‘Lissen here, Ensign! It’ssa enemy causes panic, it ain’t me. You can see for yourself we’re gonna end up flappin’ our way across that crick like a flock a ducks!’
‘Well, toss some corn why don’t you! What do you think is going to happen when the deputy commander’s the first one to start talking about fleeing?’ The Ensign was angry, all the more so because Rokka’s ‘lissen here, Ensign’ had offended him.
Rokka had already seen the new ensign and decided on the basis of his speech that the man did not entirely comprehend why the war was different now. Once the Finnish advance had ended, Jalovaara had been sent back to his civilian post on account of its importance, and it was only after the heavy officer losses that he had been ordered back into service. Rokka feared his blue-eyed naïveté, and found the Ensign’s speeches all the more irritating for it.
‘Lissen, that ain’t what we’re talkin’ ’bout here. We’ve learned’da take the neighbors seriously, see. They got their plans too, and we ain’t always been able to keep ’em from carryin’ ’em out, and that’s what I’m thinkin’ might happen here too. Go watch next time you hear a shot, you’ll see how the fellas start peerin’ around. That ain’t a good sign. I don’t like it when fellas start peerin’ around like that.’
‘We will retreat in an orderly manner over the bridge when we are commanded to do so. And you will carry out your mission and leave the rest for others to take care of.’ The Ensign’s tone was decisive. On receiving his summons to return to the army, he had decided to conduct himself forcefully and decisively out on the front. On the train he had re-confirmed this decision, as he took stock of his position in relation to the defeat. He still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that the war was lost. That would have been too bitter a pill for him to swallow. But nothing was going to prevent him from fulfilling his duty. That much was clear.
This attitude infuriated Rokka, and he began to eye the Ensign with suspicion, smiling that same smile that Lammio hadn’t been able to endure without losing his temper either. It was more taunting than anything he might have said. Congenially, as if he were speaking to a child, Rokka explained, ‘Lissen. It’d be real swell if the Third Company could make it over the bridge. Seein’ as they’re already over there on’na main road. The rest of us’s gonna swim. But if you don’t quit makin’na racket, it could happen that we don’t even make it to the swimmin’ part. Neighbors’ll hear you and come rushin’ straight on over.’
‘You will obey the command just like everyone else and that is that. Now, head to the positions and keep your eyes peeled! They told me about you earlier today. In my platoon, there will be no master but discipline and the demands of the situation. Headstrong behavior is not something I am prepared to tolerate. I have no use for empty formalities, and I do not need any kowtowing, but I expect the platoon to carry out its assignments without grumbling about it.’
‘It ain’t carried out a mission yet without grumblin’. Lissen, you still got a lot’ta learn. But damn it, I ain’t gonna start goin’ in’na all a that here. You go ahead and take that bridge if you can!’ Rokka threw his hands up in anger and left. He went to the positions, sat down and started griping.
‘What the hell is it makes those officers so impossible to git on with? Just a word or two and already we’re fightin’. Koskela’s only one I never fought with. What the hell is wrong with those fellas?’
Rokka’s tone of the unjustly accused made Vanhala laugh. ‘I dunno. You ever wondered if maybe it might be somethin’ wrong with you?’
‘With me?’ Rokka was genuinely flabbergasted. ‘How in’na hell could it be sumpin’ wrong with me? I always talk straight about what needs done. And those fellas’s like they’re bent on startin’ a riot! What’d I ever say to git anybody all riled up? It’s those fellas that’s just like they was lookin’ for a fight! Here I am tryin’na do everythin’ I can to make this war go best it can do, and they start pickin’ fights with me! Like right now, all I want is for everythin’na go smooth so we can retreat right when we gotta. And he’s yellin’ at me ’bout takin’na bridge! Well goollord! How we gonna do that when’na enemy’s already over there? You’d think they wanted’da lose everythin’!’
Rokka stared angrily at the toes of his boots, then shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Well, what the hell do those fellas matter to me now anyway? Karelia’s gone. War’s lost. There ain’t nothin’ left for me to lose. I’m just here’da make ’em pay for takin’ Kannas now. Nabbed a major day before yesterday. Served ’im right, comin’ over here with a patrol! Fellas from the First Company took the shoulder tabs. Missed a chance, Rahikainen.’
‘Oh, I’m not collectin’ those anymore. To hell with ’em. To hell with the badges, Karelia, the war – and good riddance!’
‘Shut up! The guys are puttin’ up a tough fight down in Kannas. They’ve stopped the advance,’ Sihvonen said.
‘Ain’t gonna help nothin’, you can be sure ’bout that. They’ll git through anyway, sometime or other. War’s lost. All that gaddamn work for nothin’.’
Phi phiew…
‘Bullet, boys,’ Asumaniemi said.
They all pressed lower into their foxholes. Only Rokka didn’t move. He sat right where he was and said, as if to himself, ‘There they go, flyin’ bullets. Got all the men in’na world takin’ their weapons and hot-footin’ it through the fields an’na forests. Every one of ’em shootin’ his off somewhere. Yeah, I bet there’s bullets flyin’.’
‘Git in’na pit!’ Susling said, his voice slightly worried.
‘Even a fella like Koskela,’ Rokka continued in the same tone, indifferent to Susling’s urging. ‘If anybody knew there was no point in dyin’ out here for nothin’ it was him. And then there he goes, just like he was committin’ suicide. There’s no way he was gittin’ outta there after he’d thrown that satchel charge. I think he knew it, too. Lissen, Priha, what did you say to the chaplain yesterday when he started talkin’na you?’
‘Heehee… He asked about the watch that guy from the First Company had, the guy shot by the patrol… and I said somebody without a watch prob’ly took it… This religion thing’s started gettin’ pretty weird, too. There’s men being killed all over like pigs in a slaughterhouse, but that doesn’t interest the minister much. Seems like stealin’s a sin worse than murder! Heehee. Doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me, pinching a watch off a guy like that who doesn’t know the time anymore anyway, heehee.’
‘Damn it, boy! Now you’re startin’na talk sense. How did you git to be so wise?’
‘I am an independent-minded forest fighter, not some herd animal who just repeats propaganda, heeheehee…’ Vanhala erupted into hearty laughter, then sprawled out on his back on the bottom of his hole. Rokka was about to join in as well, but just then heavy shooting started up on the left, from the direction of the main road, accompanied by a call to charge. In the same moment, the men grabbed their weapons and once more the chatter ceased, faces grew serious and, in a state of intense anxiety, they prepared to repel the attack.
Half an hour later the situation was such that a retreat over the bridge would have had to have begun immediately. The enemy wasn’t putting any pressure on them, however, and the command was slow in coming. But the Third Company, which was defending the main road, was already retreating at full steam toward the bridge, and there was no doubt that the enemy would follow close on its heels. When the Company Commander then sent word to disengage and retreat, Rokka thought it would be best to swim across the river. He said as much to Jalovaara, but the Ensign thought only of the instructions he had been given. He might also have been resistant to taking up Rokka’s suggestion because of their earlier quarrel over the issue. Not that Jalovaara would have done such a thing consciously, but he wasn’t able to separate out the various forces influencing him, so the sharpness of his refusal may well have reflected his reluctance to recognize that Rokka had been right.