Chapter 24 Chapter Four Brisk Walking

According to its origin, the battalion of the 91st Regiment belongs to the "Iron Brigade".Sannok was originally the location of the headquarters of the "Iron Brigade" brigade headquarters.Although the railway traffic from Sannock to Limburg, and even north to the front line was not interrupted, I don't understand why the staff in the Eastern Theater Command called the "Iron Brigade" and the brigade headquarters put the advance battalion a hundred miles away from the front. At this time, the line of fire was stretching from Brody on the Bugo River northward along the river bank towards Sukauer.

During this period, the division headquarters issued new orders.Exactly where the 91st Regiment should go must be determined now, because according to the new arrangement, the route originally taken by the 91st Regiment was changed to the advance battalion of the 102nd Regiment.Things are extremely complicated.The Russians were retreating rapidly in the northeastern corner of Galicia, so that part of the Austrian army was disturbed there.In some places, German troops also wedged in like wedges, and the newly arrived advance battalion and other troops in front made the situation even more confusing.A similar situation occurred in the war zone some distance from the front line. Just like here in Sannock, a group of German troops-the reserve team of the Hannover Division suddenly came.Their commander was a colonel, so obnoxious-looking that the commander of the "Iron Brigade" got a headache when he saw him.The colonel of the Hannover Reserve Corps proposed a plan drawn up by his headquarters, according to which the soldiers of the Reserve Corps should live in the local elementary school - and the soldiers of the 91st Regiment had already lived there; The house in the Sannock branch of the Bank of Coco was allocated to his headquarters—and that house was occupied by the headquarters of the Iron Brigade.

The brigade commander directly got in touch with the division headquarters, and he reported the situation to the division headquarters. The grumpy Hanoverian also talked to the division headquarters. As a result, the "Iron Brigade" received such an order: You are restricted to travel in the afternoon of the same day. Withdrew from the city before six o'clock, drove to Tulowa Volska-Riskovitz-Strasso-Sanpur, and waited for instructions.The advance battalion of the 91st Regiment should accompany them as a cover.Therefore, the vanguard should set off in the direction of Tuluowa at 5:30 p.m., and the covering troops on the north and south wings should maintain a distance of two miles.The rearguard should be drawn out by 6:15 p.m.

When the preparations for the march according to the official plan were completed, the brigade commander, who had been skillfully driven from his quarters by the colonel of the Hanover reserve, called the battalion together, formed into square formation as usual, Then he addressed them.He likes to talk very much, and he can talk about whatever comes to his mind.When he had nothing to say, he suddenly remembered the post office in the battlefield. "Soldiers," he yelled, "we are now marching towards the enemy's line of fire, which is only a few days away. So far the army is always on the move, and you have no chance to inform your relatives and friends of your address, only Notification, you can enjoy the joy of receiving letters from relatives in the rear.”

He seemed to be unable to get himself out of this train of thought, and he kept repeating such words: "your relatives and friends", "relatives in the rear", "wife and lover" and so on.Anyone who heard his speech would think that as long as the military post is organized in front, these soldiers in brown uniforms will immediately go to the battlefield willingly, thinking that even if a soldier has both legs blown off by shells, as long as he remembers his The military P.O. number was seventy-two, and the thought that there might be a letter from home waiting for him, and maybe even a package containing a piece of corned beef, a bit of bacon, and some home-baked biscuits, he would have Die happily.

After the brigade commander finished speaking, the band at the brigade headquarters played the national anthem, and everyone cheered three times for the emperor.Then, the group of "beasts among humans" who were destined to be sent to a slaughterhouse somewhere beyond the Bugo River was divided into several detachments and set off one after another in accordance with the instructions received. The Eleventh Company pulled out at 5:30 and headed for Tulowa Volska.The soldiers were in disarray after a short walk, because they had rested on the train for so many days, and now their limbs were sore when they walked with all their equipment on their backs, so everyone tried their best to find ways to make themselves lighter.They kept switching their rifles from side to side, mostly plodding with their heads down.They were all thirsty, for although the sun had set it was still as sultry as noon, and their water-cans were dry.They know that this discomfort is only the first taste, and the greater pain is yet to come.Thinking of this, everyone is even more unable to exert energy.They were still singing for the first half of the day, but now they can't hear the singing at all.They expected to spend the night at Tulowa Volska, and asked each other how far it was.

