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AFTER THE BALL 108
to the enemy all the advantages of their immensely
strong defences. They may have thought that
they could overcome, at least partly, the inequality
of positions by attacking at night and advancing
under cover of darkness ;
but the enemy’s search-
lights soon dispelled this illusion and made these
attacks even more difficult than in broad daylight.
There was only one thing left : to make some
arrangements by which their own men should be
as well sheltered during their advance as the
defenders behind their ramparts. Earth must
combat earth. Not a step must be taken with-
out a wall of earth or sandbags in front to stop
the enemy’s bullets. Bomb-proofs must be built
on the way, where the men could rest and sleep
when relieved from duty. Miles and miles of
these saps must be dug, sometimes through soft
alluvial soil, sometimes through shale rock, some-
times through rock made up of a conglomeration
of limestone, flint and quartz, so hard that it had
to be chiselled out.
The saps could not advance in straight lines
towards the forts ; that would, of course, expose
them to an enfilading fire. They must be dug in
zigzag lines, always presenting a protecting wall
to the enemy. In this case, it was not a question
of protecting their men against one fort only, but
from forts out to the left and to the right as well,
so these saps or approaches had generally to be
made more winding and more parallel to their
base than in ordinary cases. It would be a long
and slow and tedious process, and it was likely to
cost them many lives, but it was the only way,
and they accepted the situation and set to work
without demur.
The saps may be divided in two classes, the
approaches, and the siege parallels. The former,
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