eir attack.

In the end, after several hours' discussion, we agreed on a flexible
defense. Rather than risk many lives, we would withdraw before them,
test their effectiveness and familiarize ourselves with the tactics they
adopted. If possible, we would send engineers in behind them from the
flanks, to lay mines in the probable path of their return, providing
their first attack proved to be a raid and not an advance to consolidate
new positions.

CHAPTER III

We "Sink" the "Ground Ships"

Boss Handan, of the Winslows, a giant of a man, a two-fisted fighter and
a leader of great sagacity, had been selected by the council as our Boss
_pro tem_, and having given the scatter signal to the council, he
retired to our general headquarters, which we had established on Second
Mountain a few miles in the rear of the fighting front in a deep ravine.

There, in quarters cut far below the surface, he would observe every
detail of the battle on the wonderful system of viewplates our ultrono
engineers had constructed through a series of relays from ultroscope
observation posts and individual "_cameramen_."

Two hours before dawn our long distance _scopemen_ reported a squadron
of "ground ships" leaving the enemy's disintegrator wall, and heading
rapidly somewhat to the south of us, toward the site of the ancient city
of Newark. The ultroscopes could detect no canopy operation. This in
itself was not significant, for they were penetrating hills in their
lines of vision, most of them, which of course blurred their pictures to
a slight extent. But by now we had a well-equipped electronoscope
division, with instruments nearly equal to those of the Hans themselves;
and these could detect no evidence of _dis_ rays in operation.

Handan appreciated our opportunity instantly, for no sooner had the
import of the message on the Bosses' channel become clear than we heard
his personal command snapped out over the long-gunners' general channel.

Nine hundred and seventy long-gunners on the south and west sides of the
city, concealed in the dark fastnesses of the forests and hillsides,
leaped to their guns, switched on their dial lights, and flipped the
little lever combinations on their pieces that automatically registered
them on the predetermined position of map section HM-243-839, setting
their magazines for twenty shots, and pressing their fire buttons.

For what seemed an interminable instant nothing happened.

Then severa