Part 12 (1/2)
”Charge!” he shouted, though the sound was swept away and lost in the turmoil of cheers from the French soldiers who heard him, and in the shattering reports of those French 75's, which, blazing hard in the rear, registered still upon the enemy.
Then those gallant _poilus_ who had poured over the parapets of their trenches--where such still existed--springing from sh.e.l.l-holes where they had taken shelter, and emerging from every sort of odd and unexpected corner, joined in one frantic mob, swept down under the rays of the search-light upon the enemy, and, plunging into their midst, commenced at once a desperate hand-to-hand encounter.
So it was where Henri and Jules were stationed, and the tale was repeated in a hundred different places. Indeed, on this 21st February, when the Germans had confidently antic.i.p.ated a ”walk-over”, and when such an event as a ma.s.sed attack, or even the loss of a considerable number of their infantry, was hardly contemplated, they found themselves held up entirely, with whole ranks of their divisions swept away, and with the ground in front of Brabant, Haumont, and along the northern face of the Verdun salient littered with their killed and wounded. That torrent of sh.e.l.ls, which should have killed every one of the slender garrison of Frenchmen, had failed in its effect; while the hope of gaining Verdun, the capture of which was to influence the whole world, and particularly wavering neutrals, was as far away as ever.
That desperate attack made during the darkness broke down as others had done, and the Germans--those who were left of them--fled to the cover of the evergreen pine-trees, leaving the _poilus_ of General Joffre's armies to stagger back to their battered trenches, there to prepare--not to rest, not to sleep, for that was out of the question--but to resist still further.
CHAPTER XI
Falling Back
Down below, in a subterranean chamber, there burned a cheerful fire, a chimney taking the smoke and flames up through the ground above and into the open. Seated about it, more dishevelled than ever, their chins bristly now, and their faces and hands stained a dull, dirty colour, sat Jules and Henri and others of their comrades, resting for a time, while men of their regiment watched for them.
”And, believe me, it has been a fight of fights,” said one bearded veteran, lolling back against the earth wall of the dug-out, a cup of steaming coffee gripped in one huge, dirty hand, and a hunch of cheese in the other. ”A fight more bitter than any that has gone before it, and one which will become more desperate. Allons! Here is death to the Kaiser!”
He smiled round at his comrades, whose faces were lit up by the rays from the flickering flames, showing a gleaming row of teeth, and steady eyes, and features which displayed not the smallest trace of fear, or even of anxiety.
”Death to the Kaiser--to the butcher who sends his troops to such slaughter!”
Tossing his head backwards, he let the contents of the cup gurgle down his throat, then, smacking his lips, he held the vessel out for a further ration.
Steps on the wooden stairway leading into the dugout just then attracted the attention of the whole party, and soon there arrived another comrade--a junior officer--to swell their numbers, to tax the limit of accommodation down below to the utmost. As dirty as any of his men, dirtier perhaps, he bore about him traces almost of exhaustion, and, throwing himself on the ground, silently accepted the drink and food which were at once offered him. It was not, indeed, until he had finished his meal, and until he had almost smoked the contents of one pipe-load of tobacco, that he opened his lips to the _poilus_.
”And then, Monsieur le Lieutenant,” began one of the _poilus_, a cheerful young fellow, who, indeed, was in civil times the chum of this young officer, ”you've been far, mon Commandant, you have brought news to us? For did you not leave us a while back to pa.s.s along the communication-trenches? What, then, is the tale? And are there supports and reserves at hand to reinforce us?”
Again it was to be noted that there was not a sign of anxiety on the face of this young soldier, nor in the tones which he adopted. He merely smiled and shrugged his shoulders, in fact, as the officer shook his head decidedly.
”No! No supports, and no reserves at present,” he said. ”We must fight it out to a finish.”
”Bien! To a finish, my friends!” chirped in the bearded warrior, sipping at a fresh cup of steaming coffee. ”Then it is not for us to grumble, but rather for the Boches. For, see, desperate men who cannot be relieved, and who will not surrender, fight like rats in a trap, and such beasts were ever venomous. And so, Monsieur le Lieutenant, there are none to help us?”
”None!” came the cheery answer. ”The position is as clear as daylight.
