The Boy Allies at Verdun Part 18

CHAPTER XIII

THE FIGHT

The front of the farmhouse broke into a sheet of flame.

At almost the same moment, Captain Leroux on the floor below, and Chester in the bas.e.m.e.nt, gave the command to fire and the first line of approaching Germans seemed to crumple up.

But the men behind came on.

Again and again effective volleys were fired from the farmhouse; but despite their heavy losses and urged on by commands of their officers, the Germans pressed forward until they were at the very side of the house.

As they approached they fired volley after volley at the windows behind which the defenders stood calmly; and the French had not gone unscathed.

In the bas.e.m.e.nt, where Chester was in command, no German bullet had gone so far, but Hal had lost three men and Captain Leroux five. As quickly as these fell others took their places at the windows and continued to fire steadily into the German ranks.

Came a heavy battering at the front door. A force of Germans had reached this point in spite of the fire of the French and now were attempting to batter it down. Without exposing themselves too recklessly the French could not reach this party of Germans with rifle fire.

Captain Leroux quickly told off ten men to guard the entrance the moment the door should give beneath the kicks and blows of the enemy.

"Ten men should be as good as a hundred there," he explained. "Pick them off as they rush through. Aim carefully and make every shot count."

He turned back to the work of directing the fire from the windows.

The battering at the door continued. One of the defenders, thinking to dispose of a member of the enemy in such close proximity, stuck his head out and brought his rifle to bear upon the foe in the doorway; but before he could accomplish his object he fell back inside with a groan. A German bullet had done its work.

"No more of that!" ordered Captain Leroux, sharply. "I need every man I have. No need to expose yourselves uselessly."

After that no French head appeared above the window sill farther than was necessary to aim and fire.

In the bas.e.m.e.nt Chester and his men had had little to do so far. True, they had been able to pick off a German or two, but their position was such that they could be of little value at the moment. Their time was to come later.

On the top floor Hal, because of his position, was better able to command a view of the open field ahead than Captain Leroux in the room below. The fire of Hal's men, therefore, was more effective than of the French on the ground floor.

Below there was a crash as the door splintered beneath the battering tactics brought into play by the Germans who had gained the shelter of the house and were able to continue work without molestation. The ten Frenchmen told off by Captain Leroux to defend the entrance held their rifles ready, waiting for the first German head to appear in the opening.

But the door was of stout oak, and though it seemed on the point of giving under each succeeding blow, it still held. Hoa.r.s.e guttural cries from without indicated that the Germans were becoming impatient to get at the French within. Came an extra violent crash and the door suddenly gave way. Three Germans, who had been leaning against the door, caught off their balance, were precipitated headlong into the room. It was unfortunate--for them.

Before they could scramble to their feet, the French had placed them beyond all hopes of further fighting. Their days of war were over.

But other Germans poured into the door behind them and leaped forward over the prostrate forms of their comrades. Calmly, the ten French soldiers, far back against the wall and a little to one side, so as to be out of direct line of fire from the open doorway, fired into the surging ma.s.s of humanity. And their fire was deadly and effective. In almost less time than it takes to tell it the doorway was choked with German dead.

It was a gruesome sight and even the French soldiers, used as they were to such spectacles, shuddered inwardly. It seemed foolhardy for the enemy to seek entrance to the house through that blocked door. Even the Germans realized it and would have drawn back but for the fact that their officers, farther back, urged them on with cries and imprecations.

Again there was a concerted rush for the door.

The pile of prostrate German forms served as a shield for the defenders and behind this barrier of bodies the men took their posts and poured a withering fire into the ranks of the attackers. This deadly fire was more than the Germans could face, and in spite of the frantic efforts of their officers, they drew off.

"I didn't think they could make it," shouted Captain Leroux. "Good work, men!"

A cheer went up from the defenders. But the men knew the calibre of these German veterans and they realized that the attack had not been given up.

They knew that the Germans, with their superior numbers, would not desist and that eventually they must be overwhelmed.

"Two hours!" Captain Leroux had said.

Hardly a quarter of that time had flown and in it had been crowded desperate work that well would have been enough for the day. The men were tired, but they were not willing to admit it. Each had told himself that he would die at his post rather than surrender.

There came a lull in the fighting.

To the war-seasoned veterans of France this lull told a story of its own.

It presaged a new and more violent attempt on the part of the Germans to force the farmhouse. Captain Leroux knew it. So did Hal and Chester, and at their various stations they gave quick commands to their men.

Taking care not to expose himself too much, he gazed from the window. His action did not even bring a shot. This increased the lad's suspicions.

"Trying to draw us out," he muttered. "Want us to think they have given up the attempt. Never mind, Mr. German, you are not shrewd enough."

The defenders waited patiently; and presently the Germans again advanced to the attack, even as Hal and Chester had known they would.

Forward came the Teuton horde in a charge. From a distance of perhaps 500 yards, they dashed across the open at full speed, apparently bent upon overawing the defenders by the very appearance of such numbers.

But the French did not quail. The weight of numbers meant nothing to them. It was not the first time they had stood firmly against overwhelming odds, and there was not a man in the farmhouse who did not fully expect to survive the present battle and be ready to face overwhelming odds again. Each man knew well enough that before the fighting was over it was ten to one that there would be but a handful of the defenders left, but each man was confident he would be one of that number.

They poured a galling fire into the ranks of the Germans as they advanced to the charge.

The effect of this steady stream of rifle fire, accurate and deadly at such close range, was bound to tell. In spite of the urging of their officers, the Germans wavered. The lines behind the first surged forward, however, pushing the men in front closer to the deadly fire of the French. Those in front pushed back and for a moment there was wild confusion without.

In vain German officers rushed in among the troops, trying to rally them.

It was too late. The Germans had become demoralized. A moment and they broke and fled. It was every man for himself.

The French within the farmhouse raised a wild cheer and poured volley after volley into the fleeing Germans. Men tumbled right and left. The German losses in the retreat were greater even than they had been in the advance.

Hal, who had been working like a Trojan, wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead with his shirt sleeve--the work had become so hot that the lad had removed his coat, though it was still cold without--and spoke words of encouragement to his men.

"Good work, boys," he said quietly. "A few more like that and they will bother us no more."

Even as he spoke the lad knew that his words meant nothing. He knew the Germans would not give up until they had captured the farmhouse or had been driven back by the weight of superior numbers, and at that moment it did not appear that reinforcements would arrive.

The troops also knew that Hal's words meant nothing, but they cheered him anyhow. They realized that he had spoken as he did merely to encourage them; and they liked the spirit that inspired the words. They knew that Hal was fully competent of judging the hopelessness of the task ahead of them.

"The captain said to hold them two hours, sir," said one grizzled old veteran to Hal. "How long has it been now, sir?"

Hal glanced at his watch. "One hour exactly."

"Good!" exclaimed the French soldier. "One half of the work done and most of us are still here. We'll hold them!"

"Of course we'll hold them, Francois," exclaimed another. "Surely you didn't think we couldn't do it?"

"Well," was the reply. "It's a pretty big job and--"