Chapter 236 Doomsday Carnival
The Ypres front is already full of fun.
They lit rows of candles at the edge of the trench and cleverly set up engineering shovels to block the wind. Under the flickering candlelight, someone played the accordion. A large group of soldiers gathered around, including British, French and German soldiers.
They sang popular Christmas songs from various countries to the rhythm of the accordion. Those who couldn't sing just hummed along with the rhythm, sang and danced, and even took out the treasured wine in their arms to share.
In the no-man's land between the positions, on a relatively flat piece of land, the soldiers drew a football field, used torches as the boundary, pulled out barbed wire to form the goal, and tied up a ball of straw as a football. Players from both teams ran and competed happily on the field.
Captain Claude was the referee on the field. The whistle originally used to order attacks was perfectly transformed into a football whistle. He even used paint to make red and yellow cards.
Watching the "players" on the field running at full speed and the "audience" outside cheering loudly, Captain Claude felt a little bitter.
He understood that such happiness was nothing more than a "doomsday carnival".
"Maybe I will die in fear and helplessness tomorrow. Why not die of exhaustion now? This is actually a kind of happiness!"
This may be a reflection of everyone's inner thoughts.
Why did fate force them to this point!
At this time, Lieutenant Denis trotted over and stopped Captain Claude who was following the "player", and leaned forward to whisper a few words.
Captain Claude's face changed, and he raised his head to the guard not far away: "Barre, come and take my place!"
Hearing the sound, Barre stepped forward and took the whistle from Captain Claude.
…
Captain Claude hurried into the tunnel that served as the headquarters. He shook hands with a thin soldier and asked expressionlessly, "Is what you said true? Are they going to execute the killing order against us?"
"Yes!" The soldier nodded. "The order has been issued to Dunkirk. They need to spend some time discussing this issue with the British because the British army is also involved. It must be reorganized at the same time to be effective."
Then the soldier nervously suggested: "Captain, let's resume the battle..."
Captain Claude shook his head slightly and interrupted the soldier. He said sarcastically: "If we resume the battle, how many people will die in two days?"
Everyone was silent.
Judging from the previous casualty rate, there will be at least dozens of casualties in two days.
The lottery order may only select a dozen people.
Judging from the numbers, it is a good deal, so Captain Claude will of course choose the kill order.
Lieutenant Deni was anxious: "But the killing order is a shame for the soldiers, Captain, we will lose everything..."
Captain Claude saw it clearly: "For a dead man, does this still have any meaning?"
"But who should we choose?" asked Lieutenant Deni.
The most cruel thing about the beating order was that it allowed the soldiers to choose who would be executed.
"Count me in," Captain Claude replied calmly.
Everyone was stunned. This was not an honorable thing to do, but the captain still rushed to the front as usual.
Just as the tunnel was in a depressing atmosphere, a signalman suddenly came into the tunnel and reported excitedly: "Captain, do you know who is here?"
"Who?" Lieutenant Denis asked, with a trace of panic in his eyes. Could it be that the infantry gendarmerie had arrived?
The expressions of the other people in the tunnel also changed, only Captain Claude silently took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
It seemed as if he had given himself a death ultimatum and no longer cared about anything. It would only be a matter of dying a few days earlier.
"It's Charles, Charles is here!" the signalman said excitedly, "Can you believe it? Charles is here to inspect us, and I heard he will bring us turkeys!"
There was a hint of surprise in the eyes of the people in the tunnel, but they still didn't say anything. They all thought of the same question: Did they send Charles to execute the killing order?
"What's wrong, guys?" the signalman asked in confusion.
"Nothing!" Captain Claude replied expressionlessly: "Where is he? Take me to see him!"
"Yes, Captain!" the signalman responded.
…
Charles did two things before he came:
The first was to have Dejoka purchase the roasted turkeys and contact transportation to send them to Ypres in batches.
The second was to contact General Winter in Dunkirk and ask him to delay the infantry gendarmes who were about to set off for Ypres.
General Winter was successful, and his reasons were legitimate: "The British army also participated in the truce. If there is no joint punishment, the effect may not be obvious. In addition, although Ypres is the Allied defense line, it is Belgian territory. Should we ask His Majesty Albert I for his opinion?"
So this is not just a French issue, but an international issue involving Britain and Belgium, and it cannot be negotiated so quickly.
In addition, the unclear situation at night might lead to a mutiny, so the infantry military police consulted the headquarters and decided to take action after daybreak.
Charles arrived in Ypres at around five in the morning. He did not notify anyone on the front line before arriving and only brought a guard squad with him.
Charles understood that if he informed the front line in advance that he was coming, it would be dangerous.
The German military would be overjoyed: the front line was already in an undefended state, and soldiers from both the enemy and our side could walk into the enemy trenches at will. At this time, Charles was actually patrolling the front line?
They just need to send a few assassins to the front line and wait, and when they see Charles, they will raise their guns and go forward, and then not only can they kill Charles, but they can also restore the state of war...
Gallieni also knew this, so he strictly ordered that no one in the command center who knew the news was allowed to step out of the command center, and telephone and telegram access were also under strict control.
…
When Charles, Laurent and a squad of guards appeared at the Ypres front, none of the soldiers coming and going recognized Charles. They even looked at these "uninvited guests" with vigilance.
Charles followed the communication trench into the front line. When passing a rest area, he saw a group of soldiers gathered around an accordion, singing and dancing in the candlelight. There were both German and French soldiers, and their rifles were casually placed aside and even mixed together.
A drunk German officer came up and invited Charles to the "dance floor". Laurent reflexively stepped forward and pushed him down, pulling out his revolver and pointing it at the German officer.
The other guards also rushed forward, raised their rifles and protected Charles in the middle as if they were facing a great enemy.
"Hey, relax!" A French soldier stood up from the crowd and said, "Merry Christmas, gentlemen. You're new here, right? It's truce time now, understand? Truce!"
Charles stepped forward and ordered Laurent and the guard to put down their guns.
The French soldier looked Charles up and down with an incredible look: "Hey, Colonel, you look... a lot like Charles, I met him once in Paris. God, they look exactly the same!"
Charles didn't say anything, just stared at the signalman quietly.
The sound of the accordion suddenly stopped, the noisy singing and dancing disappeared, the air seemed to freeze, and everyone's eyes were focused on Charles, including the German officers and soldiers.
(End of this chapter)
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