Night was falling fast over the Australasian lines. The darkness was welcome, for it brought a certain rest and coolness to the thousands of sun-baked and weary men. For two days they had slaved like navvies--digging, sand-bagging, reorganising trenches, improving communications, and bringing up supplies, Maxims, and ammunition. It was not the usual thing. Indeed, it was most unusual. Only the Staff knew why, for this war has taught us that we must not advertise our coming events. Of course the Tommies groused. They always do. It is the privilege of the soldier. And Bill Buster was not behind in this land of moaning.
"Thinks I"m an old mule. Me feet"s skinned, me back"s skinned, me heart"s skinned carryin" them blessed boxes of crackers. Oh, why did I leave me little happy home?" he exclaimed, wiping the sweat off his sunburnt brow.
"Had to--ye frizzly-faced bushwhacker," said Paddy.
"All this means that there"s something doing," remarked Claud, cleaning his monocle with a piece of rag.
"Ay, there"s gaun tae be an attack. Say yer prayers the nicht, boys,"
added Sandy.
"Thank G.o.d!" uttered Claud. "I"m sick of inaction. I don"t mind death; but it"s a beastly bore waiting to be killed. One can"t quite regulate supplies. Now, if to-morrow was the day for our dispatch, we might have a beano out of our spare biscuits and Woodbines to-night."
"It ain"t all beer and skittles, as you say," Bill said. "Next war I"m goin" to be a general or a Navy bloke. Them"s the safe jobs. These ole Turks have a spite at me. Think I"m a sort o" runnin" man."
"Let them come!" Paddy exclaimed. "We"d bate the life out of thim.
Teach thim manners, the dirty blaggards!"
"Don"t be too c.o.c.ky about that. We"re only hanging on the edge of this cliff by the skin of our teeth. The German Staff say they"ll push us into the sea, and you bet they"ll have a good try."
"It"s a soft snap, if they come. They can"t beat us," interjected Bill, who had all the self-a.s.surance of the Australian born.
"That"s where our boys always err," answered Claud. "They underestimate the power of the enemy. That isn"t the thing in war.
It"s all very well to be confident, but it"s equally important to be prepared to the last cartridge and bomb. Pluck"s a very good thing, but pluck without brains is as useless as an engine without coal. If these Turks make a big show, they"ll give us a run for our money. Now I"m going to sleep."
Claud wrapped himself in his coat for a snooze. The others followed suit, little dreaming what the dawn would bring. While they slept, secure in their innocence of things, the General and Chief of Staff sat keen and anxious in their dug-outs; for the dawn was the time stated for the attack. Everything was prepared; still, they had all that mental worry which only an officer knows. They smoked and talked--and talked. While they pa.s.sed these anxious hours their subordinate commanders were quietly filling up the reserve trenches with supporting troops. The gunners, too, were busy checking ranges and noting down the approximate position of the magazines and other stores as supplied by the map of Tony Brown. The doctors were also alive. They were clearing out the field hospitals preparatory to the gruesome slaughter ahead. Out at sea a flotilla of gunboats and destroyers had quietly arrived and were circling round, waiting for the coming fray.
Everything had been thought of; everything was ready.
"It"s getting light, sir," said the chief, looking out of his dug-out about 3.30 A.M.
"Very well; "phone the brigadiers. Tell them to be prepared for the bombardment in accordance with our pow-wow of yesterday."
"Very good, sir." The "phone transmitted the order and the chief sat down again.
Boom! echoed a gun in the Turkish line. A sh.e.l.l crashed right over the General"s dug-out. Tony Brown"s information was right. The battle had commenced. A sense of relief spread over the General"s face. His suspense was at an end.
Boom! Boom! Boom! went the other guns. More sh.e.l.ls, more splinters, and here and there the moan of a dying or wounded man. But this was only the preliminary business. In ten minutes every Turkish gun, from the giant howitzers to the more simple field pieces, were pounding shrapnel, common sh.e.l.l, and high explosives into the Australasian lines. There was no excitement; the men were used to the game. They crouched in holes or hard against the stony sides of the trenches.
Still, the noise was deafening, and the gunners" aim was often good.
Sh.e.l.ls burst on the parapets and destroyed them, frequently killing or burying the men behind. Others burst above and sent their b.a.l.l.s of death into the heads or backs of the crouching men. High explosives crashed with an unnerving boom in and around the trenches, pounding, killing, and maiming. Maxims rattled out a hail of lead, rifles squirted bullets into every corner where a living soul was likely to be found. There was no romance in this sort of business. It was butchery, blood, anguish, and death. h.e.l.l is the only word that fits such a bombardment. Those who read such things sit at home in tears and terror. Yet the men who live through them sit calm, even cool, and often in smiles.
"Bit hot," said Claud, looking at his hat, which had been pierced by a shrapnel bullet.
Bill e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed something unprintable and dropped a hot piece of sh.e.l.l he had intended to collar as a curio.
"I weesht I had a hauf o" whisky; this is a dry job," said Sandy, as he cuddled closer against the side of the trench.
"May ould Allah have mercy on yis when I get yis wid me can-opener!"
muttered Paddy as he fingered his bayonet.
Boom! Boom! Boom! crashed three more shrapnels above them, scattering lead and iron in all directions. Old keys, bra.s.s fittings, nails, iron k.n.o.bs and other things tumbled in, too.
"Queer shrapnel--eh?" said Claud, picking up one of these curios--and a sign that the Turks were surely scarce of the real stuff.
"Don"t mind bullets," growled Bill; "but I objects to them chuckin" an ironmonger"s shop at my ole head. It ain"t nice----"
Boom! Boom! came two more.
"A miss!" said Sandy, signalling a "wash-out" with a shovel.
