[Titanic] I can't help myself

So my military, brigade, and career started so abruptly.

The teacher assigned to me by Major General Mosley was a lieutenant, whom I had met at Eton, and which happened to be his last year at Eton when I enrolled.He once invited me to drink tea with him in his dormitory, but he took advantage of his seniority to touch me.But William's name is very useful, almost as soon as I mentioned it, he let me go immediately.

It was embarrassing for both of us to be reunited in a place like this with me now being his officer.But after all, it was a conflict many years ago. After he solemnly apologized for his disrespectful behavior back then, we immediately reconciled.

The seniors received professional military training in an orthodox military academy, but the training I received, that is, military etiquette such as saluting and standing at attention, as well as the most basic military common sense and military theory, is relatively easy to learn, even for zero-based It's a bit difficult for me to remember.

Every morning and afternoon before the official expedition, Major General Mosley and I would go to the conscription office to visit those who enthusiastically joined the army, thank them for their dedication and dedication to the country, and praise their bravery and fearlessness.

I followed behind the major general with a decent smile, but my heart was very heavy.These people who came to the conscription office to sign up are civilians, and some of them are sincerely willing to serve the country, but judging from their expressions, many of them look like they are queuing up to interview for factory jobs. They are smoking cigarettes, crooked Standing, numbly watching the major general's passionate words of praise, only when the major general stretched out his hand to hold them, did some different expressions appear in his eyes.After all, almost all of us senior officers are nobles. A nobleman stretches out his hand to a commoner, even if it is out of star effect, it makes people feel a little excited.

I followed behind the major general and shook hands with these future soldiers one by one until a boy who was half a head shorter than me stood in front of me.

"Oh God." I looked at him in shock, "Boy, are you enlisting too?"

"Yes, my lord, no, sir!" He tried to straighten himself up, and grinned at me.

"How old are you? Are you an adult?" I widened my eyes, "Don't make trouble with children, go home quickly, only adults can join the army."

"I'm an adult!" the boy yelled. "I just turned up last week! I'm a grown-up, despite my size, and I just, just haven't grown up yet!"

"Stop messing around!" I reprimanded seriously, the child looked only fourteen or fifteen years old. "Now, go home immediately! The country does not allow a child to protect adults in front."

"Sir! I really am!"

"Where's your birth certificate?"

"Uh..." The boy froze for a moment, "I lost it!" He quickly realized.

I didn't bother to pay attention to him, and waved to a soldier maintaining order not far away: "Take this child out and don't allow him to come in again, what a fool."

"My lord!" the boy, almost crying, grabbed my hand and said in a low voice, "I need this job, sir! I can't get enough to eat at home! Please, sir, let me stay! "

"Stay here and you'll never have to eat again. It's not a job." I said quickly, "Get this kid out of here."

"Colonel Bukett, what are you doing!" Major General Mosley walked over quickly, frowning at the chaos happening on my side, "What's wrong with this man?"

"Sir! My lord! He won't let me serve my country!" the boy screamed. "I just want to do something for our country! I want to join the army!"

"He's underage." I calmly explained over the boy's screams, "but this kid insisted."

Major General Mosley looked at me deeply, and after a few seconds, he adjusted his hat, turned to face the boy and said, "How old are you this year?"

"I am, sir, I was full last week! I am only growing small because I eat too little. If I can eat enough every meal, I must grow taller than you! Please believe it Me, my lord, please believe me!"

I shook my head mockingly. Is this kid joining the army because he doesn't have enough to eat at home?The army is not a factory, and it costs lives.

Major General Mosley looked at the boy for a long time, and everyone around him looked at us and whispered to each other.

He thought for too long, and I couldn't help but ask aloud, "Sir?"

"Sir! Sir! You can't stop me from serving my country just because I'm short!" The boy seemed to see something, and shouted, "I can do many things on the battlefield!"

"Of course the country will not reject you just because you are short." Major General Mosley patted the boy on the shoulder, "Although you are small, you have the courage of a lion. Well done, kid."

The boy immediately showed a bright smile, stood up abruptly, and gave a nondescript military salute to Major General Mosley: "Thank you, sir!"

I was surprised to see Major General Mosley say this: "Sir, but..."

"Come with me to the office, I have something to tell you, Colonel Buckett." Major General Mosley said with a straight face, his eyes pierced like a sword, and I couldn't help swallowing the rest of my words When I went back, I didn't dare to say a word.

I had no choice but to follow the major general back to the camp. When I was about to walk into the gate, I couldn't help but look back at the boy. He was excitedly talking to others, and seemed to feel that I was looking at him. Next time In seconds, he turned his head, and when he met my gaze, he immediately showed me a slightly provocative smile.

