CHAPTER XVI
THE ADVANCE
The advance of the British troops under Sir Julian Byng, who was to winin this engagement the sobriquet of "Bingo" Byng, marked a departurefrom rules of warfare as it had been conducted up to date in thegreatest of all conflicts. Heretofore, heavy cannonading had alwayspreceded an advance in force. Heavy curtains of smoke from the greatguns had been flung over the enemy's lines to mask the movements of theattackers.
While this smoke curtain had protected, to some extent, the movementsof the assaulting party, it also had the effect of "tipping off" thefoe that an attack was about to be launched. Now the British wereabout to advance without the protection of the smoke screens.
But General Byng's army moved forward in the wake of even a moreformidable protection than smoke.
British "tanks," armored tractors, showed the way.
General Byng's attack covered the whole length of what had become knownas the redoubtable and supposedly impregnable "Hindenburg line," socalled because it had been established by that greatest of all Germanmilitary geniuses, Field Marshal von Hindenburg. From Drocourt, justto the northwest of Douai, the line stretched for forty miles in afairly straight line down through Vitryen-Artois, Villiers, Cagnocourtto Queant and Pronville, thence on to Boursies, Havrincourt, GourZeacourt, Epehy and St. Quentin.
The first, or upper section of this line--from Drocourt to Queant--wascalled the Wotan line. The lower section had become known as theSiegfried line. Both together formed the general scheme of theHindenburg front.
It was along this line, then, that the British struck on the morning ofNov. 20, 1917. The drive had for its chief objective the capture, orpossible isolation, of Cambrai, one of the most important positions inthis sector in German hands. Cambrai was a railroad center in thosedays, a terminus from which the German general staff supplied variouspoints of the long line with munitions, food and men, the latter whenrequired.
The capture of Cambrai, it was apparent, would mean the ultimate fallof St. Quentin and Lille, both points of strategic advantage.
General Byng ordered his third army forward shortly before daylight sothat when the moment came for the first blow his men would havedaylight with which to go about their work.
As has been said, there was no preliminary bombardment of the enemy'spositions sufficiently in advance to give the enemy time to prepare hisresisting measures. Instead of the uprooting barrage, British tankscleared the path for the infantry, and what few cavalry was used in theattack. Thus the enemy was given no warning.
The attack was a complete surprise--and a surprise attack in thisgreat war had been called well nigh impossible. Even the German airservice was fooled. As a result of its inability to anticipate GeneralByng's movements, the German fighting machine naturally lost some ofits efficiency.
As dawn broke, the British tanks bore down on the foe steadily andwithout the appearance of undue haste; in fact, the tanks could nothave made haste had such been General Byng's plan. Formidableinstruments of warfare that they are, they do not number speed amongtheir many accomplishments.
Hundreds of these tanks, bearing every resemblance to mythical monstersof a prehistoric day, crawled across the ground that separated theopposing armies. What must have been the surprise of the Germangeneral staff when the break of day showed these monsters so near?
Having had no warning of the impending attack, the enemy naturally wastaken at a disadvantage. The warning of the advance was flashed alongthe German first-line defenses the moment daylight disclosed thehundreds of tanks advancing to the fray. The second-line defenses weremade ready to withstand an attack should the first line be beaten back,and, although it was not within the comprehension of German leadersthat it could be possible, the third-line defenses also were made readyto repel the invaders.
Between the German first-line trenches and the British front at thispoint the distance was something under half a mile. Between thevarious German lines of defense, the distance was almost an even mile.As the British tanks advanced across the open ground, smashing downbarbed-wire entanglement and crawling in and out of shell craters asthough they did not exist, defenders sprang to their positions.Rapid-firers opened upon the British from every conceivable angle; butthe shells dropped harmlessly from the sides of the armored tanks. Thetanks just seemed to shake their heads and passed on.
Behind the tanks the infantry advanced slowly, flanked here and thereby squadrons of cavalry, the horses of which could hardly be held back,so anxious did they seem to get at the foe.
The British tanks spat fire from the rapid-fire guns that formed theirarmament. Streams of bullets flew into the German lines, dealing deathand destruction.
From the rear the great British guns dropped high explosive shells inthe German trenches.
The German first-line defenses, prepared with days of hard labor, andformed of deep ditches, of concrete and pure earth, offered nodifficulties to the British tanks. Straight up to these emplacementsthey crawled, shoved their noses into the walls, and uprooted them;then crawled calmly over the debris.
Into the gaps thus opened, the British infantry poured, whilecavalrymen jumped their horses across the gaps and fell upon the foewith sword and lance.
The Germans fought bravely, but they were so bewildered by thisinnovation in the art of warfare that their lines had lost theircohesion long before the tanks plowed into them, and they scattered asthe British "Tommies" dashed forward, after one withering volley, withthe cold steel of the bayonet.
Here and there small groups collected and offered desperate resistance,but their efforts to stem the tide of advancing British were in vain.
An hour after daylight first-line defenses of the entire Hindenburgline were in the hands of the British.
But General "Bingo" Byng was not content to rest on these laurels. Heordered his left wing--those of his troops who had advanced againstthe Wotan line--to advance farther, and also threw his center intothe conflict again. Troops opposed to the Siegfried line he held inreserve, that he might strike a blow in that sector of the field shouldhis main attack fail.
Again the British on left and center dashed to the attack. Again thetanks plowed over the uneven ground, and advanced against a secondapparently impregnable barrier. Flushed with victory, the British"Tommies" cheered to the echo, as they moved forward gaily.
Many a man fell with a song on his lips, as he stumbled across theshell craters that made walking so difficult, for the Germans fromtheir second-line defenses poured in a terrible fire, but the otherspressed on as though nothing had happened. There was no time to pauseand give succor to a wounded comrade, the command had been to advance.Besides, the Red Cross nurses and the ambulance drivers would be alongpresently to take care of those who could no longer take care ofthemselves. It was hard, many a man told himself, but he realized thatthe first duty was to drive back the foe.
Shell after shell struck the British tanks as they waddled across therough ground. One, suddenly, blew into a million pieces. An explosivehad struck a vital spot. For the most part, however, the shells fellfrom the armored sides like drops of water from a roof.
German troops lined the second-line defenses and poured a hail ofbullets into the advancing British. It was no use. The Britishrefused to be stopped.
Straight to the trenches the tanks led the way, and nosed into them.Down went emplacements that the Germans had spent days in makingsecure. The tanks rooted them up like a steam shovel. Men fled toright and left, and there, at command from their officers, paused longenough to pour volleys of rifle fire into the Britons, as they swarmedinto the trenches in the wake of the tanks.
From the second-line defenses the tanks led the way to the third line,where they met with the same success. This, however, took longer, andwhen the British found themselves in possession of these, with Cambrai,the immediate objective, less than four miles away. General Byngcalled a halt. He felt that his men had done enough for one day.There would
be a renewed attack on the morrow, but now he realized thatthe most important thing was to straighten out his lines, consolidatethem against a possible counter-assault, and work out his plan ofattack for the following day.
Therefore, the "Tommies" made themselves as comfortable as possible intheir newly won positions. Prisoners were hurried to the rear, andcaptured guns were swiftly swung into position to be used against theirerstwhile owners should they return to the fight.
In these positions the British third army spent the night.
Boy Allies with Haig in Flanders; Or, the Fighting Canadians of Vimy Ridge Page 16
