GERMANS PLANNING A NEW MOVE IN POLAND

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2312, 20 November 1914, Page 5

GERMANS PLANNING A NEW MOVE IN POLAND

BIG CONCENTRATION AT THORN EVENTS OF DECISIVE IMPORT FENDING (Reo. November 16, 11.20 p.m.) Petrograd, November 19. The Germans have assembled their chief available forces in the neighbourhood of Thorn, their immediate objectives being Plock and Kutno, but inas- • much as the previously wrecked communications have not been restored, their movements are likely to be crippled for some time; Semi-official. —An army message remarks that the, decisive events impending between the Vistula and Warta Rivers may prove to be a long step towards the successful conclusion of the whole campaign. ' Thorn is the nearest German fortified position to the Polish frontier, from which it is distant some 9 miles. From Thorn to the Polish town of Plock is a distance of 60 miles, by east, oh the Vistula, and to Kutno, to the south-east, about 62 miles. I FIFE AND A HALF MILLION TROOPS ENGAGED.- • London, November 18. The "Times" military correßpondentestimates that Hid Germans have three armies, and the Austrinns,three armies, in the eastern theatre, a total of two millions. The Russians have seven armies, or three and a half million. The Germans have taken command of _ the defences of Cracow, and have relegated the Austrians to the Carpathians, causing further dissensions. GERMANS CLAIM A GREAT VICTORY, " Amsterdam,.November 18. . The Germans claim a great victory for General von Hindenburg over tho Russians advancing on Thorn. The streets of Berlin are decorated. The Kaiser has congratulated the General. A German communique states that a battle north of Lodz (in Poland, 70 miles west-south-west of Warsaw) is, developing, but is yet undecided. The Russians south-east of Soldau (in East Prussia) have retreated on Mlavra (in ' • BOMBARDMENT OF RUSSIAN PORT OF LIBAU. ' (Ree. November 19, 9.40 p.m.) ■Petrograd, November 19. Offioial,—Two German cruisers and ten torpedo-boats bombarded Lib an, causing several fires. , (Rec. November 20,-1.40 a.m.) Petrograd, November 19. The bombardment of Libau killed five people, including some women. Thirty men in the fort were injured. It is reported that a German destroyer during tho bombardment was mined and sunk. ' Libau, a Russian naval base on the Baltic, is the chief town and seaport of the Government of Couiiand, 143 miles by rail south-west of Riga, on a bank separating Lake Libau from the Baltic. The port has an artificial harbour, which has the commercial advantage of freezing for a few days only, an- advantage which has elevated it to the position of one of the first seaportsin the Empire, absorbing by its railway, communications all the exports which were formerly sent to the Prussian portof Konigsberg (about 140 miles further south). The population numbers 64,500. Libau is also the terminus of a sub-marine-cable. t . RUSSIAN ADVANCE GUARDS FALLING BACK.! " (Recv. November 20, 1.25 a.m.) Petrograd, November 19. Official—"The Russian advance guards between the Vistula and the Warta are falling back in tho direction of Sis our a.' Tho enemy has reached the Lencnya districts. - ' "The Russians continue fighting all the way towards the GumbinnenAugeb'urg front, which the enemy is defending. The enemy abandoned upwards of three hundred dead in the trenches at Verstchlageii, Tho Russians defeated some Austrians at Lodovitzd.