THE HAPPY RUSSIAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16169, 4 March 1916, Page 8

THE HAPPY RUSSIAN.

INVIGORATED BY THE COLD,, ENEMY SUFFERS AGONIES, ' ' '■•■■.-■' The Germans have begun to feel a dig* V quieting pressure, for notwithstanding :'/./?.' abnormally severe cold, the temperature \ : '= having oscillated for weeks about minus"--28 degrees Fahrenheit—from a minimum"'of 40 to a maximum of 65 degrees of frost—they have felt compelled to resume activity, wrote the Petrograd correspondent of the London Morning Post at the, end.of December. The main results of v this activity are the increasing numben of German surrenders; indeed, in some sections of the front the enemy is now K compelled to post sharpshooters behind every movement towards the Russian lines even scouts and picked men preferring th' 9 ' warmth and comfort of Russian captivity to tho misery of their own inadequate *' preparations for tho exceptionally severe •"''. cold which is now prevailing. Regular operations of war on any large scale are physically impossible under these climaticconditions, which, however, are admirably suited to Russian guerrilla methods. Already Germans, marching in columns through a blizzard, have come under the direct fire of Russian artillery, which inflicted fearful havoc among the men, who had supposed that they were in security some miles behind their forward fighting line of advance. Russian soldiers prefer the cruel frost to the torrid heat of summer. The Rug. sian winter is healthy and bracing, the dry air being such as modern doctors prescribe for tho treatment of consumptives, and, though the heavy frosts kail birds on the wing and deaden any of the larger military operations, they stimulate the Russians to individual efforts of an extremely exasperating nature to an .enemy unaccustomed to them. The Germans are burning whole forests as firewood in their efforts to keep themselves alive, This fact, which is known from many sources, suffices to show how hopeless are the German efforts to contend with the Russian-v winter. The Russian, even in winter, never consumes fuel in this wholesale , manner, yet he keeps perfectly warm. Peculiar forms of clothing, occasional acKVj tive movements, and classes of scalding tea keep the Russian lively and happy, where the German suffers agonies round red-hot stove-pipes and other -Western inventions, which, with alcohol in excessive doses, only aggravate the trouble. TIGBIS VALLEY FIGHTING. DIFFICULT COUNTRY. GENERAL TOWNSHEND'S FORCE, A good description of tie country ia which the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia is now 'operating is contained in the following letter, written by ah officer: After the capture of Kut-el-Amara the Turkish Government became nervous about the safety of Bagdad, and despatched strong, reinforcements .southwards against the 1 steady advance of ' the British from Basra; After the battle of September 28, Kut-el-Amara was, established .as.the head of our ' line of communication,' and the troops under General-Townshend operated from there to. oppose any concentration of Turks to the north. "'" This force has ably and gallantly carried out the duty allotted to.it. Though' new pressed back, on : * their advanced position at' Kilt by greatly superior numbers of Turkish troops, , drawn from as far north as Smyrna, they have in the last" three months been continuously in touch with the enemy, fought several minor actions, and, lastly, _in the battle at Ctesiphon, driven four division* of Turks from a} strong • and carefully- | prepared position," and inflicted : heavy v /fj losses on them. ' ...'•'• ; '' <ki This hard-fought action will rank as one Vj of the greatest battles in which the Indian Army has ever been engaged. Our troops, , t British and Indian, emaciated by the terrible hot weather, afterwards suffering greatly from cold, and constantly wearied by incessant work and,incessant fighting, boldly' faced ; enormous .odds- Victory rested. with them at the end of the day, ... but "at such a price that further advance -. would have been too costly. For three days the force held to the captured position until, further Turkish reinforcements having arrived from Bagdad, a withdrawal to the Kut-el-Amara position was determined on. ; This 'was carried out by - General -Townshend with the greatest success, and ;it 'speaks well for'the' spirit of the troops under his command that, in the face of overwhelming numbers, the , retirement was carried out with cheerfulness and steadiness past all praise, and ' riot even the prisoners, of -which 1300 had been Captured at Ctesiphon, werei- allowed ' .-: to fall into the hands of the enemy. - l';\The Country and the siveiv The country above Kut-el-Amara differ! - little from that lower down except ' that here the level of the ground is above the normal flood level of the river. The country perfectly/flat, covered; 1 with short ■ grass or scrub, though here and tbore old,. irrigation -channels make it difficult for carts or 'motor-cars to negotiate, t An occasional mud wall a few feet high stand* out against the 1 sky. These are "mostly evidence of ancient "works" built to con* ■ trol the ; vagaries of the river. , . Often they appear quite useless") as the river has. long since-, ohanged its course... '' North' of ■Eut;,the:: river presents the,, greatest difficulties to navigation.' It -ii tortuous .to a degree. No small scale map shows its eccentric curves, , nor can one : . understand why it should flow off a mile : in some new direction, - only to ..return u within a few yards of its own.course. ,; Below Kut the river is comparatively narrow and deep, though here, too, there are :;* many traps for the unwary ship's cap- ; tain. Above ;it .broadens-out into a" : much more r spacious stream, at- times 500 yds across, but at such places it becomes so shallow '' that there' is hardly enough depth anywhere for a ship to pass,, I and, as the channel is constantly changing, ; it may be half a day before the unwieldy; ' river flats are lucky enough to find a passage past a difficult place. . Dust as Bed and rood. The operations above Kut were carried out by land, though ships played an' important part in bringing up supplies and the ' thousand-and-one things required to maintain an army in the field. V We are now operating on a long line of communication from Basra to Eut-'el-Amiara; ■ and, though a German official report' appeared to tho effect, that the Turks had captured one of our armouved trains near Basra, it will not be giving away .a, military secret to say that no. railway of any sort exists south of Bagdad. %, The ground surface of Mesopotamia is silt, built up by the flow of the ; great rivers through countless ages. - The top surface is dust. Any movement raises a cloud of dust. Tho strong winds, which blow almost continuously over the wide plains, raise storms of dust, and dust was the bed and food of the troops during the worths of September and October. After ' October the -weather began to get cooler, and the dust less enveloping. Throughout ' the ' minor operations in November the nights became very cold, until, at the time when Ctesiphon was fought, the. thermometer nearly touched, freezing-point at niirhta contrast indeed to the sweltering nights of the hot summer.