Unknown Soldiers

by Väinö Linna

  ‘Don’t see why not,’ Koskela replied, amused.

  ‘Are you yourself Lieutenant Koskela, sir?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Lieutenant, sir! Private Honkajoki A, A 1: the first A designates my first name, Aarne; the second A and the one, my fitness grade. Reinforcement reporting for duty in the Lieutenant’s platoon. Prior service in the Fiftieth Infantry Regiment, Second Company, machine-gunner treated for injury in the military hospital and reassigned here by the Personnel Replenishment Center. Hereby reporting for active military duty, firmly prepared to sacrifice my own blood, as well as that which I have received via the military hospital’s blood transfusion service, in the fight for our homeland and the freedom of our people.’

  The man remained standing stiffly at attention until Koskela issued the permission to be seated he had been waiting for.

  ‘Well, welcome. There’s some beds over there. Two guys stay here and two guys go join the other section. You can decide amongst yourselves who goes where.’

  Vanhala hesitated a moment, then hissed to Koskela, ‘Keep archer-man here.’

  Vanhala was afraid of losing out if horse-face didn’t stay, having sensed immediately that an arsenal of pranks lay behind the man’s peculiar front. It wasn’t like Koskela to dictate anything he didn’t have to, though, so he let the men decide their assignments amongst themselves. The three others were new recruits fresh out of boot camp, eager to join the other section so as to get out of the bunker with the officer whose presence intimidated them. So, it naturally worked out that Honkajoki stayed, finally designating one of the new recruits to remain with him – a boy who shyly whispered that his name was ‘Hauhia’.

  The men selected beds for themselves and began settling into the bunker. Honkajoki placed his bow carefully in the gun rack, and Rokka asked him, ‘Ain’t got much faith in those weapons next to yours, huh?’

  Honkajoki replied politely, his full attention fixed upon Rokka, ‘In light of the rapid development of weaponry and technical equipment that is currently in use in this great war, I find that from the point of view of the nation’s defense, the adoption of new weapons is essential.’

  Everyone’s attention fixed upon this curious crusader, and Koskela asked him, ‘Whereabouts you from?’

  ‘Lieutenant, sir! My mother brought me into this world in Lauttakylä, but I was still a babe-in-arms when my parents relocated to Hämeenlinna, where I grew into a young man. I then grew into manhood all across Finland, as I led a very mobile life, which I might mention in passing is a reflection of my peripatetic nature. Which is to say, I have a solid dose of the explorer and the researcher in me. In truth, I am a scholar.’

  ‘What kinda work you done?’ Hietanen asked in turn. Honkajoki turned politely toward him and answered in the same stylized tones with which he had addressed Koskela, ‘Sergeant, sir! I have earned my livelihood in forestry. More precisely, in pine-cone collection. That is merely how I’ve earned my living, however. As I mentioned, I am a scholar. My interest lies in creating new inventions, and my most immediate objective is the creation of a perpetual-motion machine.’

  ‘Don’t you know nobody can come up with that kinda thing?’ Hietanen said half-seriously, as he was always something of a hard-liner when it came to anything related to the spiritual or supernatural.

  ‘Indeed, I am thoroughly acquainted with all the difficulties associated with this invention, but I do not permit them to discourage me … Aha, perhaps I’ll take a brief respite. Incidentally, how are the guard duties organized here, if I might be permitted to inquire?’

  ‘Both machine guns are guarded at night, just one during the day,’ Koskela said. ‘You can each do a shift with one of the other guys so you have a chance to figure out the lie of the land and see how everything works around here. Might be good for Hauhia to do two shifts that way, maybe even three. Rokka, take this fellow along next time it’s your turn and show him the ropes. And Hauhia, try to remember everything he tells you – somehow things look a lot more harmless than they actually are around here. What’s your age class?’

  ‘1922, Lieutenant, sir!’ Hauhia snapped to attention as he responded, and Koskela said, ‘OK. That’ll be just fine. And you can drop the “sir”. We don’t stand on ceremony around here. We’re all pretty informal, so just make yourselves at ease. This only applies to me, of course. With the other officers it’s a different story.’

