Posted by Alexander from 92.52.26.24.cfl.rr.com (24.26.52.92) on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:30PM :
This is not relevant to anyone who wants news, info, or facts, so do not read on if you want any of those things...Please know that this is worthless garbage, typed here for no purpose other than one that you cannot figure out for yourself, and is relevant only to the actual typed message. Therefore, don't read on if you want anything of "comprehensive" content. I am being serious...
The thudding seemed never to end, and smoke poured from each new pockmark on the green rolling hills in the distance like a black and dark gray feather. Every thud was preceded by a quick flash, then proceeded by a low thundering roar. Shells packed hard into the ridges and hills in the near distance, hammering the ground and causing everything from the insects to the grass to shake and tumble and sway incessantly.
It was barely audible while these bombardments were carried out, and each man would have to signal by hands in order to communicate messages. Every so often, men would duck down, as the low flying attack planes proceeded forward ahead of the front line in order to strike enemy positions. The low hum of propellers died out slowly and steadily as in the distance the men could see the effects of their bombs. Quick orange and white flashes followed by white plumes of smoke would form in patterns across the field from them, in the enemy camp lines. With binoculars, some of the leuitenants could see how the enemy lines were faring. From the binoculars, they could see what appeared to be red and white cloths thrown about in the dust, but what they really were were men and body parts and scattered bloody clothing being thrown about at the force of the bombing. At one instant, one man was walking to some other man, and just before he reached him a huge wall of brown dirt and green grass and gray dust appeared around the area where he was, and the man seemed to just vanish behind the wall of dust and dirt.
After twenty minutes of this bombardment, the planes started to cease their attacks and the artillery bagan to cease its bombardment shortly thereafter. As the bombing and bombardment was slowly halted, the German lines began to reform. The men had been underground in shelters, awaiting the end of the bombardment and bombing for the chance to form themselves up at the frontlines. As they proceeded out from their shelters, and as they organised themselves in the respective companies and groups, some of them heard artillery shells being fired again. Before they could react shells were already pounding them from all over. They quickly scattered, making for their tents and underground shelters as fast as they could. Many were killed as the planes swooped low again and picked out groups of men. Bombs were dropped and the areas that had been left unbombed and unbombarded earlier were now filled in turn with holes and craters. Releasing bombs onto men and tent fixtures and small wooden buildings serving as communication centers for the German side, the planes also fired their guns at the soldiers. Bullets ripped through lines of men, causing some to fall down quickly and to be covered in blood, while others kept running while bleeding through their chests and lower torsos and backs. Men trampled each other as they scurried for the underground shelters. Some of the mouths to the shelters were also bombed. Fires burned around the wooden settlements and many tents were flattened under a gray smoke and smoldering heat. Men were strewn across the ground, charred legs, missing limbs, torn heads, empty bodies, blood lined the way to the shelters as wounded men dragged themselves as best they could into them.
The planes continued their attacks, and the artillery bombardment continued a highly intense bombardment of the enemy camp lines. What had before been a steady bombardment on the camp lines, became a horrific and continuous high intensity bombardment. Holes were refilled with the dirt debris from new explosions in the ground. It was clear that the Russians had fooled the German camp into believing the initial artillery bombardment phase was over. It turned out to be a planned attack, one that lured the Germans to their front lines while the Russians let out their full artillery barrage and plane assaults against the German lines. The light bombers and attack planes did not cease their bombing, and when they ran out of bombs, they fired their guns. The artillery barrage rose to a steady roar, flashes of light exploding at the muzzle breakers, one after another, almost without an interval inbetween. Simultaneously, on the other side of the field, small flares of orange and short bursts of white light followed by white and gray smoke appeared. Gray smoke seemed to cover the entire field ahead of the Russian lines, as the artillery continued to bombard the enemy lines. The only thing that was audible beyond the artillery was the occasional droning sound of a propellered airplane flying overhead to one of its targets. Such is the way the day commenced on this occasion. The Russians and Germans finally met in battle, hours later. Grenadiers and Russian tanks moved forward while German mobile arms and weapons tried to strike through Russian lines of battle. In the end of the day, the Russians held the field and the Germans were pushed back some kilometers in the distance, toward one of their camps further in the rear. There they set up camp and headquarters, and established contact with Germany. The Russians advanced over and against this new position of the Germans, and prepared for a possible offensive the next day.
-- Alexander
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