FEARFUL FIGHT.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14773, 29 November 1915, Page 8

FEARFUL FIGHT.

— GUNS CHOKED WITH DEAD. AVHAT NOVO GEOIIGIEVBK COST. A TERRIBLE PICTURE. A terribly realistic battle-picture is painted by the special correspondent of the Rutiskoye Slovo, who gives the first detailed account of the capture of the ’1 orti'ess of Novo Georgievsk by the Germans. This description, which ranks as one of the finest that a great battle of this war lias produced, is despatched from IVtrcgrad liv the Central News correspondent. Extracts are:—• "The battlefield is full of dust—a dust that is not formed of the smoke of the exploded shells, a dust that rises from human bodies under the concussion ot him ircxls ot thousands of dreadful war missiles. In one portion of the field the triumphant Germans are coining forward in massed columns, killing hundreds of our wounded as they advance, in another direction a handful of our soldiers, wounded hut. still able to walk with ef- . fort, are standing making the sign of the iross. a look of stern resolution ou their faces. They are all killed, evenone in the fulfilment of his duty. "Tin l Germans always came oil in close formation, although they were within r, mill l of the guns of the fortress. Into tin middle of this mass of humanity plumped our shells, which hurst and eonverted whole companies into mere {ragmen's ol flesh and hone. HAVOC OF THE SHELLS. "Our observers said the field resembled a vast moth-eaten fur which was being beaten bv a stick in a fierce wind. With each explosion a cloud of human remains rose into Die air. Even the iron discipline of the Germans shrank irom the ordeal of attacking in such a hurricane of fin-, and at Novo Gcorgievsk the advancing troops were made drunk before they were ordered to go forward. "Day and night, like madmen, the Germans came on like waves driven by a gale against a steady rock. As the waves were hurled back new lines of humanity advanced. These again were repulsed, hut. to (lie accompaniment of choruses oi wild shrieks and veils, the waves came on again. Against one group of our fortifications the Gormans made an incessant attack lor 2-i hours—from daylight one day to dawn of the next. "Not only onr men, but. our guns, became tired- Our gunners fainted from excess of fatigue, the guns, red-hot, explod'd under their own shots. Several times we were compe)k l d to renew our supply of guns and to bring more men to the batteries, hut the Germans still rushed forward to the attack. when morning came. "When the dawn i-ame Du l follow!.ig .a:-ruing, our men looked on the liattlcfiekl and eioam-d, A tract of land four miles broad and one and a quarter long was covered wit ii a thick layer of dead. The Germans lay iu heuav- waves of humanity congealed by death. ‘‘Over this grey Geniu i shroud as the snu lose marched new and ever new columns of the enemy. Hundreds-■ • tliousauds of dead men w-ei.- standing upright ns though alive, amid heaps of or. lie corpses. ".Something like this occurred in Fete riiary at J’l-a'snisii, when hundreds of German corpses were see., floating down the river. In some cases the dead funned a dam tu-ioss the stream, over which Dewater flowed on its way to the sea. Soma of the corpses stood upright, propped hy some invisible object, as though intent on wading across the flood ; in otli-i- case i legs were .seen sticking, upright, waved to and,fro by (he pressure of the stream. "Here, before Novo Gcorgievsk, vow after low of men fell, the dead accumulated in masses, while new columns pres-ed from behind. The newcomers climbed the hillocks of dead bodies and were kilhsl before they could advance more than a few paces. GENS CHOKED WITH BODIES. “When the (-‘ermans, despite Du-ir -acriflees on Die way, came to our machineguns, their soldiers rushed at. the guns, and their bodies llaterally choked the a-tioa of these terrible war machines. Then the bayonet attacks began. The 'Trimken Germans sweet over the tronchn in groups, falling like an avalanche on the d-feuders bo neat hj. Madmen as they were, they bit and chewed at Die facet of the Russian soldiers. “Several of our wounded la-rnmo nnern ..viims in Die trenches, nnd when their sense returned they appealed to their -omindcs to he allowed to use their rifles again: ‘Brothers,’ they said, ‘give me some cartridges; I can’t reach them myself.’ The severely wounded who had not sufficient strength to fire appealed to Du-ir "omvede - to put them on the breast works in order that they might see the tight and at the same time allow their comrade-, fo go firing without hindrance. THE TRICE. “The well-known Russian painter, Irensouslty, when asked the price of one of his works, answered, 'The usual amount.' The price wa; determined by the purchaser placing ou Dio canvas a.s many hundred rmihlo notes as would cover the painting. "In ranch the same way the defenders of Novo Gcorgievsk have calculated the sale price of the fortress in German dead. That is why the capture of Novo Gcorgievsk caused no joy in Germany.”