The Tired Warrior by Kemal Tahir
Translated by Elif Erkmen
Chapter 14
There was thunder and lightning until midnight and drizzle after that.
Jamil and Munir were sitting under the walnut tree against
the wall. They had their raincoats draped over themselves and their rifles.
Hidden away from the road, their animals were some twenty
feet behind them; breathing heavily and nervously moving their heads; there
were heavy machine guns a hundred feet away that were firing into the darkness
in intervals.
Earlier, six hundred men had come from Bilejik to Bursa;
their initial numbers were higher but four hundred men deserted on the way. The
troops rested a bit then they continued their way to the newly established
Beshevler Front to join the units fighting against Anzavour. The Commanders at
the Division Headquarters were hoping for a quiet night, however, they were
disturbed by the news of deserters in the evening. This time the Battalion
revolted, they even drew guns on their Officers. While they were approaching
Bursa, about two kilometers from the city they saw the women coming down the
road. The women were yelling, “Brothers, Where are you going? Are you going to
fire on the Muslims? These Gavour Officers are making you revolt against the
Caliph! You will be Gavour as well if you obey those orders!”
The Nationalists were twenty-three men altogether, most of
them Officers and Sergeants; they were guarding Bursa from a possible attack
from the deserted soldiers who had gone in the Mudanya direction. They feared
the deserted soldiers may return and plunder Bursa. The forces back at the
headquarters were not more than that number either. The bridges and the
neighborhoods of Bursa were being guarded by the Defence Association members
and the citizens.
Upon hearing the heavy machine guns rapid fire, Jamil
laughed nervously. “I am laughing at how Farouk is using the machine gun; he
opens fire every five minutes and fires five bullets precisely.”
Munir answered, “Don’t be surprised. We are the experts at
this; firing into the darkness. You should be surprised at the others; they are
six hundred men with rifles and they are afraid of us! They can’t gather up the
courage to come here.”
“There is also a possibility that they might have joined
Anzavour.”
“That’s right! Where do you suppose Anzavour is? Do we have
any fresh news of him?”
“We don’t have any good information. All we hear are rumors;
he is coming; he is approaching; he is preparing for a sudden attack; he is
going to win; he is hanging the Officers as he is approaching; he has encircled
Bursa already…and so on,” Jamil answered.
“The plunderers in Bursa are worrying more than us,” Munir
observed. “They are anxious. Where do you suppose Ethem the Circassian is at
this moment?”
“He is coming from the Salihli direction. We don’t know
exactly where he is. Some say he was scared and backed away and some say he is
fighting against Gavour Imam, who is supporting Anzavour. There are rumors
that they are fighting a bitter fight.”
Jamil’s horse must have been getting angry because of the
constant rain. The animal was breathing heavily and digging at the ground.
Jamil yelled but the animal didn’t calm down so he jumped to his feet, got his
rifle, and went to see what was going on. He descended to the ditch of the road
that was going in the Bursa direction. He hunched over and stopped every once
in a while to listen to the noises coming from that direction.
He heard footsteps on the muddy road and whistled so that
Shaban could recognize him, then he held his breath and listened. He couldn’t
figure out how many people were coming so he went farther in the ditch and hid
behind the blackberry bushes. He directed his rifle towards the road. “Who are
you? Tell me the password!” Whoever was approaching didn’t answer. “Password!
Or I will shoot you!”
“My friend, I don’t know the password; I am looking for
Captain Jamil.”
Jamil couldn’t hear the last words well; Farouk was firing
his gun. “Don’t come any nearer. Tell me who you are!”
“I am looking for Captain Jamil!”
“Wait over there! What is your name?”
“Nuri Gonen! Major Nuri Gonen!”
“Hello, Sir! What brings you here in the middle of the
night?” Jamil asked. He was still hiding in the shade, just to be sure. “Is there
something the matter?”
“I am coming over there, Jamil. Wait a minute. I am tired.”
Major Nuri was walking in the middle of the muddy road with difficulty. He had
his rifle across his shoulder like a new recruit and breathing heavily. “I was
walking fast without meaning to,” he smiled like a child. “God I am tired.”
“Why did you come? Why did you come all alone? It is
dangerous.”
“I thought I should come to see you right away.”
“Why hasn’t Shaban accompanied you?”
“I didn’t ask him to accompany me.”
“What happened?”
