Perhaps you will be surprised to learn that British seamen, with armoured motor cars, were sent out to lend a hand to the Russians. They did not take part in the fighting described in the former chapter, for they only left England late in the year. On 12th December, when they were in the Arctic Ocean on the way to Archangel, they established a record by singing "God save the King" farther north than any British field force on active service had ever been before. We may be quite sure that, under Commander Locker-Lampson, they fully upheld the honour and glory of the British Navy. It is also said that Japanese guns and gunners fought for Russia during the year 1915.
[Footnote 56: Sacred pictures found in all Russian churches and houses.]
[Footnote 57: _Sho-pan´._ Frédéric François Chopin (1809-49), great Polish musical composer and the finest pianist of his time. No man has ever excelled him in writing music for the piano.]
[Footnote 58: Equivalent to our second lieutenant.]
When the Germans entered Warsaw the German High Command had to decide what the next move was to be. Should they entrench on the ground already won, and make the line of the Niemen, the Narev, and the Vistula a great bulwark of defence which would defy all Russian counter-attacks for many a day to come, or should they push their armies forward? There were good reasons why a halt should be called on the river line. The troops were weary with long months of fighting, and badly needed rest. On the other hand, the Russian armies were not crushed, but it seemed likely that another big push would destroy them altogether. With Warsaw gone, the southern railway cut, and the Narev line crumbling, it appeared almost impossible for the Russians to escape. The army in Courland was almost within striking distance of the Petrograd railway, and once this was captured in the neighbourhood of Dvinsk and Vilna, the whole Russian front would be split up into separate armies, each of which might be destroyed. Another great effort, and the Tsar would be on his knees suing for peace.
The die was now cast; the Germans decided to push forward. The Russians were in perilous plight; for on the right the Germans bade fair to envelop their armies, and in the centre von Mackensen was thrusting them back towards the Marshes of the Pripet, in which they might be caught. The Grand Duke's business was to get his armies away eastward, and to refuse at all costs to fight pitched battles. In this he succeeded, and by doing so wrote his name high on the roll of great generals.