midday
Whereas the allied batteries continued to thunder away , the fire from the Orientals became irregular and sporadic . `` Celebrating their victory beforehand , '' the French commander remarked bitterly to his chief . Loomis nodded . `` And getting careless , too , '' another of the Staff added as he saw one of the enemy 's detonator bombs disintegrate three or four hundred acres of a Mongolian base encampment fifty miles to the northwest and shoot it a monstrous blazing rocket twenty or thirty miles into the midday sky . By twelve forty-five the enemy 's barrage had fallen completely all along the line . Our battery nevertheless continued until the set time but elicited no answer . Exactly at one General Loomis with two aides stepped into his air-car .