It would be futile to recount the details of the various German victories which followed the advance into Poland.  On July 24th, the German line ran from Novogard in the north, south of Przasnysz, thence to Novogeorgievsk, then swinging to the southeast below Warsaw it passed close to the west of Ivangorad, Lublin, Chelm, and then south to a point just east of Lemberg.  Warsaw at that time was in the jaws of the German nutcracker.

On July 21st, the bells in all the churches throughout Russia clanged a call to prayer for twenty-four hours’ continual service of intercession for victory.  In spite of the heat the churches were packed.  Hour after hour the people stood wedged together, while the priests and choirs chanted their litanies.  Outside the Kamian Cathedral an open-air mass was celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd.  But the German victories continued.

On August 5th Warsaw was abandoned.  Up to July 29th hope was entertained in military quarters in London and Paris that the Germans would stand a siege in their fortresses along the Warsaw salient, but on that date advices came from Petrograd that in order to save the Russian armies a retreat must be made, and the Warsaw fortresses abandoned.  For some time before this the Russian resistance had perceptibly stiffened, and many vigorous counter-attacks had been made against the German advance, but it was the same old story, the lack of ammunition.  The armies were compelled to retire and await the munitions necessary for a new offensive.

The last days of Russian rule in Warsaw were days of extraordinary interest.  The inhabitants, to the number of nearly half a million, sought refuge in Russia.  All goods that could be useful to the Germans were either removed or burned.  Crops were destroyed in the surrounding fields.  When the Germans entered they found an empty and deserted city, with only a few Poles and the lowest classes of Jews still left.  Warsaw is a famous city, full of ancient palaces, tastefully, adorned shops, finely built streets, and fourscore church towers where the bells are accustomed to ring melodiously for matins and vespers.  In the Ujazdowske Avenue one comes to the most charming building in all Warsaw, the Lazienki Palace, with its delicious gardens mirrored in a lovely lake.  It is a beautiful city.

The fall of Warsaw meant the fall of Russian Poland, but Russia was not yet defeated.  Von Hindenburg was to be treated as Napoleon was in 1812, The strategy of the Grand Duke was sound; so long as he could save the army the victories of Germany would be futile, It is true that the German armies were not compelled, like those of Napoleon, to live on the land.  They could bring their supplies from Berlin day by day, but every mile they advanced into hostile territory made their task harder.  The German line of communication, as it grew longer, became weaker and the troops needed for garrison duty in the captured towns, seriously diminished the strength of the fighting army, The Russian retreat was good strategy and it was carried on with extraordinary cleverness.