CHAPTER XV.
THE TAKING OF THE GERMAN TRENCHES.
That was too much for Josh to stand. He had been at the point ofrebellion before, and this was the "last straw that broke the camel'sback." He snatched the glasses from the trembling hand of his comradealmost rudely, though perhaps Josh did not mean it that way, only he wasfearfully excited.
Of course Rod could see something of what was transpiring, even withoutthe aid of the binoculars, though they were bound to be a great help. Hehad immediately turned his gaze upon the spot indicated, and discoveredthat what Hanky Panky called out was true.
A great mass of men clad in the regulation French uniform came rushingforward from the left quarter. Guns were fast starting up here, there,everywhere, to rain a perfect hail of shells on the German line, so asto prevent the defenders from springing forward to meet the new attack.
At the same time those Frenchmen lying concealed in front also sprang todo their part of the work. The air was rent with shouts from thousandsof throats, though the tattoo of the guns became so insistent that eventhis sounded faintly, as rain might on the roof between thunder-claps.
Riveted to the spot with the wonder of the spectacle, which they hadnever dreamed would fall to their vision, the three boys stood there,unable to speak a single word. Indeed, with all that frightful noisegoing on speech was next door to folly, and they wisely held theirbreath.
The Germans had anticipated just such an assault, no doubt, for it wasalong their flank that they had been so industriously throwing up newentrenchments at the time Rod and his chums first sighted them.
They had not been given sufficient time, however, to get more than halfprepared when the mighty blow fell. Those enthusiastic Frenchmen,realizing that they had Von Kluck's army finally on the run, did notmean to lose any of their advantage by unnecessary delay. They could notbe held in, even had their officers wished to attempt such a thing. Rodindeed was reminded of the impetuous charge of hounds, once they werereleased from the leash.
It was all very plain to Rod, who was a boy with a long head. He knewthat when the vast German host had advanced so steadily toward Paris,sweeping everything out of their path with such apparent ease, they hadcertainly brought along with them many great siege guns, with which tobatter down the forts defending the city.
Some of these were the famous forty-two centimetre guns which had provedat Liege and Namur that no modern fort could hold out against theenormous weight of metal they were capable of dropping, almostvertically, on the works, from a distance of many miles.
Then when the sudden alteration came about in the plans of Von Kluck,and his army turned aside from Paris so as to save its exposed flank,the one thought in the mind of the general was to save those wonderfulguns, without which all his work would be for naught.
It was for this purpose that these desperate rearguard actions werebeing undertaken by the retreating Germans. Some of the big guns weredrawn by traction engines, and their progress even over good roads mustnecessarily be very slow. To enable them to be transported to thepositions already prepared along the Aisne River, looking to a possibleretreat, the victorious French had to be kept at bay.
So tens of thousands of Teutons must fall during those bitter days inorder that the Krupp guns might be saved to the cause. Manfully theystood up to their task. There was not a sign of wavering as they met thefurious charge of the French, who seemed determined on thrusting theenemy out of their newly made trenches at the point of the bayonet.
Josh, remembering how he had felt a brief time before, presently gave asigh and reluctantly handed the glasses over to Rod. The latter gladlyreceived them, and without a second's delay proceeded to glue his eyesto the smaller end.
It was like a living picture of other battles that Rod rememberedseeing, done in colors; but the realization that this was the_real_ thing he now gazed on so entranced thrilled him again andagain.
Backed by every gun that could be brought to bear upon the German front,the living stream of blue and red-clad French soldiers, men of the line,zouaves, chasseurs and all, plunged madly along. Little they recked thatmany fell by the way under the storm of missiles that belched from thehostile trenches; the lines closed over the gaps almost mechanically,and only the figures that dotted the field after their passage told ofthe terrible price with which the action was accompanied.
Now they were close up to the trenches, and some even leaping over theredoubt, to grapple hand to hand with those who so desperately defendedit.
