"We were in our trenches at dawn when suddenly a most infernal din commenced. You never saw such a sight; you never heard such a noise. I heard one of my men say, 'This is the end of the world,' and I did not blame him for thinking so. We could see in the distance great masses of flame, earth and brick in great clouds of smoke, all ascending together as enormous shells screamed over our heads and burst among the German entrenchments and the houses of the village. At the end of a half-hour's bombardment the fire ceased as suddenly as it had begun. "All this time we were awaiting the order to advance towards Aubers. At length we jumped out into the open. The air seemed alive with bullets and shells. There was a buzzing noise, such as you hear in a tropical forest on a hot summer day. On we moved, until we came to an open stretch, which was being swept by an infernal shell fire. We crossed this in rushes to gain the shelter of a few houses, losing some 40 or men. There we remained for some little time, reforming the battalion and awaiting further orders. When these came we moved forward over rough, open ground, coming upon lots of our poor fellows lying dead. They were from the only battalion which had preceded us. "Then we entered the German trenches which had been captured. Again we halted. All this time our shells, German shells and rifle and machine gun bullets were shrieking overhead. "Thank goodness, in an action like this you seem to lose your senses! A kind of elevation above all ordinary feelings comes over you and you feel as though you were rushing through air. There is so much to frighten you that you cease to be afraid. Then your senses gradually come back. That is why all infantry attacks should be carried through with one overwhelming rush." GERMAN ADVANCE IN POLAND On March 12 two German armies were on the move in Poland, seeking to pierce the Russian lines. One of these armies was advancing along the road to Przasnysz with the bank of the River Narew as its objective. This was the main German attack and inaugurated one of the biggest battles of the war. Farther south, on the Pilica, a German feint was in progress with the object of weakening the Russian defense in the north. But while Petrograd seemed to be resigning itself to the idea of a second withdrawal from before Przasnysz, there was little doubt of the ultimate outcome of this German attempt to gain a firm footing on Russian soil. The German troops were moved forward in close order and only in the daytime, and were entirely dependent on what natural cover they could find between the rushes, as the ground was frozen too hard to permit the use of intrenching tools.