Cracow.

Then von Hindenburg came to the rescue. The supreme command of the
Austrian forces was given to him. The defenses of Cracow were
strengthened under the direction of the Germans, and a German army
advanced from the Posen frontier toward the northern bank of the
Vistula. The advance threatened the Russian right, and, accordingly,
within ten days' march of Cracow, the Russians stopped. The German
offensive in Poland had begun. The news of the German advance came about
the fifth of October. Von Hindenburg, who had been fighting in East
Prussia, had at last perceived that nothing could be gained there. The
vulnerable part of Russia was the city of Warsaw. This was the capital
of Poland, with a population of about three-quarters of a million. If
he could take Warsaw, he would not only have pleasant quarters for the
winter but Russia would be so badly injured that no further offensive
from her need be anticipated for a long period. Von Hindenburg had with
him a large army. In his center he probably had three-quarters of a
million men, and on his right the Austrian army in Cracow, which must
have reached a million.

Counting the troops operating in East Prussia and along the Carpathians,
and the garrison of Przemysl, the Teuton army must have had two
and a half million soldiers. Russia, on the other hand, though her
mobilization was still continuing, at this time could not have had as
many as two million men in the whole nine hundred miles of her battle
front.

The fight for Warsaw began Friday, October 16th, and continued for three
days, von Hindenburg being personally in command. On Monday the Germans
found themselves in trouble. A Russian attack on their left wing had