On the eve of Christmas this year, on the western front, a British officer asked several soldiers to go to the front to repair the barbed wire. These soldiers were very reluctant, because their position was very close to the Germans, and maintenance at night would be dangerous. But the military order was like a mountain, and you had to go if you didn't go, so a few soldiers proceeded cautiously. When they started piling, they remained vigilant, for fear that the Germans not far ahead would hear it. But later they found that the enemy didn't seem to be very vigilant tonight and gradually relaxed, and their piling movements began to increase. However, a beam of light came on suddenly, and all the British soldiers immediately fell down, ready for battle, waiting for the enemy's response. What they were waiting for were more lights and a yelling sentence in English:
Marry Christmas!
In the previous half a year, the sound of gunfire was usually only heard in the dark, and that day, it was for the British. Also familiar Christmas carols. The only difference is that it is the German version.
After dawn the next day, the Englishman who returned to the trench wrote a big Marry Christmas on a wooden board, and then hid his head in the trench carefully and propped up the board with a wooden stick. After a while, there was a voice from the opposite side: "YOU TOO!"
This seemed to make the British very excited, so one of them picked up some of his own munitions and threw it at the opponent's position like throwing a grenade. But this time, there was silence over there. When the British began to probe from the trenches, they saw a German approaching with his hands up. Perhaps out of the courage to lose to the Germans, a British soldier also tried to stand up, stepped out of the trenches, and walked towards the other side.
In another place on the Western Front, a junior officer is performing routine inspections every morning. However, he suddenly noticed two Germans approaching with their hands raised from the trenches opposite. Many places on the Western Front were fiercely contested a few days ago, and sometimes there were over 10,000 casualties on both sides every day. But that day the British officer looked at the two empty-handed Germans and did not order the shooting. It can't be said for what, or just because he thinks that on Christmas day, for whatever reason, he shouldn't kill.
The two German soldiers got closer and closer, and the officer asked them loudly what they wanted to do. Later, the officers simply walked out of the trenches and came to them. A German hesitated and stuttered a little at the beginning, but he said clearly in English: "I just want to wish you a Merry Christmas, sir."
Such a blessing obviously pleased the British. Unexpectedly, he was stunned, and immediately replied politely, wishing you a Merry Christmas. It seemed that there was nothing to say between them so far, and then the German turned and left.
Just when the Germans were not two steps out of the way, the British officer suddenly said aloud, "Your English is so good." The German soldier turned his head and smiled and walked back to him and said, "I stayed in the UK for three years. Until the beginning of the war, my girlfriend is still in the UK.”
So they started chatting about how good their motorcycles were or what occupations they were doing before the war. The Germans said to the British officers, no Can you bring me a letter to my girlfriend? The British officer agreed. Later, the German soldiers offered to transport back their bodies before the two armies today. The British officer froze and said that we should do the same. They all knew that without today's armistice, perhaps their comrades, friends' bodies would have been parked in their positions for a long time.
Before leaving, the German soldier said, "I don't want to fight today. In fact, I never want to fight, but I know we all have to fight this war."
The British officer returned to his trenches and began to check, he wanted to see if there were other Germans harassing his jurisdiction. However, his discovery surprised him. The trenches were empty, and all his soldiers were gone.
The process of finding soldiers is not difficult, because his soldiers are standing together singing loudly. Along with them, there are Germans. While speaking in German and English at the same time, they sang the same Christmas carols. The duty of this officer is of course to stop this situation, not to mention that British soldiers should have the qualities of a professional soldier. So the officer walked over, shook hands with the German officer first, and then commanded his soldiers to sing louder.
After a while, more senior British officers appeared. The scene suddenly calmed down. The soldiers in Britain and Germany didn't know how the officer would react or how their song would end.
After the British commander approached, he opened his coat and concealed two bottles of wine, one for the Germans and one for his family. Christmas began.
However, not every British officer will have such a reaction, and there will also be British officers who will stand up to stop these things from happening. There is such an officer in another area on the Western Front.
When he received reports that his soldiers came out of the trenches and chatted with the Germans, he quickly reached the front of the position. As the battle on the Western Front has been fierce, the distance between the two trenches in some places is only 50 meters. After he gave the order to the soldiers who were communicating with the Germans on the ground to quickly return to the trenches, a German officer appeared with an English translator.
