He gives out a few medals and chats to one or two of the soldiers. Then we are marched off.
Afterwards we talk about it. So that was the supreme commander, the head of them all, says Tjaden in amazement. Absolutely everyone has to stand to attention in front of him, whoever they are. He thinks about it. Even Hindenburg has to stand to attention in front of him, right?
He certainly does, confirms Kat.
Tjaden isnt finished yet. He ponders for a while, and then asks, Does a king have to stand to attention in front of an emperor? Nobody is quite sure, but we dont think so. They are both so high up that proper standing to attention doesnt apply.
You dont half talk some nonsense[223], says Kat. The main thing is that you know when to stand to attention.
But Tjaden is completely fascinated by it. His imagination, which is not usually very fertile, starts to work overtime. Now just a minute, he announces, I really cant believe that an emperor has to go to the lavatory just like I do.
You can bet your life he does, laughs Kropp.
And if you take away the number you first thought of, then Bobs your uncle, adds Kat by way of explanation. Tjaden, the lice have got to your brain the best thing you can do is get to the latrines yourself and come back when youre thinking straight and not talking like a kid.
Tjaden clears off.
There is one thing Id like to know, though, says Albert, and thats whether there would still have been a war if the Kaiser had said no.
Im sure there would, I put in. After all, they say that he didnt want to fight at all at the beginning.
Well, if not just him, then perhaps if, lets say twenty or thirty people in the world had said no?
Maybe not then, I admit. But they all did want a war.
Its funny when you think about it, continues Kropp. Were out here defending our homeland. And yet the French are there defending their homeland as well. Which of us is right?
Its funny when you think about it, continues Kropp. Were out here defending our homeland. And yet the French are there defending their homeland as well. Which of us is right?
Maybe both, I say, though I dont believe it.
Well then, says Albert, and I can see that he is trying to drive me into a corner, our teachers and preachers and newspapers all tell us that we are the only ones with right on our side, and lets hope its true but the French teachers and preachers and newspapers all insist that they are the only ones in the right. How does that figure?
I dont know, I reply, but at any rate there is a war and every month more countries want to take part.
Tjaden comes back. He is still worked up and joins in the debate again straight away by asking how a war starts in the first place.
Usually when one country insults another one badly, answers Kropp, a little patronizingly.
But Tjaden isnt going to be put off. A country? I dont get it. A German mountain cant insult a French mountain, or a river, or a forest, or a cornfield.
Are you really that daft or are you just pretending? grumbles Kropp. That isnt what I mean. One nation insults another Then I shouldnt be here at all, answers Tjaden, because I dont feel insulted.
Its hopeless trying to explain anything to you, says Kropp with some irritation, its got nothing to do with a yokel like you.
In that case I can certainly go home, then, insists Tjaden, and everybody laughs.
Come on, it means the nation as a whole, that is, the state calls out Muller.
The state, the state Tjaden snaps his fingers dismissively military police, ordinary police, taxes thats your state. If you want anything to do with that lot, thanks very much, but leave me out of it.
Thats true, says Kat, youve got something right for once, Tjaden; theres a big difference between a homeland and a state. But they do go together, says Kropp after a moments thought. You cant have a homeland without the state.
Right, but just think for a minute we are almost all ordinary people, arent we? And in France the majority are workers, too, or tradesmen or clerks. Why on earth should a French locksmith or a French shoemaker want to attack us? No, its just the governments. Id never seen a Frenchman before I came here, and most of the Frenchmen wont have seen one of us. Nobody asked them any more than they did us.
So why is there a war at all? asks Tjaden.
Kat shrugs. There must be some people who find the war worthwhile.
Well Im not one of them, grins Tjaden.
No, and nor is anybody else here.
So who, then? persists Tjaden. Its no use to the Kaiser. Hes got everything he needs anyway.
No, you cant say that, counters Kat, up to now he hadnt had a war. And all top-grade emperors need at least one war, otherwise they dont get famous. Have a look in your school history books. Generals get famous because of wars, too, says Detering.
More famous than emperors, agrees Kat.
And I bet there are other people behind it all who are making a profit out of the war, grumbles Detering.
