August 8, 1918: Begin the Hundred Days

It was a foggy morning. The hills were held in shrouds of mist and it was barely light. The faint glow on the Eastern horizon was the only hint of morning, but there was already frenetic activity in Soinnet. Under the cover of darkness, the soldiers had been preparing a strike for days now, and this seemed to be the day when it was all supposed to happen. Tri knew what the tense atmosphere meant by now and knew it well - the fear, the shaking hands, the hope, courage, and the sweat trickling from underneath the soldiers’ steel helmets. There was a battle about to begin.

For the past few days, more and more soldiers and more and more guns had arrived in the broken village. The dogs hadn’t been running missions, but had been put to work in other ways - mainly by pulling heavy carts containing either small cannons or ammunition for big cannons. Tri couldn’t say he had enjoyed it, but it had been something to do… Great big rolling metal boxes covered in armour had also arrived, and the dogs had discussed the strange contraptions’ purpose with great interest. The boxes were on some sort of wheel bands and were huge enough to fit lots of people inside. Perhaps they were going to be used to hide in? But there were guns attached to them too. How strange. Notch had said that he had heard someone call them ‘tanks’.

Now they were stood at the edge of the village, and men were slowly advancing towards the line of trenches below to get into position. They were careful not to make a sound. Tri, Nell, Ginger and Aaron Fredericks were waiting for their turn. No one said word, but exchanged some meaningful glances. They all knew that this was going to be big. A soldier approached Aaron Fredericks and they spoke in low murmurs. Then Nell and Ginger’s leashes were given to this new man, and they were lead away into the darkness. Tri suddenly felt uneasy - where would they be taken? They always began their assignments together. But Aaron Fredericks’ presence was calming, and Tri stayed put, ready for anything. Notch had been assigned guard duties, but Sprint had no specific task and so walked around the grounds, checking on everyone. ”Bonne chance.” she said as she passed, and Tri nodded in response, but said nothing. He was a lot more nervous than he wanted to admit, even to himself. Aaron Fredericks checked his pocket watch. ”Seems it’s time soon, Tri.” he whispered, and scratched the dog’s ears. The keeper was afraid too - his hands were shaking. This, if anything, made Tri anxious, because Aaron Fredericks was always calm.

The barrage began. It was a vicious thunder of steel, fire and death, deafening and terrible. As always. After the artillery stood down somewhat, the mysterious metal tanks rolled forwards, there was the faint sound of a whistle and the soldiers in the trenches below charged ahead. Gunfire rattled and flare rockets lit the sky in ominous flashes of white and red. Tri whined and moved closer to his keeper; it wouldn’t matter how many times he went through this, it always made his blood run cold… Somehow in the dark, the battle seemed all the more terrifying. Because they could not see, all the sounds were amplified and in the flashes of red and white the silhouettes in the field looked like otherworldly creatures of nightmares. As the first light of day broke on the horizon, the scale of the battle became clearer. It was the biggest one Tri had seen yet, like their side was throwing everything they had at the enemy - and it was yielding results. The troops were advancing, and fast, across the field. German soldiers were surrendering. Tri looked on almost in wonder. Then a man, whom Tri knew as Winters, approached him and Aaron Fredericks. He gave a salute, and greeted the keeper.

”Pioneer Fredericks, sir, we’ve taken the first German trench and we’re moving forwards fast. I need the dog now.”

Aaron Fredericks nodded and handed over Tri’s leash. ”His name’s Tri. Look after him.”

”Of course!” Winters managed a faint smile, then turned to Tri. ”Let’s go!”

Tri followed him, recognising the start of an assignment. But were they really going… out there? Right into the ongoing carnage? It seemed that way. Winters ran first, with Tri close behind still attached to the leash. The main fighting was slightly further ahead now, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have to frequently dodge incoming shells or dive into water-filled craters to avoid being hit by shrapnel or bullets. This was the first time Tri had been running towards the combat. It was terrifying.