  ‘Understood, Lieutenant, sir!’ Hauhia stiffened to something like attention even though he was seated, the fear of superior officers having already developed into a reflex.

  III

  Honkajoki lay down and went to sleep. The others ceased to marvel at his peculiar conduct, figuring that the man belonged to that class of guys who come out of the woodwork in a long war, ready to engage in any senseless shenanigans that will help them and others pass the time. The man had already assumed this role so thoroughly that he no longer even knew how else to behave.

  Hauhia, on the other hand, didn’t sleep. He would have been happy to set off immediately on guard duty with Vanhala, but Rokka said, ‘Come with me. Sankia Priha baits the neighbors too much. ’Fyou head out there cold with him, some sharp shot’ll nab you real quick.’

  ‘Have you lost many men?’ Hauhia ventured timidly. Rokka looked at him for a moment as if weighing his words, and meanwhile Rahikainen cut in, ‘Rare day we don’t have somebody bite the dust.’

  ‘Don’t lissen’na him. He’s full of it. Just tryin’na scare you. We don’t even man Mount Million for another two months yet. But don’t you go out alone, hear! You keep that in mind.’

  ‘I have been in an air raid,’ Hauhia said, but added hastily, ‘Though of course that’s nothing compared to a real war.’

  ‘Ain’t no war more real than that,’ Rokka said smiling, and Hauhia fell silent, thinking Rokka was smiling at his childishness. He looked around at the bunker and the men inside it. He would have asked many questions, had he dared. He was intimidated by Rokka and Hietanen, not to mention Koskela. The fear of NCOs that the training center had drilled into him was still strong in his mind, and he watched and listened nervously as Susling said to Koskela, ‘Toss me that paper.’

  ‘Here, grab it.’

  Rokka shoved his ring-making materials under the bed and said, ‘Awwright, boy. C’mon! Papa’s gonna show you how we fight a war.’

  ‘Which weapons?’

  ‘They got ’em out there, don’t worry.’

  They climbed out of the bunker into the connecting trench, and Rokka led Hauhia behind a small turn in the trench, where there was a pole.

  ‘This here’s the toilet.’

  ‘Are those pamphlets?’

  ‘Yup. Neighbors’s even provided us with toilet paper.’ Rokka showed him the pamphlets, in which Finnish soldiers were encouraged to kill their officers and switch over to the Red Army.

  ‘You see what’s written on’na other side? If a fella’s got this note with him and he surrenders, they’re obliged’da keep him alive. So keep that in mind. Take it with you when’na time comes.’

  Then they continued on their way.

  ‘Over there’s the second team’s machine gun. We only guard that one at night. These here’re the gunners’ nests. Their guard’s over there. Hey! See anythin’?’

  The guard glanced up from his novel to look in the trench mirror, then replied, ‘Nope.’

  Rokka explained to Hauhia, ‘Now, don’t you read on duty, even if that fella Ukkola is. So now, git this in your body head to tail: your head don’t ever come up above the level’la the
trench. Just about everybody we’ve lost round here’s somebody who lifted his head up just a second too long. You needa look out, you use the periscope.’

  ‘Sure, sure.’

  ‘Sure sure. You don’t realize they just saw you.’ Rokka yanked Hauhia away from the slit in the trench the machine gun fired through. ‘I ain’t jokin’ with you here. Every word counts. Whoever’s over there may’ve just caught sight of you through his binoculars. It’s a nice summer night and all, but don’t you go driftin’ off to dreamland for all that. Death’s not the type to marvel over the scenery, see. Seems like it’s about time for a cigarette break. You smoke?’

  ‘Yes. But they didn’t give us anything when we left but the cigarette ration.’

  ‘I’ll give you some. I can give you a whole pack when we git back to the bunker. Would you lissen’na that loudspeaker?’

  ‘Men of Finland. Kill your fascist officers and come join us.’ The loud, crackling voice emanated from the Devil’s Mound.

