Show 7 aby BY G generald GENERAL L 7 R ARED ABED WHITE IDD W 14 RI installment TEN STOUT STORY SO FAR intelligence he be THE had acted as a spy and gained earned una tim officer nenn bennings ings naming that confidence of fincke fencke and bravot drill brill commander of the army la in texas 1 foreign troops were poised in mexico enemy officers suddenly two reported to 10 general at washing four for or an attack on the united states southern cities were attacked from large larce the too ton that he was opposed by beatly greatly superior caused trave grave concern in army headquarters air washington was bombed forces but was ordered to resist but tte the people branded the president killed national forces and the at all costs general mole division commander statement as war mongering he had ordered mobilized hut but were prepared to make the bust of a they were lu pit fast returned from rom mexico city where equipped for immediate action desperate situation general now continue with the story V 41 A it M M CHAPTER X continued As the commanders scattered to ward their station wagons and mili tary sedans the bright sky festered into a hideous hiss of sound it II came crashing in out of the distance the ear could trace its course as it settled toward the earth an instants silence and the ground 1 tiem trembled bled under the impact of high e explosive I 1 sive A geyser of muddy brown earth shot skyward the air filled with the mighty detonation the departing commanders gave an anxious look at the spout of dirt but changed neither gait nor posture general mole calmly touched a a match to the stub of his cigar and gave several vindictive puffs d well theres the first shot he muttered sounded to me like a g long range baby probably from twenty or thirty miles an observation plane radioed in the information van hassels Has heavy artillery had set up north of the nueces nieces mole offered no com ament lm merit ent there was nothing he could do about it until the enemy came within range of his howitzers howit his own millimeter cannons good for or fifteen miles had yet to be molded mounted tested and delivered to the army As for his airplanes there was no taking further risks over van V hassels Has moving columns it matter that the air service had sent tin in the crack combat groups from all three of its powerful wings nor that american pilots and gunners had proved themselves this morning ahad much more than a match for the i van hassek airmen s the american squadrons h had ad paid a heavy price for their swoops f against van hassels Has invaders into atone one antiaircraft anti aircraft trap after another the americans had fallen the first big shell fell in an empty field afield well back from the seconds front lines A second shot followed quickly and the business of long r range cannonading canno settled down into glum racking routine from a range of approximately twenty two miles observation reported the van hassek columns were still rolling ing forward in a great tortuous martial serpent whose tail reached far back across the rio grande into mexico T the ten thousand men of the division worked feverishly through the hot afternoon deepening and extend y ing their trenches adjusting gun po sitione sit ions they pretended indifference to the roar of van hassels Has artil flery to the frequent spurting foun bains of earth that rose hideously cabout about them in mid afternoon one shell caught a full squad of men who in a flash were shreds of flesh f A stark reminder of what was to come but the men who saw this tragedy went stubbornly on with their work t j out of the distance came the run rum l it ble of light american artillery t the firing came from the frio riv er which meant that major randt I 1 commanding was potting at the head bead of the main attack force the sound bound of van hassels Has counter bat tery assault wafted wafred in fifteen minutes later it rose in volume the artillery duel went on growing in violence which told the whole second division that the intrepid randt was forcing the van hassek advance guard to extend itself firing broke out to the north and south on the extreme flanks at the division command post mole and his y staff waited on these actions with tense nerves three was near if van hassels Has invaders could be delayed much longer they would not be able to deliver their attack in force against the second y before daybreak general mole and his staff made an estimate of the situation moles i jaded face brightened in a moments exultation as his staff unanimously agreed with his own deduction the van hassek commanders would not be able to attack now until morn ing their advanced divisions had not even started into assembly areas for w battle deployment that means weve delayed them one day without a fight mole exclaimed it gives us a real chance of getting through tomorrow without getting blown out of our shoes k after that we will see what we will see but what a hell of a pounding were in for tonight without any antiaircraft anti aircraft and long range artil beryll when the hot texas sun slipped down to the horizon through the haze in the west a furious roar of motors swept the second division the flight fight of edemy enemy attack planes flying an altitude of less than five hundred feet struck with the sharp bite of forked lightning over the ath Infant rys sector the attack planes appeared close enough to be hit with a hand grenade men gaped after the apparition or ducked into their holes in the ground against the menace of fragmentation bombs but there came no explosion the enemy had not opened UP with their machine guns gaev the warning outcry rose in volume from two thousand throats terror froze on mens faces officers W K jf f barked orders noncoms raged at their men stay put discipline slowly but surely prevailed over the hot impulse of self preservation men dove into their trenches to bury their faces in the earth or ripped off their cotton shirts and wound them doused with water about their faces gas and not a gas mask in the entire regiment only ninety in the whole division and those for demonstration purposes in training tests what type of gas had the van hassek barbarians put down obviously not a mustard or persistent gas the van hassek infantry would not want the sector contaminated in in the morning when they launched their attack to blast the americans out of position A noncom caught the answer as his eyes burned into tears tear gas he shouted the sector commander cursed again and trotted off to the left imparting a show of deliberation to his gait gas officers were making their calculations of what appeared a new gas scores of men afflicted with a and burns that