As there was absolutely no shelter, to storm
the height at that point was impossible, and to remain where they
were was merely to court sudden death, so the Twelfth Brigade worked
over the slopes to the ravine at Chipres, where they intrenched.
The task in front of the Second Army Corps was no less difficult.
The bridge at Conde was too strongly defended to be taken by assault,
as Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien speedily found out, so he divided his
forces into two parts, one of which was directed at the village
of Missy, two and one half miles west of Conde, while the other
concentrated its attack on a crossing at the town of Vailly, three
miles east of Conde. Both detachments made good their crossing,
but the regiments that found themselves near Missy also realized
that hasty, very hasty intrenchment was imperative, lest every
one of them should be blown into kingdom come before half an hour
had passed by. During the night some troops were rafted over, three
men at a time, and these encamped near Missy. It was a false move.
For sixteen days thereafter the British troops had to remain in
their dugouts, a large part of the time without food or water.
To show a head above the trench was sudden death.
The regiments that crossed the river at Vailly found themselves in
even a worse plight. No sooner had they crossed than the bombardment
began, and the Germans knew every range in the place accurately.
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