“Cease fire!”
Slowly the command took effect and the fring ceased. The men had quite recovered their nerve. Once more there were calls for the password, and on my side the persuasive summons: “Come here; you are prisoners. Hands up!”
Thereupon there were confused cries from the other side, which were interpreted by the men as “Rache! Rache!” (“Revenge! Revenge!”). A single figure detached itself from the border of the wood and came towards us. One of the men was idiot enough to shout “Password” at him, at which he stopped and turned round.
“Shoot him dead!”
There were a dozen shots, and he sank in a heap beneath the tall grass.
This little episode gave us a feeling of satisfaction. Once more confused cries rang out from the edge of the wood. It seemed that the attacking party were encouraging each other to advance on their mysterious enemy.
In the utmost excitement we kept our eyes fixed on the dark strip of ground. It was beginning to dawn, and a light mist rose from the meadowland.
Then a row of shadows rose out of the darkness. Five, ten, fifteen, a whole lot of them. Trembling fingers released the safety catches. They were fifty metres from us, thirty, fifteen … “Fire!” For a minute the rifles rattled out. Sparks showered up whenever the storm of bullets encountered weapons or steel helmets.
Suddenly there was a shout: “Look out on the left!” Coming quickly on, a party of the enemy was attacking us on the left flank. At the head of it was a giant with outstretched revolver, swinging a white bludgeon.
“Left section! Left front!”
The men whipped round and received the new arrivals standing. Some of them, and among them their leader, fell at the first hurried shots. The rest vanished as swiftly as they had come. Now was the moment to attack in turn. With fixed bayonets and a rousing “Hurrah!” we stormed the wood. We threw a volley of bombs into the tangled undergrowth, and in a moment were once more in undisturbed possession of our outpost, without having encountered the pliant enemy.
We assembled in a cornfield and looked at each other. Our faces had an after-the-night-before look, and a lark that rose into the sky and began its trills was an added exasperation. We were in much the same mood as when, after a night of play, the cards are flung on to the table and the windows thrown open to let the cool morning air blow away the hanging cloud of cigar smoke.
While we handed round the water-bottles and lit cigars we heard the enemy retreating along the sunken road and the cries of the wounded they carried with them.
I decided to survey the field of battle. Strange sounds and cries of pain came from the meadow where we had routed the enemy with our rifle-fire. We found a number of dead in the long grass and three wounded who begged for mercy. They were convinced we would massacre them.
When I asked, “Quelle nation?” one of them answered, “Pauvre Rajput!”
They were Indians, who had come far over the sea to run their heads against the Hanover Fusiliers in this Godforsaken corner of the earth.
Their fine bodies were in evil plight. At that short range infantry fire has an almost explosive effect. Many had been hit for the second time when they had fallen, so that the track of the bullet passed along the whole length of their bodies. Not one had been hit less than twice. We took the wounded up and carried them to our trench. They cried out as if they were being stuck with spears, till the men had to stop their mouths and threaten them with their fists; and at this they seemed to be comforted in their anguish. One of them died while he was being carried in. He was taken on all the same, as there was a prize on the head of every prisoner, dead or alive. The two others strove to win our indulgence by shouting out all the time, “Anglais pas bon!” Why these people spoke French I have never quite made out.
The company had heard the sounds of fighting and had had a heavy barrage put down on them. They welcomed us back to the trench in jubilation and with astonishment at our booty. I retired to our cabin with Kius and half a dozen more whom he quickly enrolled, and was entertained in honour of the occasion with poached eggs.
Our achievement received the notice it deserved, and was mentioned in divisional orders with praise. With twenty men we had beaten back a detachment many times our number, though they had taken us in the rear and though our orders were to withdraw if attacked in force. Such successes can, of course, only be won by troops whose discipline and morale are of the first order. Of myself I could say with satisfaction that my command of the situation and my personal influence with my men had prepared a severe disappointment and an early grave for the officer who led the attack. We two had matched our wits in the same way as is customary in field exercises in training—except that we had not
