A SHELLED BATTLEFIELD
The one hundred and two guns, which the French had massed in this
sector, covered a line equal to nearly a mile and a half in length, as
they were less than seventy feet apart. As each gun was able to fire
twenty shots a minute, they hurled over one thousand high explosive
shells from all of the guns each minute.
This multiplied by sixty, to represent an hour, and then by five to
get the grand total, in point of time, makes more than three hundred
thousand missiles distributed over an area of less than five square
miles. Imagine, if you can, what it would mean to have ten of those
terrific shrapnel shells explode over every acre in that region. No
wonder that human flesh cannot stand that sort of warfare.
Slowly the muzzles of the guns were raised higher and higher. In the
front, over that broad field, although the sun was shining brightly,
yet there was a thick haze. Absolutely nothing could now be seen but
the densest smoke, and noises were no longer distinguishable.
The boys rushed down to the telephone station. The operator, streaming
with perspiration, and with a voice so hoarse that it was scarcely
above a whisper, was still taking the messages.
"The second line has just been taken. They are rounding up a division
beyond the hill. The traverses beyond are filled with Germans, who have
not offered any resistance. Prisoners are coming in by the thousands.
The railroad has been reached."
"Wonderful! wonderful!" shouted the lieutenant in an ecstasy of joy. "I
didn't expect that. We have cut into them two miles, at least."
The operator held up his hand. "The main defenses on the ridge
have just been taken. The reserves have been ordered up to handle
the prisoners. Four staff officers have been taken from the tunnel
shelters," he said.
Every one was in a delirium. Each felt that he had contributed some
share to the glorious victory. It was a revelation of the power of
the French gunnery, and the wonderful co-operation of the infantry in
moving forward in the shelter of the _curtain_, as it has been so aptly
termed.
Gradually the deafening din ceased and appeared to die away. One
gun from each battery still remained on duty, and fired at regular
intervals. With field glasses many things could now be distinguished,
the important one, and that which most interested the boys, being the
immense number of troops moving to and fro and through the fields so
lately harrassed by their guns.
"Would you like to take a trip across that territory?" asked the
lieutenant, as the boys came up.
"Indeed, we would," replied Ralph.
"It is too late tonight, but we intend to make an inspection tomorrow,"
he replied. "I promise you shall go along."
At supper that night there did not seem to be any extraordinary show of
enthusiasm. Probably every one had been surfeited with excitement.
"Don't you have a queer feeling in your ears?" said Alfred.
"Well, my ears have been humming and buzzing right along. It appears
sometimes as though the guns were still going. It seems unnatural to
have this quiet," remarked Ralph.
"You'll get over that after a few days of this," said a gunner. "It
wasn't an exceptionally noisy day, as we had only about a hundred
guns on tap; but over in the Champagne, when we cut a swath of six
kilometers, fifteen kilometers long, in two days, we had over three
hundred guns. That meant some pounding."
At nine o'clock in the morning the boys were ready for the trip over
Dead Man's land, as the region was termed. Four officers and a half
dozen of the gunners made up the party of observation.
As they marched down the hill the lieutenant said: "This is not a trip
to satisfy mere curiosity, but to give us an idea of the nature and
extent of our work. In order to appreciate it we are compelled to make
an investigation before the traces of our work disappear."
They had little difficulty in crossing the stream, for hundreds of
crafts were all about. The first evidences of the galling fire did
not appear until they had gone a thousand feet from the stream, where
the first line trenches of the Germans zig-zagged around the inclined
surface of the fields.
"This may interest you," said the captain, as he pointed to a section
directly behind the main trench. The scene was an excellent one, as it
gave them a clear view over a field covering about two acres. Before
the onslaught, it had been a field of sod, level as a floor, and part
of the green was in front of a magnificent country home.
The house was a mass of ruins, of course, and two of the outbuildings
had been burned. It would not be a misstatement to say that so close
together were the holes and the upturned pieces of sod that it would
have been possible for one to go over that entire lawn stepping from
hole to hole, without touching the grass.
"That must be a tunnel," said Ralph, as he approached an opening, which
could be observed from the ruins of the house.
Together the party moved over and entered the covered way. His surmise
was correct. It was a timbered channel way, three feet wide, and high
enough to permit a tall man to walk erect in it.
Alfred peered in. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness,
several objects were noticed in the enlarged space.
"I suppose they have furniture here," remarked Ralph. "Hello! what's
this?"
The captain came forward, and struck a light. Three bodies of Germans
were lying on the floor. That was queer. A closer examination was made.
It was then discovered that in the sound chamber were other bodies,
more than a dozen, and most of them officers, as the insignias on their
uniforms indicated.
"They were, undoubtedly, brought here at the beginning of the fight,"
said the lieutenant. "They had no idea what they had to contend with
when we opened on them."
All hurried away from the place. A plowed field at the rear of the
house was crossed, their steps being directed to the stumps of trees at
the other side of the field. In crossing this short stretch of field
more than fifty dead were found, all in such positions as to indicate
that there must have been a panic in their ranks.