“Maybe it is not that important, but…”
“What?”
“I woke up and noticed that Osman wasn’t in his bed. I
worried so I got up and got dressed.” Nuri explained.
“Did Osman leave as well? I think he must have left when he
heard the news of the second Battalion breaking up.”
“You guessed right! He went away! What happened to the Battalion?”
“Nothing. So Osman left! Did he tell anyone where he was
going?”
“Who knows? His horse was saddled at all times; he jumped on
it and went away. He said to the Sergeant that he was going to gather the gang
together and come back with them. Do you think he will be back?”
“He might come back…after the commotion is over.”
“I don’t think so! I
know Osman. He is no coward!”
As Jamil and Nuri were talking, they came near Dr. Munir; he
put his rifle back under the blanket and asked, “Who is not a coward? Who are
you talking about?”
“Osman the Butcher.”
“What happened to him?”
Jamil laughed nervously, “He was unable to sleep so he got
up and asked for his horse…”
“You are kidding!”
“I am serious!”
“Did he say he was going to go ambush Anzavour?”
“Hmm…It must be something like that. He went to gather his
gang.”
“I guessed correctly then. His gang was mixed; there were
all kinds of people from Crete, Kavala, Kars, and Erzurum! If he went to gather
them from all those places he would come back in time, no doubt, before the
action starts! So the Major came here to bring us the news? Did Osman ask you
to come here, Sir?”
“No, Doctor. I wanted to come to be together with friends tonight;
one more rifle will help in the dark!”
“God Bless you!” Dr. Munir’s voice was full of emotion, “You
came here without a raincoat; in this weather! You came to stand guard, is that
right?”
“I don’t get cold! I didn’t want to stay at the Headquarters;
I don’t feel like sleeping either.” He heard the Mitrailleuse fire and stopped
talking, and then he asked in a lower voice, “Are they exchanging fire?” He
lowered his voice, but not because of fear. “Are they fighting, Jamil?
Good…Show me a place, please.”
Dr. Munir opened the blanket and invited him to get shelter
from the rain. “Here is a place for you, Major! Come, I am not a big man, there
is room for both of us!”
“No, please, I meant a position to fire from!”
“It is all right. Come here and you can shoot from here, as
well. This is a good spot for fighting.”
Nuri came under the shelter. He said, “I didn’t mean to
disturb you. I was going to say something. Oh! I remember! Yes, I was saying I
know Osman well; I don’t believe he is a coward. I don’t think he went because
of fear!”
“You are right; maybe it is not fear; he is discouraged and
probably didn’t know how to handle his nerves.
It is not fear; people are getting sick and tired of all this.” Munir
said to Jamil, “You too, Jamil, you sighed, and then you looked at my face to
see my expression. You were wondering whether I heard your sigh or not. You
looked, even though you can’t see me in this dark.”
“Come on! There is nothing like that”
“Yes, there is. I know you are angry. Right then I wanted to
ask you something…”
“What?”
“Why are you here? What are you guarding in the middle of the night in this rain? If I asked you what would your answer be? Would you say you
were guarding your country? If I asked you this question out of the blue what would
you say?” Munir wondered.
“Of course, I would say that. Why did you ask?”
“You Officers, you speak straight, you don’t lie. I don’t
mean the entire Officers’ Corps; some of you are into the tricks. Some of the
Officers are worse than the irregulars. When people are ignorant they try to
fake courage. Osman the Butcher is like that but it is our fault, regardless.
It is the fault of the trustworthy Officers.”
“Why?”
“We let them do all the tricks…Should we smoke?”
“Sure.”
“What if the light will be visible?”
“Don’t worry.”
Just as Jamil was taking the matches out he heard the
machine gun; each bullet pierced through the darkness with a red, bright light.
Major Nuri cocked his head, “Are they fighting?”
“No, Major! As the Doctor says, Lieutenant Farouk is firing
into the darkness.”
Nuri didn’t get the joke. He said, “That’s heavy machine gun
fire. It is a good gun. It would be
better in your hands than your opponents.” Major Nuri remembered his friend, Gor, “We used to call Gor ‘heavy machine gun’. Do you remember him?” Jamil was
going to say ‘no’ but Nuri continued, “You should know him. I was at the Division
Headquarters of Gor in Palestine. 4th Army, 3rd Army
Corps, 1st Infantry Division; he was like a robot himself but he was
a good man. If you didn’t know his personality traits you would think that the
man didn’t think, but he had a special way of thinking… Jamil, do you know the
‘Sea of Lot’?
