【百科事典】ウィキぺディア第2096刷【Wikipedia】
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== 前スレ ==
【百科事典】ウィキぺディア第2095刷【Wikipedia】
http://lavender.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/hobby/1552722359/l50
http://lavender.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/hobby/1552725444/l50 記事の増加は尽きるとも
粋にサクラのポップは尽きまじ Sakurapop7っていい名前だな、Sakurapop7に使われるのが惜しいぐらい ポップ「このままでは済まさん…お前も消滅せよ、メドローア！ >>522
それはあるな
自分で考えたか知らないがセンスはいい ブロック依頼提出、26分後にコメント
何回も釘を刺されてるのにほんと人の話聞いてねえな uncomfortable for those who have displeased him. Now I do not care to
stay under his command if I can get away from it, and there is but one
course, as far as I know, by which I can avoid his anger and perhaps
regain the reputation of being a good soldier and one not likely to
disgrace the flag. There is, as we all are aware, a war against savages
going on at this moment in Tonquin. I mean to volunteer to go thither;
it will be easier to campaign against Black Flags, who will kill me
if they can and whom I will kill if I am able, than to suffer in a
camp of hell in the desert, where one cannot resist nor even complain.
Better, far better, will it be to march and fight, even to starve and
die, like a soldier in an enemy's country than to live a life worse
than a convict's in some one of those awful cantonments where even the
native soldiers are discontented and restless. You all have heard,
as I have, of the woes of poor soldiers in such places. The officers
and sub-officers are hard enough here--I mean no offence to our own
corporal, he has always been good comrade to his squad--but there they
are veritable demons, there they carry revolvers by day and by night,
and, if a sergeant should lose his temper and shoot a simple soldier,
there is no redress, there is no punishment, unless the dead man's
comrades themselves take a just vengeance on the murderer. And then
there will be executions and deprivation of pay, and the last state of
the company will be worse than the first. Again, in those places, where
not even our poor amusements and relaxations are possible, where one
can enjoy neither wine nor the society of women, men go mad and men
commit suicide, and men deliberately break the laws in sheer despair, Sumaru「いいか、慌ててコメントすると立場を悪くするぞ。絶対に慎重にな」
〜30分後〜
さくポ「1年は言い忘れ！ノートで話し合ったから削除依頼提出も問題なかった！」
全員「（アカンわこの人……）」 この脊髄反射コメントが命取りになる気がする
あほすぎるわ ふと思ったけどくさかがほぼ失踪してるせいでコーディネーター不足になってるのかな and, worst of all, men die lingering deaths from settled melancholy,
thinking always, as they cannot help thinking, of home and former
friends and the pleasant, happy days of youth. But I, for my part, will
not, if I can avoid those places, go thither to starve, to mope, to rot
alive, and to die--hopeless, friendless--for there men are not friends
but only associates--with a curse upon my lips and heavy anger with God
and man in my heart. No; rather will I volunteer for Tonquin. There I
shall be, if no better, at least no worse than thousands of others who
are fighting bravely, and are ready, if need be, to bravely die."
When Nicholas stopped speaking an Alsatian said: "I too will
volunteer." That was all; Alsatians are not inclined to talk much,
but they are good, hardworking, steadfast men in action. If you are
fighting and an Alsatian is your comrade, your rear-rank man let us
say, don't be a bit afraid to go forward, the Alsatian will be always
there, backing you up. They are not men who are anxious to lead a
bayonet charge, but they won't refuse to follow, and where they go they
generally stay, for just as they don't begin an advance they won't,
on the other hand, begin a retreat. Put a Parisian, a Gascon, or a
Breton at the head of a company of Alsatians and you have practically
resurrected a company of the Old Guard.
There was some confused talking after this. Nicholas, the Alsatian,
and I kept out of the conversation, smoking our pipes in quiet
contemplation of the rest; the corporal of the squad was seated on his >>530
言うのを忘れてたｗｗｗｗ
「今後一切（今後一切とは言ってない）」みたいなノリそのまんまだな >>520
これがヤシーの書いた記事相手なら「馬鹿久または模倣」で即時存続
下手すりゃ依頼ページのほうが即時削除ものだよなｗ camp-cot, a cigarette between his lips, looking with a cynical smile at
the Russian. At last it was decided--all the squad would volunteer. As
soon as the corporal found that we were unanimous he seized his kepi
and ran out of the hut without uttering a word save: _Bons soldats,
bons camarades_. We learned afterwards that he rushed straight off to
the captain and told him of our decision. This was welcome news, as
all the officers were chafing and fuming because they had not been
selected for the front. I may here mention that our corporal was the
first to gladden the captain's heart and bring him some hope of gaining
glory and promotion, and, when the captain got the chance of giving
promotion, our corporal exchanged the two red chevrons on his sleeve
for the single gold one of a sergeant.
Well, when the others heard of this, there was much earnest
conversation and still more earnest gesticulation in the little camp.
All were excited; the desire to get away from the punishment stations,
the eager wish for change, the natural impulse of soldiers to put
into practice the teaching of the drill-ground and the manoeuvres,
all combined to render the men anxious to follow the example of our
squad. Before we went on duty that night my company had volunteered
to a man, and, when we dismounted guard in the morning, we were not a
whit surprised to find ourselves relieved by native troops, for that
told us that we had guessed aright and that No. 4 Company, our friends
and erstwhile foes, had thrown in their lot with us and would be our
_compagnons d'armes et de voyage_. We were very glad of that. Together >>536
目的が同じとはいえ奴と違って一応まともな依頼文考えてるんだから同列にしちゃいけない we were a half battalion, a weak one, it is true--the mound on the east
and the hospital held so many of our comrades--but still strong enough
to demand and command respect.
While we were enjoying our morning soup the officers of the company
came round. How different everything was then compared with the day
before! The captain, a bronzed, heavy-moustached man, whose military
career had not been very successful--he was a good soldier and a good
officer, but he had made the great mistake of falling in love, as a
_sous-lieutenant_, with his colonel's wife, and the colonel, now a
general, had not forgotten--was in great good humour. He remembered
our crime, only to laugh at it, and said that the men who could give
so good an account of themselves against the heroes of No. 4 were
just the soldiers he wished to lead into action. He told us to be
very careful. If we misconducted ourselves again the company might be
distributed amongst the four battalions of the other regiment of the
Legion, and that would be bad for us and bad for him as well. "Let us
only be allowed to remain together," he said. "We shall all go out to
Tonquin, and then there will be plenty of excitement, and promotion
must come." He was thinking, I suppose, of his own disappointments. It
must be very hard on a man to be passed in the race by others who were
boys at school when he was wearing a sword; why, the commandant of the
battalion was younger than he. The other officers were also pleased;
the lieutenant a handsome fellow of twenty-five or so, was anxious to
get his company; the sub-lieutenant, a stern, hard-featured man of forty, who had risen from the ranks, was quite satisfied to go to a
place where he might have a chance of picking up unconsidered trifles.
Ah! _ces vieux militaires_ are the quietest and most thorough-going
pillagers in the world. Nothing comes amiss to them--they could teach
even Cossacks how to loot--and how they manage to keep this loot and
get it safely home to wife or mistress--for they have always a woman
on their private pay-sheet--I cannot for the life of me imagine. They
do it, however, and they are not only in the Foreign Legion or in the
French army--you will find them in every army, nay, in every regiment
in the world.
Well, the sergeants and corporals were well pleased too. They kept us
for all that under strict discipline until the day we found ourselves
aboard the transport at Marseilles. But I am anticipating.
At about five o'clock in the evening both companies were paraded and
inspected just as on the day before, but there was a great change in
the colonel's manner. He was not over friendly with us, but he did not
abuse or threaten. He called us sharply to attention, and then said:
"Every man in the front rank who wishes to volunteer for Tonquin will
march one pace to the front; every man in the rear rank who wishes to
volunteer for Tonquin will march one pace to the rear. Volunteers,
march!" At once the ranks separated. All in front stepped one pace
forward; all in the rear took one pace backward. He walked down between
the ranks, saw that all had volunteered, took up his former position 堕落の初版記事に対する削除依頼、死ぬほど陰湿だけどネガキャンとしてはかなり効果的ですね in front of us, and ordered us back to our original formation. "All
have volunteered. I am well satisfied. Dismiss the parade, monsieur le
commandant."
