THE BATTLE FOR THE TRENCHES.
By this time everyone was gazing in mixed wonder and awe at the strange
dirigible balloon, speeding in great circles far up toward the clouds.
Rob and his comrades had read more or less about these monster airships
which the German Count had invented, and which were expected to play a
prominent part in this world war. They had even hoped that before they
left Belgium they might be given an opportunity to see one of the fleet
monsters, which were said to be able to carry dozens of men, as well as
tons of explosives, incredible distances.
In Antwerp there had been considerable talk concerning the possibility
of these Zeppelins making a concerted attack on the city, and forcing
its surrender. All manner of fearful stories were going the rounds, and
many timid people had even left the city on the Scheldt for the more
hospitable shores of England, just on account of the threatening peril
from the clouds.
"So, that's a real Zeppelin, is it?" Tubby remarked, as they stood there
with their eyes riveted on the flittering monster of the air.
"No question about it," Merritt told him, "because the poor Belgians
don't own such an expensive airship, though they have some aeroplanes, I
was told."
"But what do you reckon they're doing up there?" asked Tubby, still
seeking to increase his limited stock of knowledge.
"Why," Rob replied, "don't you see there's a battle going on below, and
from that height men with glasses can see every little thing that's
happening. They are able to tell how the Belgian forces are intrenched;
and by means of signals let their gunners know where to drop shells so
as to do the most harm."
"Whee! what won't they do next in modern, up-to-date fighting?"
exclaimed Tubby.
"There have been lots of remarkable surprises sprung in this war
already," Merritt observed thoughtfully, "but I'm thinking the worst is
yet to come. There never was such a war before in the history of the
world, and it's to be hoped this one ends in a peace that will last
forever."
"Yes," added Rob, greatly impressed by what he was seeing, "war's going
to cost so much after this that the nations will have to fix up some
other way to settle their differences. About that Zeppelin, Tubby; don't
you see how they might be able to drop a few bombs on the enemy's
trenches; or where the Belgians have fixed barbed-wire entanglements to
stop the rush of the charging German troops? Just to think that here we
are really watching a battle that isn't like one of the sham rights they
have every summer at home. It's hard to believe, boys!"
They were all agreed as to this, and every little while one of them
might be detected actually rubbing his eyes, as though suspecting he
were asleep and all this were but a feverish dream.
The cannonading grew more and more furious as the morning advanced. Huge
billows of smoke covered sections of the country, some of it not more
than a mile away from the village where Rob and his chums had stopped.
"And just to think," said Tubby, with a touch of sorrow in his voice.
"While all this sounds like a Fourth of July celebration to us, safe as
we are, it spells lots of terrible wounds for the poor fellows who are
in the fight. Why, with all those big shells bursting, and the shrapnel
too, that you spoke about, Rob, right now I reckon there are just
hundreds of them wanting to be attended to."
"That's true enough, Tubby, the more the pity," replied Rob.
"What's this coming up behind us?" called out Merritt, as loud cheers,
together with the rattle of wheels and the pounding of many horses'
hoofs, were heard on the road they had used on the previous night.
"Oh! they're going to bombard the village; and now we'll get it!" gasped
Tubby.
"It looks like a battery coming from the direction of Antwerp, and
hurrying to get in action!" Rob ventured to say, as he discovered that
those who were seated on the horses and on the gun caissons wore the
Belgian uniforms.
"Just what it is, Rob," added Merritt excitedly. "They hear the sound of
the guns ahead, and are crazy to get there. Look at them whip the
horses, would you! And how the animals run! They smell the smoke of
burnt powder, and it's fairly set them all wild!"
It was indeed a stirring sight to see that battery come tearing along
straight through the little village, and heading directly toward the
place where the flashing and roaring of battle seemed fiercest.
The men were all keyed up to a pitch of excitement that made them forget
they were about to face danger and death. They shouted as they swept
past, and the poor villagers, filled with a momentary enthusiasm, sent
back answering cries.
Such enthusiasm is always contagious. Why, even peace-loving Tubby
seemed to be infected with some of it. His eyes glowed, and his breath
came in short puffs, as he watched the guns and caissons go whirling
along until men, horses and all had vanished down the road in a cloud
of dust.
