And yet, as the armies march into the capital, there are still
signs of the city's past glory: over thirty palaces rear their
lofty turrets above the tile roofs of the houses, among them the
palace of the long-dead Polish kings.
However, from a military point of view, Warsaw maintained great
importance in the Great War. It is at this time one of the strongest
citadels of Europe, and around it lies the group of fortresses
called the Polish Triangle. The southern apex is Ivangorod on the
Vistula; the eastern, Brest-Litovsk; the northern being Warsaw
itself. To the northwest lies the advanced fort of Novo Georgievsk.
This triangle is a fortified region with three fronts: two toward
Germany and one toward Austria, and the various forts are fully
connected by means of railroads.
It would appear, therefore, that Russian Poland would offer excellent
conditions for an army on the defensive. And this is quite true, the
Vistula, especially, serving as a screen against the attacking armies
from the west. As a matter of fact, it would have been extremely
difficult to take Warsaw by a frontal attack. Warsaw's weakness
lay in the north in the swamp regions.
One of the greatest dangers in all wars, against which a military
commander has to guard his army, is that of being flanked. The road
or roads leading from the rear to the base of supplies, along which
not only food supplies for the soldiers, but, quite as important,
ammunition, is brought up, either in wagons, automobiles, or in
railroad trains, are the most sensitive part of an army's situation.
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