THE ADVANCE
A bugle sounded.
The sleeping French camp sprang suddenly to life. Men, half dressed,
sprang from their cots--they had not disrobed entirely the night
before--and hurried to their positions, adjusting their clothing as they
did so. Regiments formed hurriedly in the darkness that is always more
intense just before dawn. Officers shouted and swore; horses whinnied
from the distance, indicating that the French cavalry, as well as the
infantry was forming.
A second bugle sounded; then many more. More commands from the various
officers. Aides rushed hither and yon delivering sharp orders to division
commanders. The men stood quietly in line. Came other sharp commands all
down the line:
"_En avant_!"
The troops began to move.
Overhead, screaming French shells from the big guns in the rear flew as
they raced for the distant German lines. This was no new sound. For
more than twenty-four hours now these big guns had been hurling shells
into the German ranks; and the men had become so used to the sounds of
their voices that they would have been almost unable to sleep had they
become silent.
This bombardment, continuing for more than twenty-four hours as it had,
was the opening of the greatest offensive by the French at Verdun--an
offensive by which General Petain, the French commander, hoped to drive
back the foe that for months had pressed on so hard, and thus to insure
the safety of Verdun, "The gateway to France," against the German invader
for all time to come.
Each move of this gigantic effort had been thought out well in advance.
All contingencies had been provided for and against. The blow was to be
struck at the psychological moment, when it would be deemed by the French
general staff that it was sure of success.
And now this moment had come.
The information placed in the hands of General Petain days before by Hal
and Chester had been the one link in the chain that had been missing. Now
the general staff felt sure of the success of this great effort, though
there was not a man who had taken part in the preparations who did not
know that the victory--if victory there should be--would be won at
tremendous cost.
But, with the fate of Verdun in the balance, it had been the opinion of
each member of the general staff that now was no time to hesitate.
So, upon this morning in June, just before dawn, the French advanced all
along their entire front.
Under the protection of their big guns they would be able to progress for
some time; and as they attacked the German first line trenches in a
charge, the fire of the big guns would continue, firing overhead at the
German second and third line trenches beyond.
And it was in this manner that the advance was made.
The day dawned while the French were still some distance from the German
first line trenches; and the German guns, far to the east, and the German
defenders in the trenches opened on them with a vengeance. But the French
were prepared for this. There had been no thought of a surprise attack in
the plans of the general staff. It was known that the Germans would
realize what was about to happen when the duel of big guns began more
than twenty-four hours before.
Before sun-up the French infantry sprang forward in its first charge. It
was thrown back. Immediately a second charge was ordered. This met the
same fate as had the first. A third brought no better results.
On the next charge, as the French advanced the Germans left their
trenches and sprang forward to meet them. The big German guns became
still as the infantry struggled hand to hand.
There issued from the French left at this juncture, heavy bodies of
French cavalry. Into the thick of the struggling mass the horsemen
charged. This attack had been a surprise. The Germans were cut down in
large numbers. As they scrambled back to the protection of their
trenches, French troops scrambled over with them. Again the infantry
alone was engaged, but this time in the enemy trenches.
Whole squadrons of cavalry were ordered from their horses and also sprang
into the German trenches. Reinforcements were hurried up. The Germans
also rushed up supports; but they had delayed too long.
The Germans broke and fled for safety to the second line trenches.
Immediately the French turned the field pieces captured with the German
trenches upon the fleeing enemy and mowed them down in great numbers.
Others of the French troops fell to work consolidating the newly won
trenches. The big German guns opened again; but by this time the French
were pretty well secured against this arm of fire.
More French reinforcements were rushed up to hold the captured trenches.
Batteries of field guns braved the German shell fire and dashed across
the open to the captured trenches. Immediately these guns were brought
into position, they opened upon the German second line of defense.
From their posts of vantage, mounted upon slight elevations, and from
behind trees and other secure places, the great French guns protected the
advance of the cavalry and infantry.
Hal and Chester, who had stood close to General Petain during most of
this battling, had watched the conflict with the greatest interest.
"Look at them fall!" exclaimed Chester, as through his glasses, he
witnessed the last desperate attack of the French.
"It's a terrible sight," agreed Hal, "and yet there will be many more
just as terrible before this war is won."
"Indeed there will," agreed Chester.