“Yes, Major, I know.”
“It is four hundred meters below sea level; you know that
for sure, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know.”
“Yes, my friend; it is four hundred meters below sea level.
I used to think some nights; I wonder how it is even possible? I said, ‘This
sand that we are lying on is so loose our elbows are digging into it yet it is
holding the vast Mediterranean Sea. How come the Mediterranean Sea is not
swallowing this sand up and not filling up this hole? The French call the Sea of Lot ‘La Mer Morte’; it is the same in Turkish, ‘Oludeniz’”
Major Nuri thought about this for a while, and then he
stretched his leg. His wound was still wrapped with bandages. He continued,
“The British attacked us twice; they were trying to distract us. I thought these were attacks to achieve the
final victory, but they weren’t. I thought they were going to encircle us by
going through Eriha Bridge and Salt Amman Headquarters… They attacked Gaza twice with all their might
and wanted to achieve results from the right side earlier. That’s why I thought
they wouldn’t come to the same point again. Some Army Generals warned the Group
Commanders but to no avail. General Liman von Sanders didn’t take this
seriously. Well, even if he took that seriously he couldn’t have done much
anyway because there were only the 24th Infantry Division and 3rd
Cavalry Division behind for backup. We had a total force of twenty-eight
thousand men including the 7th and the 8th Armies, as well as our own 4th
Army. The Gerek Mountains were on our left and Harvan was behind us. We were separated from the 7th and
the 8th Armies by the Jordan River. We were 60 kilometers from the
sea and that 60-kilometer-long area was guarded by three Armies, in fact, as
strong as 3 Divisions. When I say guard, you know what I mean. As a matter of
fact, the enemy crushed the 22nd Army Corps at the first strike;
their Cavalry unit was right behind us. They were almost going to take the
Armies Group Commander in Nasira prisoner. Because of that, the Palestinian
Front was without a leader for a couple of days. While the 7th and
the 8th Armies were retreating towards the Jordan River, we went to
the mountains and retreated towards Dar. ”
Staff Major Nuri Bey waited until the machine gun stopped
its rattling. He looked into the darkness. He was talking as if he was
lecturing Officers at the War Academy. It was as if the war in question was
Hannibal’s Battles, not his own.
Jamil tried to guess what Nuri was looking at, he looked at it in the same direction, but there was only darkness. Nuri continued, “What was I
saying? Oh! Yes, retrieval; to be frank I never had difficulty in the wars
until September of 1918!” He drew from his cigarette. “It wasn’t like I was
shying away from the hardship. I didn’t think of making others shoulder the
difficulties. My friends know me, I am no coward. I am afraid of dying like
everyone, however, when facing danger I don’t think of dying.” He smiled, “I
get scared after I throw myself in the line of danger.”
Jamil saw a lot of men in the army like Major Nuri; they were
the ones who picked the wrong profession. They weren’t incapable; you didn’t
feel sorry for them; you didn’t feel you needed to protect them in dangerous places. Those types of men live all by themselves alone in the
army. They are tough; they don’t complain about fatigue or poverty; they
don’t even think of themselves as suffering from anything. They don’t get shell
shock. They live in their own world. If they die they need a couple of minutes
to live to be able to understand that they are dead!”
Jamil asked, “So you started to retreat…”
Jamil was curious about what Nuri felt as they were retreating from Palestine. Nuri continued, “So we started to retreate. Our front wasn’t broken
so we felt confident. We didn’t feel guilty. When I say we, you know no one in
the 4th Army felt guilty. Do you know Jamal who is from Mersin?”
“Yes, I know him.”
“I don’t know how he was able to get himself promoted to the
rank of Army Commander. He didn’t seem ambitious. Maybe he is but he doesn’t
let it show. Why did I tell you this? Maybe I wanted to tell someone for a long
time. It doesn’t matter. I don’t know for sure. We were retreating. The enemy
wasn’t pressuring us. We were going back in an orderly fashion. The troops were
acting like they were coming back from training. The Commander was giving the
orders in time and men were obeying in time; we all felt confident. We thought
even if we were retreating we would stop the enemy somewhere that was for sure.