For some time after we were busy getting ready to leave Three
Fountains, and no one was sorry when we presented arms to a detachment
of zephyrs that came to take our place. As soon as they had returned
the compliment we fell into marching array in columns of fours, wheeled
to the left, passed by the flank of the zephyrs, saluted the Turcos
of the main guard at the gate, and stepped out on our first march
northward. Truly, we were glad to leave behind the cantonment of Three
Fountains and its associations. Always fond of change, we dropped our
sadness, the sadness which one cannot choose but feel when leaving
behind for ever even one's temporary home. Before we had finished the
first league spirits were as high, laughter as gay, jests as plentiful
as on my very first march, when with the other two hundred recruits I
went from the depot to the battalion. Normally the two companies should
be about five hundred strong, but death and the doctor detained so many
that I do not believe we were quite four hundred all told. However,
at the depot, which we reached in good time, doing a fair day's
march every day, we received additions to our numbers--self-styled
recruits, really men who had learned more than a little of soldiering
in other armies, and whom ill-luck or bad character or desire of French
citizenship had driven or induced into the Foreign Legion. At the depot we received our outfit for the East. The kepi was
exchanged for the white helmet, lighter underclothing was served out
to us, all clothing and footwear was renewed, and I may say without
boasting that when, fully five hundred strong, we paraded for the
last time before entraining for Oran, in order to hear the farewell
address of the depot commandant, we presented as smart and soldier-like
an appearance as any commanding officer could wish to see. The depot
commandant made a short speech, shook hands with our commanding
officer, wished him and us _bon voyage et prompt retour_, and then,
with the band at the head of the column, we marched out of the gate,
saluting the guard as we passed, amidst the ringing cheers of the
veterans and recruits left behind. When we were safely in the train
all discipline was at an end: we shouted, cheered, laughed and sang,
and so began our journey to the land where more than half my comrades
lie--as quiet as the Greek and the Portuguese under the little mound on
the eastern side of the mud huts of _Trois Fontaines_.
CHAPTER X
On a beautiful summer morning we marched down to the quay to join the
transport that was to carry us and five or six hundred others to our destination in the East. All was bustle, excitement, and confusion
for some time, but matters quickly arranged themselves, and, when the
last of the stores had been safely stowed away, we marched in single
file up the gangway and stood to attention by squads on the deck. Each
squad was led off by its corporal to the place assigned to it, and in
a short time our quarters looked for all the world like a barrack on
shore, save that one saw no bed-cots there. Our rifles and equipments
were put in their proper places, the roll was called below for the last
time, we were reported "all present and all correct," and then we were
allowed to troop up on deck, to get our last glimpse of the land that
many of us would never see again. As the ship cast off, we raised a
cheer which was responded to by the people on the quay, a band ashore
struck up the Marseillaise, the Frenchmen first, and then we others
of the Legion took up the refrain, and thus amid cheering, singing,
and waving of helmets and handkerchiefs we started on our voyage to
Tonquin. There were not many friends of those aboard weeping on the
quay; we legionaries had none, and the Frenchmen were zephyrs--that is,
men of bad character who had been assigned to convict battalions, and
their friends, no doubt, were not over sad about their departure. There
were some ladies and children who were affected, but they belonged
to the officers--the sub-officers and the men had no friends, no
relations, no home, one might say, save the barrack, the cantonment
hut, the tent, or, as at the time, the troopship. Well, so much the
better: having nothing to lose but life, and that as a rule a wretched
one, we should be the more reckless when recklessness was needed, and the French generals took care that we, the zephyrs and the legionaries,
were put in the fighting line as much as possible and that the good
men, the respectable soldiers, should only come into the fray when the
burden of the fight was over and when we others were so spent with
toil that reliefs were absolutely necessary. Let no one misunderstand
me. I do not wish to convey that the French soldier or officer shirks
danger; on the contrary, I believe Frenchmen to be amongst the most
daring soldiers in the world and the most cheerful under hardships, but
the generals did not see any good in putting worthy citizens, future
fathers of respectable families, into the most dangerous positions
when they had ready to their hands men who bore so bad a reputation
as the zephyrs and the legionaries gathered from every country under
the sun. They were quite right in this, but all the same we might
sometimes, just once in a while, have been allowed to dawdle along with
the reserve instead of being continually on the jump where the bullets
were. Of course, though we grumbled, we were proud too that the most
difficult and most dangerous work fell to our share.
For the first couple of days out I was very sea-sick, but the horrible
_mal-de-mer_ in the end passed off, and I was able to take an interest
in things around me as before. I don't mean to say much of the life
aboard. Such a tale would be only a recital of troubles and grievances,
but troops on a transport cannot expect a very pleasant time. One thing
we were glad of--there were no women and children aboard. The veterans
told us why we should rejoice at this, and any man who has travelled on a troopship with women and their babies will easily guess the reason.
The worst part of the voyage was while we were going through the Red
Sea. There one loathed his morning coffee and growled at his evening
soup. The dull, deadly, oppressive heat in that region almost killed
us. We lay around, unable almost to curse, and the soldier who finds
himself too weak to do that, must be in a very bad way indeed. Only
once in the Red Sea did we show signs of life. It was when a French
troopship passed us on her way home with sick and wounded from the
war. The convalescents crowded on her deck and raised a feeble shout.
We cheered heartily in reply, and we kept up the cheering until it was
impossible for them any longer to hear. We pitied them, poor devils.
How they must have in turn pitied us, going as we were to the wretched
land where they had left behind health and many good comrades, and
where we too should pay our quota of dead and receive our quota of
wounds and illness. Anyway the sight of them roused us for a time, but
we quickly fell back into the languor induced by the excessive heat.
Here let me make a remark which may be of interest to many. We
legionaries had men, as I have already said more than once, from
every country in Europe, and from some outside of it, and one might
imagine that men of different nations would be differently affected
by the heat, aggravated, as it was, by cramped quarters and wretched
food. Well, I cannot single out any country whose natives endured the
discomfort better or worse than the others, but there were undoubtedly
two classes of men aboard, one of which was far more lively, far less given to grumbling, and altogether possessed of more buoyancy and
resilience of temperament than the other. These were the men of fair
complexion. All the fair-haired, blue-eyed soldiers seemed to be able
to withstand bad conditions of living more easily and better than their
dark-complexioned comrades. I offer no explanation of the fact, but I
noted during the voyage for the first time, and afterwards I had many
opportunities of confirming my original impression, that fair men are
superior to dark ones in endurance and in everything connected with
war except the actual fighting; with regard to that, complexion does
not count. I have noticed in fever hospitals that the black moustaches
far outnumbered the reddish ones; in a field hospital there was never
such a disparity. I cannot say that other observers agree with me. I
merely put on record a thing that I noticed and that produced a deep
impression on me, but I never mentioned it to my comrades, nor shall I
now write down the various speculations with regard to men and nations
that I was led by it to indulge in. All I say is: I thank my stars that
my moustache is rather red--that seems to me a token of endurance, if
not of strength.
In due time we arrived off Singapore, and put in there. I must now
mention a few incidents of our stay in that harbour; they were, indeed,
the chief events of the voyage.
The reason why we put into Singapore was that coal had run short, and
the captain of the troopship did not like to go on to Saigon with the small supply left. Those of us who did not know that Singapore
belonged to Great Britain soon learned the fact, and more than one
eagerly desired to get clear of the ship to land, and thus regain his
freedom. Now, I am no apologist for desertion. I think it a mean and
cowardly crime, but, if there be any excuse for it, surely many of
ours must be held excused. Remember that we were foreigners in the
French service, that many of ours had had good reason to flee from
justice in their own countries, that we all had a bad reputation with
our officers and our French comrades, and, above all, that recent
events--the fight at Three Fountains and the morbidly suggestive mound
at the east side of the camp there; the ugly fear of a horrible desert
station and the intolerable heat of the Red Sea--had made many men
think anxiously, constantly, longingly of getting away, at a stroke as
it were, from ugly memories and gloomy forebodings begotten of them.
Men don't desert from their colours without grave reason. Even the
most flighty man will think twice and thrice before taking the risk of
the court-martial that awaits detection or recapture. Moreover, in our
case sentries with loaded rifles were on duty at all points; one would
imagine that not even a rat could leave the ship unnoticed.
Well, the vessel was brought near the wharf and two gangways were run
out, one for the coolies carrying in the full baskets, the other for
the coolies going out with the empty ones. These coolies carried their
baskets on their heads, as you often see women carrying loads in other
countries. As each one passed the bunker he tipped the contents of his basket in, and then went under a little archway, and crossed out by the
second gangway for a new load. Now there was one man of my company--a
Bulgarian--who was under confinement for some slight offence against
discipline, and, as the heat was almost unbearable, he had been brought
up by the guard--acting with the commandant's permission, be it well
understood--and allowed to sit under this archway during the heat of
the day. I was the nearest sentry to him, being placed at the outgoing
gangway, and one of my orders was to watch this man. Like many other
orders I remembered this one only in order to be able to repeat it to
the officer of the day, and never imagined that there was any necessity
of caring more about it. I was mistaken.
