ded, and with
empty stomachs we marched through Neuvy up a hill and dug ourselves in
behind a wood.

"The thunder of the enemies' artillery is terrible; shrapnel is bursting
on our left. Captain von Liliencron discusses the situation with the
major and then turns to us. 'Our regiment attacks! go for the dogs,
children!' he exclaims with gleaming eyes.

"Next we advance round the wood and lie down behind a hedge; axes are
held in readiness to hack a way through the latter. Five steps from me a
machine gun hammers away at full speed; it is now impossible to hear
commands, so they are roared from man to man--it could not be termed
shouting. 'Ambulance to the right!' somebody is severely wounded, but
the ambulance men have more than they can do on the left.

"The hell-music is at its loudest; shrapnel is bursting in the wood
behind us; suddenly there is an awful explosion half a dozen yards away;
I hear the screams of my comrades, then we rush forwards. The rush
across the field was awful--flank fire from the right. Here and there a
comrade bites the grass.

"At last I throw myself down, but there is no cover; the wounded crouch
there too. None of my company are there; it seems that the two last
shells have played havoc with them. The enemies' (French) main position
is nearly a mile away in a forest.

"Up the next slope our dead lie thick around, and here too a deadly
bullet had found the breast of our heroic captain. But in the strip of
forest French and Turko bodies are still thicker. The cat-like Turkos
have climbed into the trees and are shot down like crows. A maddening
infantry and artillery fire greets us as we reach the top. Every ten to
twenty yards shells strike, and shrapnel bursts, filling the air with
earth, dust, smoke and smell.

"Forward! till almost exhausted I throw myself down again; a hundred to
a hundred and fifty Fusiliers form a firing-line. Columns of infantry
pour a murderous fire on to us from the forest. It cannot go on thus;
one after the other is wounded or killed. We have advanced nearly eight
hundred yards over open ground. On the right there is a small thicket of
reeds. Some of the company have already sought shelter there, and I make
a rush there with the same hope.

"'For heaven's sake, lie down, corporal,' screamed a man as I came up.
In fact, the reeds afford no cover whatever. Wounded and dead lie there
and bullets keep hitting them. In front of me lay a man from the fourth
comp