CHAPTER XXVIII
CHATEAU THIERRY
That was the thing--to get there!
The marines have always fought in that way. It is tradition--and theirnature.
German gunners ran from their guns in face of such assaults; otherstried to withdraw their guns; still others were taken in groups huddledin ravines as youth, fearful in its white rage of determination, boredown upon them and gathered them in, or, again, drove the bayonet homeinto gunners who stuck to their posts until the instant that forms, witheyes gleaming, leapt upon them.
With captured German machine guns, men, whom the marines farther backcould not reach with food and water, held their gains, taking food andwater from the American and German dead.
Although the first phase of the attack had not been fully accomplished,it was determined not to hold back the other companies, which had beenwaiting under shell fire that only aroused their eagerness to advance,from undertaking the second phase.
Theirs was a simpler task than that of their comrades who had stormedthe woods. Artillery preparation in clearing away was, of course, moreserviceable against a village than against a woods, and neither machinegun nor shell fire delayed the precision of the movement across the opento the village of Chateau Thierry itself.
But the enemy contested every step of the advance. These troops that theGerman general staff now hurled forward to stem the tide of the Americanadvance were the flower of the emperor's army--the Prussian Guards, whoboasted that they had never been stopped.
But not only were they to be stopped by the impetuous daring of theAmericans, but they were soon to be driven back in utter rout.
In the woods the marines were cheek by jowl with the enemy, who wereslipping more machine guns into that section of the wood.
The Germans must be made to understand that the woods was the propertyof the Americans--that was the thought in the hearts of all the marinesas they went about their work, while the Germans, on their part, begangassing the approaches both of Chateau Thierry and Belleau village.
The very irregular shape of Belleau Woods, no less than the character ofthe ground, favored the defenders in forming cross zones of fire. It wasa strange and fierce business, there in the dense brush, where men ofthe same squad could not keep in touch with one another at times.Happily the marines had located some of the enemy nests before theyattacked, but those farther ahead they could locate only when theGermans began firing, or when they stumbled upon gunners who were stillhugging cover after the bombardment, or who simply had concluded it wasbetter to be a live prisoner than to die for the Kaiser.
They were taken in groups and singly, taken standing behind trees andhugging the holes they had dug in the earth. Some were trying to retreatwith their guns; others fled precipitately, and many continued to worktheir guns.
It was a hunt of man-hornet nests, with khaki the hunter and the Germangray the hunted. The marines fought even more fiercely than in theirfirst attack. They wanted to finish the job this time; and the job wasto be finished soon.
The enemy, smarting under the American success, began bringing upreserves and concentrated a terrific artillery fire on the ground closeto Chateau Thierry and the village itself. Chateau Thierry seemed tohave become a point of honor with the Germans no less than with theAmericans. They saturated it with a bombardment of yperite gas, whichclings to the earth and the trees, and burns flesh that comes in contactwith it.
As the Germans could hardly send their own men into this area to sufferthe effects intended for the marines, the battle momentarily died down.
But it was to be resumed shortly with redoubled fury.
An hour later the Germans, with their reserves, made an attack in force.By all criterions this attack should have succeeded. Some Germanspenetrated to within a short distance of the American lines and a goodmany of them remained there--dead.
American machine-gun fire and rifle fire drove all who escaped backtoward the enemy's lines. At the same time, under cover of theirartillery, the Germans had reinforced their machine-gun units, whichremained in the edge of the woods, probably thinking that as soon as theeffects of the yperite were over, recovery of the woods would not bedifficult.
But the German staff was doomed to disappointment.
For perhaps half an hour the battle died down again. The Germans tookadvantage of this lull to reform their lines just beyond Chateau Thierryand to prepare to repel an attack.
From this moment the German staff seems to have lost all desire of anoffensive movement. They must have realized that the possibility of afurther advance had gone a-glimmering with the defeat of the PrussianGuard in Belleau Woods. No longer would the Germans be the aggressors;it would be the Yankees, and their Allies, from this time on that wouldpush the fighting.