The distance to what had until now been a German set of trenches was short, but it felt like they had ran across the entirety of France before Tri and Winters finally reached them. They dived into the deep first trench and Tri went straight to look for shelter. He was no good for running if he was dead, and knew he had to hide until he was released. Dodging raining shrapnel and running soldiers, he darted towards something that looked like a dugout and leapt inside. Winters was close behind. “Good boy.” he said and patted the dog’s head. This was a fairly large dugout, where several soldiers had apparently been holding out until they had been forced to flee. Another couple of British men were also inside, and had taken a moment to inspect their enemy’s quarters. Not that there was much to inspect. If anything, it appeared that ‘the hun’ had been even worse off than their British and French counterparts in terms of food and supplies. There was simply not much of anything here. “Almost makes ya feel sorry for ‘em…” said one soldier.

“But only almost.” replied another, sternly.

They all remained in the little room for a while, until the shouting, screaming, and gunfire had become more muffled. They then peeked out from the hole and once they saw the coast was clear, they stepped back into the trench and began to follow the narrow path, towards the sound of the battle. They had to step over many dead, mutilated bodies on the way... It was strange how quickly some of the living had learned not to care or to bother with the dead. How quickly a man's empathy had been replaced by the only instinct that truly mattered in the end - the absolute will to survive.

The path forward continued in similar fashion for much of the day. The British army advanced incredibly fast, meeting little resistance from the enemy. In fact, many of them gladly surrendered or simply refused to fight. Spirits were high with the British soldiers, and they kept on going and going until they were brought to a halt some eight miles from their starting point at Soinnet. They had captured more territory today than any other day in the past year. And even though everyone were exhausted and even though everyone still knew that this was not the end of the war - indeed, they knew that their high command were still planning war resources for years to come - they allowed themselves a brief moment of optimism. Both sides seemed to quietly agree that today’s battle was over, and the guns gradually grew silent. Tired soldiers settled into their new quarters, and some spent the evening rummaging around for supplies or equipment left behind by Fritz. They also hoped that their supports would arrive tomorrow, as they had moved so far ahead that they were out of reach of their own artillery - this left them rather exposed out here. Winters, having been caught up in the excitement of the day, had almost forgotten about his task. Once he realised, he quickly jotted down a message and attached the metal cylinder he had been carrying to Tri’s collar. “Now it’s your turn, old boy. Sorry you had to come so far with me. I meant to let you go sooner, but we just kept moving! Let’s get you some water before you go...”

After quenching his thirst, Tri felt ready for his assignment. The light was already fading and he was eager to get going before dark, to at least have some chance at navigating the tricky terrain ahead. The village was a faint silhouette in the distance, but a few lights were flickering there, and Tri fixed his eyes upon them. He would make it. He would absolutely make it. It wasn’t that far… His heart was pounding and his breathing shallow, and he tried to collect his thoughts while he awaited his command. Ignore the shouts, ignore the mud. Run. Just run. Run and don’t get killed. Run and don’t get killed.

“Go find!”

Tri bolted forwards like a fired bullet and practically flew across the ground, surprising even himself considering how tired he was. He remembered much of the terrain from when they had crossed it the first time, and knew where to steer clear of bundles of barbed wire or deep trenches.

The fog from earlier had never really cleared, and was now growing thicker again. The smoke from the cannons didn’t help, and it was nearly obscuring the lights from the village now. Tri felt a new sense of urgency and tried to run faster, but his legs were too weary. Panting, Tri had to slow his pace to a lumbering canter. He dodged the edge of another deep crater and avoided running right into a tank stuck in the deep mud. Then he saw a silhouette ahead - it was not a man or an object, but another dog. At first he hoped it was Ginger or Nell, but the shape didn’t really match either of them. This was a larger dog, a German shepherd. Tri slowed down to a walk and, despite his better judgement, decided to approach.

“Hello?” he said.

The other dog didn’t respond. It seemed to be wandering around aimlessly, limping with one paw lifted close to its chest.

