The Sharp End

The Sharp End - Part One

October 1917

Near Passchendaele, Belgium

 Lieutenant Michael Burke, 316th Infantry, American Expeditionary Force (AEF), crouched just inside the front door of the cottage that he and his men were using as cover and prayed that German patrol on the other side would just pass by the squat little structure without investigating.

He shot a glance across the room at his number two, Sergeant Charles Moore, who stood next to the window and was watching through a small gap in the curtains as the soldiers approached the gate at the end of the front walk. The big Californian had already been with the unit when Burke was assigned to command it, but so far the two of them had gotten along pretty well. Charles was a veteran fighter who took the business of keeping himself and those under his charge, including his new lieutenant, alive very seriously, which was something Burke certainly appreciated.

Moore held up two fingers and the pantomimed taking a drag off of a cigarette, indicating that the soldiers had stopped for a quick smoke..

The sight sent a pang of envy coursing through Burke; he’d smoked his last two days ago and resupply wasn’t due for at least another week.

Burked nodded that he understood, then quietly drew his knife, indicating with a nod that Moore should do the same. The other man shook his head, pointing instead to the bayonet attached to the end of his rifle. They couldn’t use their guns; the sound of a shot would bring more of the enemy running. They’d have to wait until the Germans finished their smokes and came inside before eliminating them as quickly and as quietly as they could.

The others – Corporal Bennett and Privates Perkins and O’Leary – waited in the next room, their own weapons at the ready in case anything went wrong. Burke sincerely hoped they wouldn’t have to use them.

Moore gave a nod toward the door and Burke tensed. He could hear the two men outside talking between themselves as they approached. Burke didn’t understand any German yet, but the soldiers’ voices sounded relaxed and he didn’t think they were on to them. Probably just checking out the cottage as part of a routine patrol, he thought. Boy, were they going to get a surprise.

The door opened and the two German soldiers stepped inside, still chatting between themselves and barely paying attention to their surroundings. Burke gave the first one just long enough to clear the door and then he stepped forward, seizing the man by the hair atop his head and yanking the man’s head backward, exposing his throat. A quick sideways jerk of the knife and blood splashed across the furniture and wall in front of him as Burke slashed the German’s throat from ear to ear.

The sudden attack had taken both of the intruders by surprise and the other German’s arms were just coming up, weapon in hand when Sergeant Moore clocked him across the face with the butt of his rifle. The man folded like a house of cards and the sergeant quickly finished him off with the bayonet. As Burke dragged the bodies out of the way, Moore shut the door and leaned back against it.

They both breathed a sigh of relief.

The war that had begun with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was now in its third year and there was still no end in sight. The Germans had begun the war with a stunning series of initial successes, driving back the French troops before them as they marched toward Paris with an eye on London as well. Somehow the Allies had rallied, managed to stop and even throw back the German lines, regaining about half the territory they had lost before the war had settled into long, drawn–out stalemate.

When the Americans joined the war earlier that year, many had hoped it would be enough to turn the tide, but that was not to be. The Kaiser and his armies were more determined than ever to wrest control of the continent out of the hands of the Allied forces. So far they were succeeding. Battle after battle ended with Allied forces retreating in the face of the superior German numbers and equipment. Long days turned into longer months as the casualties grew and the stretch of ground still controlled by the Allies shrank.