When we, in our turn, penetrated into it, we found it strewn with dead bodies. What a struggle must have raged there during the last few days! There was not much undergrowth, which made it propitious for hand-to-hand fighting. The scene was re-enacted in my mind. The Bosches about to continue their defensive organisation, surprised by the attack of the rifle brigade—our dead bore this uniform. The furious onslaught with the sword. We had driven them back at the point of the bayonet and massacred them wholesale. In advancing, we came upon heaps of Germans. We had lost a great many men, too, but they had cleared the way for us. We were duly grateful to them and the men stepped carefully and reverently over their remains as they advanced in single file.
"Pore old chaps!" sighed Icard. "You're havin' a rest now and it's our turn to do the swottin'."
Evening was falling. We had not gone more than three hundred yards after leaving the wood, when we halted. We were warned to make the best of the position. A certain sector was allotted to us, and we were told that we must hold it all the next day. Hold it only? Guillaumin looked at me and pulled a face. What we wanted to do was to get on. The Big Push was what we were out for. He urged me to question the captain on the situation, as I was on such good terms with him. I refused. A little occurrence which had taken place that morning was still rankling in my mind. I had thought I might be permitted to ask our company commander whether the enemy was far off. Ribet had heard me all right, but had not deigned to answer. He had looked through me as if I did not exist, and then called his orderly. That meant—what? Simply that the captain intended to be familiar only when it suited him. I had been annoyed and offended. I should let him make the advances, next time!
The lieutenant seemed embarrassed by the task entrusted to him. As we were occupying the edge of a wood the temptation was great to make use of the resources at hand—the trees for instance. Henriot bustled about and had the saws got out; then asked me whether there was not some way of getting hold of some petard of melinite to put round the big trunks. He spoke too loudly. The poilus snorted when they heard him. Nobody felt inclined to undertake such a piece of work which would have lasted all night. And then, we were so certain to leave it all behind when we charged to-morrow.
Some time was lost in bandying words. We had been there for half an hour when the captain came up.
"Not begun yet?"
Henriot began to unfold his plan. Ribet cut him short, after the first words.
"You're quite off the mark! The edge of a wood! Do you imagine we're going to settle down at the edge of a wood—a line which is sure to be especially marked? You wouldn't have a man left. Take two or three hundred yards in front there. Exactly! And now dig me some good trenches!"
"Deep ones, sir?"
"That's your lookout. You must arrange that. Let your men do the best they can—and remember that you may be attacked any minute."