the main causeway are very 
poor, and at this time of year, especially in this 
open winter with its alternate frost and thaw, ill 
able to support the passage of hea^y munitions. 
Further, the district is very flat, as may be pre- 
sumed from the presence of so much marsh, and the 
opportunities of hiding a howitzer from the direct 
fire of the permanent works are not numerous. 
From all these causes combined the bombard- 
ment of Osowiecs, though ))egun in this last week 
of February and continued to the present time, 
has so far been of no effect. It has been reported 
that the Germans here eraplaced pieces of 16 to 17 
inches calibre. I venture to doubt this until there 
is better evidence.* But it is certain that the large 
Austrian pieces of about 11 inches were present, 
and it is remarkable that the bombardment should 
liave been prolonged over so many weeks without 
any apparent result. Whether this were due to 
insufficiency of air work or to whatever other 
cause, we are not told. At any rate this bombard- 
ment of Osowiecs, the work of the second column, 
,was, like the advance on Grodno, only subsidiary 
to the main operation, which was the advance upon 
the lower Narew and the attempt to pierce that 
line and get upon the railway in the neighbour- 
hood of Warsaw. This advance was conducted 
apparently in a force of four Corps, among which 
it was destructiAo to place two composed in the 
main of the new German levies. 
Having massed upon the front ]Mlawa — Khor- 
gele, about a day's march in front of the Prussian 
(^ ^v ay' 
Mawa 
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111 «i ■ 1 1 -» 
sJ 
* There are probably now in the field 
tA about 14 07 15 inches calibre. 
few nfx German howitzers 
Narew. The right of this Russian force forced the 
passages of the Orzec against a stubborn German 
resistance, the left relieved the isolated division, 
which had been holding out at X, and the German 
line began to give way. It is worthy of note that 
the Russians discovered the new levies to be in- 
sufficient, though in equal or superior numbers, to 
resist this advance. In the course of Friday, 
February 26, Przasnysz was re-occupied by 
the Russian forces, and a general German retire- 
ment began. It was no rout, as the journalists of 
the Allies were sanguine enough to maintain ; only 
ten thousand prisoners and perhaps a score of 
guns fell to the victors. But the significa nee of this 
extended action — which goes by the riame of the 
Battle of Przasnysz — lay in the fact that it 
marked the close of the i^econd chapter in tliis great 
operation, and the frustration of the German 
design to reach and pierce the Narew defensive 
line. 
As the German retirement in the first days of 
March fell back in orderly and leisurely fashion 
to the original line Mlawa— Ivliorgele, the nearer 
it got to its frontier railway, the stronger it 
became, and the less effective was the Russian 
pressure against it. From that day to this, over a 
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