Brave though they were, the French had been so decimated in their madrush that it seemed as though there could not be enough of them left toovercome the resistance of the defenders of the works.
It was while Rod was filled with this sense of anxiety that he noticedsomething calculated to arouse new hope; for somehow he found himself insympathy with the French soldiers, perhaps because they had been theunder dog in the other war, when their fair country was overrun byBismarck's armies.
The wise French commander-in-chief, possibly General Joffre himself, hadseen to it that reserves were on hand to take up the fight after thefirst line had hewn a way into the hostile trenches. Yes, there theycame along like a serried mass, or the waters bursting from a vastreservoir after the dam has been broken.
He saw the living wave strike the first embankment and pass over. Heknew what terrible work must be going on beyond that thrown-up earth,for in bayonet work the French have ever been without a rival. He pitiedthe Germans who were trying to hold the first line of trenches sovaliantly, for they would mostly be either killed, wounded, or takenprisoner.
The French guns still roared unceasingly, though that part of the greatMarne battle was already as good as won. Now their exploding missileswere being hurled further on, so as to add to the perplexities of thehurriedly retreating Germans, making for the next line of trenches,which in turn would doubtless be just as stubbornly defended.
Josh it was now who used the glasses. As a rule Josh had always beenreckoned a generous fellow, sharing alike with his friends; but to-day aspirit of greed possessed him. There was Hanky Panky, who really shrankfrom such scenes as a battle--why bother paying any attention to himwhen there was only a single pair of binoculars to go around?
Indeed, Hanky Panky made no further claim on the precious glasses;evidently he had seen enough and more than enough as it was, to satisfyhis ambition. He was staring toward those figures dotting the new field,and his lips kept moving as though he might be uttering words ofcommiseration, though of course what he said could not be heard abovethe universal clamor that continued with unabated vigor.
Gradually, though, the racket began to slacken, as though word had goneforth that the pursuit of the retiring foe must be temporarilyabandoned. Victory had perched on the banner of the defenders of thesoil; the lilies of France had swept proudly over the trenches of thefoe; still further back from the imperiled capital had the host of VonKluck been pushed, but all gained at a terrible cost.
So the guns began to cease firing. New positions must now be taken up soas to continue the good work. Everywhere the Germans would be pressedback and back until possibly the ardent French believed they would beforced to retreat to the Rhine.
And now new features began to appear upon the field that had so latelybeen the scene of a fearful engagement. Batches of dejected lookingprisoners were being convoyed to the rear, stout-looking young fellowsas a rule; for in the early months of the great war the German armyconsisted of the pick of the whole empire, every soldier being an almostperfect specimen of physical manhood. Later on, when havoc had been madein their ranks by continuous engagements, younger and older reserveswould begin to make their appearance to fill the gaps.
Then again did the French Red Cross attendants with their handystretchers begin to reap the harvest of the battle. Of Germans therewere none, for since their side had been compelled to retreat so hastilymost of their hospital corps had accompanied them, leaving to thevictors the double task of caring for the wou
nded of both armies.
When Rod, again with the glasses, saw how the French attendants did notdiscriminate in favor of their own men, but took them just as they came,a German even before a Frenchman, he realized the spirit of brotherlylove that really exists between the common people of all countries, eventhough by force of circumstances they may be compelled to face eachother in deadly carnage for the faults of politicians or kings.
Well, it was all over now, but the binding up of wounds and the sadburial of the many who had fallen. The invaders had been pushed stillfurther back, and their hopes of taking Paris received an apparentlyfatal blow.
"Josh, you can never again say that you haven't seen a real battle,"remarked Rod, as they made their way back toward the shelter where thealmost exhausted surgeon, aided by his assistants, would now have tostart in afresh with the incoming of another batch of cases needingimmediate attention.
"I'm satisfied," replied Josh in a suppressed manner; "and between usboth, Rod, I want to own up that I hope I'll never have another chanceto look on such a terrible sight; though remember, I wouldn't havemissed it for a whole lot."