An infantry officer in the party, who had been with the reserve the
previous day, remarked: "More than three hundred prisoners were taken
along the edge of this field where these trees stood. In taking them
back into our lines I had a conversation with one of the officers. He
said:
"'I cannot begin to describe the effect of the fire when your shots
reached the timber. We had our traverses alongside these rows of trees,
and it seemed as though a hurricane was going through and breaking off
the limbs, leaves and branches, and flinging them down on the men. But
that was not the worst of it. As long as we were in the traverses we
could get some shelter from the bursting shells; but it was impossible
to get away from the falling branches. The ditches didn't help us
then, and the men, despite all our efforts, rushed out, preferring the
bursting shells to the new terror.'"
"Did you ever see such kindling wood?" remarked Ralph, as they picked
their way through the debris.
"But did you ever see such a fine collection of metal?" replied Alfred,
as he pointed at the pieces of shells which were scattered on all
sides, and in every conceivable place.
One trench after the other was crossed. Without exception all contained
bodies of men, who were stricken before they could get out, for the
men delegated had not yet been able to give the dead proper burial.
Various parties were at work, performing the last rites to those who
had fallen, and they stopped before one party thus at work.
Several dozen men were engaged in carrying the bodies to the trenches
where they were laid side by side close together. Not all were Germans,
for many Frenchmen lost their lives on that day. When a sufficient
number were gathered the officer in charge of the party directed the
assistant to examine the remains of each.
The first quest was to determine the number tag, usually attached to
each soldier, and after this had been entered in a book, a search was
made to discover letters, photos, money and souvenirs which the pockets
might contain. A note was made of all these things, and, finally, the
exact location of the interment was added to the transcript, thus
giving a reasonable assurance that the friends or relatives might know
with some degree of certainty the burial place and also in time receive
the effects taken from the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
It was, indeed, a gruesome sight, not worse, perhaps, than many others
which belong to the battlefield. In the heat of battle, when everything
is noise and bustle, and when men grit their teeth and rush into every
sort of danger, they become numbed to scenes even worse than this. But
it is different when in the calm of the morning, they see the results
of their work and allow their thoughts to wander.
The party had reached the base of the hill, and was nearing the
formidable fourth line of the German trenches, which were taken at
the last assault. One company after the other of French infantry
was even then marching over the fields to take up positions in the
newly acquired territory. The trenches were turned around facing the
other way, the shelters revised to meet the new conditions, and the
underground retreats properly cleaned out.
"Did you ever see anything so awful as this?" said Alfred with a
shudder, as they gazed on the great corpse-filled trench directly
behind the crest of the ridge.
"There must have been an infantry charge here," said Ralph.
"Quite right," said the infantry officer. "They made the last stand
here. It was really pitiful to see them, as our infantry came up the
hill. The shells were exploding over them, not a hundred meters ahead
of our foremost columns. They tried to fight, it must be said to their
credit, but they were crazed by the terror of that fire."
"How far are we from our battery?" asked Ralph.
"I should say about three kilometers," said the lieutenant.
"Just to think of it," responded Alfred, "about two and a half miles
distant, and see what happened here."
It would be merely a repetition of the same sights over and over
to describe the scenes. Every sort of accoutrement, guns, swords,
knapsacks, articles of food, clothing of every description, kitchen
utensils, and at one place a poor dog, horribly mutilated, made up the
scene and afforded a gruesome picture.
"What is this?" said Alfred, as he stopped and picked up an envelope.
It was sealed, and had not, evidently, reached the one for whom it was
intended.
"What shall I do with it?" asked Alfred.
"Turn it over to the searchers,—the ones who are now burying the
dead," replied the lieutenant.
Alfred marched across the open and handed it to the officer. "I found
this at the corner of the field," he explained.
The officer acknowledged the receipt with a bow, and held it up.
"Lieutenant Johann Schroeder, 10th Infantry," the inscription read.
"Have you the name there?" he asked, looking at the clerk.
The latter examined the index. "Yes; here it is; body in the tenth
lateral, over to the left," so the letter was deposited in a huge sack
carried by two assistants.
[Illustration: _The Deadly Shrapnel Shell_]
But there were other objects which had to be taken care of besides the
bodies, as everything on the battlefield that has a value is gathered
up. Metals are of great utility, leather can be used over again, and so
on through the whole list. Repairs to roads were necessary and parties
for this purpose were also in evidence, as it was their business to
make this region habitable again for the army which must occupy it.
Several large vans were now seen coming up over what was once a
roadway. It stopped at intervals while the men carried the various
articles to them and others put them in place inside the vehicles. The
boys with their party were passing a group of men thus engaged when a
terrific explosion took place.
The noise created by the unexpected calamity attracted the attention
of hundreds of soldiers and officers, who rushed to the scene. The
captain was killed, and the lieutenant wounded. When Ralph regained
consciousness, he saw a half dozen men lying on the ground, and
finally recognized Alfred among the number lying still.
An officer rushed up and shouted: "That makes the second accident with
unexploded shells. Where is your commanding officer?" he inquired of
one of the workers.
"There!" said the man, as he pointed to the figure of an officer who
was lying in the unfortunate group.