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CHAPTER X
General Mole sat in the hot shel
ter of his command post which had
been dug by engineers into the re
verse slope of a squat ridge. He
puffed glumly at the stub of a cigar
as he observed the arrival of his
regimental and battalion command
ers whom he had summoned from
over his battle position.
Planes soared overhead, Ameri
can combat planes covering his posi
tion against air attack. From time
to time an observation plane dashed
low with a dropped message report
ing progress of the Van Hassek ap
proach. At last word, the main Van
Hassek column had cleared the Nue
ces River after routing a motorized
battalion strong-point that Mole had
sent out to gain contact and delay
the enemy.
Mole’s plan of battle was shaped;
his formal orders had been distribut
ed. Since morning the men had been
digging in.
All his artillery had been dug in
and camouflaged. Here he had an
immense, hastily organized citadel
of mutually supporting strong-points.
Machine guns had been placed for
the maximum of destructive effect.
The breaking of one line yielded the
enemy the grim necessity of attack
ing a new one. Roads menacing his
flanks were strongly covered. It
was not such a position as he would
have selected of his own choice,
but since necessity forced it on him,
he meant to make the most of his
opportunities for stubborn re
sistance.
His senior aide-de-camp came up
to him and saluted.
“Sir, the officers are assembled,”
the captain advised.
There was a greenish hue to the
general’s lean, cadaverous face,
brought by the stress of the past
few days. His eyes were bloodshot
under puffy black lids, but they
shone with a stout, even glitter, that
proclaimed the mastery of will over
flesh. As he stood up to face his
assembled commanders, he was per
fectly contained.
“I wanted a few words with you
before we go into action, gentle
men,” he began in a calm voice.
“The decision to fight here was
made for us by General Hague.
Therefore, it becomes our decision.
Let me frankly say that the Army
is on the spot, that the people
wouldn’t understand the simple wis
dom of our falling back without a
fight.”
He paused and his pale, bluish lips
drew down into an expression of
bitterness.
“All right, we’ll go through! We’ll
hold! We’ll give the country a new
tradition to remember! We’ll fight
Van Hassek with one regiment to
four or five! If we’re attacked this
afternoon we’ll fight until night.
We’ll hold through tomorrow. Then
I’ll make my further decision. When
the time comes I’ll give the order
for withdrawal which must be by
night.”
General Mole paused again to look
about among them and then spoke
in slow, biting words.
“Gentlemen, a final word! We’ll
show the country what our mettle
is. We’ll show the enemy what they
can expect to meet once our armies
are mobilized and organized and
trained. Remember this, if we lost
every last man in the Second Divi
sion, our losses would still be only
a fraction of what the good old Sec
ond took in France, even if nobody
remembers that fact but the Sec
ond.’s survivors!”
BLAKELY THEATRE
Thursday-Friday, April 10-11
EDDIE CANTOR —RITA JOHNSON in
“FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS”
Saturday, April 12
JACK RANDALL in
“KID FROM SANTE FE”
Saturday Late Show 10:30
BOBBY JORDAN—LEO GORCEY in
“BOYS OF THE CITY”
Monday-Tuesday, April 14-15
MADELINE CARROLL —FRED McMURRAY in
“VIRGINIA”
Wednesday, April 16
WARREN WILLIAM —FRANCIS ROBINSON in
“THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE”
Admission 10c Serial and Comedy
His voice rose to a furious in
tensity and his clenched hand rose
above his head. «
“A new Alamo to remember, gen
tlemen! That’s what we’ll give the
country—a new Alamo to remem
ber! Put that thought into the teeth
of your men. That’s all!”
As the commanders scattered to
ward their station wagons and mili
tary sedans, the bright sky festered
into a hideous hiss of sound. It
came crashing in out of the dis
tance. The ear could trace its course
as it settled toward the earth.
An instant’s silence and the ground
trembled under the impact of high
explosive. 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 pos
ture. General Mole calmly touched
a match to the stub of his cigar
and gave several vindictive puffs.
“Well, there’s the first shot,” he
muttered. “Sounded to me like a
long-range baby probably from
twenty or thirty miles.”
An observation plane radioed in
the information. Van Hassek’s
heavy artillery had set up north of
the Nueces. Mole offered no com
ment. There was nothing he could
do about it until the enemy came
within range of his howitzers. His
own 105-millimeter cannons, good
for fifteen miles, had yet to be mold
ed, mounted, tested, and delivered
to the Army.
As for his airplanes, there was
no taking further risks over Van
Hassek’s moving columns. It didn’t
matter that the air service had sent
in the crack combat groups from
all three of its powerful wings. Nor
that American pilots and gunners
had proved themselves this morning
much more than a match for the
Van Hassek airmen.,
The American squadrons had paid
a heavy price for their swoops
against Van Hassek’s invaders. Into
one anti-aircraft trap after another
the Americans had fallen. -
The first big shell fell in an empty
field well back from the Second’s
front lines. A second shot followed
quickly, and the business of long
range cannonading settled down into
glum, racking routine. From a
range of approximately twenty-two
miles, observation reported. The
Van Hassek columns were still roll
ing forward in a great, tortuous
martial serpent whose tail reached
far back across the Rio Grande into
Mexico.