"Lieutenant Crawford! Lieutenant Paine!"
It was General Petain who spoke.
"My compliments to General Bordeaux, Lieutenant Paine, and tell him that
the left of the newly won trenches must be held at all hazzards!"
Hal sprang upon a nearby motorcycle and soon was speeding toward
the front.
"Lieutenant Crawford! The same instructions to General Ducal on
the right!"
A moment later Chester was speeding forward.
His message delivered, Hal stopped for a moment to gaze about the
trenches won at such terrible cost.
There had been no time to bury the dead, or even to have the bodies
removed; and the trenches were piled high with French and German dead. In
between the rows of corpses, which had hurriedly been pushed to one side,
the other troops worked, apparently without thought of their fallen
comrades. Red Cross physicians and nurses were working among the wounded,
lightening the suffering.
Hal looked at his watch.
"Twelve o'clock!" he muttered. "It seems as if this single battle had
been going on for days!"
He made his way slowly back to General Petain.
Chester, his message delivered, also had taken account of the French
position on the right. There the fighting had been particularly severe,
and the newly won positions presented ghastly spectacles. Chester
shuddered:
"And this is war!" he said.
He made his way back to headquarters and rejoined Hal.
"Wonder if we shall try for the second line defenses to-day?" Hal said
to his chum.
"I don't know; but I wouldn't be surprised to hear the order at any
minute now. Look at the masses of reinforcements being rushed forward.
Surely, they are not being sent there just to hold the trenches. No; I
believe that to-day General Petain hopes to carry at least the second and
third line of trenches on our whole front."
And, as it transpired, Chester was right.
At four o'clock in the afternoon the French had established
themselves firmly in the German second line trenches, although at
great cost. Dense masses of reinforcements were immediately rushed
forward. To Hal and Chester this signified that there was still to be
another effort that day.
And at five o'clock in the evening the effort was made.
Under a sun that beat down with terrific force, despite the lateness of
the hour, the French infantry again advanced to the attack. Flushed with
two victories earlier in the day, they went forward confidently and with
eagerness and enthusiasm. Cheers broke out along the whole line as they
advanced. Farther back, a band--many bands--played "The Marseillaise."
The German troops, twice driven back before the victorious French,
nevertheless stood firm in their trenches. They had learned a dear lesson
at the hands of their enemy this day; and while they realized fully that
they were getting the worst of the battle, they still stuck bravely to
their task.
Terrible as it was, it was an awe-inspiring sight that Hal and Chester,
far back with General Petain and staff, witnessed through their glasses
that late afternoon.
In dense masses the French hurled themselves against the German trenches;
and in great masses they were hurled back again--those of them who did
not lie upon the ground. Time after time the French charged what appeared
to be impregnable trenches. Then, on their fifth effort, they reached
their goal and surged into the trenches.
Immediately all was confusion there. An unguarded moment meant a man's
death. Struggling as they were, it was, at times, almost impossible to
tell friend from foe. But the troops distinguished somehow, and for what
seemed ages they battled there, hand-to-hand.
German reinforcements rushed up in a valiant effort to save the day.
General Petain threw out supports for his own infantry. All these surged
into the trenches and added their quota to the terrible din.
Several times the German cavalry charged, their riders dismounting when
they reached the struggling mass of humanity and plunging into the fray
with sabres and revolvers. But each time they were beaten off.
Gradually the French cleared the trenches. The Germans gave slowly at
first; then more swiftly. The French pursued them with loud cries. The
enemy broke and fled.
Again German reinforcements rushed to the attack. The French met them in
the open, beyond the third line German trenches. The fighting was
something terrible; but flushed with victory as they were, there could be
but one ending.
A German bugle sounded a recall; and at almost the same moment the
evening sun settled beyond the distant eastern hills.
The French had won the day!
Hal and Chester looked at each other. Then, even as the entire French
staff broke into a loud cheer, the two lads grasped hands.
"We've won!" said Hal.
"Verdun is saved!" exclaimed Chester.
So there, upon this historic field, we shall take our leave of these two
friends for the time; but we shall renew our acquaintance later, in a
succeeding volume, entitled: "The Boy Allies on the Somme; or, Courage
and Bravery Rewarded."
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Allies At Verdun, by Clair W. Hayes