Casca 21: The Trench Soldier Read Online Free Page A
Author: Barry Sadler
lot?"
"Yeah. Don't know what happened. Some sort of gas explosion and then a fire. We all got clear—this time."
"Yeah, well," Dave's voice was suddenly quiet and serious, "that 'ole is a damned dangerous place. A man'll be safer at the war."
"War? What war?"
"You ' aven't 'eard? The Serbs done in an archduke, and Austria and Serbia are goin' to war over it. The Germans want to be in it too, and Russia will likely back the Serbs."
Another man spoke up from a corner. "And the French and the Russians are allies so the Frogs will be in it too."
"Well," said another, "the German Kaiser Wilhelm is our King George's cousin, so I suppose we'll be with Germany against the Frogs and the Russkis."
"Good thing too," came from another miner. "Time we taught the Frogs another lesson. They've been getting real uppity in Morocco."
"But we supported them when they seized Morocco." "Yeah, but we had to, to keep Germany out." "Well, it's time we bloodied the Czar's nose anyway. He's blocked us in Persia, in Afghanistan, and in Tibet, and all of them are rightly British."
"No," a miner with a newspaper asserted positively, "it says here that we're a party to that Russian alliance with the French, so we'll be with them against the Germans."
"What?" "Are you crazy?" "Us fight alongside frogs?" The shouts came from all over the room. "Us with the Russians—impossible!" "Didn't we just close the Dardanelles to keep the Russians out of the Mediterranean?" "The Russians want Afghanistan so they can push us out of India—how can we side with 'em in Europe?" "How can we side with France?" "They're confronting us in Africa and in Egypt." The conversation became a babble of shouts, and Casca borrowed the newspaper and sat among the arguing miners to read it.
The dateline was June 28, 1914. In Serbia the Premier, Pasic, had discovered a plot by his head of military intelligence, Colonel Dimitrievic, who had set up a secret society called Union or Death with the avowed aim of creating a pan-Serb nation and liberating all Serbs from the yoke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Pasic alerted the Austrian Emperor, Franz Josef, in a message so cautiously worded that it could not be understood and so was ignored. Austria sent the Archduke Ferdinand to visit Bosnia which Austria had annexed in 1908, on a tour of military inspections, and at Sarajevo a Bosnian Serb, one Gavrilo Princip, had shot the plump Archduke and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg.
Serbia? Casca pondered. Who would go to war over Serbia? Or over an archduke. Must be a rumor . Aloud he asked: "Who is this archduke anyway?"
"Nobody knows. Europe's full of archdukes, I believe. Some sort of cousin or nephew of the Austrian Emperor and of the old Queen of course." Well, for sure , Casca thought, there can't be a war over that . He put the matter out of his mind and offered to buy the likeable Cockney a drink.
CHAPTER FOUR
Over the next few days Casca's view of the European situation became more and more confused. Austria seemed to be reconciled to the loss of its archduke, and Premier Pasic's warning to Austria had cleared Serbia of any guilt. The assassin was in prison awaiting trial, and both the Serbian nation and the leaders of Bosnia's Serbian population had expressed their regrets, and it seemed Austria would accept. The matter seemed to be at an end.
But Germany – it was not clear why – was determined to become involved and, for no discernible reason, was threatening to invade France although neither the French nation nor a single Frenchman had been involved in the assassination.
The lowlands of Belgium provided a level pathway from Germany to France with highways, railroads, and canals all leading directly into northern France. So Germany delivered a formal ultimatum demanding free passage for its armies. It was a demand no country could possibly accept.
The nation of Belgium, a recent British invention, had only come into existence in 1831, and was neutral. So now
"Yeah. Don't know what happened. Some sort of gas explosion and then a fire. We all got clear—this time."
"Yeah, well," Dave's voice was suddenly quiet and serious, "that 'ole is a damned dangerous place. A man'll be safer at the war."
"War? What war?"
"You ' aven't 'eard? The Serbs done in an archduke, and Austria and Serbia are goin' to war over it. The Germans want to be in it too, and Russia will likely back the Serbs."
Another man spoke up from a corner. "And the French and the Russians are allies so the Frogs will be in it too."
"Well," said another, "the German Kaiser Wilhelm is our King George's cousin, so I suppose we'll be with Germany against the Frogs and the Russkis."
"Good thing too," came from another miner. "Time we taught the Frogs another lesson. They've been getting real uppity in Morocco."
"But we supported them when they seized Morocco." "Yeah, but we had to, to keep Germany out." "Well, it's time we bloodied the Czar's nose anyway. He's blocked us in Persia, in Afghanistan, and in Tibet, and all of them are rightly British."
"No," a miner with a newspaper asserted positively, "it says here that we're a party to that Russian alliance with the French, so we'll be with them against the Germans."
"What?" "Are you crazy?" "Us fight alongside frogs?" The shouts came from all over the room. "Us with the Russians—impossible!" "Didn't we just close the Dardanelles to keep the Russians out of the Mediterranean?" "The Russians want Afghanistan so they can push us out of India—how can we side with 'em in Europe?" "How can we side with France?" "They're confronting us in Africa and in Egypt." The conversation became a babble of shouts, and Casca borrowed the newspaper and sat among the arguing miners to read it.
The dateline was June 28, 1914. In Serbia the Premier, Pasic, had discovered a plot by his head of military intelligence, Colonel Dimitrievic, who had set up a secret society called Union or Death with the avowed aim of creating a pan-Serb nation and liberating all Serbs from the yoke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Pasic alerted the Austrian Emperor, Franz Josef, in a message so cautiously worded that it could not be understood and so was ignored. Austria sent the Archduke Ferdinand to visit Bosnia which Austria had annexed in 1908, on a tour of military inspections, and at Sarajevo a Bosnian Serb, one Gavrilo Princip, had shot the plump Archduke and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg.
Serbia? Casca pondered. Who would go to war over Serbia? Or over an archduke. Must be a rumor . Aloud he asked: "Who is this archduke anyway?"
"Nobody knows. Europe's full of archdukes, I believe. Some sort of cousin or nephew of the Austrian Emperor and of the old Queen of course." Well, for sure , Casca thought, there can't be a war over that . He put the matter out of his mind and offered to buy the likeable Cockney a drink.
CHAPTER FOUR
Over the next few days Casca's view of the European situation became more and more confused. Austria seemed to be reconciled to the loss of its archduke, and Premier Pasic's warning to Austria had cleared Serbia of any guilt. The assassin was in prison awaiting trial, and both the Serbian nation and the leaders of Bosnia's Serbian population had expressed their regrets, and it seemed Austria would accept. The matter seemed to be at an end.
But Germany – it was not clear why – was determined to become involved and, for no discernible reason, was threatening to invade France although neither the French nation nor a single Frenchman had been involved in the assassination.
The lowlands of Belgium provided a level pathway from Germany to France with highways, railroads, and canals all leading directly into northern France. So Germany delivered a formal ultimatum demanding free passage for its armies. It was a demand no country could possibly accept.
The nation of Belgium, a recent British invention, had only come into existence in 1831, and was neutral. So now
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