Part 16 (1/2)

suggested Bart.

”Perhaps it is,” agreed Frank. ”The Hun has got to start his drive some time, and this would be just the kind of morning for it. See how heavy that mist lies on the ground? We couldn't see the Germans at a distance of fifty yards.”

”It's mighty thick for a fact,” observed Bart. ”But I guess our advanced posts are on the job. They'll give us warning in plenty of time.”

”Not that we need much warning as far as I can see,” said Billy.

”We've been ready for a long time to fight at the drop of a hat. I'll bet the Hun doesn't carry a foot of our line.”

”That's where you're wrong, Billy, old scout,” warned Bart. ”It stands to reason that he'll get away with something at first. You take any one man, no matter how strong he is, and if ten fellows rush him all at once they're bound to drive him back at the start. The Huns have got the advantage of knowing where they're going to strike. We don't know and so we have to spread our forces out so as to be ready to meet him at any point. Then, too, the man who comes rus.h.i.+ng in has the advantage of the fellow who's standing still because he's got momentum.

That's why generals would rather fight on the offensive than on the defensive. They're able to pick the time and place and the other fellow has to follow his lead.”

”I don't see why the Allies can't take the offensive,” grumbled Billy.

”It gets my goat to let the Huns. .h.i.t first.”

”It does mine too,” admitted Frank, ”and if it hadn't been for Russia quitting, we'd be looking now at the coattails of the Kaiser's generals as they scooted back to Berlin. But that's a bit of hard luck that we can't help. Russia's back-down has taken ten million soldiers from the Allies' strength. But America will make that all up in time and then you'll see us doing the chasing.”

”It can't come too soon to suit me,” said Billy. ”I only wish Uncle Sam had started sooner to get ready.”

”So do I,” replied Frank. ”But there's no use crying over spilt milk.

We're getting ahead now with leaps and bounds. I was talking to Will Stone the other day, and he'd just got back from a flying trip to one of the French seaports. He says it simply knocked him stiff to see the transports coming in loaded to the guards with American troops. And he says the roads are fairly choked with doughboys moving this way.

They're coming like a swarm of locusts. And there's millions more where they came from. Oh, Uncle Sam is awake now, all right, and don't you forget it! And when he once gets started there's nothing on earth can stop him.”

”Right you are!” said Bart.

”We've won every war we've ever been in and it's got to be a habit,”

grinned Billy.

The old Thirty-seventh was stationed on the second line, or what is called in military terms, ”the line of resistance.” In modern fighting, when a heavy attack is expected the defending army is usually arranged in three lines. The first is the advanced line, and this is hardly expected to be held very long. Its chief aim is to hold back the enemy for a while and weaken him as far as possible. Not many troops are employed on this line nor many big guns. The chief reliance is on rifle fire and machine guns, which are so placed as to deliver a withering cross-fire and cut up the enemy divisions.

By the time the first line is driven back the defending army knows where the enemy has chosen to strike and is ready for him on the second line or ”line of resistance.” Here the battle is on in all its fury.

If here again the enemy advances, there is still a third line of ”battle positions.” This is practically the last entrenched position that the defenders have. If they are driven back from this into the open country beyond, it becomes a serious thing for the retreating army, as many of their big guns will have been lost, and their forces are apt to be more or less disorganized, while the enemy is flushed with the victory he has so far gained.

The cannonade kept on with increasing fury all through the early morning.

”Heinie must have plenty of ammunition,” remarked Frank. ”He's spending it freely.”

”It beats anything we've been up against since we came to the front,”

observed Billy.

”It seems to be coming nearer and nearer all the time,” said Bart. ”I guess this is going to be our busy day.”

There was intense activity all through the lines. Orderlies galloped from place to place with orders. Big motor cars rumbled up, loaded with troops who were hastily placed in position. The big guns of the Allied forces had opened up and were sending back sh.e.l.l for sh.e.l.l over the enemy lines.

For over two hours the artillery kept up the t.i.tanic duel. The fog was lifting, though still heavy in some of the low-lying sections. The Thirty-seventh was resting easily on its arms, ready for whatever might happen.

”We may not see so much fighting after all,” remarked Billy, after a while. ”The fellows in front seem to be holding pretty well. Perhaps they'll throw the Huns back right from the start.”