I think its more a kind of fever, says Albert. Nobody really wants it, but all of a sudden, there it is. We didnt want the war, they say the same thing on the other side and in spite of that, half the world is at it hammer and tongs[224].
They tell more lies on the other side than our lot do, though, I put in. What about those leaflets the POWs had on them, where they said that we eat Belgian babies? People who write things like that ought to be strung up. Theyre the real villains.
Muller gets up. Anyway, its better that war is here than in Germany. Just have a look at no mans land.
Tjaden voices his full agreement. Thats true. But it would be better if there were no war at all.
He walks off, proud to have got the last word over us high-school recruits for once. And in fact his views are typical enough out here, you meet them time and again, and there is no real argument that you can put up against them, because they override any understanding of wider issues. The feelings of nationalism that the ordinary soldier has are expressed in the fact that he is out here. But it doesnt go any further; all his other judgements are practical ones and made from his own point of view.
Albert lies down on the grass in annoyance. Its better not to talk about the whole damn thing.
Doesnt change anything, anyway, agrees Kat.
On top of it all[225], we have to hand in nearly all the new things that we were issued, and we get our old gear back. The good quality stuff was only for the troop inspection.
Instead of going to Russia we go up the line again. On the way we pass through what is left of a wood, with half-blasted tree-trunks[226] and the ground looking as if it had been ploughed up. There are some massive craters. Christ, this place took a pounding, I say to Kat.
Mortar fire[227], he replies, and then points upwards.
Dead men are hanging in the trees. In one of them a naked soldier is squatting in the branches; his helmet is still on his head, but otherwise he has nothing on. There is only the top half of him up there, a head and body with the legs missing.
What happened there? I ask.
Blown out of his uniform[228], grunts Tjaden.
Its funny, says Kat, but weve seen that a few times. When a trench mortar goes off you actually do get blown out of your clothes. Its the blast that does it.
I look around. It really is true. In some trees there are just bits of uniform, others have a bit of bloody pulp that was once a human limb sticking to them. There is one body which only has a scrap of underpants on one leg and the tunic collar around the neck. Otherwise it is naked. The uniform is hanging in the nearby trees. Both arms are missing from the body, as if they have been wrenched out of their sockets. I come across one of them in the undergrowth twenty paces away.
The dead man is lying on his face. The earth is black from the blood underneath the arm sockets. The ground is scuffed by his feet, as though he went on kicking for a while.
Its no joke, Kat, I say.
Nor is a bit of shrapnel in the guts, he says with a shrug.
The main thing is not to let it all get to you, adds Tjaden.
All this cant have happened too long ago, because the blood is still fresh. Since all the soldiers we find are dead we dont hang about there, but just report the business at the next dressing station. After all, theres no reason why we should do the donkey work for the stretcher-bearers.
A patrol has to be sent out to establish how many of the enemy positions are still manned. Because Ive had leave, I still feel a bit awkward as far as the others are concerned, and for that reason I volunteer to join it. We agree on a plan of action; crawl through the wire, and then separate, so that we can move forward independently. After a while I find a shallow crater and slip into it. I take a look at things from there.
The area is being covered by moderate machine-gun fire. They are sweeping it from all sides, and the fire is not very heavy, but still enough for you to make sure you keep your head well down.
A Verey light goes up. The terrain looks barren in the pale glow. By contrast, it seems so much darker when the night closes in again. They told us back in the trenches that there are supposed to be black soldiers in the opposite trenches. Thats bad, because they are hard to see, and besides, they are very good at reconnaissance patrols[229]. Curiously enough, they can often be just plain careless. Both Kat and Kropp have been on patrols where they have shot black soldiers out on counter-reconnaissance[230] who were so keen on cigarettes that they were smoking as they moved along. Ah Kat and Albert had to do was to get a glowing tip in their sights and aim at that.
A small shell whistles down and strikes close to where I am. I hadnt heard it coining and it gives me a real fright. At that moment Im overcome by mindless panic. Im out here on my own in the dark and night is helpless for I know two eyes have already been watching me for ages from another shell hole and there is a hand-grenade just waiting to blow me to bits. I try to pull myself together. This isnt my first patrol and it isnt even a particularly dangerous one. But it is the first one Ive been on since I was on leave, and on top of that the terrain is still pretty unfamiliar to me.