Estimated to spend the night in Tulowa Volska?They were all dead wrong. Lieutenant Lukasch called Chudonsky, supply sergeants Wannik and Schweik.The instructions for them are simple.Tell them to hand over their equipment to the ambulance squad and hurry across the fields to Mari-Podanik; then follow that river south-east to Liskowitz. Schweik, Wannik, and Chudonsky were in charge of arranging the camp, and setting up a place for the whole company, who would arrive in the next hour or less, to spend the night in an hour and a half.Wannik wants to be assisted by Schweik.Prepare a pig for the whole company according to the amount of meat stipulated in the military regulations.The meat must be stewed that night, and the place where they live must be clean.Don't want those wooden huts infested with lice and bugs, so that the team can have a good night's rest, because the next morning at 6:30 in the morning the whole company will start from Riskowitz towards Krusenko on the road to Strassol.

As the three were setting off, the parish priest appeared.Among the soldiers he distributed a leaflet bearing a hymn printed in the languages ​​of the various nations in the army.He had a whole bag full of hymns like this, which had been left behind by a high-ranking dignitary in the church, accompanied by several young women, when he was driving through devastated Galicia in a car. Tulowa Volska has plenty of huts.Before long the huts were filled with leaflets. In the village where they were supposed to find camp for the company, it was pitch black, and all the dogs barked together.As a result, they had to stop their progress so that they could study how to deal with the beasts.

The dog was biting more and more fiercely, and Schweik yelled into the dark night: "Get down, you beast, don't get down!" Schweik yelled as he did to his own dog when he was a dog dealer.This made the dogs bite even harder, so Vannik, the sergeant, said to the sergeant: "Shuaik, don't yell at them! Otherwise, you'll make all the dogs in Galicia want to bite us." The huts were lit, and they knocked on the door of the first hut to find out where the village chief lived.They heard a shrill woman's voice inside the house, saying in a language that was neither Polish nor Ukrainian that her men were fighting the war ahead, that her little children had smallpox; It's gone, saying that before her man went to the front line, he told her not to open the door no matter who called at night.It was not until they knocked louder at the door, repeating that they had been ordered to find a place to camp, that an invisible hand opened the door and let them in.They found out that it was the official residence of the village chief.

The mayor wanted to convince Schweik that the shrill woman's voice was not faked by him.But it didn't work out.The village chief explained that whenever his wife was suddenly woken up, she would talk nonsense and didn't know what to say.As for finding a place to camp for the whole company, he said that the village was so small that there was not even a place for a soldier to stay.There was no place for them to sleep, and nothing to buy; the Russians took everything.If the boss wanted to, he suggested taking them to Kruchenko, which was three quarters of an hour away.There are many large estates there, and there is no place to worry about camping.Every soldier can be warmly covered with a sheepskin.

