FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113  
114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   >>   >|  
resh supplies of bombs must come; and I saw one of the first "krumps" of this concentration take another bite out of the walls of the chateau. By watching the switching of the curtains of fire I had learned that this time Contalmaison was definitely held; and though they say that I don't know anything about news, I beat the _communique_ on the fact as the result of my observation, which ought at least to classify me as a "cub" reporter. XIII A GREAT NIGHT ATTACK Following hard blows with blows--Trones Woods--Attack and counter-attack--A heavy price to pay--"The spirit that quickeneth" knew no faltering--Second-line German fortifications--A daringly planned attack--"Up and at them!"--An attack not according to the scientific factory system--The splendid and terrible hazard--Gun flashes in the dark numerous as fireflies--Majestic, diabolical, beautiful--A planet bombarding with aerolites--Signal flares in the distance--How far had the British gone?--Sunrise on the attack--Good news that day. Of all the wonderful nights at the front that of July 13th-14th was distinctive for its incomparable suspense. A great experiment was to be tried; at least, so it seemed to the observer, though the staff did not take that attitude. It never does once it has decided upon any daring enterprise. When you send fifty thousand men into a charge that may fail with a loss of half of their number or may brilliantly succeed with a loss of only five per cent., none from the corps commanders and division commanders, who await results after the plans are made, down to the privates must have any thought except that the plan is right and that it will go through. There is no older military maxim than to follow up any hard blow with other blows, in order that the enemy may have no time to recuperate; but in moving against a frontal line under modern conditions the congestion of transport and ammunition which must wait on new roads and the filling in of captured trenches makes a difficult problem in organization. Never had there been and never were there necessary such numbers of men and such quantities of material as on the Somme front. The twelve days succeeding July 1st had seen the taking of minor position after position by local concentrations of troops and artillery fire, while the army as a whole had been preparing for another big attack at the propitious moment when these preliminary gains shou
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113  
114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
attack
 

position

 

commanders

 

thought

 

privates

 
recuperate
 
follow
 

military

 
results
 

number


concentration

 

charge

 
thousand
 

communique

 
brilliantly
 

krumps

 
division
 
succeed
 

moving

 

concentrations


taking

 

twelve

 

succeeding

 

troops

 

artillery

 

preliminary

 

moment

 

propitious

 

preparing

 

material


quantities

 
ammunition
 

filling

 

transport

 

congestion

 
frontal
 

modern

 
conditions
 

captured

 
trenches

supplies
 

numbers

 
difficult
 
problem
 

organization

 

Second

 
faltering
 

switching

 
German
 

fortifications