Veteran's story

　　My name is Ludwig Schroeder and I am a post-war veteran.

　　On December 3, 1917, I responded to the call of the Empire and joined the army as part of the 18th Army of the Prussian Legion, the day before I joined the army, I had just come of age.

　　When I first joined the army, the 18th Army was still in a state of rest, which prevented me from being immediately sent to the front, but war is war after all, and no one can avoid it. Not long after, the rest of the 18th Army was sent to the front line to fight, my squad leader told me that we were about to leave for the front, the squad leader treated me very well, by the way, he was a veteran of the Battle of Verdun, so I admired him.

　　Two days later, my infantry division received an order from above to immediately leave the garrison and go to the front.

　　I was very excited on the bumpy train, when I was just an adult, I did not understand the dangers of the battlefield, and my heart was full of thoughts of killing the enemy and serving the country, and now I think about it is really naïve and ridiculous.

　　After a few hours' drive, our division reached a small city, small but now crowded with soldiers from various units, perhaps more than its peacetime inhabitants.

　　After getting off the train, we immediately left the station under the leadership of the commander to make way for the troops who came behind.

　　After walking for a while, we seemed to have reached our destination, the company commander asked us to rest in place, and then each platoon leader and squad leader went to the company headquarters for a meeting, and the cooking squad began to cook on the fire.

　　After dinner, the squad leader came back and told us that we had to live here today, that each squad could find an empty room nearby, and that tomorrow we would leave on foot to the front line.

　　It was getting dark, and the comrades in the same class went out to have fun, they hoped to find the French girls who had not yet left this small city, and then something happened with them, they made an appointment with me, but I didn't want to go, because this was a serious violation of military discipline, I even found the squad leader, wanted him to order his comrades to come back, but the squad leader just smiled, and told me that tomorrow he was going to go to the battlefield again, I don't know if a few of us can come back alive, let them go.

　　I was very angry when I heard this, a soldier should have the appearance of a soldier, bullying civilians will insult the glory of the soldier, but I am too weak to make them give up this idea, so I can only use silence as a weapon.

　　I don't know how long it took, but they returned, and I learned from a few words that they had not found the French girl, and that there were only countless soldiers in the entire city. I was a little glad that they didn't tarnish the word soldier, but I was a little unspeakably worried, why were so many soldiers gathered in the city? At the same time, I am a little looking forward to the fact that tomorrow I will really step on the battlefield, and I will soon be able to fight for the great Second Empire!

　　With such mixed feelings, I slowly fell asleep.

　　The next day, before dawn, the squad leader woke me up and told me to have breakfast immediately and prepare to go.

　　I looked at the other comrades-in-arms suspiciously, it stands to reason that they usually get up later than me, why did they all get up so early today?

　　After hurriedly eating breakfast, sorting out my weapons and backpack, I set off with the squad leader towards the square where the troops were assembled.

　　The square where the assembly was assembled was so large that our entire infantry division stood in line without looking crowded.

　　In front of the line was a rostrum on which stood our division commander, Mr. Division, who was giving an impassioned speech on the pre-war mobilization, and I, like some other recruits, listened enthusiastically, and I couldn't wait to go to the death to fight the French, but strangely the veterans behaved indifferently.

　　After the division commander's lecture, the team began to walk out of the city in an orderly manner, and the sound of artillery could already be heard clearly in the distance, I didn't know where we were going, and the squad leader just smiled and said to go where we should go, to where the whole of Germany wanted.

　　Although I couldn't understand what the squad leader was saying, I felt great - no matter where I went, it was good that I could go to the battlefield and make meritorious deeds.

　　This damn ridiculous thought wasn't dispelled until I actually stepped into battle, right, so where is the place to make a difference? It's hell there.

　　Actually, I've always been bold and not afraid of the dead, but if you go to the damn battlefield for the first time, I swear you'll sit on the ground in fear just as I am.

　It's not shameful, when there is only red in your eyes, when you may go to God in the next second and you don't know how you died, I think the hand called fear will also die to grab your heart and pull your foot.

　　I didn't wake up until I was slapped in the face by the old squad leader and pulled into the trench, and I trembled and told the squad leader that I was going home, I was going to get out of this damn place. To the back I just repeat the phrase: why fight?

　　The squad leader listened quietly, then took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one and took a puff, and lightly told me his story, he said: "The rest of this infantry squad is actually considered a recruit, and before I went abroad, I was the only veteran of this squad, and I became the squad leader." When we first entered the war, we were all like you, full of loyalty and righteousness, full of thoughts to kill the enemy and serve the country, and when we really arrived on the battlefield, we were all dumbfounded, and we did not expect that war would be so cruel. The old squad leader scratched his head, and continued: "Just so stunned, the brothers died several, the old third head was burst by a bullet, the old fourth was shot twice in the chest and died immediately, the old seventh is quite strong." Saying that, the squad leader laughed twice: "Hehe, he was shot several times, but he didn't hit the point, spitting blood foam in his mouth, and struggled for a long time." The squad leader rubbed his eyes and continued: "That was our first time on the battlefield, and 7 of the 11 brothers died. We agreed that whoever is alive will take care of the dead family, and now I am the only one left, and I have been replenished several times in succession, and many people will die every time they fight. "

　　The squad leader took out a book from his pocket, looked at it carefully, and then looked up and said to me: "There are already 34 dead people in this squad, and the dead people in our squad can be formed into a platoon, and the other soldiers of our squad have signed here, and if someone else dies, they will take care of his family, so you can sign it too." "

　　After saying that, he handed me the book, I took out the pen in my pocket, signed my name heavily, and then returned it to the class leader. After carefully putting away the book, the squad leader asked me: "Now you know why you are fighting, right?" "

　　I nodded, and the squad leader pulled me up and leaned out of the trench and pointed forward: "In that direction, there is a city, it is called Paris, we have died hundreds of thousands of millions of brothers, if nothing else, just want to enter that city to take a look, now it is in front of us, do you want to go home or go there, choose yourself!" "Then I threw down my rifle and joined the rushing crowd.

　　I was stunned for a while, wiped my tears, picked up my gun, learned from the people around me, and rushed forward with a roar...