There are many cows there, and the soldiers can fill their lunch boxes with milk, and the water is good there, and the officers can rest in the mansion of the owner of the land.But here in Liskowitz it was a poor, dirty place full of lice and bugs.He once had five cows himself, but they were all taken by the Russians.As a result his own child fell ill, and he had to go all the way to Krusenko to get some milk. In order to confirm what he said above, several cows in the cowshed next to the hut lowed.Then the shrill woman's voice could be heard cursing the unfortunate animals, wishing they all had cholera and died.But the sound of the cow did not bother the village head.Putting on his goloshes, he said: "The only cow we have here is a neighbour's, and that's the one you heard barking just now. It's a sick cow, sir, a poor beast. The Russians took his calf." It was stolen. Since then, it has not been milked, but the owner of the cow is very sorry for it. He will not kill it, because he hopes that the Holy Mother will restore everything one day." While speaking, he wore a sheepskin coat casually. "Boss. Let's go to Kruzenko now," he went on. "It's only three quarters of an hour from here. No, oh, what am I talking about, old bastard!—not so far, not even half an hour." No need. I'll cut short, cross a small river, and go through a birch forest when I get to an oak tree. It's a big village, and their baijiu is strong. Let's go now, boss, don't waste any more time Yes. The officers and soldiers of your famous regiment must find a suitable and comfortable place to rest. The officers and soldiers who fought against the Russians under the command of our king and emperor must find a clean place to spend the night. But our village Lice, bugs, smallpox, and cholera. Three people in our unfortunate village died of cholera yesterday. Sir, the wrath of the most merciful God has brought disaster on Liskowitz." At this moment, Schweik waved his hand majestically. "Boss," Schweik said, imitating the village headman's voice, "where is the nearest tree?" The mayor did not understand the word "tree," so Schweik explained to him that a birch tree or an oak tree, or a plum or peach tree, or anything with strong branches, for example.The mayor said that there was an oak tree in front of his hut. "Very well, then," said Schweik, making a hangman's gesture that anyone could understand, "we'll hang you right in front of your hut, because you must know there's a war going on and order us to Spend the night here, not at Krusenko or anywhere else. You can't change our military plans, and if you try, we'll hang you." The mayor trembled.He stammered, willing to do his best for the gentlemen.Since they must live in this village, perhaps they can manage to find a place that will make them live in everything they like.He said, go and bring a lamp at once. Then they all went into the village, escorted by a large pack of dogs. They looked around for a place to camp, and saw that Liskowitz was not a small place, but the war had really ruined it badly.In fact it was not destroyed by artillery fire, because neither side miraculously included it in the scope of operations.But on the other hand.Refugees from nearby devastated villages have all crowded into this place.In some wooden sheds, eight families live there.A robbery caused by the war had wiped out their belongings, and now they had to endure such a miserable life. As a last resort, part of the company had to live in a ruined small brewery at the other end of the village, where the fermentation room could hold half the people.For the rest, each group of ten people will live in some farms.These rich farm owners do not allow those poor and low-class people to live in. Those refugees have been robbed of their furniture and belongings, and now they are beggars. Even all the officers of the headquarters and the supply sergeant Wannik, the orderly, the telephone operator, the ambulance squad, the cook, and Schweik lived in the priest's house.The place there is very generous, because the priest does not take in refugees who have nothing in their families. The priest was a tall, gaunt old man in a faded and oily cassock.He is so stingy that he eats almost nothing.His father taught him a deep hatred of the Russians from an early age.When the Russians were here, there were a few bearded Cossacks living in his house, and they didn't touch chickens or geese.But after the Russians withdrew, the Austrians came and ate up the chickens and geese.Then suddenly his hatred of the Russians disappeared.When the Hungarians came to the village and took all the honey from his hive, his dissatisfaction with the Austrian army deepened.Now, after glaring at these nocturnal travelers for a while, and pacing up and down in front of them, he actually shrugged his shoulders with dignity and said: "I have nothing. I'm naked. You don't even have a piece of bread." Can't find it either." In the courtyard of the small brewery behind the rectory, a fire was burning under the iron pots used for the field kitchen, and water was bubbling in them, but there was nothing to put into the pot.The food sergeants and cooks looked for pigs everywhere in the village, but they couldn't find any.Everywhere I went, I got this answer: The Russians took everything and ate it all. Later they woke up the Jews in the tavern.He smoothed the