The ten thousand men of the divi
sion worked feverishly through the
hot afternoon, deepening and extend
ing their trenches, adjusting gun po
sitions. They pretended indifference
to the roar of Van Hassek’s artil
' lery, to the frequent spurting foun
tains of earth that rose hideously
about them. In mid-afternoon one
shell caught a full squad of men
who in a flash were shreds of flesh.
A stark reminder of what was to
coine. But the men who saw this
tragedy went stubbornly on with
their work.
Out of the distance came the rum
ble of light American artillery.
The firing came from the Frio Riv
er, which meant that Major Randt,
commanding, was potting at the
head of the main attack force. The
sound of Van Hassek’s counter-bat
tery assault wafted in fifteen min
utes later. It rose in volume. The ar
tillery duel went on, growing in vio
lence, 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
EARLY COUNTY NEWS. BLAKELY, GEORGIA
south on the extreme flanks. At the
division command post Mole and his
staff waited on these actions with
tense nerves. Three o’clock was
near. If Van Hassek’s invaders
could be delayed much longer, they
would not be able to deliver their
attack in force against the Second
before daybreak.
General Mole and his staff made
an estimate of the situation. Mole’s
jaded face brightened in a moment’s
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 battle deployment.
“That means we’ve delayed them
one day without a fight,” Mole ex
claimed. “It gives us a real chance
of getting through tomorrow with
out getting blown out of our shoes.
After that—we will see what we will
see. But what a hell of a pounding
we’re in for tonight, without any
anti-aircraft and long-range artil
lery!”
When the hot Texas sun slipped
down to the horizon through the haze
in the west, a furious roar of mo
tors swept the Second Division. The
flight of enemy attack planes, flying
an altitude of less than five hun
dred feet, struck with the sharp bite
of forked lightning.
Over the 9th Infantry’s 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 fragmenta
tion bombs. But there came no ex
plosion. The enemy had not opened
up with their machine guns.
“Gas!”
The warning outcry rose in vol
ume from two thousand throats. Ter
ror froze on men’s faces. Officers
barked orders, noncams raged at
their men.
Stay put! Discipline slowly but
surely prevailed over the hot im
pulse 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 demon
stration purposes in training tests.
What type of gas had the Van
Hassek barbarians put down? Ob
viously not a mustard or persistent
gas. The Van Hassek infantry would
not want the sector contaminated
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, im
parting 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 lachrymation and burns that
might extend over several days,
would have to be evacuated to the
hospital at San Antonio for treat
ment.
Overhead the American aviation
was redoubling its efforts. The 33d
Pursuit Squadron was hawking over
the sector. The 77th Pursuit Squad
ron was patrolling to the front. That
audacious attack flight of Van Has
sek’s had used its heels to get away
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 flown
in from Louisiana and Virginia. Oth
er planes were en route from Cali
fornia.
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 slow
ly engulfed them and deepened into
night. Long-range artillery pounded
away laconically, tearing great cra
ters in the Second’s artillery area
and hitting near the division’s 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 pur
pose unfolded itself, that Van Has
sek 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 com
mit the brash audacity of a serious
fight in front of San Antonio. With
drawal would be only the logical
course for the Americans, and Van
Hassek had no reason to expect
anything 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 be
tween eight thousand and ten thou-
sand feet!”
The warning came in from an ob
servation plane a few minutes after
nine o’clock. It merely confirmed
Mole’s fears. Fast on the heels of
the warning came the devastating
roar of a heavy bomb. The earth
churned under the roar of succes
sive explosions. A squadron of nine
bombers, air service reported, us
ing an estimated three-hundred
pound bomb which would have a
fragmentation and shock effect. A
second enemy squadron was report
ed 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 bed
lam, the Second’s 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. At
tack flights roared over, released
fragmentation bombs attached to
parachutes—small bombs that ex
ploded on coming to earth.
It confirmed Mole’s 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 20th Infantry sector a bomb,
estimated a six-hundred-pounder,
fell in rear of a company position
with a devastating force that re
duced seventeen men to speechless,
trembling impotence, though no man
was wounded. Later they were re
ported slowly recovering their wits
from the shock and were not evacu
ated.
Van Hassek’s planes were operat
ing without lights. American pur
suit hawks buzzed about, but were
ineffective in the darkness. Van Has
sek’s fury rose and fell Intermit
tently, 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 pa
trols 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 9th
Infantry outpost and shunted back
for question.
Over the field wire, Mole’s staff
checked casualties at eleven o’clock.
The bombardment had killed only
71 men, wounded 142. Another 80
were numbed by shock. Three had
been stripped of their wits and sent
back, in driveling madness, for
evacuation.
Mole nodded his head approvingly
at this small toll. It did not sur
prise him that he had lost so few
men to the Van Hassek strafing.
This was not Mole’s first battle. In
France he had learned how frugal
can be the night’s harvest of artil
lery and bombardment.
