In noting the fact that the Germans have escaped the
disaster which we hoped had overtaken them in Central Poland, we must not forget to point out that they have had to pay not merely a heavy price in men, but a heavier one in loss of strategic position. In order to carry out their offensive around Lodz they had to neglect the south-western or Austrian end of the vast line that stretches from the Roumanian border to the Baltic, with the result that on the Russian left—that is, in the country around Cracow—the advance of the Russians has been continuously successful. Friday's papers, indeed, tell us that the Russian troops have entered a town only eight miles from Cracow. No doubt the siege of Cracow may delay them for some time, but if by good luck it falls quickly the speed of the Russian advance should be very greatly accelerated.
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