curls on the sides of his head, and looked very sorry that he couldn't meet the customer's request.But at last he persuaded them to buy one of his ancient cows, a relic from the last century, a skinny and ugly thing that was about to kick its legs, and all that remained was the skin and bones.He demanded a high price for such a terrible thing.Pulling the curls on both sides of his head, he swore that they would never find such a cow even if they searched all over Galicia, all of Austria and Germany, all of Europe, and all of the world.He even cried and said that this is the fattest cow born into the world according to the will of Jehovah.He swears by his ancestors that people from all over the world have come to look at this cow, and the four villages talk about this cow as a legend, and to be honest, it is not a cow, but the best of all steers of.At last he knelt down before them, and, taking turns with his hands on their knees, cried, "You may kill me, poor Jew, if you please, but you must buy this cow before you go. " The Jew howled so loudly that everyone was deceived, and the rotten piece of meat, which no horse-butcher would have accepted, was dragged into the iron pot of the field kitchen.After the Jew had put the money safely in his pocket, he was still weeping for a long time, lamenting that for selling such a strong cow so cheaply, they almost broke him and destroyed him, and he was only a beggar. lived.He begged them to hang him, for he had done such a foolish thing in old age that his ancestors could not close their eyes in their graves. The cow caused them a lot of trouble.They felt sometimes that they would never be able to peel off its skin.When they tried to peel it off, they could only tear the skin apart, and under the skin were tendons that looked like dry ropes twisted together. During this time, they did not know where to get a bag of potatoes, so they began to cook this pile of old beef tendon and old beef bones in despair, and they were still trying their best to use this old beef bone rack to piece together a pot for the officers. A meal, but this too is an utterly futile effort. All who came into contact with the poor cow--if such a monster could be called a cow--could never forget it. Moreover, if in the battle of Sukauer in the future, the commander mentioned Liskowitz's bull to the officers and soldiers, it seemed that the 11th Company would roar angrily, raise its bayonet and charge towards the enemy.This cow is such a joke that it can't even cook any broth.The more the meat is cooked, the tighter it sticks to the bone, and it becomes a hard piece, as indifferent as an official who has spent half his life gnawing on official documents and programs, full of files and files. Schweik worked as a correspondent between the company headquarters and the kitchen, and informed them so that everyone would know when the meal would be ready.Finally Schweik told Lieutenant Lukasch: "Sir, no, that cow's meat is so hard it could cut glass. The cook tried to take a bite out of the meat, and he broke his front tooth." At this time, it was decided that it would be best to let everyone sleep before eating, because anyway, there would be no supper until the next morning. Chudonsky, the telephone operator, was burning a piece of church wax in the kitchen, rushing to write a batch of letters to his wife to save himself trouble later on.The first letter is written like this: My dear, dear wife, my beloved Baozan card: It's night time now, and I'm thinking of you a lot.My dear, you must miss me when you look at the empty half beside the pillow.Please clarify that I have thought of many things from this connection.Of course you know I've been at the front since the cane was opened.Many of my partners were injured and went home to recuperate. I heard from them that when they went back, they knew that some villains had set the example of their wives.It was worse than death.Dear Bozanka, I am writing this, and I am in pain. If you hadn't told me that I was not the first man to be close to you, there was Mr. Claus before me. I would not have written this way. of.He lives on Nicholas Avenue.In the night bowl, when I think that this demolition party may mess with you, dear Baozanka, I think I can calm his head down on the spot.I haven't mentioned it for days, but my heart aches when I think of him chasing you again, so I'll tell you, I don't allow my wife to mess around like a bitch and embarrass me .Dearest Bhazanka, I speak the truth, but be careful not to let me hear your nonsense.If I hear anything, I'll kill you both, because I can do anything.Life is also willing to fight.Kiss you a lot.Greetings to our parents.Your own Tony. Another backup letter reads: My dearest Baozanka: By the time this letter was written, we had already had a big stick fight.I am very happy to tell you that we are left.We shot down ten enemy flying chickens and a general with a runny nose.The cannonball was flying over my head, and when I was most nervous, I thought of you——dearest Baozanka, thinking of what you were doing and how your family was doing recently.I'll never forget the time we went for a beer together and you took me home and you were exhausted the next day.Now we have to start again and can't write any more.I hope you didn't steal the man, because you know I won't agree.But we are going to set off again