And when, after their rest, the battalion was pulled into a counter-attack, the men pushed back powerfully against the enemy. Their previous slackness had given way to vigor and a will to fight. The men spoke of nothing except that now it was time to start fighting for real. They hardly even noticed the whole thing themselves. ‘National defense’ just seemed like a self-evident duty as soon as the surface of their own land appeared, authorizing the use of such a term in relation to the war.
The battles over the Uomaa-line began, and even the enemy noticed that it seemed to be banging its head against a brick wall again.
Chapter Sixteen
I
Rokka was worried.
He paced back and forth along the length of his platoon, moving from one position to the next. Actually, the platoon was no longer his, as the ensign assigned to lead the Third Platoon had just arrived from the home front that day. Nevertheless, Rokka still felt responsible, as they had a tough situation in front of them. There was a river at their backs. A new line of defense was being set up along the opposite bank, and their assignment was to hold onto the bridgehead, protecting it as long as possible so that the others would have more time to fortify their positions. The bridge over the river was on their left.
Having sunk their machine guns back in the pond, the machine-gunners were now operating as a regular infantry platoon. Only Määttä’s machine gun remained. A couple of days earlier, the platoon had received three more new recruits as replacements. Two men were transferred from the utilities staff as well, bringing the total number of new men to eight in all. In Rokka’s opinion, that meant the percentage of inexperienced men was too high. The new recruits were not particularly worse than the other men, seeing as a man gets his nature from birth and not from the army, but inexperience would make them more susceptible to panic, and that was exactly the worst thing that could happen in this situation.
Susling was lying in his foxhole, blowing the smoke from his cigarette all around him to disperse the swarming mosquitoes. Rokka walked by and said, ‘Suslin’, you remember how we use’da go swimmin’ in’na Vuoksi down in Kannas as kids?’
‘Why wouldn’t I? We ain’t never gonna see it again, Antti. Nothin’ but corpses swimmin’ there now. Rumor is water down there is runnin’ red.’
‘We’re gonna be swimmin’ ’cross this crick here pretty soon. You believe me?’
‘Mm … if anybody gits that far.’
They had received several days’ dry rations, and the new recruits wrapped up their sugar and put it in their bread bags. Rokka winked at them and said, ‘Don’t you fellas save that sugar now! It’ll git all wet and then it’ll be ruined. We’re goin’ swimmin’ soon!’
‘Don’t be stupid. We’ll hop that stream if it comes to it.’ One of the new recruits drew manfully on his cigarette, his cap tilted off to the side. The creases pressed into the cap gave a pretty good idea of its owner. The boy had an arrogant, devil-may-care machismo about him. His cap was ostensibly askew out of carelessness, but it was actually set at a carefully considered angle, deliberately selected to convey its carelessness. This new recruit was the same fellow who had turned up at the brook line asking for enemies to kill. His name was Asumaniemi. Back then Rokka had answered his question with mocking contempt, but although he had continued to address the boy in a jocular, offhand sort of way, his contempt had vanished. That very evening, when they had been fending off the counter-attack at Sarastie’s command post, the boy had taken down three of the attackers. Bare-headed, as his cap had fallen off in his excitement, the boy had risen to his knees and fired, shouting every time he hit his target, ‘Missing one, the devil said, counting up his ants!’
When the fighting was over, the others were obliged to endure rather too much carrying-on about these three fallen soldiers, but they granted Asumaniemi his right to boast, as he really had been right at home under fire. And the event was not the last of its kind. Asumaniemi became one of the sturdiest pillars of the platoon. Rokka’s voice was good-natured as he shot him a word of warning, ‘Damn it, boy! You hush up now, you hear? You’re gonna swim just like all’a rest of us. So swallow that sugar and don’t leave it to git wet!’
Ensign Jalovaara arrived from the command post.
Rokka went over to greet him, and when they met up, the Ensign said angrily, ‘What were you saying about swimming?’
‘I ordered the fellas to gulp down that sugar so it don’t git wet when we swim across’sa crick.’
‘You’ll make them all panic talking like that.’
‘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 he
re. 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.
II
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.
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?’