“You’ll see.”
And as a matter of fact we didn’t have long to wait.... A tornado of shells falls between the lines and our cantonment. This is immediately followed by another, then still another, all in a couple of minutes.
It is a barrage of “77’s,” effected by a battery which has taken us in its fire.
“I certainly think that something is going to happen.”
“Go and tell the section leaders to get their men together and to have them ready.”
I go into the night in search of the cantonment.
All the men are awake. The corporals and sergeants have foreseen the order and everyone is waiting.
The shells and the fire of our rifles and our machine guns is only one frightful uproar in which all noises are confounded.
As I return toward the officers badly aimed spent machine-gun bullets whistle in the trees above.
“All we can do is to wait. If they need us, they’ll call us.”