So, they set off to retreat across the bridge, but were unable to make it that far. They did see the bridge, gruesome sight that it was – with wounded men from the Third Company crawling the length of it while the enemy kept them under constant fire. The new Third Company commander collapsed there as well. Then they heard the sappers scream hoarsely, ‘The bridge is gonna blow!’
The scream was like a call of distress. The sappers were obviously aware that there might be somebody out on the bridge who was still alive. But they couldn’t save him – all they could do was wait for the wounded to become the deceased. A powerful explosion shook the entire surrounding area, and bodies flew into the air amidst chunks of the bridge.
And so the Third Platoon ended up swimming after all. Wood debris and human body parts were still raining down in front of them when Rokka yelled, ‘You young fellas head out first! Määttä, take the machine gun! Rahikainen, Sihvonen and Honkajoki’ll help! Rest of us’ll hold ’em back from the bank in’na meantime.’
The men waded into the water and started floundering their way across. Only in the very center of the river did the water reach above their heads, but two bounds was enough to get across that bit.
Jalovaara, Rokka, Vanhala, Susling and Asumaniemi remained. They fired as fast as they could to keep the enemy from reaching the bank. Jalovaara ordered Asumaniemi to start swimming immediately, but the boy was too busy blowing through cartridges to listen.
‘I got him! Hey, I got him! Look! Over there, by the root of that bush…’
‘Git in’na crick! Damn it, boy, didn’t you hear me?’ Rokka yelled angrily.
Even in his panic Jalovaara remembered what Rokka had said about swimming, and said, ‘You men go! I’ll be right behind you.’
Rokka, however, never let that kind of thing influence him while he was fighting. He understood that the Ensign wanted to make up for what he’d said earlier, but he still didn’t think the suggestion made any sense, so he said, ‘You come with us, damn it. One man ain’t gonna make any difference. Here we go!’
They went. The Ensign figured he had done his duty and followed suit. Just as Susling was stepping into the water, he lurched and fell onto a rock. He said in a low, resigned voice, ‘I stay here, Antti. I stay here.’
‘What happen’na you?’
‘Go! Run! I’ll stay here. I can’t make it… Run… I’m hit. Run, you all! They’re shootin’ from the bridge!’
The bullet had come from somewhere far off, near the bridge, as their position was still protected from the land by a bluff running alongside the river. Just then a whole hail of bullets splashed into the water. They’d been noticed.
The water around Susling turned red. He tried to get up, but slipped on a rock and fell again.
He gave just one gulp of pain as Rokka swung him over his shoulder. Susling was a decent-sized man, but up onto the shoulder he went, and Rokka plunged into the current like a strapping stallion. There was no point in crouching. All that mattered was speed. Vanhala, Jalovaara and Asumaniemi tried to shoot at the enemy as they floundered across. It was no use, however, as they couldn’t even see the men shooting. When they were halfway across, Rokka bellowed, ‘Keep your head up… Keep your head up… Here we go, Suslin’!’
And so they all went. Rokka popped up to the water’s surface only once, taking a gulp of air and gasping, ‘Head up…’
The guys manning the opposite bank were also trying to send in some fire to cover the unlucky five. The worst part would be climbing up to the positions, as at that point they would be vulnerable to enemy fire coming from above as well. The high banks protected them as they swam across the river. The bullets were coming from a spot far over by the bridge, from which the river itself was actually visible.
They were already scrambling up the opposite bank. Susling hung across Rokka’s shoulders, and Rokka blew water out of his nostrils, asking, ‘You git water in your lungs? You git water in your lungs?’
‘No,’ a weak voice said from over his shoulder. They were already at the edge of the positions when a crash came from the opposite bank. The men dived headlong for the ditch and, just as he leapt, Rokka howled, ‘Gaddamn it!’
The others lifted Susling from his shoulders. Susling kept repeating over and over again, ‘Antti… it hit you… I heard… you’re hit.’
‘I know… left shoulder… Gaddamn it that hurts.’
They huffed and puffed, and sneezed out water. The medics from the Border Patrol Jaeger Company started binding Rokka and Susling’s wounds. Susling’s wound was bleeding profusely, but it wasn’t dangerous. The bullet had torn through his side, but just at the surface. Rokka’s shoulder, on the other hand, was worse. The bone had obviously been crushed, and when the medic ripped his shirt and moved his arm, Rokka erupted into a litany of curses and his face twisted into pained contortions.
‘Gaddamn it… my shoulder, damn it! See, fellas, you see how it’s bleedin’?’
Vanhala sneezed and coughed, ‘Boys, take a look at this boot! Nearly got me…’
‘Boot nothin’! Just look at my shoulder!’
‘Wouldn’t have taken much. Went right there and right there. Look, guys!’
‘Naw, see here! Who took it worse here, huh? Boot… Just look at my shoulder! Gaddamn it that hurts! If I wasn’t in such pain, I’d laugh. I saw Sankia Priha the Great crawl up outta that crick. I even thought, damn, even you ain’t laughin’ this time!’
‘Heeheehee… brutal fighting as our boys pull out… heeheehee. That’ll wipe a smile off your face all right, heeheehee. But you should’ve seen the glob of snot that came out my nose when I blew it! Heeheehee… But I sucked ’im back up in there where he belongs, heeheehee. Oughtta get a Swimming Cup for that. I mean, we earned it all right.’
Then Rokka remembered the Ensign. He had rushed off to organize the men who had crossed the river first so they could offer support for the Jaegers, as he was afraid the enemy might try to take the same route across. But the enemy stayed on its own side, and the Ensign calmed down.
‘Lissen, Ensign!’ Rokka yelled to him.
‘You badly hurt?’ Jalovaara asked, coming over.
‘Shoulder, damn it. You, you are a curious character.’ Rokka looked at the Ensign for a long time waiting to see his expression.
The Ensign smiled perfectly calmly, however, and said, ‘I was. But I’ve learned my lesson.’
‘You believe me now that we swam?’
‘Can’t deny it. At least not until I put on some dry clothes.’ The Ensign was so calm that Rokka let up right away. He had just wanted to make sure that the Ensign believed him now. He let the issue drop, and Jalovaara started rounding up the platoon to take them further behind the positions, as they were being put on a break. As they headed back, they carried Rokka and Susling to the side of the road to wait for the ambulances. Rokka cursed away on his stretcher, lecturing the others in between his howls of pain. ‘Now, did I really have to live to see the day you fellas’d be carryin’ me round like a cripple? I ain’t never needed help from nobody! But gaddamn it that shoulder burns like hell. How you doin,’ Suslin’?’
‘Better when I ain’t movin’.’
‘You fellas know where Antti Rokka’s goin’? To Lydia. I’m gonna have to count the youngsters to see if we got more of ’em now… Damn it! I ain’t seen’na littlest fella but that one time on leave. The missus’ old man had’da take care a gittin’na family all evacuated. I’m gonna make him up a good barrel a home brew… Antti’s wars’s done. Guess we’ll just see how things go with the arm here.’