As the British tanks advanced across the open ground, smashing down
barbed-wire entanglement and crawling in and out of shell craters as
though they did not exist, defenders sprang to their positions.
Rapid-firers opened upon the British from every conceivable angle; but
the shells dropped harmlessly from the sides of the armored tanks. The
tanks just seemed to shake their heads and passed on.
Behind the tanks the infantry advanced slowly, flanked here and there
by squadrons of cavalry, the horses of which could hardly be held back,
so anxious did they seem to get at the foe.
The British tanks spat fire from the rapid-fire guns that formed their
armament. Streams of bullets flew into the German lines, dealing death
and destruction.
From the rear the great British guns dropped high explosive shells in
the German trenches.
The German first-line defenses, prepared with days of hard labor, and
formed of deep ditches, of concrete and pure earth, offered no
difficulties to the British tanks. Straight up to these emplacements
they crawled, shoved their noses into the walls, and uprooted them;
then crawled calmly over the debris.
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