The news of this great triumph reached Berlin upon the anniversary of the battle of Sedan, and on the same day that the news came from the west that von Kluck had reached the gates of Paris and it had a profound effect upon the German mind. They had grown to believe that the Germans were a sort of superman; these wonderful successes confirmed them in this belief. No longer did they talk of a mere defense in the east; an advance on Warsaw was demanded and von Hindenburg was acclaimed the greatest soldier of his day. The Emperor made him Field Marshal, and placed him in command of the Teutonic armies in the east. But von Hindenburg was not satisfied. The remnant of the defeated army had fled toward Narev, and without losing a moment von Hindenburg set off in pursuit. Rennenkampf, all this time, strange to say, had made no move, and at the news of Samsonov's disaster he abandoned the siege of Koenigsberg and retreated toward the Niemen. At Gumbinnen he fought a rear-guard action with the German left, but had made up his mind that the Niemen must be the Russian line of defense. Von Hindenburg, following, crossed the Russian frontier and in the wide forests near Augustovo there was much fighting. [Illustration: Photographs] LEADING GERMAN GENERALS Von Hindenburg, Chief of the German General Staff; von Ludendorff, Strategist of the General Staff; von Moltke, dismissed by the Kaiser for incompetency; von Mackensen, Commander in the East; Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, Army Commander in the West. [Illustration: Photograph] Photo by Press Illustrated Service. THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF von Mackensen, von Moltke, Crown Prince Wilhelm, von Francois, von Falkenhayn, von Beseler, von Bethmann-Hollweg, von Bulow, Duke Albrecht, Ludendorf, von Einem, von Hindenburg, von Heeringen, Crown Prince Rupprecht, von Kluck, von Haeseler, von Tirpitz, Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Emmich This action, described as the first battle of Augustovo, was only a rear-guard action, the Russians desiring merely to delay the enemy for a day or two. German reports, however, described it as a victory only second in importance to Tannenberg. Von Hindenburg then occupied Suwalki. He apparently had become over confident, and hardly realized that Rennenkampf was continually being reinforced by the Russian mobilization.