I don’t know why we felt that confident, probably because we were out of the
Dead Sea region. We were climbing up to higher ground. Yes. We were going
towards the left towards the mountains. The mountains looked dark blue from a
distance. It can be as hot as 60 to 70 degrees around the Jordan River and the
Dead Sea shores. After all that heat going to the mountains made me think of
the cool uplands. As we were approaching the foothills everything seemed fine,
too good to be true.
As we started our
climb everything changed instantly. Everything was upside down. Like an
earthquake, worse than that, like doomsday! The last report that I got was that
the Indian Cavalry Brigade was attacking our trail party. After that other
reports came, and we sent orders to the units but nothing was rational anymore.
What we had imagined as green plains turned out to be hard rocks, rugged
terrain, cliffs, and sharp rocks. I still get dizzy thinking about those cliffs.
It was scary. We were hearing the voices of mules from two hundred meters below
and their call was answered by the camels which were a hundred meters above.
The camels that fell off the cliff ended up by the creek after falling down
while hitting the rocks. From above they
looked like small ants. We descended from those mountains to the Harvan Plains,
leaving behind our cannons and ammunition chests. The horses didn’t have
horseshoes anymore and the people had no shoes. All the men of the 4th
Army were fatigued. They were finished. We thought we could rest once we
descended to the flatlands but we didn’t have time to relax. The Harvan Plains were worse than hell. It
was like we didn’t descend to the plains but entered into fire. Since the 7th
and the 8th Armies were on the left, the entire Lightning Armies Group mixed into one another. Thousands of men,
animals, and vehicles were going towards Damascus, falling and tripping. On our
right, the enemy Cavalry Units were also advancing towards Damascus while
keeping an eye on us. On our left, there were the gangs of the English Laurence
and Emir Faisal, who were a descendant of the Prophet. In front of us, there were
tens of thousands of armed bandits; behind us, there were General Allenby’s
fresh agile, and content troops. Content because they were victorious and still
behind us. General Allenby’s Palestinian Army was forty times stronger in
manpower and a thousand times stronger in weapons. The scorching sun and the
airplanes were above us. I don’t remember who thought of this first, but they
promoted me to the Commander of the Infantry Regiment.”
He massaged his knee
on his wounded leg and shook his head desperately. “You know, every officer
dreams about being a Commander and thinks about what to do on his first day! I
always thought of myself as being in charge of a Regiment that needed further
training. I thought about what to say to the privates and what to say to the
Officers since my days as a Lieutenant. I had prepared my speech word by word.
My motto was ‘iron discipline for duty
and real friendship among soldiers’. My Regiment consisted of two hundred
men.” He hesitated, “No, actually one hundred and fifty, maybe one hundred and
twenty men. They were all resting near the stream. They tried hard to stand up.
They didn’t have much of a uniform. Their uniforms were all ripped. They looked
worse than the bandits! I was astonished. I think I begged them to sit down. My
friends later told me tears rolled down my eyes.” He passed his fist under his
eyes. “It was bad. Since that day I have cried without realizing it. You know sometimes
people find this inappropriate. They think us Officers are made out of stone. We indeed have certain rules for our chosen profession. Maybe it is
indeed inappropriate for an Officer to cry; maybe they are right to think this
way.”
Jamil was preoccupied; he wanted to ask, “What did you do to
get the retreating soldiers back in the trenches?” Then he understood that he
was being merciless and stopped talking. Nuri said, “Yes?”
“It is not important.”
“You were going to say something.” The Staff Major Nuri Bey
smiled forgivingly, “You were going to ask something related to crying. Is that right?”
Jamil thought he had to continue with his question, “No, not
at all Major; I was wondering if you had to use weapons to get the privates
back into the trenches.”
“Yes, I used the weapons.” Major Nuri answered the question
without hesitating. “We had to. They panic most of the time; I had that
experience a couple of times at Chanakkale.” Then he laughed, “I see now. You
thought of me as a weak person and wondered if I could fire at a person.
That’s different. That’s totally different, isn’t it?”
When Jamil laughed as well, Nuri didn’t press the matter any
further and continued, “We were retreating but every now and then we showed
some teeth like wolves. Soon after I took command, I had to leave the Regiment.
I found myself walking alongside a horse-drawn carriage holding onto the
left side of it on September 25th, 1918. What happened before then was
just like a nightmare that the people with Malaria have between the fevers. We
had two to three thousand men. It might have been more. We had to walk during
the night since there were air attacks. A Cavalry unit was guarding us with
their lances.