As the coolies passed under the archway, a good deal of coal dust
accumulated there. This dropped from the baskets, which they often
carried mouth downward in their hands, when empty. The prisoner had a
vessel of water, and this he carefully mixed with coal dust until he
had enough to stain all his body black. I must mention that part of
his little apartment was screened off from view by a half-partition,
and while in this recess he could be seen only by the coolies as they
passed through. Here he undressed and carefully blackened his person,
and then, watching a favourable opportunity when my attention was
completely taken up by a dispute on the quay, he throttled a coolie
passing through, forcibly seized his basket, gave him--as payment, I
suppose--a knock-down blow on the point of the jaw, and started for the
gangway. This he gained unperceived by me. Half-a-dozen steps carried him ashore, and once on British soil he was safe from all arrest. He
flung the basket on the ground, and at once ran at his utmost speed
towards the town. A cry from those on shore called my notice to the
running man, and I knew at once, by his size and carriage, that the
Bulgarian had escaped. The moaning of the coolie, who was rapidly
coming to after the sudden and savage assault on him, was another
intimation that I had of the escape. I was put under arrest at once,
and kept in close confinement until we reached Saigon, but the officer
in command did not punish me further. The ingenuity displayed by
the deserter was so evident, that no one blamed me very much for
being taken off my guard and allowing a wrong man to go ashore, and,
moreover, as we neared Tonquin, all thought more and more of the
fighting and less and less of punishing a man who was not flagrantly in
the wrong. Of course, there was no chance of recapturing the Bulgarian;
he had reached foreign soil, and there is no act of extradition
affecting men guilty of merely military offences. It was well for him,
however, that my eyes were turned towards the dispute on the quay; all
the blackening would scarcely have deceived me, and I should have shot
him dead on the gangway before he could have time to reach the land.
For all that I was glad that he got safely away, for, though a man will
do his duty no matter how disagreeable it may be, yet he is not at
all sorry when he misses the chance of doing such duty as mine would
have been, had I noticed the runaway in time. Further on I shall have
occasion to mention the case of another deserter, a man who deserted
from a certain European army to French soil, and it was strange--oh, very strange--that neither the French nor the other sentries could
hit him at less than a hundred yards' range, while he was making a
desperate rush across the strip of undefined territory that marked the
frontier.
Some other incidents occurred at Singapore, but, as I was under arrest,
I can only speak of them as I heard about them from my comrades. After
the Bulgarian's escape a far stricter watch was kept--double sentries
were posted--but to a determined man nothing is impossible. More than
one was found absent at morning roll call, and at last it became
evident that, in some cases at least, connivance on the part of a pair
of sentries had permitted the escape. If a man once got down into the
water, he was practically free. Certainly a shark--and sharks do abound
in these waters, and especially in the harbours, where they pick up all
sorts of garbage--might cross his path, but there was not much danger,
as the distance to the land was so small. No one of ours, as far as
we could know, was caught in such a way. One, however, was caught by
something almost as bad, but I must give a new paragraph to describing
the hero of the tale before I begin the story about him.
The man I refer to I have already mentioned in connection with the
negotiations between the companies after the fight at Three Fountains.
He was the Italian that held the same leading place in the deputation
from No. 4 Company as Nicholas the Russian did in ours. Without
education--I don't believe that he could write his name--he possessed a fund of shrewdness and a faculty of quick observation that made him
more than the equal of scholars--and many men of good education were
in our ranks. Not at all desirous of a quarrel, he was pre-eminently
one to avoid fighting with, for in a row he forgot all about his own
safety and seemed not to care what hurt he received so long as he
hurt his enemy, and any weapon that lay at hand would be used by him
without hesitation at the time or remorse or shame afterwards. A smart,
clean, active soldier; yet he was always getting into trouble and
disgrace, now with his corporal, at another time with the sergeant of
the section, but never with the officers. Fellows said that he belonged
either to the Mafia or the Camorra, but opinions were divided as to
whether he came to the Legion to avoid arrest by the Italian Government
for crimes committed in the course of business or punishment from his
association for treachery or some other offence against their laws.
Anyway he was with us, and though not liked, still respected; though
we did not fear him, yet we took good care to let him alone. He was
not a man--to his credit be it said--who interfered with others. Why,
then, should others interfere with him? About five feet five in height,
of carriage alert rather than steady, with quick, black eyes, dark
complexion, small, black moustache, regular features and even, white
teeth, he was certainly one to attract anyone's attention, especially
a woman's. He was very cynical with regard to the sex, not valuing
woman's fondness much, but, all the same, so long as he was a girl's
lover he allowed no poaching on his preserves. He sang well--French
songs as well as Italian--and played on more than one musical instrument, his favourite one being a small flageolet, and with this
he lightened more than one weary hour for us on shipboard. He never
told anyone, I believe, of his intention to desert. I fancy he was too
cautious for that. When he did go, no sentry connived at the business,
for, even had our men been doing duty, not one of us cared so much for
the Italian as to risk a court-martial for his sake.
I must here remark that the legionaries had been relieved of sentry
duty, as so many of them had gone away without even bidding good-bye
to anyone. The French soldiers, the zephyrs, were now doing all this
duty; and they did it so well, I must admit, that no man got clear
away while they were on the watch--at least until the Italian left
the ship--but his absence was not a long one. All our coal had been
taken in, and the vessel had moved away from the wharf out into the
harbour, so that it lay about 200 yards from shore. The sentries must
have thought that no man would be so mad as to attempt to swim such a
distance, since the water was full of sharks, and in all probability
their vigilance had decreased. The morning after the ship had moved out
the Italian did not answer at roll call, and it was at once assumed,
and truly, that he had escaped, and, as no cry from the water had
been heard by the men on duty, that he had got safely to land. Before
the hour of departure the French consul came off in his own boat, to
see the officers of the ship and of the troops. This, of course, was
natural, but everyone was surprised to see him, as soon as he gained
the deck, rush forward with malicious joy in his eyes to greet the commandant.
"Ah, mon commandant, I have a present for you."
"Thanks, thanks, my friend; how you are good!"
"A most charming present. I bring you a friend whom you most earnestly
desire to see."
Leaning over the side he shouted out some orders to his sailors, and
they, going under an awning at the stern, carried out the Italian
bound hand and foot. How the commandant cursed him; how the Frenchmen
smiled and jeered; how we, his comrades, felt sad that our worthy
comrade should have been caught almost on the threshold of liberty!
_Camaraderie_ overcame all other feelings, and we pitied the poor
wretch, for we guessed that a court-martial would have little mercy
on a soldier, especially a soldier of the Legion, captured in the act
of deserting from his company while on the way to the seat of war. As
for the Italian, he was calm and collected, but, if he were free and
had a knife and were within striking distance of the commandant, that
officer would surely have had an end put to his cursing on the spot. In
a moment the Italian was brought aboard and at once sent down to the
prisoners' quarters, where he found several comrades, myself among the
number, eagerly speculating on the noise and confusion above. As soon as the guard had gone away someone asked the Italian what the
noise on deck was about. He answered sharply:
"About a better man than you--about me."
None of us cared to put any further questions; Cecco was in very bad
humour indeed. However, in about ten minutes he told us all, saying he
had slipped over the side of the vessel when four sentries had come
close enough to chat--this, you must remember, meant only the approach
to one another of two posts, as all sentries had been doubled--that he
had been in the water for about three minutes when he came close to
a boat, which he boarded; that, like a fool, he made himself and his
intention known before he found out the character of his hosts; that he
was at once seized, and was told, when bound, that the boat belonged
to the French consul and therefore he was still on French territory.
"The rest you know," said he, "or can guess." We were sorry, and told
him so. He thanked us graciously enough, and hoped we might have
better luck in our enterprises than he had had in his, and, in reply
to a question as to what he thought would happen, he said at first
that he did not know and he did not care, but he would dearly like to
have the commandant at his mercy just long enough to kill him. "Listen
carefully," he went on. "I shall be shot in all probability, but they
will give me a chance of saying a prayer and making my confession
before I die. The commandant will also be shot, but he will get no
notice, and, unless he be very lucky indeed, no priest will be present to send him absolved from sin into the presence of God." For the rest
of the voyage the Italian and we got on well together. He got the best
of the dinner, not that he thanked us or that we wanted thanks; he knew
why we did it, and we should have been very bad soldiers indeed if we
did not do a little to keep up the spirits of a man doomed, as we knew
him to be, to a sudden and early death.
