. How armies fight. knocking out bricks. Thestaircase has been pulled down and replaced by a ladder,which can be dragged up into the upper hall if the Ger-mans succeed in getting into the ground floor. Theentrance nearest the wood has been left so that the de-fenders can get in and out; but a number of flour-sacksfilled with earth have been placed near it, ready for pilingagainst the door from the inside. The rooms on the left in the picture are on the side ofthe house which is exposed to the enemys artillery fire, somore preparations have been made there than on the German shells wi
. How armies fight. knocking out bricks. Thestaircase has been pulled down and replaced by a ladder,which can be dragged up into the upper hall if the Ger-mans succeed in getting into the ground floor. Theentrance nearest the wood has been left so that the de-fenders can get in and out; but a number of flour-sacksfilled with earth have been placed near it, ready for pilingagainst the door from the inside. The rooms on the left in the picture are on the side ofthe house which is exposed to the enemys artillery fire, somore preparations have been made there than on the German shells will probably knock down the wall in *?8 HOW THE GUARDS FORTIFY TROU-DU-BOIS. several places, and make such large gaps that the enemymay be able to force their way in. In case this happens,the sappers have made some loopholes in the wall of thehall, so that the Guardsmen can fire into the rooms. Sacksof earth are also placed in the hall, ready to pile againstthe doors. You may ask, though, What if the shells also blow. £*rth. Fig. 14.—A Fortified House. How C Company of the Coldstreams prepares the side of the Angel Inn nearest theenemy for defence. holes in the wall of the hall ? The only answer to thisis, that it cannot be helped if they do. A house, any-way, is a bad place to defend if the enemys artillery canfire at it. As a matter of fact, the shell of a field-gun generallyexplodes as, or just after, it passes through the outsidewall of a building. It then showers its shrapnel bullets HOW THE GUARDS FORTIFY TROU-DU-EOIS. 179 against the inner walls, and no harm is done unless someone is in the room. Troops in the back rooms of a houseare fairly safe from shrapnel. It is a different matter,though, if the shell is filled with lyddite or some similarhigh explosive. Then, the whole house will soon be blownto pieces. You will notice that the men in the top story havemade holes in the floor, so that they can fire into thelower rooms if the Germans succeed in entering the
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