vy, medium and
light--belching forth their fire with ceaseless regularity for six
long hours. It was pitch dark when the first guns opened with their
roar, but it was not long before the heavens were lighted with a
brilliant pyrotechnic display, something like elaborate Fourth of July
fireworks, but multiplied by millions in intensity. The heavy
artillery spit forth long flames as they were discharged. The long
flash, the rapidity with which it is dashed from the gun muzzle, and
its sudden disappearance, reminded me of a serpent's tongue. And
serpents' tongues they were, indeed, to German hopes, for as sure as
these are facts, the St. Mihiel drive sealed the doom of the despised
Huns. As far as the eye could see, these flashes were being repeated
at stated intervals, and in front of them were the smaller and more
rapid flashes of the medium artillery; and adding their flame, smoke
and noise to the din far out in front was the famous light artillery,
which did such effective work throughout the war.

It was not long after the barrage began before the Germans began to
throw star shells. These were for the purpose of lighting up No Man's
Land. They are thrown to a height of several hundred feet, and as they
slowly descend, they burn a brilliant white light. These added to the
brilliancy of the fireworks. The object of the Germans in throwing
these star shells was to keep No Man's Land lighted so as to be ready
to repel our attack. They knew, of course, that our barrage was to be
followed up with a charge, but they did not know at what hour it was
to be launched. The star shells were thrown so that they could not be
taken unawares in the dark.

Far behind the line in Fritz' territory we could see our shells
bursting. The telltale flash meant that the Huns were getting a dose
of severe medicine, though we could at that moment only guess at the
destruction that was being wrought. Later we were to see the havoc
worked by our accurate artillerymen.

The object of this demoralizing barrage was to break up the morale of
the Germans and in general to pave the way for our infantry charge
that was to follow. It shattered the German trenches, plowed through
their barbed wire entanglements and kept those who survived in a state
of great nervous tension, because they knew a great charge was to
follow. Our guns were also trained on such objects as headquarters,
railroads, heavy artillery emplacements, cross roads, ammunition
dumps,