I followed the major general back to his office, and he asked me to close the door and sit across from his desk.

"Colonel Bukett, I hope that what happened today only happened once." Major General Mosley said sternly, "Although you are a colonel, please remember that your actual status in the army is a student. You don't have any command rights, you don't have the right to dictate any military affairs."

"I understand, General, I'm sorry to make you think I'm out of line with official duties," I said with my head down.

Major General Mosley sighed, grabbed the pen on the table, opened and closed the pen cap, and finally tapped the pen on the table.

"I know what you are wondering. That child can tell at a glance that he is not an adult. You are wondering why I still say that."

I looked up at him, "Yes, General, I don't understand."

Major General Mosley pondered for a while, and said: "Our battlefield is on the French border, and we will fight together with the French army against Germany. It sounds like two-on-one, occupying an absolute advantage, but you know that in fact until now How many men are we short of to match the German forces?"

As he spoke, he compared a number.

My eyes widened: "What about France? This is not a battle of our own country."

"That's the amount that was apportioned," he said. "We can't find enough people, but the departure date is very close."

"But you can't recruit a child who doesn't understand anything to the front line." I said eagerly, "What role can a child play in the front line? It's just a sacrifice in vain. They just want to make a living. , haven't thought about it that much, they don't know what they are going to do at all."

"If possible, I don't want to recruit underage children." Major General Mosley pinned the pen on the table tiredly, crossed his fingers and pressed his thumbs together, "Every time I see those who have not yet I feel like an executioner for a little boy with someone else's shoulders high. But there's nothing else we can do, Henry, the war is imminent. If our grown soldiers die at the front because of the shortfall, then one day these boys will be forced to take their place, and more people will be sacrificed at that time."

I opened my mouth, and finally said dejectedly: "I don't know how to explain, but I don't think what you said is correct."

"Then don't think about it." Major General Mosley stood up, walked in front of me and patted me on the shoulder, "You just need to remember that you are a soldier now, and what a soldier needs to do is to obey orders and strive for victory, think too It's meaningless to you. You don't have to go to the conscription office with me to give condolences in the future."

I wanted to say something more, but Major General Mosley put more force on his hand on my shoulder: "Henry, you can't control this matter. This doesn't just happen in our army. The thing about recruiting boy scouts, you think everyone Doesn't the House and the King know? This is a contingency plan that has been tacitly approved and is being secretly pursued, and there is nothing you can do about it."

I pursed my lips and finally nodded, "I see. Thank you, sir."

After standing at attention and saluting, I left the office.Go straight along the road outside the door, and you can walk to the drill ground where recruits are trained.

Along the way, I saluted each other with the officers I met, many of whom were my former classmates.Most of them are older than me, and now they are junior officers with a lower rank than me.I can only ignore their envious eyes as much as possible, God knows I would rather not have this honor, as long as it can get me out of here.

On the training ground where the recruits were trained, there were training squares one after another. I stood on the edge of the field and looked at these recruits aimlessly. Soon, I saw many thin, short boys with immature features.They stood at the end of the line, even though they tried their best to straighten their backs, they still couldn't reach the shoulders of the people next to them.

I had no choice but to turn around and leave.The feeling of powerlessness put me in such a bad mood that I went straight to my room and unfolded a piece of paper.I really want to talk, and the only person I can talk to is Karl, but these things can't be written on letter paper and sent.Officers’ letters have to be opened and checked to prevent leaks. I don’t know if discussing this matter counts as leaks, but it will more or less cause Karl and me a certain amount of trouble.

In the end, I can only hold back these things, and write some trivial things like before.Besides, Carl was already very worried, and I couldn't add to his anxiety.

Carl's letter to me was also very cryptic. He only talked about the manor, but I could feel his worry from those words that hardly involved emotion.He was already so uneasy before he set off on the expedition.Fortunately, our communication is all in words, and I have enough time and opportunity to correct what I may have written on impulse that would make him worry. I try my best to reassure him and divert his attention.I can't rely on him for everything, I have to think about him.

The author has something to say: I warmly thank the students from Licking Screen Fungus and Shisanyin for Lei Memoda~~1 I love you~~

The recruitment of child soldiers is a real thing. Many children lie about their age, the youngest is only about 14 years old, but in order to recruit enough people, the government can only turn a blind eye and turn a blind eye. There is only one member of the entire House for this matter. He ran around non-stop until he died of a heart attack, and no one ever mentioned refusing minors to join the army.

This incident has been kept secret by the British authorities, and it was not disclosed until recent years that a documentary was recorded.