Let me anticipate once more. After our arrival at Saigon, Cecco was
court-martialled, openly insulted the officers composing the court, was
sentenced to death, and shot the following morning. And the commandant
was shot in the back in a little skirmish in Tonquin--a brilliant
little affair that would have brought him promotion had he lived. It
may have been an accident, but there was at least a dozen Italians in
the company immediately behind him, and in the heat of action bullets
do occasionally go astray. How do I know that he was shot in the back?
Well, I don't _know_, but I suspect for two reasons: first, there was a
sort of investigation, which naturally led to nothing; and, secondly,
the Italian's words came back to my mind directly I heard of the
commandant's death. After all, is it not bad enough for an officer to
punish a man or to get him punishment? Why should he swear at the poor
devil and abuse him as if he had no spirit, no sense of shame, no soul?
Any man will take his punishment fairly and honestly, if he believes
that he has deserved it; no man will stand abuse without paying in full
for it when he gets his chance, for abuse is not fair to the man who
is waiting for his court-martial. But all, or nearly all, officers are either fools or brutes.
Another thing that happened at Singapore Le Grand told me afterwards.
In the early days of desertion a fellow--I think he was a Belgian--came
to Le Grand and proposed that they should go away together.
"I am," said the Belgian, "a baker by trade; you speak English well and
can teach me. Let us go together. You will interpret for me and I will
work for both. We shall get enough of money in six months to carry us
to the United States, and there we shall separate as soon as I know
enough of the language to make myself understood."
"No," replied Le Grand; "I volunteered for the war, and I mean to see
what fighting means in Tonquin. Moreover, if I went away now, no one I
care about would ever have any respect for me again. It is bad enough
with me as it is; I will do nothing to make it worse. The most people
can allege against me now is folly; no one shall ever be able to charge
me with cowardice as well."
Many times the baker renewed his entreaties to Le Grand to go away. Le
Grand would not: he knew that hardships--perhaps sickness or wounds or
death--lay before him, but better anything than self-reproach and loss
of self-respect. Le Grand was right in his own way, because he was, and
is (for he is still alive and in a good position), a gentleman; the
Belgian baker was wise too in his generation and according to his own lights. He slipped off before the Frenchmen were ordered to supply all
the guards. No one knows whether he fell a prey to the sharks or not,
and, I may add, no one--not even Le Grand--cares.
The only other important thing that was told to me was that our fellows
and the zephyrs became rather dangerous to one another. From the
beginning we were not too amiable, but when the commandant put us--at
least the other legionaries, for I was at the time in the prisoners'
quarters on account of the Bulgarian's escape--to do most of the
duties about the ship and put Frenchmen only on sentry, so that no
more men of the Legion might desert, things rapidly came to a head.
The commandant was lucky in two respects--the voyage to Saigon was
short, and a French war vessel accompanied the transport. Had there
been a twenty days' voyage without an escort the decks would have been
washed red with blood, for, be it remembered, though the average
French soldier can conduct himself with propriety in almost any place,
the zephyr is a military convict pure and simple. No matter how bad we
were, the zephyrs were worse. Well, let me put it in another way: the
zephyrs aboard were the bad characters of the French army; we others,
the legionaries, were the bad characters of all the other armies of
Europe. They, the zephyrs, had no chance of regaining their characters
in their own country, where their misdeeds were known; our fellows
had started, each with a clean sheet, on joining an alien army. Thus
our reputation as a body was bad, but no man had any very ugly charge
against his name; the zephyrs were bad by man, by squad, by company, and by battalion. However, they are really amongst the finest fighting
men in the world; some people, indeed, say that the zephyrs are second
only to the legionaries.
There was no fight. The big war-vessel lay not so far away, and
all knew what its shells could do. Strange that we met these very
zephyrs afterwards, and our companies and theirs, certainly aided by
others, did a hard afternoon's bayonet-work together. We were friends
after that, so much so that I believe that one battalion, and that a
battalion of zephyrs, is the only one of the French army to speak with
liking--all, of course, speak with respect, unless at a distance--of
the Foreign Legion. But everything to its own place.
At last we reached Pingeh--a fine harbour. I was set free, as well as
all other prisoners save the Italian, and we disembarked, happy again
at the change, to take our share in the war against the Black Flags,
thinking more of the relief from the cramped quarters than of any
dangers that lay before us.
CHAPTER XI When we arrived at Pingeh, the port of Saigon, the zephyrs disembarked
first, and we followed. Straightway most of us were marched off to
a camping-field where tents and other impedimenta were awaiting us,
and in a short time we had formed a fairly creditable camp. Those of
ours who were kept behind on the quay were employed in sorting out our
baggage as the coolies carried the troopship's load ashore. Considering
that all except the officers carried their belongings on their backs,
this was not hard work, and most of them were satisfied, but the dozen
or so left on guard over the ammunition cases brought out by the
transport were not at all lucky, as they got no meal, not even a cup of
coffee, for fully twelve hours. That's always the way. Your ordinary
officer can't understand why everybody is not satisfied when he is. If
the captain has a good lunch and a better dinner, the simple soldier
may tighten his belt and put a bit of tobacco between his teeth--that
is good enough for him. Well, there are officers who care for their
men, but they are so few that, if you know a hundred captains, you
may easily reckon the good ones on the fingers of a hand. Some are
inclined to be good, but though physically brave they are morally
cowards; they cannot stand the sneering of those who look upon the men
as mere instruments for gaining decorations and promotion, and it is
so very easy to acquire the habit of doing as most of your equals do.
It is wrong--oh! I who have felt it know how wrong it is!--for a man
who has rank and a better lot than others to forget the responsibility
attached to his position, to let the men under him understand hour
by hour and day by day and week by week how little he cares for their comfort, to swear at the sick, to sneer at the wounded, to order the
dead to be thrown any way into a trench, and to abuse the burial party
because they did not cover the carcasses quickly enough. War is war, as
an Alsatian in my company used to say; but why should a man, or rather
men, come into camp for the night after a long march, and perhaps a
sharp fight, to be sworn at and abused by the officers who, for their
own sakes even, should try to make things cheerful for all? But again I
am digressing.
We spent about a week at Saigon, under canvas all the time. Of course,
we got our share of inspection; first the chief officer--I forget
now who he was, not that he was at all worth remembering--then the
medical officer, then a quartermaster--the best of all, for he supplied
deficiencies in clothing. I must say this: when a French soldier goes
on campaign he is well fitted out--they took from us every article that
showed any signs of wear, and a new one was at once issued. At first
we thought that we should have to pay out of our scanty means for the
new supplies. We were only too glad to find that, instead of taking our
money under false pretences, as they do in other armies, our pay was
increased, and we were told, and truly told, that the increase would
last while we were on active service. Take my word for it, no matter
how bad the officers may be, the French Government is the best in the
world to its troops on active service. If men suffer, it is not the
fault of those in Paris; put the blame rather on the underlings--I mean
the commandants and the captains. But, remember, what I have just said I have said only of the Republic--of the monarchy and the empire I know
nothing.
Another reason for this delay was that the French, if they can by any
chance do it, keep men quiet on land for some days after a voyage. This
is very sensible. No man gets what I may call his land legs until some
time after he has come ashore from a transport, where space is small
and men are many, where food is wretched, and water mawkishly warm and
suspiciously sweet. The rest did us good; the new clothing and the
extra pay put us in good humour. When at last we put on our knapsacks
for the march into the interior, we were altogether different from the
500 semi-mutinous scarecrows who had landed from the troopship only six
or seven days before.
Every man had 150 rounds of ball cartridge in his pouch; all rifles
were loaded; we were evidently to be kept on the _qui vive_ from the
earliest possible moment; talking in the ranks was often stopped
without any visible cause; the sentries were visited half-a-dozen times
a night; discipline was in all respects as strict as it could be; and
we were made to understand, as if we had learned nothing in Algeria,
that we were in front of a cautious, skilful, and sometimes daring,
enemy, and that every man was responsible for his own and his comrades'
lives.
Now I have no intention of writing a history of the war in Tonquin. I shall merely give details of the most important events of my life
there, and of these the first in order was the battle of Noui-Bop.
