A real line of defense must be more or less
a straight line, with no break. And the marshes in the north, as
well as the tongue of East Prussia projecting in along the shores
of the Baltic toward Riga made that impossible. Russia's real line
of defense was farther east, along the borders of Russia proper
and along the line of railroad already referred to. By studying
this territory east of Poland it will become obvious why Russia
should prefer this as her main line of defense against a German
invasion.
As we witness the armies moving along what was once the frontier
between Poland and Russia proper we shall find the plain of Poland
dips into a region which apparently was once a vast lake which
drained into the Dnieper, but the outlet becoming choked, this
stagnant water formed into those immense morasses known as the
Pripet Marshes, forming over two-fifths of the whole province of
Minsk and covering an area of over 600 square miles. Even when
more than 6,000,000 acres have been reclaimed by drainage, the
armies found some of these marshes extending continuously for over
200 miles. In the upper Pripet basin the woods were everywhere full
of countless little channels which creep through a wilderness of
sedge. Along the right bank of the Pripet River the land rises above
the level of the water and is fairly thickly populated. Elsewhere
extends a great intricate network of streams with endless fields
of bulrushes and stunted woods.
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