After the British and German officers briefed each other, a brief talk began. The Germans proposed a truce on Christmas Day. The British officers agreed, but set a specific time for the armistice, from Christmas Day to 8:30 the next morning, as the time for the armistice in their two officers' jurisdictions. The Germans took out a barrel of red wine as a Christmas gift to the British soldiers, and the British officers responded with a pudding distributed by the Royal Army on Christmas Day. Since then, the ceasefire has officially begun in their jurisdiction.
Almost the entire western line ceased fire that day. Including part of the Eastern Route.
The day of the ceasefire is happy, especially for soldiers who have been fighting for half a year. Soldiers on both sides took out their own collection of photos and showed each other their family. Asking each other about each other's occupations, smoking cigarettes, and chatting, it seems that even English and German are no longer a problem. Or lazily bask in the sun, shave.
Of course, football is indispensable where there are English and Germans. There are places where you can find footballs, so everyone doesn't care about the three-seven-ones, just open two goals and start the game. There are places where you can’t find football, so it’s the same thing to find something that can play.
They took a group photo together and sent the photo of the armistice on the Western Front to the world along with a letter from their family. A lot of information about the Christmas truce actually comes from family letters, photos and diaries of British and German soldiers. After all, this is an informal truce that leaves no trace on the official records.
Sing together, send gifts to each other, and even bury the dead. Those fighters were killed by the opponent and buried with the opponent because of the truce. At Christmas that year, the German and British troops dug graves for their dead comrades, prayed for them, and held a funeral ceremony for them.
In fact, it is these soldiers and low-level officers who have the most reason to hate each other. Because the people who died before were all their comrades, their friends and even their family members.
But peace also started with them.
A German officer led a young British officer back to the command post. The German officers smiled and left him for Christmas lunch. The delicious dishes and champagne made the British unable to refuse. So the British officer and several German officers had a big meal in the German command post. There was also a lot of fun during the banquet.
It's getting too late when I'm full of wine and food. The German officer asked the British officer, can you forget what happened today in the spirit of ancient sportsmanship? After all, the British officer knew the position of their command and some things that he probably shouldn't know.
The British hesitated. He was a professional soldier, but he also knew that the Germans could just not let him go. He smiled, what am I going to forget? I didn't see anything. So they all laughed and picked up the wine glasses to do a few more drinks for everyone's health.
After the meal, a German officer sent the British away a long way, and the British officer insisted in the coming week that he had not disclosed any information about the German army to anyone. At that time, the British and German armies should be referred to as Britain and Germany. Not only did they remember what sportsmanship was, but they also remembered sportsmanship during the war.
But time cannot stay at Christmas forever.
The days of the armistice passed quickly. At 8:30 the next morning, two British and German officers who negotiated a truce appeared in their trenches on time. They took out their pistols and fired three shots into the sky, marking the official end of the truce between them.
The soldiers who were already familiar with each other did not want to go to war again. The western front remained silent.
There will still be British soldiers who run to the Germans to smoke in their free time, and the Germans who gave their helmets to the British soldiers as a memorial will also run over and say, we are checking there, first give me the helmet to make do, half an hour I'll get it back.
Later, the Christmas photos sent home by the soldiers were seen in the newspaper, and the senior officials on both sides were very embarrassed. Instruct the front lines to fight with all their strength. The order to start the war was given. Although they were unwilling, the soldiers finally fired, but most of the guns were on the upper side. There were a lot of bullets fired each other, but they didn't hit anyone.
In many places, the armistice continued until the end of the new year.
Later?
Later this truce seemed to be a fairy tale that was too beautiful.
In fact, as we all know in later history, the First World War continued, more than 30 countries, 1.5 billion people were involved in the war, and more than 30 million casualties on the battlefield.
In fact, it is not too difficult to break the peace. It is nothing more than that both sides call in some snipers to kill the guys walking between the two trenches, so that the hatred will grow and the end of the war can be reopened.
I don’t know if we should say that human beings are too kind, so even in the most barbaric wars, there is still a trace of humanity, or we should say that human beings are too evil after all. Even a beautiful peace cannot hold back the cruel steps of war.
Churchill said that the first world war shattered the last bit of chivalry.
maybe.
View more about Joyeux Noel reviews