now, kiss you more and wish you all the best.Your own Tony. At this point, Chudonsky began to doze off.Soon, he fell asleep on the table. The priest was not asleep.He patrolled the house, pushed open the kitchen door, and, for the sake of economy, blew out the remains of church wax that was burning brightly at Chudonsky's elbow. No one was asleep in the dining room except Lieutenant Dub.Supply sergeant Wannick received a new supply regulation from the brigade headquarters stationed in Sannock, and is studying it carefully.He found that the closer the army was to the front line, the less rations were distributed.He couldn't help laughing when he saw that one of the regulations forbade saffron and ginger in soup for soldiers.The regulations also mentioned that the bones must be collected, sent to the military depot, and transferred to the division storehouse.This line is very vague, and it is not clear whether it is human bones or bones of other slaughtered animals. In the morning, when they left Liskowitz for Strasso and Steinbuff, they took the poor cow with them in an iron pot used in the field kitchen.The cow was not yet cooked, so they decided to cook it as they went along the way.They were scheduled to eat the cow at a stop between Liskowitz and Strasso. Before setting off, black coffee was served first. Lieutenant Dub spoke to the company like a dream come true.His lengthy speeches made everyone feel more tired than the equipment and rifles on their backs.The speech was full of profound truths like this: "The general soldier's feeling for the officer enables him to make incredible sacrifices. It doesn't matter much whether this feeling is genuine in the soldier; in fact, It can be said that it has nothing to do with it, because if this kind of feeling is not sincere, it can be forced anyway. This kind of feeling is not an ordinary feeling, there is respect, fear, and discipline in it." Schweik was always walking on the left, and when Lieutenant Dub was making his speech, he kept turning his face to the lieutenant's side, as if he had been ordered to "Look to the right!"Lieutenant Dub didn't pay attention at first, and he went on: "This discipline, this obligatory obedience, this obligatory affection of the soldier to the officer is very clear, because the relationship between the soldier and the officer is very simple. One obeys and the other gives orders. We often read in military science books that every soldier should learn the straightforwardness and simplicity of a soldier as a virtue of a soldier. Every soldier, whether he likes to Not willingly, he must have a deep affection for his superior officer. The superior officer must be a perfect example in his eyes, with a firm and unshakable will." Speaking of this, he noticed Schweik's fixed posture of "looking to the right".He felt suddenly and disturbedly that his speech was getting more and more incomprehensible, that the subject of a soldier's supposed affection for a superior officer was a dead end, and he was anxious not to find a way out.Then he yelled at Schweik: "Why are you staring at me like that?" "Sir, I am carrying out orders, as you yourself commanded me. You said that I must keep your mouth on your lips when you speak. And, as every soldier should have affection for his superior, Carry out all his orders, and always remember..." "Don't lose face!" Lieutenant Dub yelled. "Stop staring at me like that again, you brainless fool!" Schweik turned his head and "looked to the left".He walked side by side with Lieutenant Dub, so rigid that at last Lieutenant Dub yelled at him again, "I'm talking to you, why are you looking that way?" "Report sir, I am carrying out your order, look to the left." "For God's sake!" Lieutenant Dub sighed. "You're such a troublemaker! Shut up and go to the back row, I don't want to see you!" So Schweik went to the back with the ambulance squad.He dawdled slowly until he reached the place where they rested.Here we finally get a little soup and meat from that miserable cow. "This cow," said Schweik, "should have been soaked in vinegar for at least a fortnight. Whoever bought this cow should have soaked it like that." A correspondent rode up from brigade headquarters with new orders for the eleventh company.In order to be able to get to Fellerstin, their route was changed again: they no longer passed through Volaritz and Shampur, because there were already two regiments from Poshan stationed there, and they could no longer live there. Lieutenant Lukasch immediately issued an order, ordering the supply sergeants Wannik and Schweik to find a place for the company to camp in Fellerstin. "Shuaik, be careful not to make trouble on the road," said Lieutenant Lukasch. "The most important thing is to behave well with everyone you meet." "Report sir, I do my best. But this morning when I dozed off, I had a nasty dream. I dreamed that in the hallway of the house where I lived a washtub was bubbling water all night. The hallway It's all water, and it soaked up the ceiling of the house, and the landlord told me to move right away. It's funny, sir, that sort of thing did happen. In Carlin, just behind the railway bridge..." "Shuaik, I tell you, you'd better stop talking nonsense. Look at this map and help Wannik find the route. After leaving the village, you keep to the right until you come to a river. Then Follow the river