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Excerpt 2 of Beyond Flanders Fields
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Excerpt 2 of Beyond Flanders Fields |
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Logan Senior Member
since 2001-05-28
Posts 1641Arkansas |
Inwardly, Jake winced as the bright light from the explosion of an incoming shell burst into the eyepiece of the observer scope that he was looking through. Briefly he could see the tangled barbwire and shell craters in the no-mans land laying in front of the trenches. He had been trying to pick a mental path through the obscene landscape toward the German lines. Although the word had not come down to his command post, he had the feeling that the morrow would bring another charge. “My God,” he thought. “How many more of these and how many will fall this time?” He shook his head at the futility of charging, retreating and ending back up in these same miserable muddy trenches. Always with a few men less and hearing the sounds of the wounded still in the field. “Not this time,” he muttered to himself. “We’re going to go all the way. I’m not going to bring these battered boys back to this hellhole. If we are going to go, then we all will go, instead of being reduced one by one. Top,” he shouted as he leaned back from the scope. “Meet me in bunker and bring the platoon leaders with you. Ten minutes.” “Yessir.” came the booming reply. “Ten minutes.” Jake leaned against the trench wall and lit a cigarette. He looked with disgust at his hand that was shaking the fire of the lighter. “I’ve got to pull myself together. I can’t let the boys see me like this. It’s hard enough on them as it is without thinking that the “old man” can’t hack it. As he slowly blew smoke out his mouth, he rubbed the barely healed wound in his left side. “Itching, so it must be getting better. Better not push it too hard on that side, though.” he mused. Straightening up his shoulders, he strode toward the command bunker, reaching out and giving a pat here and a word there to his men. Brief smiles and replies came from the men designated as they watched their confident looking leader weave through them. “Look at the ‘old man’.” one of the privates whispered to his buddy. “Looks like he could charge hell with a bucket of water.” “Well, if they are going to have a confab, it looks to me that we all are going to be drawing buckets for tomorrow. But if that old man is going to be leading us, I speck’ hell better watch out, because it’s due for a good dousing.” When Jake pushed aside the blanket that was serving as a door to the bunker, the first thing he saw was a headquarters runner standing beside his Top Sergeant. “Well, this is what I thought it would be. The word from high.” Returning the runner’s salute with a wave of his swagger stick, he commanded, “At ease. What’s the word, Corporal?” “Orders, Sir.” the runner answered, while handing Jake a dispatch case. “Thank you, Corporal. Top, see that somebody takes care of this man, please.” “Yessir. The platoon leaders are coming now, Sir.” “Thank you, Top. Please come back after I talk with the officers.” “Yessir. Come on Corporal.” Both men saluted Jake and left the bunker as the platoon leaders were filing in. “Have a seat and don’t mess up the mud, Gentlemen. Let me read this real quick, as it’s going to be confirmation of what I was going to talk with you about.” With that smiling remark, Jake sat down in his camp chair, opened the dispatch case and begun reading. Jake didn’t let his face show any emotion as he scanned the orders that he had received. With a slight sigh inside, he laid the papers to one side and addressed the gathered officers. “We are the spearhead of the attack, gentlemen. Again!” he said. “Look’s like they know who’s the best in this man’s army. The young officers just shook their heads, with some showing a weak grin on their faces. One of the new 2nd Lieutenants raised his hand. “Sir, will we expect gas?” Jake looked down at the young man for a minute before speaking. “Lord,” he thought, “that boy doesn’t look sixteen years old. How many replacements have we gone through?” Gently he replied, “Bob, this one will be your first action, won’t it?” “Yes Sir, but I’m ready for it, Captain. You can count on my men.” “At least he wants to give recognition to his men, and not some false bravado on his part,” Jake thought. “Bob, just listen close to what I will be saying. You have some real good NCO’s in your platoon. They will be a lot of help to you, if you will listen to their suggestions, but remember that all final decisions have to be yours. Now to answer your question, yes, we can expect gas, artillery barrages and heavy machine gun fire. Not counting snipers and individual riflemen. Don’t be of the impression that the German individual soldier is no good. They are very good at what they do. Their only drawback is the total reliance of their officer’s commands. Concentrate on knocking off their officers and non-commission officers and we can roll over them. Now, let’s get to the business at hand. I’ve been expecting these orders and believe that I see a line of attack that has not been completely covered by enemy fire. The corridor will be narrow, so we will attack with two platoons staggered. Look at this map and let’s get all of our positions co-ordinated.” With the officers complete attention, Jake laid his map out on the table, as well as the aerial photographs taken of the German trenches. “Now, I will go with the lead platoon. Bob, your platoon will be slightly staggered below and to my right side. Top Sergeant will be with your platoon. We will leap-frog our advance, so that each platoon can give covering fire to the advancing platoon. Charlie, your platoon will be in reserve. You know what you will need to do, depending on the situation. Just stay fluid and be ready to jump where needed. Ned, I want the heavy weapons to give as much covering fire along these lines as you can give me. Stagger the guns so that any malfunctions will not cripple the effect of the fire. Tops managed to do some midnight reacquisitions, so we have plenty of ammunition and extra BARs.” Jake paused at the chuckles coming from the officers. “Top Sergeant is worth half the army by himself,” Ned Price laughed. “Okay, now. We all know the worth of Tops. Let’s wrap this up so you can brief your sergeants and check your men. The two lead platoons will take the BARs with them and plenty of clips. Detail extra men to carry some of the clips so the BAR men aren’t completely weighted down. Gentleman, those new Browning Automatic Rifles can make all the difference to us on whether we keep going or bog down, as has happened in the past. Now hear me good. I don’t plan to stop. I plan on going over the top of those enemy lines. When I look