Chapter 233: Merry Christmas
In Ypres, Belgium, the already dim skies darkened further as the day went on. The biting cold had frozen the damp, muddy ground into solid chunks. A shovel swung into it could only chip off a small, icy shard.
Captain Claude wanted to carve a "ladder" into the trench wall, something to make it easier to peek over the top. But he eventually gave up, tossing the entrenching tool aside as he ducked back into the shelter. Rubbing his hands together, he muttered, "We might as well hope the German shells finish the job on these blasted fortifications for us."
The soldiers crammed into the cramped shelter laughed, passing around the few remaining cigarettes in the flickering candlelight. If nothing else, winter meant the defenses were harder, and the German artillery more prone to freezing up. The fighting had slowed with the cold, though after three grueling months of combat, the men's initial hopes for a quick victory had faded to exhaustion.
Lieutenant Denis handed Captain Claude a newspaper. "Maybe this'll warm you up a bit, sir!"
Claude took the paper, shivering as he squinted at it in the dim candlelight. The headline read, "Charles to Send Ten Thousand Field Blankets to the Front for Christmas."
"It's good news," Claude admitted with a faint smile. "But with so many troops at the front, by the time those blankets reach us, we'll probably just see a few stray threads."
The men laughed, exchanging thoughts:
"Colonel Charles is a good officer. He always brings France victories."
"He's been sending supplies our way, never once letting us down."
"But he's just one man, and the other capitalists treat him like an enemy just because he's different…"
"No, no." Captain Claude shook his head. "You fools!"
Seeing the puzzled looks of his men, Captain Claude explained, "Do you think the other capitalists hate Charles just because he's different?"
"Then why, Captain?"
"What else do you know, sir?"
Eager for any distraction from their grim surroundings, the soldiers pressed closer. Claude countered their question with another.
"Consider this: Why do capitalists throw out milk rather than give it to starving people?"
The soldiers hesitated, knowing it was true but not understanding why.
"It sounds ridiculous," Claude continued in a hushed voice, "but it's simple. Among the starving, there's always a slim chance that someone can scrape up enough money to buy it. If the capitalists gave the milk away, no one would need to pay for it. And with reduced demand, even at the lowest prices, they'd be going against their own profits!"
The soldiers slowly began to understand:
"It'd mean no money in their pockets."
"It's disgusting, watching people starve to death while they're focused on squeezing out every last cent."
"They only care about profit. If people die because of it, that's not their problem."
Then someone thought of Charles. "But what does that have to do with him?"
Captain Claude let out a knowing hum, refusing to say more.
After a moment, someone pieced it together.
"Charles uses his own money to send supplies to the front. That reduces demand here on the front lines."
"Exactly. It stops the capitalists from raising prices and cuts into their profits."
"Good Lord, they hate Charles because he's helping us!"
The shelter echoed with curses directed at the capitalists and words of support for Charles.
Suddenly, Claude raised a hand. "Quiet!"
The soldiers fell silent, grabbing their weapons and rushing out of the trench, thinking the enemy was about to attack. But as they listened, they realized the sounds in the distance were not gunshots, but singing.
Lieutenant Denis carefully peered over the top of the trench, then pulled back with a bemused smile. "The Germans are celebrating Christmas," he said. "Those bastards. Here's to hoping it's a Christmas they never forget."
The soldiers laughed bitterly, sharing Denis's sentiment as they endured their own "memorable" Christmas on the front.
One soldier cupped his hands and shouted, "Hey, Germans! Merry Christmas!"
His humorous gesture drew laughs, and someone else joked, "André, your shout's more effective than artillery!"
But then, from across the darkened field, a voice shouted back in French, "Merry Christmas!"
More German voices joined in, some struggling with the unfamiliar words, their accents thick and clumsy.
Captain Claude realized that the Germans had taken his men's shout seriously. But he wondered—why couldn't it be?
"Merry Christmas!" he shouted across the line, his voice filled with sincerity.
His soldiers paused, then one by one, echoed him. "Merry Christmas!" they called.
Then, a small light appeared in the German trench, flickering before it slowly dimmed. Even in the faint glow, the French soldiers could see it was a Christmas tree, adorned with candles. The light flickered out, save for one small flame—a German officer was shielding it from the wind with his hand.
The French soldiers could have fired. He was the enemy, a German officer, fully exposed at barely a hundred meters away.
One shot, and he'd be finished.
But no one did. An unspoken truce seemed to hang in the air.
The German officer called out, "How's it going over there, Frenchmen? We're almost frozen stiff!"
Captain Claude chuckled at the officer's dark humor. "Everything's fine, German. We'll just see who can hold out longer. What do you say?"
Both sides laughed.
It seemed unnecessary to continue killing each other in these conditions. Facing the same hardships, the men on both sides felt the instinct to unite against their shared struggle, with Christmas as the spark.
At first, they shouted across the trenches, then someone dared to step into the open "no man's land" to exchange gifts. That small act broke the dam, and soon soldiers from both sides met in the middle to trade cigarettes, candy, and chocolate.
Eventually, they even invited each other into their trenches to share drinks. For one night, there was peace.
(End of Chapter)
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