We had not been long in the East, and were by no means acclimatised,
when the battalion to which our two companies had been sent was ordered
to join a mixed force of French soldiers and natives under the command
of a distinguished French general, whose name is of no importance to my
narrative. This general was operating against a large force of Black
Flags, and, as a result of his operations, there was every prospect
of a hot engagement, and this was exactly to our taste. Ever since we
had joined the battalion we had been looked upon with suspicion by the
officers, for the news of the fight between the companies at Three
Fountains had travelled to Tonquin, and many believed that it was a
foolish thing to allow both companies to soldier together, as there
might be at any moment a renewal of the fray. Even our comrades of the
two other companies in the battalion at first thought that we might
again fall out, but very soon they saw what the officers could not, or
would not, see--that No. 4 and ours were as friendly as possible to
each other and that there was not the slightest chance of ill-feeling
showing itself between us. Thus we were anxious to be in a big battle;
we trusted in ourselves, and every man was determined, by showing
reckless bravery in the field, to wipe away the disgrace which we
knew attached to us, partly for our little fight and partly for the
desertions at Singapore. After a good deal of manoeuvring, of which we bore our share, at last
it was evident that the eventful day had come. Some chasseurs d'Afrique
who were with us had located the Black Flags and their allies, many of
whom were regular soldiers of the Chinese army, in a strong position
at a place called Noui-Bop. Our native scouts confirmed this, and also
reported that there were several white officers amongst them--these
we guessed to be English or Prussians, or a mixture of both. We knew
that the enemy had good rifles and plenty of ammunition, that they held
favourable ground, that there was no chance of outflanking them owing
to their superiority in numbers and the nature of the country, and that
the frontal attack should be pushed well home if it were to succeed.
Well, so much the better, we said to ourselves.
On the morning of the battle we were aroused a little after sunrise.
This was because, in the East, it is best for European soldiers to
get the work of the day done before the sun becomes too hot. After
breakfast my battalion was ordered to leave knapsacks, greatcoats,
blankets--everything, indeed, save our arms and the clothing we stood
up in--in the quarters which we had occupied during the night, and
about fifty men were told off to see that there was no looting of
their comrades' belongings while the fight was going on. Then we went
forward, and took up our position in the centre of the fighting line.
On our right there were Annamite tirailleurs, backed up by some French
soldiers, I think zouaves; on our left a half-battalion of a French
regiment of the line--if I do not mistake, the 143rd. We waited and smoked awhile, some laughed and joked, others puffed at their pipes in
silence, the officers were talking and looking always to the rear. At
last a dull booming was heard--the guns were beginning behind us--we
could see the shells passing over our heads and bursting more than a
thousand yards away in our front. Pipes were put up, but still we sat
quietly on the ground, listening to the roar of the guns and watching
the shells as they searched the line where our enemies lay. A staff
officer galloped up to our commandant, and we all got up without
waiting for the word of command. After a short colloquy the staff
officer galloped back to the general, the orders came clear and abrupt
from commandant and captains, and before we could well understand what
we were doing No. 4 Company and mine were extended in skirmishing
order, with the other two companies of the battalion behind us in
support.
We had not advanced very far in this formation when a man, five or six
files on my right, flung up his arms and came to the ground with a
groan. Just then we began to fire, our firing being kept strictly under
control by the officers and sub-officers, who saw no use in allowing
us, as soldiers naturally do, to blaze away all our ammunition at too
long a range against a well-protected enemy. We went along almost too
well; not alone had the officers to control our fire, they had also to
work hard to keep us in hand as we went forward in the attack. All was
well. A man fell here and another there, but the losses were not enough
to speak about until we came to the dangerous zone. Now let me explain what is meant by the dangerous zone. I did not
understand it at the time, but I afterwards learned all about it, and
many a time I thanked my stars when the order came to fix bayonets,
for then I knew that I was safely through the ugly place and that most,
if not all, of the chances were in my favour.
The Chinese--at least those of them whom we were fighting--never put
the rifle to the shoulder as Europeans do when about to fire. Instead,
they tuck the rifle-butt into the armpit and try to drop the bullet,
as it were, on the attacking party. They cannot well do this until the
attack comes within five hundred yards of the defence, nor can they do
it when the enemy is within two hundred yards of their line, but they
succeed fairly well--that is, well for such clumsy shooters--while
the fighting line of the advance is between five hundred and two
hundred yards of their position. This was pointed out to us by our
officers, and we could easily see for ourselves that what they said was
true. Looking back--of course, when the battle was over--we saw only
scattered bodies lying for the first three or four hundred yards of our
advance, then a comparatively large number in the dangerous zone, after
that few, for, as we closed with the bayonet and were practically at
point-blank range, the Black Flags wavered and fired at the sky rather
than at us.
Well, we had got along fairly until we came to within about five hundred yards of the enemy's trenches. Then the men went down fast,
and the officers, sergeants, corporals, and veterans shouted out to
us neophytes to run. And we did run; we covered about three hundred
yards of heavy ground--we were attacking through rice fields, you must
know--as quickly as men ever did before or since. I was pretty blown
when I heard the order given to lie down, and down we lay, with bullets
flying overhead, until we regained our breath. Above us the shells
from our guns were shrieking, in front they were exploding; it gave us
all--at least it gave me--a feeling of heartfelt gratitude that the big
guns were on our side. After some time we were ordered forward again.
We ran a bit, fired a round, ran again a little way and fired another
cartridge, not at the foe, for as yet we could see no men in our front,
but at the long line of smoke that overhung the trenches where the
Black Flags and their allies, the Chinese regulars, were waiting for
our charge.
In this fashion we managed to get to within about eighty yards of the
enemy's trenches, and were then ordered to halt, lie down, and fire as
often as possible at the heads and figures that we were now beginning
to distinguish where the little puffs of smoke arose. A light breeze
was sweeping down the battlefield, and this lifted the blue-white
clouds, so that men on both sides could easily make out their enemies.
An officer sprang up about twenty yards away from me, waved his sword,
and shouted out something which I could not hear, so incessant was
the rattle of musketry. I saw the others fixing their bayonets, and I reached round to my left side to pluck out mine. As I did so, I saw the
supporting companies of ours running up to join us. Very soon they were
at our side, and the four companies, nearly a thousand strong, poured
in a hot fire for a minute or two. Then we heard the clear notes of the
charge. In a second, commandant, officers, sub-officers, and simple
soldiers were all racing for the trenches like madmen, shouting: "Kill,
kill!" How I got there I do not know. I was in, anyway, if not amongst
the first, certainly not amongst the last, and when there a horrible
scene lay before my eyes. On all sides were dead and dying men, some of
the dead quiet and calm in appearance, as if only sleeping, with just a
little spot of red on the forehead or staining the breast; others torn
to pieces by the deadly shells. Some of the wounded were quite passive
and resigned; others were crying out, I suppose for mercy. But it was
not of them we thought, our business lay with a large body of men,
led by a big chief in yellow tunic and wide yellow trousers, who met
us with bayonet, sword, and spear and tried to retrieve the fortunes
of the day. Our officers--bad as they were, they were brave--rushed
straight at this band. We followed like wolf-hounds rushing at wolves.
Their hoarse cries and imprecations soon died away as with bloody
bayonets we thrust and dug our way through them from front to rear.
Once more the Asiatic went down before the European, and in five
minutes from the time our foremost entered the trenches we had left
not a single Black Flag or Chinese regular standing on his feet. Some
of the wounded fired at us as they lay upon the ground; that work,
however, was very soon stopped. 真珠王子は善玉アカウント[[利用者:あるふぁるふぁ]]のブロック解除をもう諦めたのですか？ Meanwhile the half-battalion of French troops of the line had gallantly
carried their part of the entrenchments, but on the right the native
troops, the Annamite tirailleurs, were in trouble. Some Frenchmen were
with them, but these were too few of themselves to make head against
the enemy, who thronged like bees to flowers where they saw a good
chance of throwing back the attack. My captain, a good soldier and a
bad man, hastily collected about a hundred of his men, and getting
us into some sort of order gave us the word--and the example too,
indeed--to charge. We fell upon the exposed flank of the barbarians. In
a couple of minutes we drove it in upon the main left of the enemy, and
very soon the Annamites, taking their courage in both hands, returned
to the attack. Some of ours again went round and charged the enemy
in the rear, and then the game was up--the battle was over. I wish I
need say no more about the fighting, but many would not surrender, and
these, of course, were promptly shot or bayoneted where they stood.
Some wounded also suffered, but I must say that when a white man,
zouave or legionary, put a wounded enemy out of pain it was only after
the savage had tried to shoot or stab a passing soldier. Well, if a
wounded man will try to kill there is only one thing to do--put it as
soon as possible out of his power to do serious damage. I don't blame
the savages much for firing or cutting at our fellows; as they never
gave quarter to whites, they naturally believed, I suppose, that
whites would give no quarter to them. Some of the Annamite tirailleurs did, I am afraid, a little
unjustifiable killing. Well, it's the way with these people; they
think as little of killing a wounded man as a hungry legionary would
of killing a providentially sent chicken. We must make allowances; but
I am very doubtful about the wisdom of European nations in supplying
arms and teaching modern drill to the yellows, the blacks, and the
browns. You may make any of these very good imitations of white
soldiers, but the leopard cannot change his spots, and the effects of
centuries of cruelty cannot be eradicated in a day. The Annamites had
one excuse--they were merely doing to the Black Flags what the Black
Flags would have done to them and to us had the issue of the fight
been different. This is a poor excuse, I admit, but then any excuse
is better than none at all. The white officers attached to our native
levies did their best to keep their men in hand, but orders are not
always minded, even by the very best soldiers, in the heat of action or
the flush of victory.
