of Przemysl made it one of the most notable
sieges of history.
_(Photo from Underwood & Underwood.)_]
[Illustration: CAPT.-LIEUT. OTTO WEDDIGEN
Whose submarine exploits have done more damage to England's navy than
all Germany's gunners.
_(Photo from The Photo News.)_]
[Illustration: Figure 14.]
[Illustration: Figure 15.]
The sub-officer Klemt relates how, on the 24th of September, his
regiment having left Hannonville in the morning, accompanied by Austrian
batteries, suddenly came up against a double fire of infantry and
artillery. Their losses were terrible, and yet the enemy was still
invisible. Finally, says this officer, it was found that the bullets
came from above, from trees which the French soldiers had climbed.
From this point let me quote verbatim, (Fig. 16:)
[Illustration: Figure 16.]
They're brought down from the trees like squirrels, to get a
hot reception with bayoneted stock; they'll need no more
doctors' care. We are not fighting loyal enemies, but
treacherous brigands. [Note--It is scarcely necessary to point
out that it is no more "treacherous," but quite as lawful, to
fire from the branches of a tree as from a window, or from a
trench, and that, on the contrary, it is rather more
venturesome and more courageous, as the sequel of this story
will show.] We crossed the clearing at a bound. The foe is
hidden here and there among the bushes, and now we are upon
them. No quarter will be given. We fire standing, at will;
very few fire kneeling; nobody dreams of shelter. We finally
reach a slight depression in the ground, and there the red
trousers are lying in masses, here and there--dead or wounded.
We club or stab the wounded, for we know that these rascals,
as soon as we are gone by, will fire from behind. We find one
Frenchman lying at full length upon his face, but he is
counterfeiting death. A kick from a robust fusilier gives him
notice that we are there. Turning over he asks for quarter,
but he gets the reply--"Oh! is that the way, blackguard, that
your tools work?" and he is pinned to the ground. On one side
of me I hear curious cracklings. They're the blows which a
soldier of the 154th is vigorously showering upon the bald
pate of a Frenchman with the stock of his gun; he very wisely
chose for this work a French gun, for fear of breaking his
own. S
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