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TO SEDAN 129
to lay hands on ?
"—" That was a neat piece of work of
Weddigen’s."^
—" But the losses on land are far greater than
at sea—a submarine means twenty men, but a bayonet charge
on land ten or a hundred times as many."—" Is it true that
Rheims has been taken ?
"—" It is said that the right wing
has fallen back a good way,"—What rumours one hears in the
rear of the fighting line !
The station-master of Bertrix comes up to my compartment
and engages me in conversation. He tells me that the stone
bridge which we have just passed was destroyed by the
Belgians on the 19th of August during the fierce engagements
which were fought in this region. " But we railwaymen," he
confessed, " had to sit tight and listen to the guns in the
distance. We cannot go into the firing line and fight with the
rest."
—" Yes, but your work is just as important, after all !
How would the fighting troops fare, as to supplies and reserves,
if the railway traffic were not kept going ?
"—" That is true,
but at any rate it is terribly trying to one’s patience."
He further told me that from Bertrix, for thirty-six kilo-
metres onwards, the railway had been continued by German
railway troops to establish connection with the French railway
system. All blasting work, cuttings and embankments had
been almost finished when the war broke out, but the line in
question was not to open for traffic until 1916, as probably a
war before then, in these regions, had not been thought of.
The new line is a single track and is of the type of a " field-
railway." Its section is narrow and will not bear too heavy a
load. Its traffic capacity would therefore necessarily be very
small. This was the reason for our long stop at Bertrix.
At last the train which had been holding up the line arrives
and we can go on. To the south-east a boundless view opens
towards far-off regions wreathed in a dim blue haze, where,
beyond the boundaries of Belgian Luxemburg, Montmédy and
Longuyon are situated. One feels glad to see the oat stacks in
the fields ; many mouths will need feeding here during the
coming winter. And for the same reason I was glad to observe
the well-fed cattle, of which I caught a glimpse in copses and
pastures.
" Have you any recent newspapers ? " This from the
Landsturm sentries and railway workers as our train slowly
rolls by. "I have already given away those I had," I answer,
? Se? footnote top. H3.
K
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