Chapter 5: Jason Goes Through Poisonous Cloud Of White (Part 1)
April 24th, 1916. Hulluch, France
Being a sentry sucks. A lot. You can't sleep–unless you just want to die–and you have to bring heavy weaponry at all times. Oh, and there's the threat of being shot in the head by snipers. Right now I'm standing in the sentry post holding a lewis gun, and the clock just passed midnight.
I sighed. It's boring. It's not like anyone is stupid enough to–oh yeah, the Germans were stupid enough when Percy met them at Nery. Speaking of Germans, here comes one. I aimed my lewis gun, not wanting to waste ammo, and–
Hold on. Why are the Germans shooting too? Is that guy… a deserter? Maybe. But if he is a deserter, I'm gonna try to help him. I aimed towards their trench, and unleashed a rain of lead at the Germans. I reloaded the gun, then started shooting again. And again.
The deserter arrived at our trench. He is shot in a few places, so I stopped firing to help the bud. I gave him first aid, then started to talk to him.
"Gutten abend, wie heißen sie? Bist du ein…"I paused to try to remember the word, then continued,"deserteur?" There is a moment of silence before he answered raspily.
"Ja. Ich est Hans Heyderuch. Und… Sagen sie es ihrem vorgesetzten. Sie wollen dich vergasten."
I listened closely, then nodded. After he said that, he just goes unconscious.. I then woke up some of the others and told them to take him to the infirmary. I then continued my duty. Our commander has yet to be awake, so I cannot tell him of the dire news yet.
As soon as the sun is visible in the sky, I goes for the Command Bunker to report the newly acquired intel.
--Time Skip--
It's been an hour since I informed our Commander about the intel, and the German, Hans Walter, is finally awake. Commander ordered me to bring Hans to him, so I guided the man there. The man reported that the Germans are planning to gas as soon as the wind blows our way. Commander's face looked grim, and he dismissed us.
--Time Skip--
It's now the 27th, and I'm preparing for any gas attack. Hopefully the winds didn't turn our way, so we don't have to use our gas masks. I clutched my lewis gun, my gas mask hanging from my neck. This reminds me of that story from Russia. If you don't know, last August the Germans gassed a castle in Russian Polonia. The Russian garrison there charged out amidst the gas, killing many before dying to the gas. Apparently they dubbed it the 'Attack of the Dead Men'. They did spook off seven thousand Germans.
As I was musing, the gas attack alarms rang. Each and every men garrisoning the line stood to look up on the German lines, where their engineers are releasing phosgene gas. I immediately wore my mask and prepared my Lee Enfield. The wind had finally turned, and the white-ish cloud of gas, or as Percy calls it, 'Poisonous white cloud of Death,' is accumulating, blown by the wind towards our line. Within seconda the gas engulfed the frontline, reducing our visibility to mere meters, and killing some of our men who wore their masks too late.
Then, just a few minutes after it started, the gas stopped. A gust of wind blew from behind our line, and the gas is blown away back at the German line. As our sights cleared, dozens of men lie dead, their gas masks lying by their sides. We are saved by just sheer luck. Had the attack continued another few minutes, then our line would have crumbled, our trenches filled with bodies. By sheer luck, the wind turned again. It seems that the Germans did not expect for the wind to turn, as they can be seen hurrying to close the gas valves and wearing their gas masks. This attack is over, and it certainly is our victory, although a costly one.
Done. Another part will come out soon.
Best Regards,
DeusOlympo