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74 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
mounds and masked by bushes and young trees, and one sees
and hears nothing of their fire but the impact of their shells
and the report. The French fire on this particular day con-
sisted mainly of shrapnel, and it made itself known chiefly by
a shrill whistling sound and by the little puffs of white smoke
which denoted the bursting of the shells overhead.
The streets of the village of Cunel are full of Wiirttemberg
Landwehr and their steaming field kitchens and long trains
of supply colunms. The roads are swarming with infantry
and IJhlans. Here also are large bodies of Ersatztruppen
or reinforcements, ready to move up and fill the gaps. We
have brought with us a whole bundle of fresh newspapers to
distribute amongst the men. Nothing gives them greater
pleasure than this kind of news from home. Out here the
soldiers get, of course, no particulars of the war but what
they can see with their own eyes. Of course, they can draw
certain conclusions from the orders given out day by day.
But about the general situation on the various fronts they
know nothing. Their hunger and thirst are stilled at field-
kitchens, which are run so smartly and so thoroughly that
the question of hunger or thirst really never arises. Cigars
and cigarettes are also heartily welcome, and are sent to the
front as Liebesgaben (love gifts) in entire wagon -loads,
perhaps mainly to the 5th Army, thanks to the Crown Prince’s
spirited appeals to the generosity of the public. But on the
whole the longing for news is the greatest, and I think that
the soldiers would often gladly go hungry and thirsty for a
while and forfeit their beloved smokes, if they could only learn
how Germany’s great war was going on and how their people
were at home. Lieh Vaterland, magst ruhig sein they sing
with tremendous gusto, when the news of fresh victories
reaches them.
In the village of Romagne we were on the territory of a new
Army Corps. The house at which we stopped is owned by
a French Major who has retired from the Army and lives
there with his wife in the midst of the confusion. As a conse-
quence his house and he are quite unmolested. He is on the
billet register, and sees to it that his German guests are
properly looked after. At Romagne there is also a field
hospital, occupying several houses. Every Army Corps has
twelve such hospitals, each of which has six wagons, all flying
the Red Cross flag.
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