The Underdogs

Author:Mariano Azuela
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

XXI

The deafening sound of rifle fire diminished and began to fade. Luis Cervantes got his courage to stick his head out of his hiding place, amid all the rubble, at the highest point of the hill.

He barely knew how he had gotten there. He was not certain at what point Demetrio and the men around him had disappeared. He had suddenly found himself alone. Then, seized by an avalanche of infantry, he was knocked off his saddle. He had been trampled, and when he had finally straightened up, a man on horseback had come by, grabbed him, and thrown him over the horse’s rump. But shortly afterward the horse and the riders all hit the ground, and Luis Cervantes found himself in the middle of white clouds of gun smoke and whizzing bullets, not knowing where his own rifle or revolver were, nor what had happened. And the trench where he now found himself, protected by crumbling adobe, was the safest hiding place he had seen.

“Comrade!”

“Comrade!”

“My horse threw me and I was jumped upon by the enemy. They took me for dead and took my weapons . . . What was I to do?” a saddened Luis Cervantes explained.

“I was not thrown by anyone . . . I am here as a precaution . . . Know what I mean?”

Alberto Solís’s mocking tone made Luis Cervantes blush.

“Oh, heavens!” Solís exclaimed. “Your leader is quite a fine man! What daring, what presence of mind! Not just me but many other well-traveled men were left gasping with astonishment.”

Luis Cervantes, confused, did not know what to say.

“Ah! Were you not there? Bravo! You must have found a safe haven just in time! Listen, comrade. Come closer, let me tell you all about it. We were advancing over there, behind that summit. Note that on that side of the slope, near the foot of the hill, the only accessible route is the one we had in front of us. To the right the slope is extremely sharp, cut almost vertically, and any maneuvering in that direction is impossible. On the left it is even worse: the drop is so dangerous that one false step and you fall and roll and are shredded against the sharp edges of the stones. Well then. One section of Moya’s brigade, we get down on the slope, our chests to the ground, set to attack the first trenches of the Federales. The bullets are whizzing by, passing just over our heads. The fighting has broken out everywhere. Then there is a moment when they stop firing on us. We thought that another group must be attacking them vigorously from the rear. So we get up and rush the trenches. Ah, comrade, you cannot imagine the scene at that point! Up and down the slope it is a veritable tapestry of corpses. The machine guns did all the work.1They literally swept us all away, leaving only a few of us able to escape. The generals were livid, and hesitated as to whether they should order a new charge with the reinforcements that had just arrived.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.