  ‘Fascists got knocked off a while ago. Now we’re on to the communists!’ Vanhala’s voice rang out from the other side of the trench.

  ‘Men of Finland. Come get bread!’

  ‘Why don’t you come get some butter to put on your bread? Heeheehee.’

  ‘He pulls that stuff all’a time,’ Rokka said half-angrily, though he was also amused by Vanhala’s constant baiting. Ukkola smiled too, and said over his shoulder, ‘He’s even rigged up a new telegraph signal. Two shots spaced out, then three right in a row. Tap … tap … tap tap tap. And then they answer. Some crackpot over there just like him, naturally.’

  ‘Hitler’s black bandits have lost countless men and all kinds of technology. Working soldiers of Finland! You are spilling your blood while the Germans are raping your wives and sisters.’

  ‘Uh-huh, and even the younger mothers are getting more than their fill. Heeheehee.’

  Papapapapapapapapa.

  The alders rustled and Hauhia threw himself to the floor of the trench.

  ‘Did they hit anything?’ he asked, panicked.

  ‘Russki vintovka, hutoi vintovka, heeheehee.’

  ‘There you heard it. Let’s go git that nutcase outta here!’

  Vanhala was watching the Devil’s Mound through the periscope. The periscope was made out of two mirrors and a tube made of wooden boards. So many men had been killed by enemy snipers that now the men were forbidden from aiming without it. They had also been ordered to wear a helmet, but in keeping with tradition they had conducted an ‘experiment’ that left the helmet shot through with holes, so now it lay rusted on the side of the trench.

  ‘Quit shoutin’, gaddamn it!’ Rokka said, when they finally reached Vanhala.

  ‘The neighbors started it … heehee.’

  ‘And they can put a stop to it, too. Now shove it, gaddamn it! What you doin’ with that file?’

  ‘I was just filing a notch across the head of this bullet. Makes a nice long whistle when it blows.’ Vanhala set off, laughing as he went. He was particularly amused at the raped wives and sisters and, giggling, he dreamt up lines in his head, ‘Evil German soldiers rape valiant, hearty Nordic women.’

  Rokka surveyed the foreground in the mirror and ordered Hauhia to take aim. ‘That’s how you gotta check every time. There’re fourteen bodies out there. Memorize where they are so you don’t forget. If the enemy comes out sometime, you don’t wanna mix up the dead and the livin’.’

  ‘When did they die?’

  ‘Last fall. We weren’t in this sector then. There ain’t nothin’ but bones and maggots underneath those rags by now. See those bunkers over there on’na mound? They’re aimin’ from over there too. If you’re lucky, you can spot a helmet sometimes. I’d like to git me one a those sniper rifles with telescopic sights and start takin’na real crack at ’em. At the beginnin’ I used’da try for ’em, but then I started this ring business and I ain’t had time for it. I’m tryin’na send a bit a money to help out the missus, see. She’s tryin’na rebuild stuff down in Kannas. But don’t you try takin’ any shots at ’em for a lil’ while yet. You gotta be pretty sharp to nab those fellas. And you gotta stick your own neck out, see.’

  Rokka continued to lecture and instruct for the entirety of the two-hour shift. ‘If they come out, then you pull on this cord here. It rings a bell back in’na bunker. And if anythin’ happens, just don’t panic. Aim sharp and keep steady. Knock off a couple a rounds straight away at the start, that’ll quiet down the others and slow ’em down.’

  ‘What is it like, shooting people?’

  ‘Dunno. I only shot enemies.’

  ‘Aren’t enemies people?’ Hauhia asked, smiling. Rokka’s playful, careless reply struck him as funny.

  ‘No, they ain’t. Or anyway I dunno. The fellas up top say they ain’t. Dunno what else they could be, but lissen, don’t you go squabblin’ with your conscience over all that. Or at least put it off ’til later. Fellas ’cross the way’ll be happy to commit that sin if you don’t wanna. I don’t worry ’bout that kind a stuff. The higher-ups doin’na commandin’ can worry ’bout that. They’re the ones’s responsible. Antti Rokka shoots and makes rings. And that’s what you’re gonna do too!’