“Which division was that?”
“The Third Division! They joined our army before the defeat.
They were reserves. One regiment went to join with another unit so there were
only two regiments. One of the regiments was leading us and the other was
behind us. We were carrying the weight in the middle. Some were too tired to
walk and they were falling down. We didn’t have horses anymore. Most of us had
to walk. My horse had been shot with a stray bullet. The wounded officers were
riding on horses; wounded soldiers were lying on top of each other in the
carriages. The artillery soldiers had already left their Battalions by the
Jordan River and were riding the horses, two or three people on each
horse. Some Cavalry soldiers had lost their units and they were trying to poke
their hungry horses with their lancers to make them walk.”
“How many soldiers did the Cavalry Regiments have?”
“Each had about a hundred and fifty men. We reached Ibrit,
which was Aclun’s center, on the morning of September 26th. The Lightning
Armies’ Headquarters in Ibrit had depots full of more than a million kilos of oats, the same amount of wheat, and half a million kilos of legumes. All this would soon be left to the Arab
bandits, who were following us at close range. In fact, they already had
encircled us. Both the men and the animals of the army ate all they could. We
took three days of supplies with us and prepared to leave at midnight. However,
in the evening a crowd had descended on the town. There were about five hundred
people, completely naked. All had their hands in front of them trying to cover
themselves; they were robbed by the Arabs. The bandits took everything
including the victims’ underwear. There were four hundred privates and seven or
eight Officers. Seven Germans were with them. Everyone ran to their aid. The
naked people covered themselves with the clothes that they could find. Then we
started our journey towards Muzeyrib. Every now and then the people of Harvan
were firing bullets at us from all directions. Even today some of us are still
mad at Harvan’s people’s hospitability!”
“You are not mad at them?”
“At first I was angry. Then I thought we were mad at them
for revolting against the Caliph
even though they were Muslims themselves. But then I thought in Europe the same
thing was happening. The parties who were at war with one another were all
Christians. No one was accusing anyone of fighting against their Christian brothers. The unacceptable thing was that they ripped people’s clothes off under the scorching
desert Sun and as if that were not enough, they were firing at an army who is
retreating and defeated. When I was a Prisoner of War I learned that the
bandits were more than fifteen thousand people. At that time all of 7,8 and 4th
Armies’ men were less than that collectively.
On September
27th, our Lancer Regiment approached an Arab village called Tafas. The villagers opened fire suddenly. The
Regiment dismounted and spread like hunters. We retreated and crouched down. In
front of our eyes, our own men were fighting. None of us had the power to go to
their aid. We were warriors only a week ago. We were sitting there like the
Harem women who had never held a weapon. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment had 300
members. They were dismounted and ordered to fight in different compositions.
First, they wanted to charge ahead. Then they struggled to encircle the village
going around us. We were watching all this, completely disconnected from it, as
if we were the audience in a movie theater who didn’t like war movies. Then
they were behind the thick walls and hills in the village. There was a small
flat area in the center and they were responding to the attackers. Even that
kind of situation was not enough to awaken us. Only ten people went to their
aid amongst us. I think they were the Cavalrymen as well. They couldn’t stay
there without helping their comrades. I wanted to talk about that when I
started talking to you. Tonight when I couldn’t sleep I thought about Tafas
Village and that indifference. You have been complaining about the people’s
indifference for so many days now so I think these things happen. People just
freeze unexpectedly. Even though you see others are facing death instead of
you, you don’t do anything and you don’t feel ashamed in such a time. How do
you awaken people? How do you make them feel something? You can’t get any
results by fighting and forcing them.”
Major Nuri
changed the position of his wounded leg and he smiled, “Yes, you can’t do
anything about it under those conditions. We just sat there and watched. We
didn’t even pay attention to the bullets that were flying over our heads and
raining down around us. So why didn’t we
move? It wasn’t fear of death!”
Jamil was
thinking about something else. He answered absentmindedly. “That’s right!”
“I am sure it
wasn’t because of the fear of death. The Division Commander saw that face-to-face combat was not effective and ordered one unit and a heavy machine gun team
to encircle the village by taking an indirect route to approach the village. I
was thinking about the same thing as I was sitting down and watching. The
bandits retreated to the hills on the right-hand side while still fighting.