back, you had better be with me. We have attacked, retreated and lost men. We know that we will take some casualties, but if we keep moving fast before they can readjust their fire zones, we should make it. Our line of attack will be along this low defilay. I have been watching this for the last few days and I don’t think that it is covered properly. It doesn’t look like their machine guns will depress that much. Our artillery should keep their riflemen’s heads down. If we move fast enough to keep ahead of their laid fire, we can do it. Look in particular at this photograph of their trenches. That fishhook bend looks like a command post. This is where we will bend our attack and storm the trenches. Any questions? Now’s the time, not when the bullets start flying.” Jake looked each man in the eye for any indication of indecision. Satisfied on their returned gaze, he dismissed them to their men. After the last officer had exited the bunker, Jake slumped down in his camp chair. Gathering his thoughts, he didn’t hear Bill come in the bunker until the Top Sergeant cleared his throat. “Jake, are you okay?” Concern was evident in Bill’s voice. “Just tired, Bill. Damn, those boys get younger every time I look at them. If Bob was a private, I’d know he had lied about his age when he enlisted. But knowing that he graduated from West Point, I know how old he has to be. I want you to go with his platoon when we jump off. I’m not planning on stopping this time, Bill. I’m not going to go over that same ground another time after tomorrow, one way or the other. We are going all the way if we lose the whole company. Hell, we are losing them anyway in these ridiculous charges. This time we are going for glory or going for hell. Now, look where we are.” Jake stood back up and turned the map and photograph toward Bill. Together the two experienced men weighed every facet of the coming operation. “Looks good, Jake. I think you are right. Just plain hi-diddle-diddle, right up the middle, bend and then don’t stop. It looks to me that the krauts missed that little fold for some reason, so we might as well take advantage of the situation. It sure is better than the last place they put us. The only thing that I think you need to change is that I should be with the lead platoon and you should stay with the reserve platoon.” “Sergeant Anderson. When I want your advice on how to place the officers in this company, I will kindly solicit it from you. Until that day comes, you will kindly reserve your opinions to yourself. Do I make myself clear enough on the matter before I reach into my haversack to offer you a small token of my immense esteem for you?” Bill popped to a rigid attention and saluted. “Yessir, Captain, sir. There is no way that I would impose my judgment against the experienced Captain of this fine company, even though he is still recovering from a grievous wound that has curtailed his cigarette smoking due to a cough that can be heard to Berlin. I always enjoy going into action with gimpy old men, Sir.” Smothering his laugh to keep from coughing, Jake waved Bill to the other chair. Pulling the bottle from the haversack, he poured a portion into the canteen cups that Bill was holding out. Sitting down himself, he silently saluted his friend and comrade. In the background, they could hear the troops readying their equipment for the morrow whistle. Tossing their drinks down, they both stood and left the bunker to oversee their respected charges Dawn came all too soon amide the frantic last minute preparations. All was sorted out by some seemingly miracle with all the troops in place awaiting the word. Artillery started it’s barrage on the enemy lines, throwing up massive clouds of dirt and debris. Jake looked at his watch, timing the minutes to jumpoff. Looking down the line, he saw Bill looking his way. Touching his helmet with his swagger stick, he nodded. He looked back and forth at his troops awaiting his signal. Some were praying, some were pale, but all were anxious to get moving to whatever awaited them. Bayonets gleamed from the muzzles of the rifles, awaiting the hand-to-hand combat that would follow the charge. Watching the sweep hand starting the final countdown, Jake raised his arm. Whistle between his teeth, swagger stick in his left hand, he looked at the final seconds. Blowing the whistle in sharp bursts as the time ran out, he leapt the crest of the trench and started into no-man’s land. |
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| © Copyright 2001 Logan - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
Thank you for such quick service  I have to do somethings....I will be back when I can give this my undivided attention. |
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Logan Senior Member
since 2001-05-28
Posts 1641Arkansas |
You are welcome, anything to be accommodating, you know...very gentle smile |
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Dusk Treader
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-06-18
Posts 1187St. Paul, MN |
Wow, excellent scene you've prepared, it feels like you're bringing us there.. I can't wait to find out how the charge works out! "A hard, cold wisom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil" - Robert Heinlein |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
“Look at the ‘old man’.” one of the privates whispered to his buddy. “Looks like he could charge hell with a bucket of water.” ============================================ Now theres a classic line... very cool Logan. I will be honest with you for I know you would only ever want that...(besides you read minds anyway) I personally dont care for "war stories" they make me feel depressed and hopeless that mankind will ever find another way to settle matters(if that makes sense to anyone but me) and please understand that statement in no way lessens the respect I have for those who have fought for their country... both my grandfathers were decorated veterans. But you write this so vividly that you hold my interest completly and so I will wait patiently for the continued story.  until then...I'll throw another stick on the fire and scratch Morgans ears |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
What JM said...plus a little more... I saw the smirk of smile on the faces of Bill and Jake in their exchange long before you made it evident, so it is as you wound the story, well written that we were but a splat of mud on the tent walls, observing, listening, engaged... Continue on, please, the fire is warm... |
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Enchantress Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113Canada eh. |
Reads like a movie script! Great imagery! That is a compliment...back in a bit for the next one... |
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