It is only now that our High Command is able to perceive that the Germans have launched a stroke at Verdun, which is stronger, and likely to be fiercer, than any that have preceded it on any other portion of the line. They tried, these Boches, to burst their way through Ypres in April, you will remember, having failed to do so in the previous October. They have tried their hand in other parts, and always with failure. Now it is the turn of Verdun--a salient like that at Ypres, and one which must be held against all oncomers. You ask the fortunes of our other troops. Listen, then, my friends; for by dint of crawling and creeping, often across the open--for communication-trenches have been obliterated--I was able to reach a centre where information had been gathered. We, here, in the neighbourhood of Brabant, stand firm, thanks to the heroic fighting of our comrades.”
”And thanks, monsieur, to the n.o.ble leading of our officers,” declared the bearded veteran; whereat the _poilus_ clapped their hands in approbation.
The officer's face was radiant at such a compliment, which, let us observe, was thoroughly well deserved; for if the _poilu_, the common soldier of the French armies facing the Germans, had fought well, his officer had indeed set him a magnificent example.
Much need, too, had the _poilus_ holding the Verdun salient for the best of officers. For the German onslaught, though it had failed so far, had at least the prospect of future success because of the surprise effected. Not that the attack was entirely unexpected on the part of the French, but surprise was great at the vast preparations and ma.s.sed guns and infantry the actual attack had disclosed to our ally.
Those guns had first deluged every few yards of the twenty-five miles of trenches from Brabant to Troyon, and later, swinging round, had been concentrated on a narrow sector of four miles perhaps, a sector occupied by Henri and his friends and other Frenchmen.
As to the German infantry, they were in great numbers. Indeed, there were some seven German army corps ma.s.sed against the Verdun salient; while the French, with incomplete information of the intending coup to be attempted by the enemy, had but two army corps to defend the positions. Moreover, time would be required in which to bring up reinforcements; for, be it remembered, the Verdun salient is pushed out to the east of the River Meuse, and though there are bridges crossing the river, they are not so numerous as to allow of huge forces being rapidly transferred across them. A still more important factor in the position was, perhaps, the distance those reserves must be brought before they could stand shoulder to shoulder with their comrades. It is not mis-stating the fact on the night of the 21st February when we a.s.sert that those two French army corps, holding a trench-line extending over some twenty-five miles, stood, for the time being and for many hours to come, alone between the enemy and their objective.
They must fight not only to retain their positions, but must fight for time--time in which General Joffre and his commanders could rush reinforcements to a.s.sist them. Yet, though the battle had only lasted one single day, it had proved every man in those two corps a stanch fighter, every one determined to resist to the utmost.
”We here, in the neighbourhood of Brabant, my friends, hold fast as you know,” said the officer, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with enthusiasm. ”Though the enemy have poured shot and sh.e.l.l on us, though they have blown our positions up and obliterated our trenches, we are here; and, indeed, do I not see before me a most cheery and merry company? Yes, another cup of coffee as I smoke and talk. It is cold outside, and somehow coffee soothes a man's nerves after such an ordeal. Well, then, here we are, firm, and not thinking of retiring yet awhile. On the line to Haumont, they, our comrades, hold their battered trenches, and, like ourselves, have taught the enemy a severe lesson. Then, pa.s.sing to our right, you get to the Bois de Caures, which this morning was held by a French garrison. If we in this position were plagued with the fire of enemy guns, in that strip of forest our friends have been deluged, and their positions torn asunder and blown to pieces, even their dug-outs often being penetrated. The place became untenable, and yet it has been of a.s.sistance in the fighting. It was mined, and when the Germans, held off till that time by our sharpshooters, launched a division at it, our fellows slipped away before the enemy, and, waiting till the Germans were in the wood and pouring into the battered trenches, fired the mines, killing hundreds of them.”
There came grunts from that bearded veteran, a gleam of his even white teeth, and muttered remarks from the others seated about the fire in the dug-out.
”Terrific!” exclaimed Henri. ”Absolute murder; yet, what would you?”
”Yes, what would you?” repeated the officer. ”It is France, it is liberty, it is the right to live as we wish for which we fight, against the oppression of a people who look upon might as right, and who, if they could, would deprive France and Britain and all the Allies of their liberty. So, murder! Yes, my comrade, but, as you observe, necessary. If the Kaiser, seeking for some great event, casts his hosts of men at us, our duty is plain; not an inch of ground of the sacred soil of France must be rendered up unless absolutely necessary; while the enemy, if they advance, must advance over the corpses of their comrades. But let me proceed. The Bois de Caures was evacuated, and then the southern end of it seized once more by some of our gallant fellows. Then there was fighting on the line to Ornes and at Herbebois, and there, too, the garrisons held their positions, having fought throughout the day and inflicted enormous losses on the Boches.