No one must assume that what I have written is a full account of the
battle of Noui-Bop. I merely tell what happened under my own eyes. I
know nothing whatever of the events that occurred in other parts of the
battlefield, nor must it be considered that the troops I have mentioned
were the only attacking ones. There were others advancing far away to
the right and to the left--we were only the centre of the advance--and
when I speak of right and left, I mean right and left of the central
attack, not extreme right and left of the firing line. When we had cleared the Black Flags and their comrades out of the
entrenchments, we had a short rest under arms. Very soon, however, we
received orders to advance, but cautiously, so as not to get too far in
front of the rest. In our rear we could see the artillerymen bringing
up their guns to new positions. Occasionally a gun would be unlimbered
and a shell or two thrown into a part of the enemy trying to re-form.
These shells did not do much damage to the enemy, but they did a great
deal of good to us; it was so pleasant to watch the projectiles hissing
through the air and to know that our friends the Black Flags were also
watching them, but with very different feelings. One of our fellows, a
happy-go-lucky Andalusian, called the shells _lettres d'avis_--warning
notices that we were coming and that it would be best for the
barbarians to be "not at home." Only twice in this advance had we to
make a regular attack, and in each case the men who opposed us did not
wait to allow us to get to close quarters; they fled with a hail of
bullets about their ears before we got within two hundred yards. The
French advance on the extreme right seemed to have more difficulty. I
fancy an attempt was made to take them in flank. Anyway, we heard a
continuous roll of musketry, with the heavy booming of guns, for about
ten or fifteen minutes, and then only a dropping fire, when the attack
had evidently been repulsed. On the left no trouble was experienced;
our comrades there swept forward, driving the men opposed to them like
sheep. About eleven o'clock we were halted. The native levies were
sent on in pursuit, as they were better able than European soldiers to どっちつかずの票を入れる
ザパニらしいな。
保留なら投票すんなし follow up a retreating enemy in the heat of the noonday sun. We lay
down and rested, happy in the thought that our first fight in Tonquin
was over and won. We were not allowed to remain long at our ease after
the fight. First two companies, and afterwards the other two, were
sent back to get the knapsacks and other impedimenta left behind by
the general's order before the advance. About half-past four in the
afternoon we got some bread and soup, and a little after five, when
the great heat of the day was over, we set forward on our march in the
track of the retreating enemy and the pursuing tirailleurs. We kept on
until nearly nine o'clock at night, occasionally halting for a rest.
In spite of the Annamite levies being in front of us on this march we
took all possible precautions against a surprise; we had a section
of a company in front, and, in advance of that again, one of its
squads. Other squads were out far to the right and to the left. These
precautions may seem unnecessary, as our own friends were in front,
but, indeed, they were very useful for several reasons. In the first
place we saw that, no matter how triumphant our arms might be, there
was to be no relaxation of precaution or of discipline; in the second,
it was possible that our irregulars might have allowed a large body of
the enemy to slip in behind them, and these might ambush us; again, all
the men of the main body felt a sense of security, and consequently
their nerves were not kept constantly strained--a material advantage in
warfare. It is a good maxim to put all the watchfulness on a few and to
allow the main body to rest or march in security; so an officer will
have better soldiers in action. The best men in the world can't help Sumaruのブロック依頼文が下手だからザパニに突かれただけ
あれ読むだけだと削除依頼を出したこと自体は問題ナシで、単にやらない宣言を反故にしただけで長期ブロックを要求してることになる
Sumaruはこれまでの低質な管理行為をまとめて書くべきだった 問題があって謝罪に追い込まれて自警をやめる宣言をしたわけで、
ザパニの問題なし発言はザパニ自身の首を絞めているんだよな feeling worried and depressed by constant expectation of an attack.
A battle is nothing--very often it is, indeed, a relief--but always
waiting and always speculating on an attack, and always wondering
from what side it will come, will wear out the strongest nerves. Then
come dogged sullenness, loss of interest in one's work, carelessness
in duty, and slovenliness in the little things that all soldiers take
pride in, and in the end disaster.
That night we lay about fifteen or sixteen kilometres from the place
where we had rested the previous night. It was lucky that it was not
my turn for guard; I felt so sleepy after the morning fight and the
evening march. I had scarcely rolled myself up snugly in my greatcoat
and blanket when I fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep, and I could
almost swear that I had not had two minutes' rest when the reveille
went in the morning. I felt very hungry, and that made me get up
quickly from the spot of hard ground on which I had been sleeping,
to help the others to light the fire for the squad's morning coffee.
Nicholas the Russian asked me how I felt.
"Hungry, my comrade, hungry," I replied. And everyone, even the
captain, who was passing at the time, laughed as if I had said a good
thing. Soldiers are very like schoolboys; the simplest thing said
or done by one they know far surpasses anything said, no matter how
brilliant, anything done, no matter how renowned, by those they do not
know. On active service they are even more easily amused. We often laughed heartily at sayings that, considered calmly by me now, show not
the slightest trace of humour.
When the tale of dead and wounded was made up it was seen that our
battalion had suffered more than any other corps in the fight, and that
of the four companies constituting it mine had the greatest number of
losses. This was not bad for me. For some reason or other the captain
made me a soldier of the first class, and I was very glad indeed that
Nicholas the Russian and Le Grand were also promoted to wear the single
red stripe on their right sleeves. We laughed heartily as we thought of
our advance in rank and of what we should have got instead of promotion
if all were known about the quarrel at Three Fountains. Well, what
people don't know won't trouble them.
For some time after this our battalion was always on hard duty. We
on some days marched only ten or twelve kilometres; on others, in
pursuit of a band of marauders, we covered as much as twenty-five or
thirty. Remember, we had to do all this in a country where roads are
bad and travelling over fields almost impossible, with heavy packs
on our backs, and never less than a hundred rounds of ball cartridge
in our pouches. Then no matter how pleasant the greatcoat and the
blanket might be at night, they were no light load during the day, and
especially between the hours of eleven in the forenoon and four in
the afternoon, when we had to go forward if there was the slightest
chance of catching up with some or other band of scoundrels. Moreover, ザパニ「最低２日はよく考えて返事してください」
↓６時間後
桜ポッポ「反省してまーす（ﾁｯ、うっせーな）」
ザパニ面目丸つぶれｗｗｗｗｗ when soldiers are on flying duty, they seldom get enough to eat, and
what they do get is not the very best or nicest food in the world. One
day we came in at the hour of evening soup to a little camp where some
zouaves and marine fusiliers were. They were very good to us indeed;
the soup they had just prepared for themselves they gave to us, and
they took, good fellows that they were, the dry bread and unboiled
rice that we had in our haversacks. They were decent men, these French
soldiers; they saw that we had been on tramp for some time, and they
hesitated not a moment to give us the savoury soup when they saw the
hungry longing in our eyes and the convulsive twitch of nostrils, as
the grateful odour was perceived. They did more; they gave us some wine
and native spirit, and I do not know whether we were more pleased with
the gifts or with the free, generous dispositions of the givers. Well,
we did as much afterwards for Frenchmen.
This victory at Noui-Bop gave the French control over a large strip of
country. Moreover, many new recruits joined the Annamite tirailleurs,
for the Asiatic, like all others, wants to be on the winning side.
There were promotions, of course, but the only ones I was at all
interested in were those that gave the single red chevrons to Nicholas,
Le Grand, and myself. We had got to like one another very much, and I
believe that the promotion of one gave more pleasure to his comrades
than to himself. I may say here that Nicholas and Le Grand afterwards
refused further promotion; I, a boy and fool, took it when offered, but
I must tell how that came about in another chapter. ●
＿(＿
／／ ""⌒⌒＼ ） ひはんはきこえませ〜ん。
ｉ / ⌒ ⌒ ヽ ）
lj⌒i, (･ ）｀ ´( ･） ｉ/､
/ ﾉ （__人_） | .j
/ 〈ヽ ヽ､__（ ／/
＼ / CHAPTER XII
I will not weary the reader with an account of our marches to and
fro, hunting straggling bands of marauders. This work soon became
monotonous, and the recital of our doings would, I am sure, prove
monotonous as well. Only one thing impressed itself strongly on my mind
at the time, and this was that a man who fell out of the ranks had no
chance of getting mercy from the Black Flags. Occasionally, we came
across the horribly mutilated body of a French soldier or an Annamite
tirailleur, and the sight was sickening. One circumstance, which I must
now relate, made our blood boil over and, if we learned to give no
quarter, the enemy had no one to blame but themselves.
