IN THE TRENCHES
In some manner, known only to himself, Anthony Stubbs, war correspondent
of the New York _Gazette_, had ingratiated himself with General Petain,
the French commander at Verdun. General Petain, upon Stubbs' request,
agreed that the little war correspondent should be allowed to make a tour
of the city of Verdun and the surrounding fortifications and view for
himself the effects of the siege thus far.
An officer of the general staff was assigned by the French commander to
show Stubbs about. It was the first time a war correspondent had been
admitted to Verdun and the surrounding fortifications; and because of the
things that Stubbs learned on the tour, it is fitting that the reader
take the trip with him.
The officer first led Stubbs to the highest point on the walls encircling
Verdun and there explained the lay-out of the contending forces. From
this point of vantage, commanding the battlefield, Verdun looked like the
center of a huge saucer, with the town lying very low, while all around
rose an even circle of crests forming the outer edge of the saucer.
The dangerous proximity of the Germans was apparent. At the time that
Stubbs viewed the battlefield the armies of the Kaiser held a goodly
portion of these crests, though the battle of Verdun was less than two
weeks old.
An intermittent bombardment was in progress from Fort Tavennes, Fort
Soueville, Fort St. Michael and Fort Belleville, which were barking
steadily and giving off jets of black smoke. The German cannonade sounded
like a distant roar. The shelling of Verdun was continuing.
Three hundred shells a day had been hurled into Verdun itself during the
battle, Stubbs was informed by the French officer, upon one day as many
as 750 having been counted; but the average was 300. As the two stood
there a French aeroplane was attacked by a German gun, shrapnel bursting
all around as the machine turned from the German positions and darted
back to French cover.
The terrible course of the destruction was pointed out by the French
officer. The town itself had been abandoned by the civil population,
and even few troops were to be found there. Such shops and houses as
had escaped the shells were closed and barricaded; and the shells
continued to fall.
The streets were crumbling ruins, with only jagged walls remaining here
and there. The cathedral had two shell holes in the roof; the main altar
was a mass of debris and the side altar was littered with broken
carvings, statues and chandeliers.
One wing of the handsome military club was torn off and the whole
establishment was a wreck. The archbishop's residence had its famous
sculptured walls peppered with shell holes and the adjoining College of
Marguerite had its delicate stone filigree reduced almost to powder.
The houses along the Meuse, flanking the principal bridge, were
literally wrecked.
Sixteen great shells had struck the town hall; one corner of the building
had been torn off and the clock tower smashed. The mayor's office was
being used as an emergency butcher shop.
Stubbs' guide now led him to one of the inner forts of the
fortifications, which was still shelling the Germans. From here Stubbs
gained a view of the fighting ground of Fleury at close range. Over the
entrance of the fort was a notice to the garrison that the fort was to be
levelled in extremity and never surrendered.
Fleury, lying to the right of Verdun, showed not a house standing. The
great German guns had carried all before them. The whole village was a
mass of ruins. At the moment the village was in the hands of the French.
It had been occupied twice by the Germans, but only the day before had
again been captured by the French. Although Stubbs did not know it, the
little village was to change hands a score of times more in the months
that were to follow.
As Stubbs' guide pointed out the various points destroyed by German
shells, he gave the little man an account of the fighting in each spot.
He pointed out the advantages of earthen breastworks as against the solid
walls of fortresses. The effectiveness of the former was very plain.
Stubbs and his guide now returned to the citadel of Verdun, where
Stubbs thanked General Petain for being allowed to make the tour of
inspection. Gathered about the commander were many members of his
staff, who joined in the conversation. Stubbs could not but be
impressed by the confidence manifested by the officers that Verdun
could be kept from the Germans, and this in the face of the reverses of
the past few days. The feeling was summarized in the closing word of
General Petain, as he bade Stubbs farewell.
"_Au revoir_, Monsieur Stubbs," he said, "until you come back when our
victory is complete!"
By a series of fierce counter assaults, the French now had driven the
seasoned veterans of the German Crown Prince from Dead Man's Hill; from
Hill No. 265, to the north, from Chattancourt and Charny. Back across the
Meuse the Germans fled from the vicious attacks of the French. Second and
third line trenches were re-won.