until you come to the second village. From there, you will come across a small river on your right hand, which is a tributary of the previous river. From there, cross the fields and go straight north. , we arrived at Fellerstin. You will find it, remember?" Schweik thought he remembered.So he set off with the supply sergeant Wan Nick according to these instructions. Just after noon, the fields were languid in the sun.The pit where the soldiers' bodies were buried was not covered with good soil, and there was a rotten smell blowing in the wind.They were now in an area where fighting had taken place during the attack on Polizmysr, and several battalions had been machine-gunned here.In several small jungles by the river, the destruction of artillery fire can be seen.Patches of flat land or hillsides that used to be overgrown with trees now have jagged roots sticking out of the ground.On this wasteland, there are trenches vertically and horizontally. "It's not quite like Prague here," said Schweik, and the silence became more and more uncomfortable.After a while, he said again: "After the war, the harvest here will definitely be right. They don't need to buy any bone meal. The whole regiment will rot in the fields, which is very good for the farmers. No shit Not as fat as this one. It reminds me of Lieutenant Hrubb. He was in the barracks at Carling, and everyone thought he was a little silly, because he never scolded us, and never got angry with us. We reported to him one day that our rations of bread were no good and that any officer would throw a tantrum at us if we dared to complain about the food, but he didn't. Oh no he didn't. He just called the soldiers Come, let them stand round him, and talk to them as civilly as you can.'First,' said he, 'you must remember that the barracks is not a delicatessen, and you can buy pickled eels, sardines in oil, and all kinds of sandwiches. ’ he said, ‘every soldier should have enough brains to eat his ration without complaint.’ And he added: “Just think about it, we are at war.Well, after a battle is over and you are buried, no matter what kind of bread you ate before you died, it doesn't make the same difference to the land. ’ he said, “Mother Earth has taken you apart anyway, and eaten you with your boots. Nothing can be spoiled. From your skulls grows a new piece of wheat, which can be used for others Soldiers making bread rations. Those soldiers probably complained like you did, except that someone would handcuff and fetter those soldiers and lock them up for maybe a day, because that man had the right to do that.' He He also said: "So I made it clear to you, and I want you to remember that no one is allowed to come here and complain. '" Shuike looked around at the scene at this time. "I think we're on the wrong track," Schweik said. "Lieutenant Lukasch made it very clear to us. We have to go up and then down, turn left and then right, then right again, then left again. But we're going straight now. I think There is a crossroads ahead, and if you ask me which way to go, I think we should take the one on the left." At the crossroads, Supply Sergeant Wannick insisted that the road to the right should be taken. "Anyway, I'm going to take the left," Schweik said. "My way is more comfortable than yours. I'm going to walk along this creek with glass grass. If you want to wander in the heat, please do so. I'll follow Lieutenant Lukasch's instructions to us." He said we couldn't go wrong. So I'm going to walk slowly across the fields, picking flowers along the way." "Shuaik, don't be a fool," said the supply sergeant Wannik, "you can see from the map that you should take the road to the right as I said." "Maps are wrong sometimes," replied Schweik, walking down the hill to the creek. "If you don't believe me, Sergeant, and if you believe your own ideas, then we'll have to go our separate ways and meet you at Fellerstin. Look at your watch and see which of us gets there first. If you're in danger , just shoot the sky, so I know where you are." In the second half of the day Schweik went to a small pond and came across a runaway Russian prisoner bathing there.Seeing Schweik, he ran away naked. Under the willow tree lay a Russian military uniform, and Schweik wondered how he would look in that uniform.So he took off his uniform and put on the uniform of the unfortunate naked prisoner who had escaped from the escort stationed in a village beyond the forest.Schweik really wanted to take a look at his face in the pond.He lingered by the pond for a long time, until he was discovered by scouts looking for the escaped Russian prisoner.The scout was Hungarian, so despite Schweik's protests they took him to the military post in Chiluva, where he was locked up with a group of Russian prisoners and sent to repair the road to Polizmysr. railway. It happened so suddenly that Schweik did not find out what had happened until the next day.Some of the captives lived in a school classroom, and Schweik wrote on the wall with a piece of charcoal: Josef Schweik, the messenger of the 11th advance company of the 91st Regiment (originally from Prague), slept here .He came out to find a place to camp for the company, but was mistakenly captured by the Austrians near Fellerstin. ---------------- ⑴ refers to the king of Austria, who is also the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.