"Some of those brave fellows will never come back again, I'm afraid,"
said Tubby sadly.
"It begins to look as if the artillery arm was going to be everything in
this war," Rob remarked, as though the sight of those bursting shells
impressed him.
"But what do you suppose all that bombardment means?" Merritt asked.
"I can only give a guess," the patrol leader replied. "From all I've
read I get the idea that before the Germans order a charge of their
infantry they pour in a heavy bombardment from every big gun they can
get in line. That makes it so hot in the trenches that the enemy has to
keep under cover. Then the infantry manages to get a good start before
they are fired on."
"Nothing new about that, I guess," replied Merritt. "It was done in the
battle of Gettysburg, where Lee used more than a hundred cannon to
bombard, before starting to carry Little Round-top and Cemetery Hill by
assault. I was just reading about it a few weeks ago in a magazine
article at home. But if those are their tactics, Rob, we ought to be
seeing some movement of troops pretty soon."
"Yes," the patrol leader admitted, "the gun fire is slackening right
now; and if we had glasses I expect we could see the infantry starting
forward. Those up in the Zeppelin can watch every move that takes
place."
"All the same I'd rather take my chances down here," Tubby announced.
"What's that moving away over there, Rob?" demanded Merritt. "Seems like
a gray looking snake creeping out from the shelter of the woods. I
declare if I don't believe it is a mass of men charging straight at the
Belgian trenches!"
"The Germans all wear a sort of grayish green uniform, you know," Tubby
declared, "which is so like the dirt that lots of times you can't tell
the soldiers from the earth half a mile away."
"Look sharp, fellows," said Rob, "because that is where they're going to
shoot their bolt. What we see is a battalion of infantry charging. Now
watch how they begin to gather momentum. Yes, and when the gun fire
lets up we'll hear the voices of thousands of men singing as they rush
forward, ready to die for the Fatherland."
They stood there with trembling limbs, and continued to watch what was
developing right before their eyes. It seemed as though that gray mass
would never cease coming into view. The whole open space was covered
with lines upon lines of soldiers all pushing in one direction, and that
where the intrenchments of the Belgians must lie.
"Oh! look! look! they're opening on them with quick-fire guns, and all
sorts of things!" Tubby exclaimed, in absolute horror. "Why, I can see
lanes cut in the lines of the Germans; but they always close up, and
keep right on! Isn't it terrible?"
"It is sublime!" said Rob; and that tribute to the unflinching bravery
of the German advance was about the limit of a boy's vocabulary.
"But the plucky little Belgians won't yield an inch of ground, you see!"
cried Merritt. "They keep pouring in that terrible fire, and mowing the
Germans down, just like they were cutting wheat on a Minnesota farm."
"How will it all end, I wonder?" said Rob, fascinated, more than he
would have believed possible, by the panorama that was being unfolded
before his eyes.
"If the ammunition of the Belgian batteries and Maxims holds out,"
ventured Merritt, "there won't be any German army left in this part of
the country. Their best troops are said to be down in France now,
fighting the Allies; but if these are only second or third class
reserves, I wonder what the really top-notch ones can do in a battle."
"They're weakening, let me tell you!" Rob startled the others by saying.
"Watch and you'll see that they don't advance as fast as before. Perhaps
the general in charge has found that the trenches can't be taken by a
direct charge. They're going to fall back, and let the artillery start
in again! The first part of the terrible battle is over, for there the
Germans begin to scatter, and run, to get out of range of the Maxims!"
"And the plucky Belgians have won again!" Merritt declared as though
almost tempted to join in the cries of satisfaction that were beginning
to rise from those of the villagers who were clustered close by,
intensely interested spectators of the thrilling spectacle just enacted.
"And there's that old Zeppelin still swinging around up in the sky,"
remarked Tubby. "For all the information they were able to signal down,
the Germans couldn't take the Belgian trenches. When they got the wire
entanglements they were blocked."
"But unless I miss my guess," exclaimed Merritt, "the Zeppelin will have
to get on the run pretty quick or it'll find there's a little war
brewing in the sky, because I can see a couple of aeroplanes rising from
back of the Belgian lines!"