BATTLE IN THE NIGHT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 195, 26 January 1915, Page 2

BATTLE IN THE NIGHT.

CLEARING A VILLAGE OF GERMANS. A vivid description of a battle in the night is published by the Paris Journal. Throughout the day the French battalion had been watching from a point of vantage the vicissitudes of the combat, and could clearly see the fine line of retreat open to the Germans to the left to the east of . Thanks to the commanding position of this village, the enemy was able to keep up from it on the French lines a particularly heavy fire, anld from further away his heavy artillery, protected by two deep depressions in the ground, hurled an unceasing hail of projectiles into , which was becoming untenable. At any price the village of must be carried, and only a daring night attack carried out by tried troops could get the better of so difficult a position. Night was falling fast and the reserves were listening, full of suspense, to the furious attack of the Africau troops when the battalion received the order to carry in the darkness. "A difficult job," muttered the colonel as he glanced ronu,d in the dim light to see what men there were to support the battalion. Here and there, at the foot of a ruined factory, behind haystacks and under cover of the banks, the men who had escaped from the first charge were gathering—Zouaves, Algerian tirailleurs, infantry of the line, ! and chasseurs a pied, in confusion and isolated groups, without leaders and without cohesion. At the word of the r colonel they rallied and former a supporting company, improvising officers and non-commissiondd offices as best as they could. Then the colonel gave his last instructions. They must strike hard- and quickly, for must be in the possession of at least a German regiment, so that the battalion, with the support of the heterogenous company, would have no easy task. . The body of men moved off silently under cover of the bank that runs along the road between and . The river was crossed, and in a difficult pas. sage through some quarries, the battalion became separated from the company, which continued its advance. An abrupt turn in the road brought it in sight of the first houses of the village, their slate roofs gray in the dim moonlight. The first files advanced cautiously, and about 50 yards away they saw dim shadows moving along the walls and heard orders hoarsely shouted. "Who goes there?" "France!" replied the captain of the company.

"France," was the answer given, but the captain was not deceived by his friendly cry. He shouted an order, and his men threw themselves into the ditches on either side of the road. Then there came the flickering flashes of four machine guns, which for three long minutes swept the rogifl. But their fire was ineffective. The leading section was under cover, and the rest of the company was protected by the bend in the road. Then a new order rang out. The machine guns were silent, and a minute later were galloping off wildly to the other end of the village. The enemy was in full retreat. From every street and from every house were poured out grey figures, which ony sought to follow the fugitives in headlong flight. All the men of the mixed company who had that day been so nearly beaten leapt from cover anH swept on like a storm. The last Germans overtaken threw down their arms and shouted for quarter. The pursuit dashed on through the villago and onwards, until sucdenly the Frond) line was met by a heavy rifle firo. Haystacks on the side of the roads burst into flames, and showed to the enemy the weakness of the force that was pursuing them. At once the Germans attempted to surround the audacious little troop, which steadily fell back before their fire. The situation was critical, as the French were outnumbered four to one, when suddenly the first company of the battalion which had lost its way, arrived on the enemy's flank. Its sudden appearance was enough to change the fortune of the battle and to turn the enemy once again to headlong flight.