“Hey!” Tri tried again. “Are you all right?”

Now the stranger seemed to have noticed him, and froze. Tri took a few steps towards him, but the other dog cowered and growled.

“It’s okay.” Tri said. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

As he got closer, he got a better look of the stranger and could see what poor condition he was in. The shepherd had injured his leg severely, and he had dark blood stains on his face and back. He was also wearing a torn white saddle adorned with a red cross - he was an ambulance dog! Tri had never met one before, but had glimpsed them in the trenches between assignments. This one seemed lost. And he wasn’t doing work either. The wails and screams of the ones left behind were... dying down… Tri took another step forward, but this only made the other dog growl louder, and he bared his teeth. He barked a warning in a language that Tri couldn’t understand. Tri backed off, and began to wonder if this dog might belong to the enemy. He hesitated. But, regardless of anything, this was a dog like himself and it was a dog who clearly needed help. Also, Tri wasn’t about to leave someone behind ever again. He owed Bat that much…

“We can go together, if you come with me?” he said, trying to sound as friendly as he could.

The other dog growled again and snapped at him as Tri attempted to approach again. Startled, he stepped back, but he could see tears in the shepherd’s eyes.

“I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“No!” barked the other dog. “Bleib mir fern!”

“I want to help you.” Tri had made up his mind, and approached again. The shepherd growled and took a few limping steps backwards, tail between his legs and head held low.

“Bleib mir fern!” the shepherd yelled, in what sounded more like a desperate howl than a threat, when suddenly something - or someone - pushed Tri away onto the ground and snarled:

“STAY AWAY!”

It was Ginger. He had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and he stood between Tri and the shepherd, hackles raised and muzzle wrinkled to bare his great teeth. The shepherd dog, taken aback, yelped, fell, quickly back got up and ran limping into the fog, soon disappearing. Ginger growled until he could no longer see the white saddle. Then he turned to Tri, with genuine concern in his eyes.

“Are ye alright!?” he, more or less, shouted.

Tri rose to his paws and shook the mud out of his fur. “I’m fine.” he said. “Where did you…?”

“Thank the stars I found ye in time. That was one of Fritz’ dogs! Could’a eaten ye whole! They’re nothin’ but vicious, brutal killers! They’re barely even dogs…” Ginger’s voice had lowered to a growl as he gazed into the fog, to make sure that the vermin didn’t come back.

“Really?” replied Tri. “I didn’t think…”

“If ye see one ye have ta’ run! Run or fight! They kill because they can, because they enjoy it! They’re not gonna spare yer life, so ye’re better off taking theirs first!” Ginger snapped at the air, as if to demonstrate how to best deal with an enemy dog.

Tri stared. He had never seen Ginger so… aggressive before. He wasn’t sure he liked it.

“Well, let’s get goin’ home. I’ll keep ye company.”

Tri nodded, and they set off across the field once more. The rest of the run was uneventful, but Tri was relieved to finish his assignment. The day had been long, and he had a feeling that tomorrow would be just the same.

Back at the kennels, where Nell, Sprint and Notch were waiting, Ginger recounted how he had bravely rescued Tri from the jaws of the enemy. Tri rolled his eyes at the story, which Ginger had… embellished somewhat. But Nell berated him for being so close to getting hurt.

“You can never take chances out here.” she said. “Especially not with the enemy.”

“But he was injured, and he was scared, and I--”

“Don’t be so naïve, Tri.” Nell’s eyes narrowed in that scary way that they did when she didn’t approve. “They will use any trick in the book. Never let them get close - they never show mercy and they never play fair.”

“That’s right!” Ginger chimed in.

Tri sighed. He knew there was little point in trying to argue on this matter and turned to step into his kennel and sleep. Yes, surely Ginger and Nell knew what they were talking about, and Tri didn’t doubt that their enemy was vicious, but… out there in no man’s land, he hadn’t seen a savage killer - he had seen a frightened, lost dog, just like himself. Many thoughts swirled in his head that night.