»
Main Forums
»
Passions in Prose
»
Excerpt 4 of Beyond Flanders Field
| Passions in Prose |
|
Excerpt 4 of Beyond Flanders Field |
|
|
Logan Senior Member
since 2001-05-28
Posts 1641Arkansas |
Jake never looked back as he cleared the top of the trench. He knew his men were following his lead. All along the front, the other officers of the division were taking the same action as he. It was a massive offensive to drive the Germans from the Marne. American and French divisions lead the spearhead with massive support on the flanks. Jake’s battle plan worked the way that he had hoped. Leapfrogging the platoons, they charged the German trenches at the proper point with light casualties. Jake was the first over the edge of the German trench, followed by the lead elements of the first platoon. Bitter hand-to-hand fighting broke out. Emptying his pistol at the occupants of the command post, he quickly inserted another clip in the automatic, with heart pounding from the dash, the fear and the high adrendaline of battle itself.. All around were screaming men, as rifles roared and bayonets thrust. It was a scene which Dante would have approved. As the Germans retreated from their trenches, grenades followed from the American soldiers. Suddenly, all was quiet, except for the moans of the wounded, American and German alike. The men still on their feet, looked lost after the din of battle. Jake, with blood running down his face from a piece of shrapnel, blew his whistle one sharp blast for attention. “Man the trenches. We may have a counter-attack. Medics, see to the wounded, ours first. Reform with your squads. Move it, Move it!!” Jake looked around, making sure that his orders were being followed. “Top Sergeant!” he called. “Yessir,” came the welcome answer. Hiding his relief that Bill had come through the action unhurt, Jake ordered, “Detail some men, walking wounded, if possible, to take the prisoners back to the rear area.” pointing toward several groups of Germans who had surrendered. “Get me a count on the troops and send the messenger pigeon carrier to me.” Seeing there was a lull, Jake hastily scribbled a note with the co-ordinates of his position. Giving it to the pigeon carrier to affix to one of the messenger pigeons, he entered the command post to see if there was any enemy information available to them. During the rest of the morning, the German troops launched two counter-attacks on their former positions. Each time the Americans drove them back, without sustaining any serious casualties. The Germans gave up the endeavor after their casualties rapidly mounted. Jake and his men were in firm control of the ground that they had conquered. Jake passed the word for the troops, with the exception of lookouts, to rest and see to their equipment. He knew they would be receiving orders to continue the advance very shortly. Looking over the maps with Bill, Jake saw Bob Burson, the young 2nd Lieutenant, reaching out to grab an German officer’s spiked helmet. He opened his mouth to call a warning only to be knocked flat by an explosion. The helmet had been booby-trapped with a hand grenade. Bill pulled him to his feet whereby the two men ran over to where the boy had been standing. Bob was still conscious, but they knew that there was nothing that could be done for him. The grenade had spent most of it’s force in his chest and stomach area. As Jake knelt down and cradled his head, Bob looked at him. With blood choking him, he whispered, “Sorry Sir, I didn’t mean to let you down.” After those final words, he fell back with his young life extinguished. Gently, Jake reached over and pulled the boy’s eyelids down. Brushing the hair back from his face, he whispered back. “You didn’t let me down, son, this stinking war let you down.” Rising to his feet, he turned to Bill. “Have them treat him gently, Bill, have them treat him gently.” and turned away. “Yessir, Captain.” Bill choked out. He had never seen such a forlorn look on any man’s face in his life. “We’ll treat him right.” Jake never answered, just waved an arm as he walked down the trench. As he approached a squad that was resting, he straightened his shoulders and smiled at them. “Good going, men. Get some rest now, we will be jumping off pretty soon now.” The men answered cheerfully, seeing only the confident leader concerned about their welfare, not the bitter anguish hidden in his eyes. After receiving the word from Division Headquarters, Jake called an officers meeting in the former German command post. |
||
| © Copyright 2001 Logan - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
quote: Yes, it was. All wars are. Well done Sir...I await the next segment... |
||
|
Enchantress Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113Canada eh. |
Oh so very well told Logan. 'War is hell' and you tell it like it is. Well done. I await the next installment. |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||