might extend over several days would have to be evacuated to the hospital at san antonio for treatment overhead the american aviation was redoubling its efforts the pursuit squadron was hawking ov over er the sector the pursuit squadron was patrolling to the front that audacious attack flight of van has had used its heels to get away Z t 61 t V I 1 moles aleles jaded face brightened i intact the american pilots were sharply alert against a second such surprise reinforcements flew up from kelly field overhead the american aviation was redoubling its efforts pursuit and observation squadrons had flo flown in from louisiana and virginia other planes were en route from california at the division command post general mole and his staff grimly watched the fading light of day there was a tightening of tension throughout the sectors as dusk slowly engulfed them and deepened into night long range artillery pounded away laconically tearing great craters in the seconds artillery area and hitting near the divisions main line of resistance and back in the bivouacs of the reserves this told mole that enemy observation planes had photographed his positions in detail and confirmed the hint of what must be expected during the night evident it was as the enemy purpose unfolded itself that van hassek did not mean to brook delay with the preponderance of force held by his main laredo column he had no need to wait for that matter it hardly made sense within the van hassek line of military reasoning that the second division would commit the brash audacity of a serious fight in front of san antonio withdrawal would be only the logical course for the americans and van hassek had no reason to expect adyth anything ing more than a few holding battalions at daybreak resistance that would roll up in a hurry and scatter before his massed assault waves bombers flying in altitude between eight thousand and ten thousand feet the warning came in from an observation plane a few minutes after nine it merely confirmed moles fears fast on the heels of the warning came the devastating roar of a heavy bomb the earth churned uner the roar of successive sive explosions A squadron of nine bombers air service reported using an estimated three hundred pound bomb which would have a NEXT WEEK fragmentation and shock effect eff act A second enemy squadron was reported flying in the warning buzzed out over the field wire to the sectors men were to take cover as best they could more long range artillery opened up night became another volcanic bedlam the seconds position a raging inferno that drove men huddling into their holes to claw frantically under a maddening impulse to dig their way down down out of it all attack nights flights roared over released fragmentation bombs attached to parachutes small bombs that exploded on coming to earth it confirmed moles theory that van hassek expected an american withdrawal this enemy blow fell at exactly the hour the second would be pulling out if such had been its intention in the infantry sector a bomb estimated a six hundred fell in rear of a company position with a devastating force that reduced seventeen men to speechless trembling impotence though no man was wounded later they were reported slowly recovering their wits from the shock and were not evacuated van hassels Has planes were operating without lights american pursuit ut hawks buzzed about but were ineffective in the darkness van has fury rose and fell intermittently tent y then slowly dwindled away into a mere barking of some long range artillery that was pounding the roads into san antonio the clash of musketry far out in front brought an anticlimax to the crimson hurricane van hassek patrols were pressing the american outposts seeking information of an american withdrawal that had not occurred half a dozen van hassek riflemen were gobbled up by the ath infantry outpost and shunted back for question over the field wire moles staff checked casualties at eleven the bombardment had killed only 71 men wounded another 80 were numbed by shock three had been stripped of their wits and sent back in driveling draveling dri madness for evacuation mole nodded his head approvingly at this small toll it did not surprise him that he had lost so few men to the van hassek strafing this was not moles first battle in france he had learned how frugal can be the nights harvest of artillery and bombardment ive been talking to brill at san antonio mole told his assembled staff when he had completed his newest estimate fort sam houston took another air beating tonight our air service has been forced to abandon kelly and randolph fields galveston got a dose of mustard gas tonight after our antiaircraft anti aircraft regiment there shot down an enemy bomber its all unspeakably horrible but my mind has had so many jolts I 1 just cant feel things any longer general mole staggered but caught himself the light in his unquenchable eyes burned steady through the toxins of fatigue there had been a lapse in his memory now he picked up the gap put the guard infantry in in reserve just south of san antonio also keep the mechanized cavalry out to look after our flanks I 1 am going to turn in for some sleep but dont hesitate to call me if anything important develops otherwise call me when the enemy preparation fire puts down on us in the morning good night gentlemen CHAPTER XI first lieutenant boynton ath infantry lay sprawled on the ground his eyes strained into the first graying light of approaching dawn above the thunder of the enemy artillery preparation he could feel the pounding of his heart against the drums of his ear behind that curtain of fire and thunder boynton knew the van hassek infantry was moving forward to the assault from his position out in front of the american outpost line it was Boyn tons job to discover the attack and fall back to the outpost with twenty riflemen of his who lay immediately behind him Boyn tons eyes caught an instants glimpse of infantry men silhouetted against the sheet lightning of artillery flashes not more than a hundred yards away he estimated the enemy infantrymen he slipped the safety lock of his service automatic and lifted the weapon in front of his face his men long tense and ready fitted the butts of their new semiautomatic semi automatic rifles against their shoulders and waited like a ship looming suddenly out oui of a thick fog there came into view the weaving shadows that were the flesh and blood of moving infantry A spurt of flame leaped from the muzzle of Boyn tons pistol it released the pent up rage of twenty garand rifles which sent a stream of lead pouring into those shadows of the night TO BE CONTINUED CONTINUE Di |