We arrived at a small village one morning about nine o'clock, having
been on the march continuously since five. Here we rested during the
heat of the day, and one of the men of my squad and I went to a little
shop to buy tobacco. We saw some fruit there--I don't know what kind
it was--and my comrade purchased some and gave a share to me. We ate
it, and thought no more about the business, but the fruit cost my poor
friend his life. When we were on the march that afternoon, I felt very sick. My
comrade--I forgot to mention that he came from Lorraine and was serving
with us in order that, when his time was up, he might become a French
citizen--was even worse, and both of us had to fall out of the ranks.
However, we again caught up with the company, but a second time we were
compelled to stay behind, and this time the captain ordered our rifles
and ammunition to be taken from us and carried by our comrades.
"The Black Flags," he said, "may get you if they like, but they sha'n't
have your arms or ammunition."
I don't blame the officer, he was quite right. The same thing was done
with every man who showed signs of weakness or weariness, for we had
no ambulance in these hurried pursuits, and the abandoned soldier kept
only his bayonet for defence against the human wolves that hung on our
flanks and rear. Not much good that, for the cowards used to overpower
the poor devils with stones, and, as soon as they were beaten to the
ground, the brutes would seize them and execute their horrible tortures
on their bodies before death came--a merciful release. Again, however,
we struggled back to the company. Nicholas, who was carrying my rifle
and ammunition in addition to his own, said: "Cheer up, my good friend;
keep on a little longer; we shall soon be in camp." Le Grand, who
was in the squad immediately behind mine, got permission to carry my
knapsack, another man took my greatcoat, and still another my blanket, but, in spite of the relief thus afforded me, it was with the utmost
difficulty that I kept on. The Lorrainer was similarly aided, but he
was too unwell, and had for the third and last time to fall out. He
never rejoined the company, and we could at the time only speculate
upon his fate, but very soon we were to learn the truth.
Helped on by my comrades, I managed to stagger into the little
collection of huts where we were to pass the night. Nicholas and
Le Grand foraged for me, and got somewhere and somehow a supply of
native spirit. Le Grand made me a stiff glass of boiling hot punch,
and this I was compelled to drink, though my stomach rebelled at all
things. I fell asleep soon after, and woke in the morning, qualmish,
indeed, and weak, but completely rid of all the bad effects brought
on by indulgence in the fruit. Nicholas insisted on my taking some
of the spirit in my morning coffee, and also filled my water bottle
with coffee containing about a glass of the fiery stuff, so that I
might have medicine on the march. All the others of the squad were
sympathetic, and Le Grand, though not of my squad, came over to our
hut to inquire about me. Nobody minded this--it was no breach of squad
etiquette, as we were both Irishmen--but, of course, it would not do
for us to be too much together--we remembered the punishment given to
the Alsatians.
Some information received by our officers made us return by the route
passed over on the previous day. When we came near the place where the >はい、ぱたごんさんのコメントの通りです。よく考えずに分かったつもりで脊髄反射的に答えてしまったことが原因です。--Sakurapop7（会話） 2019年3月24日 (日) 03:20 (UTC)
・・・・・・というコメントを脊髄反射で出すサクラポップｗ
こいつ人前に出ちゃいけない奴な気がしてきた 脊髄反射、やりたいことと自分ができることの区別がつかない、文章の特定箇所のみ切り出して自己流に拡大解釈する、止めろと言われたことを繰り返す、活動期間の割に編集回数が多い
...すべてサクラポップとミラブルの共通点 unfortunate Lorrainer had fallen out, a great cloud of birds rose up
from the ground and flew, crying hoarsely, away. Very soon we learned
the meaning of this. The captain of my company, who was riding in
front, suddenly shouted out: "Halt!" and dismounting, gave the reins
to his orderly and crossed into a rice field that bordered the way.
What he saw there seemed to fill him with disgust and horror. He called
out to the other officers to come and see; then the sergeants and the
corporals were summoned; finally we private soldiers went by fours to
view the sight. What a horrible thing met our gaze! On the ground lay
the dead body of the Lorrainer, hacked and mutilated in a fashion that
I cannot describe. We were almost sickened by the sight. Often before
we had seen mutilated bodies, but never one so savagely disfigured as
this, and, moreover, this was the body of one who had been our good
comrade only the day before.
"Ah," said the captain to me, "was it not well that you struggled on?"
"My captain," said Nicholas, speaking before I could get out a word, "I
will never again give mercy to a Black Flag. As they do to us, let us
do to them."
The captain answered nothing to this, but sent us back to our ranks.
Before we left the spot we buried the poor Lorrainer.
All that day we spoke of nothing but the horrible sight we had seen Miraburuが管理者落選した頃から謎の英文投稿が増えましたね
どういうことでしょうね in the morning. We were angry; we made resolutions to take a sharp and
speedy vengeance for the death of our comrade and the indignity shown
to his corpse; we encouraged one another in the desire for revenge; we
spoke of what might happen to any one of us who fell faint or wounded
on the way; we were gloomy and sullen, not with despair, but with the
gloom and sullenness of incensed men. Had we met any enemies that day,
not even the commander-in-chief of the army in Tonquin could have
prevented us from treating them as they had treated our poor comrade,
and, when we did get the chance, we took a bloody vengeance on the
barbarians--such a vengeance as even in the Legion was spoken of with
bated breath.
Now at this time the battalion had been divided into three parts--two
companies held a depot of stores and ammunition, the remaining two
were out as small flying columns through the country. It was our turn
to go into garrison and rest a while, and two days after burying
our unfortunate comrade we marched into the depot. The day after
our friends of No. 4 Company came in, and the two companies, Nos. 1
and 2, that we relieved started off on a ten days' trip through the
country, seeking the enemy but, as a rule, not finding them. While
we were resting in garrison we told the story of the Lorrainer's sad
fate to the men of No. 4, and we also made them acquainted with our
determination to have satisfaction at all costs for the brutality of
those who had tortured to death a poor, sick soldier, to all intents
and purposes unarmed, and then disfigured his body in so revolting a manner. I give no details of the mutilation here, but we described it
fully to our comrades, and they too were filled with horror and anger.
The two companies had got a strange sort of liking for each other,
arising out of the fight at Three Fountains, and we could not have met
men more willing to back us up in our resolve than they were, and fate
sent us other allies almost as good too.
A few days before our turn came to go out on the tiresome tramp after
quickly disappearing enemies, two companies of Frenchmen came into our
little camp. To our surprise, and, indeed, at first to our disgust,
they were the two companies of zephyrs that had come out with us in the
transport. We had not lain alongside of them since we parted at Saigon,
and then our feelings towards one another were not at all friendly.
However, if soldiers quickly fall out, often they become friends again
as easily, and so it happened with us. The zephyrs were not a day in
camp before they knew all about the Lorrainer and our desire to avenge
him, and, since they considered the people of Lorraine as their own
flesh and blood, they felt almost as angry as we did. Very soon we all
were, if not friends, at least allies for the purpose of obtaining
vengeance on the Black Flags, and it was tacitly understood amongst the
soldiers of the four companies that, when next we went into action, no
quarter was to be given and that the commands, even the entreaties,
of our officers to show mercy were to be disregarded. As soldiers we
all recognised that it would be impossible to punish so many men, and
we saw also that, if we took a terrible vengeance, the officers would do their best to hide the fact, and, though it might become known
throughout the army, yet there was no chance of the general giving it
official recognition by giving us official punishment.
Now the two companies of zephyrs numbered at the time about 300 men and
No. 4 and mine about 350; the rest were in the hospital or the grave.
When No. 1 and No. 2 Companies of my battalion came into camp, the
zephyrs and we others marched out. At the end of the first day's march
we picked up a couple of companies of Annamite tirailleurs, weak ones
they were, and angry, as they had had a couple of fights recently
with the Black Flags and got by no means the best of the fighting.
Another weak company of native levies joined us the next day, so that
altogether our commandant had at his disposal about 650 Europeans and
about 300 Asiatic tirailleurs. There were no guns with us, but we did
not mind their absence, this time we meant to depend solely on the
bayonet.
