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Chapter 11 “Give it to me!”

The two friends ran back to the lines. An officer stopped them.

“Where have you been?” he asked angrily. He stopped talking when he saw their excited faces.

“We’re going to attack!” shouted the young soldier.

“Attack!” said the officer in surprise. ”That’s real lighting!” He smiled proudly.

The other soldiers stood in a circle around the two friends. “Is it true? Are we going to attack?”

“Yes! It’s true!” replied the young soldier. “We heard the general talking!” A few minutes later, the order arrived. The officers quickly pushed the men into line. The regiment stood ready, watching the woods. They could hear the two armies battling all around them.

The young soldier looked at his friend. He thought of the general’s words: “not many of your cowboys will return.” They were the only ones who knew this secret. The man beside them spoke in a low voice. “They’re going to eat us!” The two friends silently agreed, but their faces showed no fear.

The young soldier watched the woods carefully. From the corner of his eye. he saw an officer on horseback. He was waving his hat. The regiment pushed forward and shouted, then began to run. The young soldier ran like a man followed by wild dogs. His eyes were red, and his face was hard. His uniform was dirty. On his head he wore a blood-covered cloth. His rifle hit his shoulder as he ran. He looked like a madman.

As the regiment moved into an open space, the shooting started. Yellow fire shot out from the trees. The men broke into small groups as they ran into the woods. The enemy shouted as they fired. Shells passed through the trees over their heads. One landed in a group of men and broke into bright red pieces. One of the men threw up his hands to protect his eyes. Other men were hit by bullets. They fell to the ground, screaming. The regiment left them behind. They forgot the danger as they ran madly forward. They shouted their hate at the enemy.

Soon they became tired and they began to run more slowly Then the regiment stopped and stood with their rifles in their hands. They watched their comrades dying all around them. They watched the enemy stupidly. An officer screamed, “You can’t stay here! Move!” He stood with his back to the enemy and cursed them.

The young soldier fell to his knees and fired an angry shot. His comrades woke up and began firing again. They moved carefully from tree to tree. The smoke was thick in the wood. The gunfire became louder as they moved forward.

They slowed down again before an open space. An officer took Henry by the arm. “Move!’” he shouted in his ear. “We’ll be killed if we stay!” He pulled him forward. Henry shook off the officer’s hand.

“You come too!” he shouted back at the officer.

Wilson ran after them. The three men shouted together to the others, “Move! Move!” A soldier ran past them carrying the flag.

The regiment followed. They ran with their heads low. They ran into the bullets and the yellow fire. They ran on through thick blue smoke. The noise of the firing filled their heads.

Henry ran with his eyes almost closed. He followed the bright colors of the flag. He loved the flag. He felt proud to fight for it.

Suddenly, a bullet hit the soldier who was carrying it. He fell to the ground. Henry and Wilson jumped forward at the same time.

They pulled the flag from his dying hands.

The two young soldiers looked behind them, holding the flag.

A few men were still shooting. They were facing the enemy, but moving away from the battle. An officer’s voice screamed above the noise: „Where are you going? Shoot them!”

The young soldier and his friend both pulled at the flag.

“Give it to me!”

‘”No, let me keep it!”

Henry pulled the flag out of Wilson s hands.

The regiment moved back through the trees to an open space.

Rifle fire was coming at them from all sides. The tired men moved more and more slowly. They wanted to give up the fight.

It was not possible to win.

The young soldier was angry and unhappy. He thought about the general who called his comrades “cowboys.” “I wanted to prove to him that we’re good fighters” he thought. “And now we’ve lost!” He hated the general, and he wanted him to die. He held the flag higher. He shouted at his comrades, and pushed them with his free hand. He and the officer called them by name, but they didn’t listen. The regiment was a broken machine.

Suddenly, the smoke lifted, and they saw the enemy all around them. The men cried out in fear. They didn’t know which way to run. Henry stood in the middle of the crowd, holding the flag. His friend came to him. “I guess this is goodbye, Henry,” he said in a low voice.

“Oh. be quiet!” replied the young soldier. He didn’t look at Wilson.

The officers tried to move the men into a circle. A young officer stood holding his sword. He was watching the woods closely. He gave a loud shout. “They’re coming!” The regiment fired. They could see the faces of the enemy soldiers. They wore light gray uniforms. Bach side angrily returned the other’s rifle fire. The smoke grew thicker, but they continued firing.

The gray soldiers came closer. “There’s no hope for us,” thought Henry sadly. He dropped to the ground and sat with the flag between his knees. He watched his comrades fight. “We’re hurting them badly,” he told himself.

Then he noticed that the enemy fire was growing weaker. The regiment looked around through the smoke. As the smoke lifted, they saw a battlefield without soldiers. Only the dead were still there. The blue soldiers stood up slowly. Their eyes burned and their faces were dirty, but they were happy. They shook hands and smiled proudly. They felt like real soldiers now.