There was no time for the Frenchmen to reload
their rifles; besides they did not want to do so. They simply climbed
out of the trenches and met the Germans with the bayonet. The German
guns were still roaring to prevent the arrival of French reinforcements;
but the reinforcements came quickly, suffering heavily in coming.
The few Frenchmen still struggled sturdily with their enemies, who
outnumbered them three to one, and eventually the Germans who survived
the attack turned and bolted back to their trenches, with the Frenchmen,
seeing red, at their heels.
It was as furious a fifteen minutes as could be conceived. The No Man's
Land between the trenches was heaped with men tangled and twisted in
death or writhing with wounds which unmercifully let them live. Neither
side dared venture across to aid these sufferers, so they were left in
their agony.
But this one desperate charge did not end the day's work. The French
mortars thumped away incessantly, and showers of hand grenades were
exchanged. One more attack was made by the Germans in daylight, with a
like result. The ground was piled high in places with bodies. Then,
when night had fallen, yet another attack was made. One mighty mass of
Germans came charging over the narrow space. By sheer weight of numbers
they overwhelmed the French and took the trench for which they had paid
such a ghastly price.
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