Boom! crashed another almost overhead. It was a narrow shave. Sandy, with that caution of his clan, resigned the post of marker. The G.o.ds were favouring this genial quartette, but in many parts of the line men lay dead, dying, and maimed. They bore their wounds with a wonderful patience, and few complained. Comrades ripped out their field dressings and staunched the blood. Doctors, regardless of whizzing sh.e.l.ls and bullets, crept from patient to patient. Stretcher-bearers manfully did their job. Over sh.e.l.l-swept zones they carried and pulled the wounded to succour and safety. Despite the danger, men even found time to note and praise the deeds of these Red Cross heroes. The name of the R.A.M.C. ought to be printed in letters of gold on the dome of St. Paul"s. It is one reminiscent of heroism, faith, hope, and charity.
Now, during all this gun and rifle firing not a reply was sent. The Staff allowed the Turks to expend their sh.e.l.ls and bullets. That is always good business in war. It adds to the enemy"s problem of supply.
This bombardment lasted for two hours. No doubt the Turks were well pleased. But immediately they ceased their fire there was a universal Boom! from the Australian lines. Battleships, cruisers, torpedo boats, howitzer batteries, field batteries, and Maxim guns sent back salvo after salvo of a deafening and devilish kind.
The unerring aim of our gunners paralysed, for a time, the initiative of the Turkish Staff. This tremendous reply was unexpected. And the British sh.e.l.ls burst in their magazines, their supply depots, their headquarters dug-outs in a startling way. Never was gunnery so deadly.
Never was slaughter so sure. Regiments waiting _en ma.s.se_ for the a.s.sault were torn and butchered. Trenches were burst and destroyed.
It was death, desolation, and disaster of an unexpected and amazing kind. Such is the value of information in war. A good Intelligence Officer is equal to a complete division of all arms.
Yet this bombardment did not deter the Turkish a.s.sault. It had been arranged; it had to go on. When the British bombardment ceased, they leaped boldly from their trenches and came on _en ma.s.se_. A strange silence now pervaded the Australasian lines. Not a shot was heard. It was the calm before the storm. They allowed the Turks to advance. On they came, great, dark, strong-looking men. They shouted "Allah!"
"Allah!" as they ran. This cry for "Allah" was a bad sign. The Turks expected "Allah" to do what they felt they had not the confidence to do themselves. Still, the German task-masters had given them a certain a.s.surance by sending them forward elbow to elbow, line upon line.
In brief, this attack was meant as an overwhelming flood of bayonets upon the Australasians" lines. The Turkish Staff argued that, after all, these troops were only volunteers; they could not withstand a violent offensive movement. But they did; they even surprised their General and the Staff. And the ability to wait for a signal to shoot was in itself a sign of perfect control, excellent fire discipline.
The Turks were now close to the barbed wire entanglements. This was the moment desired. A whistle sounded in the lines.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Z-r-r-p! went thousands of rifles and dozens of machine-guns. Gad! How these Turks withered and fell. It was brutal, yet it was inspiring. Shrieks, curses, and groans were mixed with pitiful cries for "Allah!" "Allah!"
Bravely these Turkish soldiers died, and bravely the more fortunate came on. They tore through the barbed wire with a fiendish frenzy and leaped down on to parts of their enemy"s lines. With that mad ferocity which only a Moslem fanatic can display, they plugged their bayonets into the first opposing man. Cold steel is hard to face. Few armies can face it. Only Russians, Britishers, and j.a.ps are good at the game.
And these sons of John Bull stood up to the test with a magnificent courage. They plunged, thrust, hacked, b.u.t.ted, cursed, and fumed in this awful combat. Civilisation had gone. Primitive l.u.s.ts were triumphant. Blood flowed in streams, men fought with gaping wounds, dying men fell crying to Allah or to G.o.d according to their race and creed. There was no time to moralise on the h.e.l.lish side of modern war. There was only time to fight or die.
And in this awful combat The Kangaroos had a terrible time. Their redoubt was invaded. Yet they did not yield. One great Turk charged down on Claud. Sandy parried the thrust, the Turk recovered and thrust again straight into poor Sandy"s heart. He gasped, and fell lifeless at Bill"s feet.
With maddened fury Bill crashed his b.u.t.t down on the foeman"s skull.
Another Turk almost pinned Colonel Killem, but Paddy dashed forward, struck up the bayonet, and killed the man with a blow.
"Thanks, Doolan, thanks!" shouted the Colonel as he turned to deal with another man. This gallant defence, combined with the deadly musketry on the less exposed parts of the line, completely smashed the first Turkish attack. The enemy withered away, their survivors and wounded creeping back into the shelter of their trenches.
"Don"t fire, men! Don"t fire at those poor devils," shouted the officers as they watched them limp away.
This was chivalry, and chivalry can always be found in a British heart.
"Thank G.o.d for a breath," said Claud, leaning wearily against the parapet. But the attack was not finished. The Turkish reserves were swarming up the gullies and through the communicating lines. Lyddite, shrapnel, and Maxims tore great gaps in their ranks. Yet on they came.
One regiment deployed from the top of a gully and made the charge.
"Rapid fire!" roared Killem. A terrific fusillade burst forth. The Turks fell in heaps, moaning, shrieking, and yelling. The sight was sickening. Heaps of dead and dying all around. But _again_ the Turkish host came on. Two great columns of men burst out in front of the New Zealanders and The Kangaroos.
This was really the most critical moment of the day. Here entered the Drill Book maxim: "An attack should be met with a counter-attack." For this was to be the last and desperate throw of the Turkish Staff. If it broke the Australasian lines, the enemy would realise their boast of pushing them into the sea. The New Zealanders and Kangaroos appreciated the danger to the full. And so the command rang out: "Prepare to charge!" Every man placed his foot for the jump.
"Charge!"