This slow retreat continued from the 7th of December to Christmas Eve,
and involved the surrender of a number of Polish towns, but it left the
Russians in a strong position. They were able to entrench themselves so
that every attack of the enemy Was broken. The Germans tried hard. Von
Hindenburg would have liked to enter Warsaw on Christmas. The citizens
heard day and night the sound of the cannon, but they were entirely
safe.

The German attack was a failure. On the whole, the Grand Duke Nicholas
had shown better strategy than the best of the German generals.
Outnumbered from the very start, his tactics had been admirable. Twice
he had saved Warsaw, and he was still threatening Cracow. The Russian
armies were fighting with courage and efficiency, and were continually
growing in numbers as the days went by.

During the first weeks of 1915 while there were a number of attacks and
counter attacks both armies had come to the trench warfare, so familiar
in France. The Germans in particular had constructed a most elaborate
trench system, with underground rooms containing many of the ordinary
comforts of life. Toward the end of the month the Russians began to move
in East Prussia in the north and also far south in the Bukovina. The
object of these movements was probably to prevent von Hindenburg from
releasing forces on the west. Russia was still terribly weak in
equipment and was not ready for a serious advance. An attack on sacred
East Prussia would stir up the Germans, while Hungary would be likewise
disturbed by the advance on Bukovina. Von Hindenburg, however, was still
full of the idea of capturing Warsaw. He had failed twice but the old
Field Marshal was stubborn and moreover he knew well what the capture of
Warsaw would mean to Russia, and so he tried again.