The marines were now at full strength--two solid divisions, except forthe losses in the early fighting--and these had been heavy. Not in thehistory of man had there been such a desperate charge as the marines hadmade there in Belleau Woods, and it was to be equalled only by thecharge that was to drive the enemy from Chateau Thierry.
Officers hastily looked over the decimated troops during the briefpause, as they awaited word to advance. Though their losses had beenenormous, and though it seemed impossible to advance further through thehail of shells, bullets and shrapnel that poured upon them, the marineswere not daunted. Their spirit was as superb as when they had firstadvanced confidently to the attack. Their morale was unbroken.
To the German staff, and to the German veterans themselves, it must havebeen a thing of wonder the way the American marines stood to theirtasks. True, they were outnumbered by the enemy, but there wasn't a manthere who stopped to think of that.
Reinforcements were on their way from the rear.
American regulars, and the French troops, broken by the first shock ofthe German advance, had had time to regain their lost cohesion andreform. But it was not General Bundy's plan to await thesereinforcements; he had the enemy on the run now and he was not disposedto surrender his advantage.
So, after a brief pause, he ordered the attack.
Wild cheers broke from the marines as they darted upon the enemy machinegunners and artillerymen who still clung to the edge of the woods. Therewas a sharp skirmish, and the Germans abandoned their guns and fledtoward where other lines had been fortified just before Chateau Thierry.
The marines dashed forward on the very heels of the enemy.
Into the streets of the little village poured the Americans pell-mell.Here, under the command of their officers, the Germans braced and theirresistance became stiffer.
But the men from Yankeeland were not to be denied. Absolutelydisregarding the enemy machine-gun fire, that cut great gaps in theirlines, they leaped forward with lowered bayonets. Steel clashed on steelas the fighting became hand-to-hand.
Here and there marines, crazed with battle, cast away their rifles andbayonets and dashed upon the enemy barehanded. Down went Germans beforeheavy blows from American fists. Groups of Germans gathered here andthere and attempted to check the Americans. As well have tried to shutout a tornado.
The Prussian Guards, once the pride of the German army, becamedemoralized. Some threw down their weapons and raised their hands intoken of surrender. Others turned and ran. These latter the marinespursued, making captives of some and accounting for others with theirrifles and bayonets.
Fiercer and fiercer the fighting raged in the streets of the littlevillage. From one end of the streets, the enemy covered the marines withmachine guns and fired rapidly as the Americans came toward them.
But this fire had no more effect than if the Germans had been sprayingthe marines with water. Those who survived the terrible fire leaped overthe bodies of their prostrate comrades and at the throats of the Huns.
It was more than flesh and blood could stand. The Germans turned andfled in utter rout.
But the work of the marines was not yet over. They pushe
d on to the edgeof the village. Machine guns were hastily posted and manned and adestructive fire poured into the ranks of the fleeing enemy.
Soon the Germans reached the shelter of a distant woods, posted theirown big guns and opened upon the exposed Yankee positions.
Instantly General Bundy gave the command to dig in again.
Weapons of warfare were immediately discarded by the marines forintrenching tools and the dirt began to fly. American artillery,meantime, hurled high explosive shells over the heads of the marinesinto the German positions beyond.
Night fell and the duel of big guns continued as the marines still dugand clawed at the ground. But before midnight the newly-won positionshad been made secure. Sentinels were posted and the men at last werepermitted to sleep.
Not in the history of all wars has there been a victory to equal that ofthe American marines in Belleau Woods and at Chateau Thierry. It waswonderful. No other word will describe it. And in its effect, the resultwas far reaching.
Not only did the American victory enable the hard-pressed French troops,so recently driven back by the German advance, to reform; not only didit reduce the effectiveness of the German man-power, but it shatteredthe morale of the whole German army. It was the greatest single blowthat had been struck during the war.
No wonder the tired American marines slept the sleep of the just thatnight. They had been the instruments that set in motion the greatoffensive that was to make the world safe for Democracy.
It was a glorious day for America--the seventeenth of June, 1918!