I read on: "You are to advance on through Leuze Wood, and attack from that part of the wood which forms the fourth side of the square-shaped trench, thus attacking the inside of the square; B Company taking the lower half, and C Company the upper half; A Company to be in support."
A cold shiver ran down my back. What a calamity! and after all the pains I had taken to work out the details of the attack, and that dreadful night spent in digging these trenches to jump off from. Every man knew what to do, and now at the eleventh hour the whole plan was altered.
I glanced again at the new orders:
"You are to be at the new place of assembly by 3.30 P.M.; zero hour is 4.45."
I looked at my watch—Great Scott! it was already 2.15; at 3 P.M. I must commence the advance through the wood.
The men had not yet commenced their dinners. What time was there? and how was it possible to sit down quietly and digest those three pages of new orders and understand their meaning? What time had I to make new plans and explain to each man his new task?
There was not a moment to be lost; I turned to my two runners:
"Dinners to be eaten at once. Platoon commanders wanted at the double."
I waited, and by and by the platoon commanders, Second Lieutenant Farman and Chislehirst, and Sergeants Blackwell and Barnes, came running along the top, snipers shooting at them as they ran along. They halted on the parados, saluting as they came up, and, still standing up, awaited orders, seemingly indifferent to the excellent target which they presented.
"Lie down flat," I ordered.