[Correspondence of The Associated Press.]
ROTTERDAM, Dec. 1.--The psychology of the battlefield gets a rather
thorough and able treatment by an Austrian reserve officer, who, after
having been wounded in an engagement with the Russians, gave the
following interview to a Hungarian journalist. The officer in question
was with Gen. Dankl in the fighting southeast of Krasnik.
"You feel little or nothing while in battle," he said. "At least, you
forget how things affect your mind. The eyes see and the ears hear, but
those are perceptions which do not result in impressions one could
co-ordinate. They do not even affect your sentiments. But it is not
cynicism, for all that; merely the lack of appreciation of what takes
place. My Captain, a most lovable fellow, whom I did not alone respect
as an officer, but of whom I also thought a great deal personally, was
leading his company into fire when three bullets hit him in the abdomen.
I saw him fall, but thought nothing of it and marched on.
"In spite of the fact that you have no ill-feelings against the enemy,
and may not even fear him, you destroy him as best you can. On the
evening before our first battle we were sitting about the mess
table--most of us officers of the line. None of us had ever killed a
man. I said: 'Friends, when I meet the first Russian officer tomorrow my
impulse will be to shake his hand.' My comrades agreed with me. But on
the following day I was obliged to lay a number of Russians low.
"My Slovacs are the most phlegmatic people in the world, but excellent
soldiers. They shoot without anger, but simply because they are fired
upon. One fights because one is on the battlefield and cannot do any
different. The terrible thing is that often you are shot at without
being able to return the fire. But this is not as fear-inspiring as it
is discouraging. You learn to know what fear is when you begin to
realize that you might be killed without killing somebody first.
"Of course I have been scared. That was after I had been wounded. We had
been firing a long time, and when next we advanced we came into a deep
and sandy road, out of which we could not get because of the enemy's
terrible fire. We had to lie perfectly still while bullets simply poured
over us. That was awful."
The officer omitted to state that while in this position he was shot
three times in the arm, but continued to lead his troops throughout the
action.
"It is a well-known fact that the soldier sees very little of the
battle. On Aug. 24, early in the morning, we re-received [Transcriber's
Note: so in original] orders to occupy a low hill at the edge of a tract
covered with brushwood. Forming part of the reserve, we were expected to
remain under cover. In front of us was a large open battlefield. To each
side of us were batteries which had thundered away since early morning.
The result of this was that many of the enemy's shells dropped right in
front of us. I remember noticing that while the smoke of our shells had
a lilac color that of the enemy's was white.
"So far we had not been disquieted by the shells at all. On the edge of
the brushwood had been planted a yellow-black flag, showing that
somewhere in that vicinity was to be found our General Staff. Our
Colonel left us and walked toward it, possibly to get orders, but just
as he got there a shrapnel exploded a little ahead of him in the air and
we saw our commanding officer, in whom we placed all our confidence, go
down. After that it was a terrible feeling to lie still. From that
moment on, too, a veritable hail of shells began to come. Some sappers,
who had been busy digging a trench for the protection of the General
Staff, started to run. I feared that my soldiers would follow the
example, and began to make fun of the poor sappers, scolding them at the
same time. Thank God, my battalion found that funny and began to laugh.
They lived through a terrific shrapnel fire with not a care and even
found occasion for laughter.
"A Major took command of the regiment and we received orders to retake a
hill which the enemy had captured under heavy fire. But of the enemy
nothing at all was to be seen as we neared the position, though the hail
of shell and shrapnel increased in fury. The flag bearer marched about
300 paces off my side. By accident I looked in his direction, saw the
white cloud of smoke of a Russian shell, and where the flag bearer had
been there was nothing more to be seen.
"The enemy meanwhile had taken to flight, and later we saw the Russians
wading through a swamp. Then they got to the River Por and crossed
it--we after them, shooting, wading, out of breath. Of a sudden a
village behind us went up in flames, the light falling on us like the
rays of a huge reflector. Then and there we received a rain of fire, and
saw the enemy had taken possession in good order of the other bank. We
had to fall back, not because we were afraid, but because those were the
orders. The sensation of being in danger of death we did not have.
"Flags and drums are useless things in warfare. What is the use of a
flag which by its bright colors reveals your position, which, as the
brown paint on my sabre shows, it has been intended to conceal? In the
one case even the slightest reflection of light is guarded against,
while in the other a large field of colors undoes all that it has been
wished to accomplish. The drummer, on the other hand, must beat his drum
as he goes to the attack, yet he is expected to run into the enemy
unarmed. He would prefer exchanging his drum for a rifle, so that he
would be able to shoot down a soldier.
"One feels nothing of the presence of the enemy in battle and on the
marches. To be wounded is also not such a bad experience. But you begin
to think after the battle. To bear the horrors of war a sort of ideal is
necessary. Once, when I took my Slovacs into an attack, we passed a
cross by the wayside. Many of them knelt down for a moment and said a
prayer. That was sincere and sublime. The ideal which makes it possible
for me to bear everything is to be a good officer on the
battlefield--under the circumstances my duty toward the social aggregate
to which I belong."