Bayonets and Barbed Wire

Chapter 8

Verdun-sur-Meuse District, France

February 24, 1916

Morning

The men of the 3rd Corps had risen and readied themselves early in the morning for the assault on Beaumont. Hundreds of thousands of shells had been fired over the past three days, so there was nearly no chance the French would have anything left to defend. Otto was only able to tell that they had entered the town when he saw an increase in the amount of splinters and displaced stones littering the ground. The buildings that had once housed families were little more than holes in the dirt and makeshift fortifications.

At two steps into the village, shots were already being fired from the rubble. Otto immediately dove to the ground and shouldered his rifle. There was no telling where the shots came from, so he just fired at anything that looked remotely like a defensive position. After a minute and at least two wounded soldiers who did not duck fast enough, silence fell like fog on the village. He cautiously rose from the bedding of wood shards and dashed up behind a group of three Germans who were yelling and waving their rifles at something in the destroyed buildings.

When he had reached the men, he saw their predicament. A Frenchman was huddled at the bottom of a shell hole with a revolver in his hand. Thinking quickly, Otto raised his rifle, sighted in the man's wrist, and fired, knocking the revolver and a hunk of flesh to the floor. Two soldiers then rushed the screaming man and pulled him out of the hole by the shoulders. He would receive medical care for his hand, but was unlikely to see the end of the war. Infection took most men wounded like that. There was hardly anymore fighting after that, for the 7th, 18th, and 3rd Corps had rushed to seize Beaumont and Samongneau.

The next day, Otto linked up with Ralf, Georg, and a regiment of their comrades to take Fort Douaumont. They hiked to a point just outside a stretch of decimated woods, checked their gear, and rushed in yelling like wildmen. Otto almost tripped over shattered logs multiple times, but was fortunate enough not to fall. Few shots were fired at him and the rest of the regiment, because nearly all the French had retreated when they heard the German cries and seen the flashes of bayonets. Otto leapt into the first trench he could find, but instead of stabbing anyone he wound up holding down five Frenchmen whilst the rest of the regiment pushed on through the woods. Eventually, a group of soldiers came to relieve him.

He stayed crouched as he made his way through the woods and back to the rest of his unit. The problem with these engagements in the woods was that he never knew if someone was still camped out behind some tree or rock ready to blow his head off. Fortunately, he did not have to go far before he reached the edge of the woods where the regiment was preparing to assault Douaumont village. He quickly identified two men huddled together to be Ralf and Georg, and made his way up behind them.

"That was interesting, wasn't it?" he said as he placed a hand on Ralf's shoulder. His brother startled a little, but, upon realizing it was just Otto, relaxed.

"Definitely. Where were you? You just kind of disappeared."

"Babysitting some surrendering Froggies."

Georg joined in the conversation with a chuckle, "You didn't even need to say 'surrendering' just mentioning them would have implied a surrender." They laughed.

The Unteroffizier cut their conversation short with his whistle. As soon as they exited the woods and entered the clearing that was Douaumont village, a machine gun began to rake their position. Like roaches being swatted at with a broom, the regiment scattered and took up any position that shielded them from the bullets. Otto and the rest of his trio had hidden behind a stone wall at first, but took notice of a small detachment of men shimmying down into a ravine a few yards away. Laying down on their stomachs, all three men began to crawl their way over to the ravine, and, upon reaching it, quickly slid down the slope and into cover. The party began to make its way along the ravine and towards the fort as artillery shook the ground behind them.