Two of the
regiment's battalions are commanded by Staff Capt. Podjio, one of the
finest specimens of a conscientious, hard-working line officer I have
met. He passed the night traveling the trenches, keeping a vigilant
watch and encouraging the men, who seemed to be in fine condition.
"It was bitterly cold, so we lay for a time on the straw of a
bomb-proof, watching by candlelight a giant orderly sending and
receiving messages on a buzzing telephone from different parts of the
line. It is a habit of Germans to make night attacks that bring them
within fifty yards of the Russian trenches before they are driven off.
"We saw indistinctly across the trenches the Russian videttes in front.
It is reported that the Germans do not take the precaution of posting a
line of sentinels before their trenches. Just before morning the
videttes came running to report activity in the German trenches. Quickly
the sleeping soldiers were roused to man the loopholes. The machine guns
cracked and the rifles rolled out volleys in the cold morning light. The
Germans answered and bullets kicked the top of our trench. Some of the
bullets seemed to crack on striking and it was reported to us that the
Germans were using explosive missiles. Under the Russian fire the
Germans failed to leave their trench.
"When the light swelled into day the German artillery began shelling the
houses, the tall chimney, and the trenches.
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