I have often wondered whether or not our officers knew of our
resolution. Certainly the corporals and sergeants did, but these
_sous-officiers_ were too experienced to say anything to us about it;
they might as well have tried to turn back Niagara as to change our
minds. That they knew, and they knew also that we were dangerous men to
cross when united and feeling strongly about anything. Bullets don't
always fly towards the enemy. Many a man with a private grudge against サクラポップ馬鹿は投票にいちいち反論するつもりか？ sergeant or corporal might be only too glad to salve his conscience,
or what stood for his conscience, by saying to himself that he was
merely executing justice on behalf of his section or his squad. If the
officers knew, they kept silent, but one thing was certain, however
it came about: we were the quietest and most subdued force, to all
appearance, in the world. The officers and sub-officers were strangely
easy with us; we in the ranks dropped all the boisterous gaiety that
usually distinguishes soldiers; we were well behaved, respectful,
attentive to our duties--in short, for the time being we were model
troops.
One evening our scouts brought in word that a fairly large body of the
enemy, from two to three thousand strong, lay within two hours' march
of our encampment. These were evidently the men who had driven back
the Annamite tirailleurs, and our yellow friends were quite well aware
of what had happened to their wounded, whom they had been compelled
to abandon on the field. "So much the better," whispered we to one
another; "the native levies will be our very good brothers this time."
Next morning we were aroused without sound of bugle, and after the
morning meal had been disposed of, every man received a ration of
wine. Some fellows drank this at once, most of us, however, put it into
our water bottles for use during the day. Soon we were on the march,
due precautions being taken against a flank attack or a surprise,
and about eight o'clock or half-past we arrived within sight of the enemy. They were not disposed to stir on our account, and we were quite
satisfied. We had begun to despise them--I mean when we met them in
fair fight. That is the way with all Europeans; a white man gets to
know his yellow brother only to despise him.
Towards nine o'clock the regular advance began. No. 4 Company of
legionaries attacked on the right, my company being in support, with
half-a-section, supported by some Annamite tirailleurs, flung out to
guard against a flank attack on the part of the enemy; on the left a
company of zephyrs were extended, the second company of Frenchmen doing
the same duty on the left as mine did on the right; in reserve were the
rest of the Annamite tirailleurs.
Our men advanced in the usual way until they came within charging
distance of the enemy's entrenchment. At this time a slight diversion
was caused on the left by a feeble attempt to outflank and throw into
confusion the white soldiers and native levies advancing in support.
This attempt failed, and, just as we knew that it had failed, a
similar one was made on us. We quickly put an end to it, pouring in
a heavy fire at short range, and when these attacks were repulsed
a considerable body of the Black Flags left the field. But the
firing line in front had still to reckon with the soldiers manning
the trenches, and these certainly fought with admirable spirit and
determination. Better for them had they run away! >>609
脊椎じゃなくて脊髄反射ね
脊椎は骨だから >>611
アレに人並みの神経は通ってなさそうだから脊椎でもあんまかわらん気がするわｗ [[利用者‐会話:20041027 tatsu]]
またガキか When the time came, in the commandant's opinion, for the charge which
was to end the fight, one section of my company was ordered forward to
join No. 4, the other section, the one to the right, with about 100
Annamite tirailleurs, to overlap the enemy in that direction and, if
possible, to take them in the rear.
As we ran along we heard first the heavy, continuous firing that always
precedes the bayonet charge, and then the hoarse roar of "Kill, kill!"
that told us that our comrades were going up with the bayonet.
We redoubled our exertions, slaughtered to a man a small body of Black
Flags that tried to block the way, and very soon we were clear past
the end of the entrenchments and were moving inwards--that is, to the
left--to catch the savages in the rear. We just succeeded. The enemy,
driven out of the entrenchments by the frontal attack, were pouring out
in hundreds along their line of retreat We rushed at them with cries of
exultation and revenge, and as we drove back the fugitives on one side
a section of zephyrs and some natives drove them back on the other.
We had now completely hemmed them in. Roughly speaking, on the south
were a company and a half of legionaries and a company and a half of
zephyrs, with a few Annamites who had come up from the reserves; on the
north, half a company of legionaries, half a company of zephyrs, and
about a hundred and fifty native tirailleurs; between these two forces
about six or seven hundred Black Flags and their allies. It was now a
game of battledore and shuttlecock: our comrades on the south drove the savages on to our bayonets; we sent them yelling back again. Once more
our fellows attacked and pushed them towards us; we, who had re-formed
the ranks, again closed and used the bayonet mercilessly until they
tried to break away. This went on for some time, but every charge
brought the opposed lines of white soldiers closer, and thus diminished
the little space in which the Black Flags could move. At last we were
all a dense crowd, in the centre a mob of savages so closely packed
together that they had scarcely room to thrust or cut, around this a
circle of maddened men stabbing furiously and crying out:
"Vengeance for our comrade; kill, kill!" By scores the central mob went
down. At last not more than fifty or sixty were left, and these were on
their knees or thrown prone upon the ground crying out for quarter. We
opened our ranks and let all the Annamites through; in three minutes
not a Black Flag was left alive.
In plain words, this was a massacre--of that there can be no doubt.
It is only fair, however, to put the responsibility on the proper
shoulders. Therefore I say that it was meditated upon and carried out
by the simple soldiers; the officers and sub-officers merely fought
well while there was any show of resistance. It would be unjust to
the men to say that the officers led us, for we were far too anxious
to get to close quarters to require leading, but when the resistance
had ceased the captains and lieutenants vehemently ordered, and, when
orders were disregarded, begged of us to stop. The sergeants and >>613
なんでこういうユーザー名で活動続けられるのか、それが分からない
まあ言ってること見ればガキなのは一目瞭然だけど 地震
>Wikipedia:削除依頼/雪乃 (AV女優)においても、特筆性がないことを理由に削除票を投じられていますが、20041027 tatsuさんは利用者ページでの記述が正しければ中学生とのことです。
>この方について調査するためには、18歳未満の方が閲覧できない（閲覧すべきでない）サイトを確認する必要があるように思うのですが、投票前に十分な調査をなさったのか疑問を抱きました。
>本当に調査したのであればその旨投票の際に記述していただきたいと思います。
草 the corporals asked us to refrain from killing, but they were not
over-earnest about it--they understood us better than the leaders of
higher rank--and they knew quite well that our desire of vengeance
could be appeased only by blood. The corporal of my squad said to us
afterwards:
"No doubt it was wrong, but perhaps it was necessary."
But, it will be asked, were there no leaders in the affair? Yes;
there were leaders--indeed, the very best leaders that could be found
for such a deed. You must understand that we had in our ranks men of
education and refinement; gentlemen, let me say, who had gone astray.
These were of many nations and of various crimes. I have already
mentioned Nicholas the Russian. I could also tell you something of a
Prussian ex-lieutenant of hussars; of an English infantry officer,
son of a high official in the Colonies, who had sent in his papers
after a five minutes' interview with his colonel; of the Austrian
_beau sabreur_ who loved women better than their honour and preferred
cards to his own; of many others who came to the Legion as a means
of committing social suicide, and who--unhappy rascals that they
were--were yet good, honest, fighting men, and not bad comrades if one
only put a guard upon his tongue. Two of them could not live in the
same squad, and the authorities knew it. Every one of them was a second
corporal, so to speak, and really, to take the case of the man I knew
best, Nicholas was far more respected amongst us than our authorised superior, and the corporal was as well aware of the fact as we. Well,
these were the leaders. When the officers and sub-officers, who
thought only of victory and perhaps promotion, would have had us show
mercy when the fight was over, these men, born and trained leaders,
encouraged us to slay and spare not, and showed us an example of fierce
brutality which we, angry on account of the murder and mutilation
of our comrade, only too faithfully followed. We should certainly
have done some unfair killing in any case, but we others should not,
I believe, have been guilty of such excesses were it not for the
ruined gentlemen who for once saw a chance of giving vent to their
long pent-up feelings of anger with all the world--especially their
world--that had for ever cast them out Long ago there was an Italian
proverb: "Inglese Italianato e diavolo incarnato," and I believe it to
have contained a good deal of truth at the time. Nowadays the "devil
incarnate" is the gentleman by birth and breeding who has been rejected
by his natural society because he has been so unlucky as to be found
out.
Well, the fight was over, and we, having cleaned our bayonets, rested
quietly on the field. Nobody in the ranks said a word; the sergeants
stood apart from us and from each other; a little knot of officers
gathered together and spoke in whispers. The commandant rode up and
spoke in a low tone to them, then he went away, and the sections were
ordered to fall into ranks. The zephyrs and we were marched a little
way from the place, and were ordered to prepare a small encampment; the ■ このスレッドは過去ログ倉庫に格納されています