  ‘I’m not pitying them,’ Hauhia said with contrived manliness, though no sooner had the words left his mouth than he was ashamed of them. For no other reason than that he feared Rokka might take him for a braggart. Hauhia had fallen under Rokka’s spell immediately. He considered himself quite lucky to have been retained in the first section. To his mind, Rokka was the concrete realization of everything he had heard and read about soldiers on the front. Soon he would be just like that himself. Hauhia was under the illusion that war makes a man courageous. Reflecting for a minute, he asked, ‘They say you get used to being afraid. Is that true?’

  ‘Git used’da bein’ afraid! Don’t you dare. Fear’s bad company, hear? You shake him off quick and make sure he stays off.’

  The ground shook as a six-incher aimed straight at Million went off. Hauhia clung to the trench floor, face-down, until Rokka ordered him to get up. Embarrassed, he explained that he couldn’t tell which blasts were harmless and which ones weren’t. But to his astonishment he heard Rokka saying gravely and sympathetically, ‘Lissen, there ain’t no such thing as a harmless blast. They’re all dangerous. You git down whenever you hear one. Ain’t no shame in’nat.’

  Two hours later, Rahikainen came to relieve them. The other machine gun was already being guarded now as well. Määttä had brought Honkajoki along and was showing him around and acquainting him with the foreground. Honkajoki had his bow over his shoulder and his arrows in a woven birch-bark quiver. Määttä wasn’t sure there was any point in explaining things to this man, as he seemed somehow dubious. Maybe they had better not leave him alone on guard duty at all.

  ‘I have indeed grown accustomed to the duties of the sentinel over the course of my military career. But has Corporal Määttä heard the story of the unfortunate guard?’

  ‘One in particular? Day before yesterday some poor sucker got a shell on the head over at Million.’

  ‘An unfortunate incident indeed. But I was referring to the guard on Finnish Public Radio. Has Corporal Määttä not heard his laments? I am overcome by a feeling of unspeakable despair every time I hear his wistful voice, “I stand on guard alone, oooout here in the lonely night.” I do not understand how it is deemed permissible to keep one man continuously on guard. No one ever comes to relieve him. A truly startling state of affairs.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s uh, just that we don’
t have a radio.’

  ‘Excellent. I will be spared many painful moments. But might the Corporal be aware of any good juniper groves in this vicinity? I believe I need a new reinforcement to ensure the pliancy of my personal weapon.’

  ‘Some over on that hill.’

  ‘Thank you. Perhaps I’ll procure a spare as well. The battle for our nation’s survival may well grow heated.’

  Määttä watched the man out of the corner of his eye. He was reassured to see that, regardless of his odd babbling, Honkajoki did at least scan the terrain in the mirror with a sharp and vigilant eye.

  IV

  Rokka took Hauhia along for one more shift that night, and the next afternoon the boy was permitted to do a shift on his own. In the morning he asked Koskela for permission to go and visit his friends from the training center over in the neighboring position.

  ‘Go ahead. But take the communication trench and keep your head down.’

  ‘Yes, sir, Lieutenant.’

  Hauhia still couldn’t quite manage casual conversation with Koskela. He set off in his excitement to tell his buddies about everything he’d seen and experienced. Koskela, for his part, just kept staring at the ceiling, wondering how anybody could be so excited about war.

  Over at the neighboring position, Hauhia hardly let his buddies get a word in edgewise. It did not cross his mind that all of his stories might be old news to them by now. ‘Our position’s in a fucking dangerous spot. You can’t raise your head at all! But the boss is solid. He just lies on his back on his bed, wiggling his big toe in between the others. They think guys like us are all babies, but they did gimme some smokes. If it’d been up to me I’d have gone on guard duty by myself right away, but they wouldn’t let me. They said they were sure I’d be fine, but they’re under orders not to let guys go out alone the first time. Our machine gun is fucking amazing. It even has an accelerator. At least seven hundred rounds a minute, if not more.’