of the shots. Hundreds of thousands of men are pegging away at each other from their trenches." The whole conflict is plain to the airman, while down below in a good many cases the gunners cannot see what they are firing at. With the long range guns it is more and more evident that the side that wins must be supreme in the air. Taking photographs of the positions of the enemy and making maps of their battle plans is an important work of the airmen. Five or more aviators are sent up to make photographs behind the enemy's lines. One of the machines carries the camera and the others, which are very speedy, fly about it, above and below, for protection. The fast little machines. that accompany the photographer are called "vipers" or "maggots." They may be attacked by twenty German machines from a height of 20,000 feet. Then a free-for-all fight ensues. All this is dangerous and exciting enough for any American boy that may dream of going in for air service. The United States planned to put into service many thousand airplanes. Great battles in the air are likely to occur before the war is over. CHAPTER X THE CAMPAIGN OF 1915 In the beginning of January, 1915, the six hundred-mile battle line in Belgium and France extended from the coast of the English Channel to the border of Switzerland. It was so formidably entrenched and fortified that it could not be broken except at a terrific cost of life and shells. Still the Allies confidently planned to undertake a general offensive movement in the spring months of 1915. The Belgians then held about 18 miles, the British 31 miles and the French army, about two and a half milliou strong, defended the remaining 543 miles. BATTLE OF During the winter months there was considerable nibbling at the German lines, but very little was accomplished. On March 10, 1915, NEUVE CHAPELLE the British with 500,000 men began their first offensive. In the early morning they poured a terrific bombardment into the German trenches west of Neuve Chapelle to prepare the way for an infantry attack. Before noon the village was a smoldering heap of ruins and was completely in the hands of the English. North of the village the artillery fire had not been so effective in demolishing the German defenses and the British were caught in barbed wire entanglements and cruelly shot down by the German machine guns. In spite of the severe losses the first attack of the Allies succeeded. But on the two following days the English failed to push their advantage with energy and the Germans were allowed time to recover from the surprise. Moreover, on the second and third days of the fighting the British artillery was poorly aimed on account of cloudy weather. Because of the lack of a telephonic communication the orders were poorly obeyed. So the British failed to gain the commanding ridge east of Neuve Chapelle. Their commander, Sir John French, had advanced his line a mile or so on a three-mile front, but he had lost 13,000 men. Thus after three days of British offensive things were brought to a standstill. Lord Kitchener told the House of Lords that the supply of munitions was causing him serious anxiety. Sir John French's dispatches describing the Battle of Neuve Chapelle also referred to the pressing need of an unlimited supply of ammunition. Thus the first great move of the British was rewarded with poor success because of the lack of artillery support after the initial bombardment. The Allies were just then beginning to realize what piles of shells would be needed in a modern trench battle. The Battle of Champagne in September, 1915, was the second attempt on the part of the Allies to break A FRENCH through the German line in France. The DRIVE battle was fought by the French. They showed that it was possible to drive the enemy from a fortified trench position. They took 23,000 prisoners and over 100 guns in five days' fighting. But the victory was too costly to continue. Thousands of brave Frenchmen laid down their lives for each small gain. Thus the attempt to break the line was halted. The year 1915 saw almost no change on the west front in France and Belgium. England and France were not yet as well equipped nor such skillful trench fighters as their enemy. Still Germany could not advance toward Paris or Calais. EASTERN FRONT (1915) Early in the year 1915, the Russians again invaded Prussia and were met by Von Hindenberg. The Russian army had gradually advanced until it faced a region of lake and bog known as the Mazurian Lakes. At one point it had gone upon the ice among frozen swamps into very dangerous ground. There were only small forces of the Kaiser's men facing the Czar's army, and the Germans kept falling back slowly. Behind them as a screen Von Hindenburg quickly gathered a large force from the front in Poland with his splendid strategic railways. Suddenly he struck the Russians on both flanks and caught them in this intricate lake district. The Russians did not yet know how strong their enemy was, so they fought to free themselves while they should have been retreating. The result was a great disaster. They lost 100,000 prisoners and 50,000 more in killed and wounded. They were driven out of east Prussia and fled in disorder toward Grodno. It is said that Von Hindenberg had made a special study of the Mazurian lake region years before this, so that he would be prepared to win just such a battle as he had now won. While the Russians lost a great army it was their sacrifice that saved Paris a second time. The GerGERMAN mans had to hurry troops from the west PLANS FAIL front and thus they put off a second attempt on Paris. All this while France and England were busy collecting and drilling armies and piling up munitions so that when Germany again struck the west front it was too late to break through. Germany's first plan to dispose of France and then turn against Russia had failed at the Marne and at the Yser and the western line had become a deadlock. Meantime the Kaiser had left Austria to protect her eastern frontier. The Austrian army was to hold back the hosts of the Czar, but in four weeks the troops of Austria had been routed and were fleeing from Lemberg. Germany had not disposed of France in the first six weeks while Russia was well along in the work of disposing of Austria. RUSSIANS The Russian soldiers proved to be valiant fighters and they were commanded by brilliant generals. Grand Duke Nicholas was directing TAKE GALICIA the Russian armies. By September, 1914, Lemberg was reached and occupied and thousands of Austrians were taken prisoners. The Russians did not stop at Lemberg but moved on westward seventy miles farther to the River San, where they again routed the Austrians and surrounded the fortress of Przemysl. This fortress was at last taken with 20,000 prisoners and 1,000 guns. By the end of September the Russian advance troops were within range of Cracow. Here they held their position for several weeks while they spread out along the Carpathian Mountains and penetrated through the passes into Hungary, where they raided the plains of that country. The Russians had now conquered the entire province of Galicia in Austria. It began to look as if the Czar's heroes would capture Cracow and enter Germany from the south. The Germans were alarmed and sent troops from the west front to aid the Austrians. The Austrians and Germans then drove the Russians back to the River San. Here a great battle was fought, lasting four days, in which the Russians were finally victor |