“I’ve been talking to Brill at San
Antonio,” Mole told his assembled
staff when he had completed his
newest estimate. “Fort Sam Hou
ston took another air beating to
night. Our air service has been
forced to abandon Kelly and Ran
dolph Fields. Galveston got a dose
of mustard gas tonight after our
69th Anti-Aircraft Regiment there
shot down an enemy bomber. It’s
all unspeakably horrible—but my
mind has had so many jolts I just
can’t feel things any longer.
General Mole staggered but
caught himself. The light in his un
quenchable 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 reserve
just south of San Antonio. Also keep
the mechanized cavalry out to look
after our flanks. lam going to turn
in for some sleep, but don’t hesitate
to call me if anything important de
velops. Otherwise call me when the
enemy preparation fire puts down on
us in the morning. Good night, gen
tlemen.”
(To Be Continued)
10-49 Case No. 231,171
United States Department of Agri
culture
Farm Security Administration
NOTICE OF SALE
Notice is hereby given that the
United States of America will sell
at public auction the following
described property:
I—horse mule—black —looo lbs.
10 yrs.
Time of sale 10 a. m., May 6, 1941.
Place of sale, Court Square, Blake
ly, Ga.
The property will be sold at pub
lic auction by parcel or lot, as the
circumstances of the sale may de
mand, to the highest bidder for cash.
The United States of America re
serves the right to bid at the sale.
Prior to the sale the livestock may
be examined at Robert E. Murker
son.
Dated the 26 day of March, 1941.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
By William T. Clearman,
County RR Supervisor.
« PRINTING »
to Order at Our
PRINT SHOP
■ Os PHONE
180 g|g||
That always pleases are the kind
we carry. We pride ourselves on
our ability to satisfy even those who are re
garded as hard to please. If you place your
self in that classification, we can quickly prove
to you that we have the quality of meat that
will please you every time. We make no ex
tra charge for the extra quality.
♦♦♦♦♦♦
IF YOU WANT FRESH VEGETABLES
WE HAVE THEM
WWW
FRYER’S MARKET
BLAKELY, GEORGIA
10-49 Case No. 239,500
United States Department of Agri
culture
Farm Security Administration
NOTICE OF SALE
Notice is hereby given that the
United States of America will sell
at public auction the following
described property:
I—mare mule—dark bay—named
“Hattie” —7 yrs. old.
I—horse mule —b lac k—named
“Mike”—6 yrs. old.
I—Milch cow —mixed—dark.
1— turn plow—Avery—3l lbs.—
2 hr.
I—distributor —Seay Guano.
I—planter—Cole—.Single hopper.
I—pressure cooker —National —21
qt.
Time of sale 10 a. m., May 6, 1941.
Place of sale, Court Square, Blake
ly, Ga.
The property will be sold at pub
lic auction by parcel or lot, as the
circumstances of the sale may de
mand, to the highest bidder for cash.
The United States of America re
serves the right to bid at the sale. ‘
Prior to the sale the livestock may
be examined at Edward C. Scar
borough and the other property may
be examined at Edward C. Scarbor
ough.
Dated the 26 day of March, 1941.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
By William T. Clearman,
County RR Supervisor.
MASONIC NOTICE
Magnolia Loage No
jyv\ 86 Free and Accept
„ ed Masons holds reg
ular commun cations
GD the flrst and thlro
/ A Monday nights in
each month. The
time is 8 p. m. in the summer, 7:30
p. m. in the fall and spring and 7 p
m. during the winter. Visiting breth
ren are cordially invited to attend
WILLIAM P. SMITH,
Worshipful Master.
J. G. STANDIFER, Secretary.
) b'cause <
WE WANTS J
DE BEST f
jT olks are usually will- other plant fodd “vita-
• 7 ing to pay more to get min” elements, iodine, bo-
the best. That’s natural, ron, magnesium, calcium,
V The best is usually the manganese, and many more,
cheapest. Use it regularly on all your
Chilean Nitrate of Soda, for crops, in mixed fertilizer
, x instance! It’s natural, the before planting, and as top *
only natural nitrate in the dressing and side dressing ;
world. later on. That is the way
Yet it cottf no more.. to get the full benefit
It contains 16% nitrogen of its fertilizing and soil
and small quantities of improving qualities. *
Be sure you get
/IM WU CHILEAN
luSlO^ OF IT SODA
10-49 Case No. 231,171
United States Department of Agri
culture
Farm Security Administration
NOTICE OF SALE
Notice is hereby given that the
United States of America will sell
at public auction the following
described property:
I—wagon—Holman—l hr.
Time of sale 10 a. m., May 6th,
1941.
Place of sale, Court Square, Blake
ly, Ga.
The property will be sold at pub
lic auction by parcel or lot, as the
circumstances of the sale may de
mand, to the highest bidder for cash.
The United States of America re
serves the right to bid at the sale.
Prior to the sale the livestock may
be examined at Jessie W. Scarbor
ough.
Dated the 26 day of March, 1941.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
By William T. Clearman,
County RR Supervisor.
LIVE STOCK
AUCTION SALE
O Y
TUESDAY
2:00 P. M.
FARMERS STOCK
YARD, Inc.
ARLINGTON, GA.