There were only fifty of them left in the town, soon they mounted their horses
and camels to flee. We buried the dead. The cavalry rested. I should mention
that for the first time in my life, I saw a Cavalryman without boots, bare feet on the spur, no socks. The stirrups were made out of the copper boilers. Their
reins were not made out of leather, but ropes. Most of them had broken spears.
Their uniforms were in bad shape but
they had new weapons. They had enough ammunition. Since they were losing men
they had more guns to choose from and more ammunition to use. The Commander left
the 6th Regiment in the village so that they could recuperate. They were the
ones who had been fired upon first. Now the 8th Regiment was in front, and we were heading North. I was still
thinking about the man who was riding with his bare feet on the spur. When I saw
him last he was trying to reach the village crawling; his feet were dirty. When
he got shot he stretched his legs twice then pulled them to his stomach and
stayed motionless. I can still remember his footprints on the sand.”
Major Nuri thought for a while and asked, “ Do
you know Patrona Halil? After the revolt, when he was taking the new Sultan for
the sword ceremony, he rode his horse barefoot. That’s what it says in the
history books. You might ask what that has to do with this. As I was thinking
this, I heard a commotion and before I could realize what was going on,
somebody hit me hard in the head with a heavy object.”
“Who hit you?”
“The people who
had been taken out of the village by force. They realized the weaknesses of our
Cavalry unit. To plunder our guns, two hundred horsemen together with one
hundred men on camels came and attacked the exhausted crowd walking around the
carriages. They attacked us with swords. When I opened my eyes I was on a
stretcher. My head was aching and there were streaks of light in my eyes. I had
a huge bump as big as my fist on the top of my head. I had difficulty moving my
right leg. After that day I was never the same. My left eye is still twitching.
The cork under my headgear saved my life. Since that day I got depressed,
suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I have lost my desire to live. Everything is
meaningless. The family, the country, the nation. The threat of a foreign army
invading our country, friendships, reading writing, everything becomes
meaningless! Sometimes women scream ‘I’ve
had enough!’ it is just like that.
So, that’s how it is. I stay in the same place in the same position for days. I
don’t want to move a single muscle. To me saying a single word needs the same
amount of effort as running to the summit of Mount Uludag. Forget about
talking, it is hard for me even to listen to someone. I can’t possibly
describe to you this sense of fatigue! I even think that I will be thirsty
again; I fear being thirsty and not able to find water. I fear remembering what
happened to me during the war. That’s the worst fear. I think about this a lot.
Why did I leave Rahmi fighting and come back? How did I gather the strength? No,
It is not an excuse to be wounded. I shouldn’t listen to Rahmi; I should fight
with the Sergeant who helped me mount my horse.”
Jamil realized
his own fatigue that he sensed in Istanbul was not as deep as Nuri’s. Jamil’s
own feelings were not as strong as Nuri’s. Jamil wondered if Colonel Rahmi felt
the same thing. Was he desperate? Was that the reason he let himself be
killed?”
Nuri continued
his story, “I don’t know how I came to Bursa? How I was able to ride the horse
and sit straight. I remembered one
thing, that Anzavour wasn’t in the habit of taking the Officers prisoner. I
should be ashamed of that thought. If I had ever had a slight fear in my
subconscious from the past, that meant I wouldn't perform my duties well on that
particular day. Yesterday, I wasn’t able to sleep. I felt shame. I was ashamed
of myself as if I was finding fault in someone else. When I was taken prisoner
the same thing happened. It was like someone else was taken prisoner and I was
feeling ashamed for him. I felt that I didn’t do my best; I didn’t search for
all the ways, and I stopped fighting too soon. Some of our friends even thought
about surrendering to the English and wondered if it would be better than
getting caught by the bandits. I didn’t even think about that. A group of us
who decided to surrender gathered under a tree at a farm named Eshrefiye. We
were like a bunch of sheep keeping close to one another and rubbing their nose
against the soil. We saw a Cavalry unit passing by a hundred meters away. There
were about thirty-five people. Only twelve of them had spears. They were too
proud to surrender. They were determined to continue fighting and try to find a
way to pass through. They didn’t look like vicious warriors but they weren’t
concerned about the bullets that were coming their way either. The enemy Battalion was firing bullets over the heads
of the surrendered soldiers to the Cavalry Unit. The Cavalry kept on walking
towards the homeland without forcing their tired animals. Their commanders were
amongst us. I think those Commanders felt worse than us. They must have had
more difficulty answering questions at the War Ministry when they returned to
Istanbul.”