But the French did not stop there. The third day of March found them
still pushing the Germans and as darkness fell that night, the troops of
General Petain entrenched themselves just to the east of Thiaumont farm
and Hill No. 320. A trifle to the south, Fleury was once more in German
hands, the opposition in this sector having been too much for the French
to overcome. Almost due east, German guns, wheeled into position at Fort
Vaux, captured the preceding day, shelled the reconquered positions of
the French; but the latter stood firm. All night the artillery duel raged
and the coming of morning found both armies ready for the day's work.
The French opened the day by concentrating heavy artillery upon the
German positions at Fort Vaux. After a two hours' bombardment, the
infantry was ordered to the attack. Fresh troops took the places in
the trenches vacated by the attacking forces and heavy guns covered
their advance.
A hundred yards or so from the hastily constructed German trenches, the
thin French lines charged. Their ranks had been sadly depleted as they
marched across the open ground, but they stuck to the work bravely. Clear
to the German trenches they ran, a second and still a third line close
behind; and then the Germans swarmed out to meet them. A fierce
hand-to-hand encounter ensued with victory crowning German arms. What was
left of the French attacking party scurried back to their own lines.
The Germans did not wait for a second attack. German buglers sounded an
advance. Again the Germans swarmed out of their trenches in countless
thousands and rushed the French trenches.
Hal and Chester at this moment found themselves at the front with orders
for respective divisional commanders. They remained as the Germans
charged, sheltered by the huge earthen breastworks.
The fate of the German charge was the same as that of the French a short
while before. Beaten off after a half hour of fierce fighting, the
Germans retired to the shelter of their own lines. The great German guns,
silent while the infantry was engaged, opened up anew on the French
trenches, dropping shells in profusion.
Hal and Chester stood elbow to elbow watching the destructive work of the
giant shells. Of a sudden a shell dropped close to them. Hal uttered a
cry of alarm and made a desperate attempt to drag Chester out of harm's
way. In this he was partly successful and they had dashed forward a few
yards before the shell exploded.
With the fury of the blast, great clouds of earth flew high in the air.
Hal and Chester felt the ground open up beneath them and they gasped for
breath as they were precipitated into what seemed a bottomless pit. How
far they fell they could not tell, but it seemed a long ways; and hardly
had they struck bottom when a shower of earth fell upon them.
Fortunately for them, they were in a section of the trench that was
protected on either side by artificial abuttments of hard dirt and stones
thrown up by the troops and these caught heavy beams and rocks and other
debris that would have showered down upon them and crushed them to death.
A great log, or such it appeared, came down lengthwise and struck the
abuttments on either side of the pit into which the lads had fallen; a
second did likewise and these prevented the shower of rocks and pieces of
big guns from going through. It was all that saved the lads.
Then more earth fell and covered these and the pit was effectually
sealed. Below there was no light, and when Hal and Chester regained their
feet neither could see light above. They groped for each other in the
dark and at last clasped hands.
"Great Scott! What's happened?" gasped Chester. "Where are we?"
"We are in a pit caused by the explosion of that shell," said Hal,
quietly. "The next question is how to get out."
He put a hand above his head, but could touch nothing. He tried jumping,
but with no better success.
"I can't reach the top," he said.
The lads felt around the sides of the pit. The walls were sheer. It was
useless to think of getting up that way.
"Well, we're up against it," said Hal. "I don't know how we are to get
out of here. By Jove! It's lucky we weren't killed by the shell."
"We might just as well have been as to die down here," said Chester.
"Buck up, old man," said Hal. "We're not dead yet and while there's life
there's hope. We've been in some ticklish positions before and pulled
through all right."
"We were never in a hole like this before," said Chester.
Hal had made his way to one side of the pit.
"Here," he called to Chester, "you climb up on my shoulders and see if
you can reach the top."
Chester did as Hal suggested and his efforts were rewarded by touching
something overhead.
"What luck?" asked Hal.
"Good," said Chester. "I have touched something. Feels like a log."
"Can you pull it loose?"
"If I do we're likely to be crushed down here."
"If you don't we're likely to suffocate down here," returned Hal. "I can
scarcely get my breath now. We'll have to take a chance."
"Then I'll have a try at it," said Chester. "Be ready to crouch close to
the side of the pit when I give the word. I'll come down on top of you
and we'll trust to luck that the debris falls clear."
"All right," said Hal. "Yell when you're ready."
Again Chester tested the covering with his hands. At last he struck a
spot where he could obtain a grip. He decided to throw his weight on it
and see if it would come down. He took a firm hold and then called:
"All right, Hal! Stoop quickly!"