_Told by a Russian Officer_ This is a tragic story of a night fight in snow-buried barbed wire entanglements where a whole German battalion perished. It comes from Petrograd to Montgomery Schuyler in the form of a letter from a Russian officer. I--TRAGIC STORY OF A NIGHT FIGHT "We were creeping across the snow, when we hear a frightened '_Wer kommt da?_' "'Hold on, Germans! Where the devil do they come from?' ask our men in surprise. 'Are they numerous?' "'_Wer ist da?_' we hear again. "Our only reply is to fire by the squad, and then again. The Germans are a little surprised, but pull themselves together and return the fire. It is dark and neither side can see the other. In groping about, we finally meet, and it is give and take with the bayonet. We strike in silence, but bullets are falling about us like rain. Nobody knows who is firing and every one is crying in his own language, 'Don't fire! Stop!' From the side where the firing comes from, beyond and to the right, they are yelling at us, both in German and Russian, 'What's the matter? Where are you?' "Our men cry to the Germans, 'Surrender!' "They answer: 'Throw down your arms. We have surrounded you and you are all prisoners.' "Wild with rage, we throw ourselves forward with the bayonet, pushing the enemy back along the trenches. In their holes the Germans cry, peering into the impenetrable darkness, 'Help! Don't fire! Bayonet them!' Hundreds of shouts answer them, like a wave rolling in on us from every hand. "'Oh, little brothers, their force is numberless. We are surrounded on three sides. Would it not be better to surrender?' cries some one with a sob. "'Crack him over the head! Pull out his tongue! Drive him to the Germans with the bayonet!' are the growling comments this evokes. "A command rings out, vibrating like a cord: 'Rear ranks, wheel, fire, fire!' "The crowd before us yells, moves, and seems to stop. But behind them new ranks groan and approach. Anew the command is given, 'Fire, fire!' "Cries and groans answer the fusillade and a hand-to-hand struggle along the trenches ensues. "German shouts are heard: 'Help! Here, this way! Fall on their backs!' "But it is we who fall on their backs. We pry them out and clear the trenches. "In front of us all is quiet. On the right we hear the Germans struggling, growling, repeating the commands of the officers: '_Vorwärts! Vorwärts!_' But nobody fires and nobody attacks our trenches. We fire in the general direction of the German voices, infrequent shots far apart answer us. The commands of '_Vorwärts_' have stopped. They are at the foot of the trenches, but they do not storm them. 'After them with the bayonet,' our men cry, 'Finish them as we finished the others.' "'Halt, boys,' calls the sharp, vibrating voice of our commander. 'This may be only another German trick. They don't come on; we are firing and they do not answer. Shoot further and lower. Fire!'" II--"SO PERISHED A WHOLE BATTALION"