The German advance was stopped, which fact undoubtedly was partly due to the renewed activity of the Franco-English forces on the west front, as well as to the absolute necessity of giving a chance to recuperate to the armies on the east front, which had been fighting now incessantly for months. September 28, 1915, may be considered approximately as the date at which the Battle of Vilna ended. After that date fighting along the eastern front assumed the form of trench warfare, except in the extreme northern section, and in Volhynia, eastern Galicia. In the sector, bounded in the north by the Vilia, and in the south by the Niemen, the Russian front was along a line running through the towns of Smorgon, Krevo, Vishneff, Sabresina, Mikolaieff. As a result of the Battle of Vilna and the Russian retreat following it the Germans captured 70 officers, about 22,000 men, a large number of cannon and machine guns, and a great quantity of equipment. Along the entire eastern front the German forces captured men and equipment during the month of September, 1915, as follows: 421 officers, 95,464 men, 37 cannon, 298 machine guns, and 1 aeroplane. CHAPTER XXII THE CAPTURE OF BREST-LITOVSK The central group under Prince Leopold had hardly entered Warsaw proper when it continued its advance in an easterly direction toward Brest-Litovsk after having occupied Warsaw's eastern suburb, Praga. At the same time other forces completed the investment of Novo Georgievsk, covering the sector between the Nareff and the Vistula. By August 10, 1915, the left wing of the central group had reached Kaluszin and General von Woyrsch's army had become its right wing, taking the Russian positions just west of Lukoff. On the same day German aviators threw bombs both at Novo Georgievsk and Brest-Litovsk. Under heavy fighting a crossing was forced over the Muchavka and Lukoff was occupied on August 11, 1915. One of the most awful consequences of the Russian retreat was the sad plight in which the civil population of the stricken country found itself. In the beginning of the retreat the Russians forced these poor people to join in the retreat. This itself, of course, meant untold hardships and frequently death. But as the advance of the Germans became more furious and the retreat of the Russians more rapid, it often happened that these unfortunate persons--irrespective of age, sex or condition--were forced by their Russian masters to turn around again and thus place themselves squarely between the two contending forces. With the fall of Lukoff an important railroad leading into Brest-Litovsk had fallen into the hands of the invading enemy. Along this line, which is part of the direct line Warsaw-Brest-Litovsk, Austro-Hungarian forces now progressed rapidly in an easterly direction and by August 14, 1915, had reached Miendzyrzets.