Mr. Standfast John Buchan (e book reading free txt) š
- Author: John Buchan
Book online Ā«Mr. Standfast John Buchan (e book reading free txt) šĀ». Author John Buchan
āItās no good blinking the facts,ā I told them. āI havenāt a thousand men, and what I have are at the end of their tether. If you put āem in these trenches theyāll go to sleep on their feet. When can the French take over?ā
I was told that it had been arranged for next morning, but that it had now been put off twenty-four hours. It was only a temporary measure, pending the arrival of British divisions from the north.
Archie looked grave. āThe Boche is pushinā up new troops in this sector. We got the news before I left squadron headquarters. It looks as if it would be a near thing, sir.ā
āIt wonāt be a near thing. Itās an absolute black certainty. My fellows canāt carry on as they are another day. Great God, theyāve had a fortnight in hell! Find me more men or we buckle up at the next push.ā My temper was coming very near its limits.
āWeāve raked the country with a small-tooth comb, sir,ā said one of the staff officers. āAnd weāve raised a scratch pack. Best part of two thousand. Good men, but most of them know nothing about infantry fighting. Weāve put them into platoons, and done our best to give them some kind of training. Thereās one thing may cheer you. Weāve plenty of machine-guns. Thereās a machine-gun school near by and we got all the men who were taking the course and all the plant.ā
I donāt suppose there was ever such a force put into the field before. It was a wilder medley than Moussyās camp-followers at First Ypres. There was every kind of detail in the shape of men returning from leave, representing most of the regiments in the army. There were the men from the machine-gun school. There were Corps troopsā āsappers and A.S.C., and a handful of Corps cavalry. Above all, there was a batch of American engineers, fathered by Blenkiron. I inspected them where they were drilling and liked the look of them. āForty-eight hours,ā I said to myself. āWith luck we may just pull it off.ā
Then I borrowed a bicycle and went back to the division. But before I left I had a word with Archie. āThis is one big game of bluff, and itās you fellows alone that enable us to play it. Tell your people that everything depends on them. They mustnāt stint the planes in this sector, for if the Boche once suspicions how little heās got before him the gameās up. Heās not a fool and he knows that this is the short road to Amiens, but he imagines weāre holding it in strength. If we keep up the fiction for another two days the thingās done. You say heās pushing up troops?ā
āYes, and heās sendinā forward his tanks.ā
āWell, thatāll take time. Heās slower now than a week ago and heās got a deuce of a country to march over. Thereās still an outside chance we may win through. You go home and tell the R.F.C. what Iāve told you.ā
He nodded. āBy the way, sir, Pienaarās with the squadron. He would like to come up and see you.ā
āArchie,ā I said solemnly, ābe a good chap and do me a favour. If I think Peterās anywhere near the line Iāll go off my head with worry. This is no place for a man with a bad leg. He should have been in England days ago. Canāt you get him offā āto Amiens, anyhow?ā
āWe scarcely like to. You see, weāre all desperately sorry for him, his fun gone and his career over and all that. He likes beinā with us and listeninā to our yarns. He has been up once or twice too. The Shark-Gladas. He swears itās a great make, and certainly he knows how to handle the little devil.ā
āThen for Heavenās sake donāt let him do it again. I look to you, Archie, remember. Promise.ā
āFunny thing, but heās always worryinā about you. He has a map on which he marks every day the changes in the position, and heād hobble a mile to pump any of our fellows who have been up your way.ā
That night under cover of darkness I drew back the division to the newly prepared lines. We got away easily, for the enemy was busy with his own affairs. I suspected a relief by fresh troops.
There was no time to lose, and I can tell you I toiled to get things straight before dawn. I would have liked to send my own fellows back to rest, but I couldnāt spare them yet. I wanted them to stiffen the fresh lot, for they were veterans. The new position was arranged on the same principles as the old front which had been broken on March 21st. There was our forward zone, consisting of an outpost line and redoubts, very cleverly sited, and a line of resistance. Well behind it were the trenches which formed the battle-zone. Both zones were heavily wired, and we had plenty of machine-guns; I wish I could say we had plenty of men who knew how to use them. The outposts were merely to give the alarm and fall back to the line of resistance which was to hold out to the last. In the forward zone I put the freshest of my own men, the units being brought up to something like strength by the details returning from leave that the Corps had commandeered. With them I put the American engineers, partly in the redoubts and partly in companies for counterattack. Blenkiron had reported that they could shoot like Danāl Boone, and were simply spoiling for a
Comments (0)