Not far below the
tip of this tongue, about five miles from the mouth of the Pregel
River in the Frische Haff, and about twenty-five miles from the
seacoast, is situated another embattled stronghold--the city of
Koenigsberg which, since 1843, has been a fortress of the first
rank. These two cities in the following pages will be the immediate
objectives of the enemy forces operating on this section of the
eastern front.
It will be obvious why the lines of battle were less permanently
fixed here than in the more solid and mountainous sections of northern
France. Railroads and fairly well-laid highways do indeed traverse
these swamps in various parts, especially in German territory,
but trenches could not be dug in yielding mire. In yet another
feature were the military operations hampered by the nature of the
terrain here; the use of heavy artillery.
We have seen that one of the chief causes of success attending
German attacks in the other theatres of the war has been their
use of heavy guns. But in the fighting before Riga, we shall see
when the Germans seemed on the point of taking that city their
heavy artillery was so handicapped that it was rendered practically
useless. Being restricted by the marshes to an attack over a
comparatively narrow front, they were compelled to leave their
heavy guns behind on firmer soil. The guns which they could take
with them were matched by the Russians; the fighting was, therefore,
almost entirely limited to infantry engagements, in which the Russians
were not inferior to the Germans.
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