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Show GERMANS HURL NEW THUNDERBOLT AT RUSSIAN LINE iSpvui Cbie tjr Arra&aateat wiitt Laoodoa Hall? Tvlftgrapfe 4 iBierottlooai Na Sr I LONDON. Sept. 23. A aeiias at enormous enor-mous battles Is proceeding before Itvlnsk. the vital Kuwian iositlon on the Dvina, key to Riga and the entire river line. The Oermans are attacking at three tolnts on the western side of the river, more than SOO.n'M) men, It Is estimated, being thrown Into battle by Von Hlnden-burg Hlnden-burg on a corr raratlvely snort front. They have broken through the Ruaslan outer positions west of Iivinsk. according accord-ing to an official statement received to-rjight to-rjight from Berlin, capturing more than PQM prisoners. To the north, at I-enne-warden. however, they have not yet reached the river, the Russians offering a stubborn defense. Here the fighting is still proceeding furiously. Southwest of Dvinsk the Ruf-slans are directln2 violent counter-attack against the forces which pierced their advanced positions yester-,'av. yester-,'av. The Germans report tiiat they have held all their pains. While the principal German efforts are now being directed against Dvinsk. large forces are atill engaged in an effort to cut off at least part of the Russian group whih retreated from Vilna. A dispatch from Minsk, received by way of Petrograd and Paris, says: "The evacuation of Minsk is almost completed. com-pleted. The civilian population has been removed." The dispauh goes on to say that the devastation of the country by the retreating retreat-ing Russians equals that which confronted con-fronted Napoleon on his march to Moscow Mos-cow Anything that might prove of the slightest use to the Germans Is taken away or destroyed. Southeast of Vilna the main Russian forces having made good their retirement, retire-ment, the rear guards are beginning to fall back and the Oermans report that more than 1000 prisoners have been taken. The Russ;dne In Volynia and eastern dalicfa continue to pound the Austro-Hungarian Austro-Hungarian arirven. A Vienna official statement tonight admits t hat the Aus-trian Aus-trian have been forced to retreat across the Stye, an I military experts In Petrograd Petro-grad believe that both Duhno and Lutsk, t he fortresses recently lost by the Russians, Rus-sians, may he recaptured. It is believed that the Russian success in this theater mav seriously threaten the entire German campaign by entailing the withdrawal of large forces from other fronts to strengthen the southern wing. |