It was almost
sunrise. Farouks’ machine gun was quieter now. Jamil wanted to offer some
cognac to Nuri. As he was stretching the
bottle towards him, he heard a noise and stopped. The horses were approaching
at full speed. There must have been something. They reached for their rifles.
Jamil heard Shaban’s noise and jumped to his feet.
“Major! Sir!”
Shaban was out of breath; Jamil called,
“Here! We are here! What happened? Is that Anzavour?”
“Yes, Sir! It is Anzavour!” Shaban pulled the reigns and his horse was on his back feet. “ Sir! Ethem the Circassian finished Anzavour! Ethem defeated Anzavour; his troops were dismantled. Lieutenant Shevki came and gave us the news.”
Jamil threw his rifle to the ground put his hands around
his mouth and yelled, “Farouk! It is over! Come here! Leave it and come back!”
Then he turned and hugged Dr. Munir.
Dr. Munir was breathing fast. Lieutenant Sevki was telling
the story with a teenager’s enthusiasm. “The battle was on for five hours, not
exactly five hours. In fact, the heavy fighting lasted only two hours. We were
riding in rugged terrain. When we descended to the stream, we saw that the
first team had already got there. After letting their horses drink water they
were crossing the stream. Then we let our horses drink. All of a sudden we heard
gunfire; a lot of bullets were being fired. We mounted our horses. We didn’t
go halfway up the hill when we noticed that the first unit was retreating, they
were broken up. We proceeded to go to the top of the hill where we saw that the
enemy had dismounted their horses and was attacking. They were two hundred men
strong. In the north, there was one group moving to the other side. I raised my
arm to signal the back to pick up speed. If we could carry two machine guns to
the hill on the left we could have finished them. I sent half of the men to
help our units, which the enemy was trying to encircle. I ordered the other half
to climb up the hill and wait for the machine guns. They went up the hill
quickly while riding their horses neck to neck. As they were going the
machine gun team arrived and I ordered the team Commander Halim take the guns
to the hill. When I saw that the first team already arrived at the summit and
the machine gun team was on their way, I felt confident and I was sure in a
short period we would be able to chase the enemy away. I brought the
reserve horses of the two teams close to the hunters and told them that if the
enemy breaks down then the units will start a cavalry charge immediately
without waiting for the orders. At that instant, Anzavour attacked with all his
force towards the left-hand side. The cavalry moved to both sides and left the
job to the foot soldiers like we had decided before. We attacked with all our
might from the left side. We went around a small hill to guard a wooden bridge
that was far away. Our Artillery was shooting the targets accurately.”
When Jamil heard the word ‘artillery” he paid more
attention, “Our Artillery?”
“Yes, our artillery. In fact, they didn’t miss a single
shot. We claimed the bridge. You know the feeling; suddenly one can feel that
the other side is not up to it. They were struggling. They started out
confident but our infantry has broken them.”
“Then our soldiers fought a good fight?”
“They were like lions. Each unit was as strong as a fortress.”
“What happened next? You claimed the bridge…”
“When Anzavour saw that we had the bridge, he saw that there
was no point in forcing anymore. He turned his back. Upon seeing this, everyone
mounted their horses and followed him at full speed.”
Doctor Munir was curious, “How would you rate Ethem as a
Military Man?”
“I don’t know if he is good or not but he couldn’t have won
without the help of our infantry. There is one thing though; he is really calm
on the battlefield. He is calm, cold-blooded, and brave. Anyway, we were able to
get back the cannons that Anzavour had taken from Hamdi at Biga. As we were
celebrating the fact that we had taken back the cannons and the machine guns;
Ethem’s horsemen….” Lieutenant Shevki lowered his voice, “… started plundering.
Some changed their horse; some changed their boots with the better ones…Ethem’s
units and the regular military fought together, yet one side started plundering
while the others remained disciplined and worked together in an orderly
fashion. That was different. I appreciated our soldiers much more than in
previous wars. You might say that sometimes our infantry soldiers also
misbehave. You are right. But it’s rare. That’s the important part, they rarely
misbehave. I paid attention to them and I saw that our soldiers were looking at
Ethem’s bandits disapprovingly. You know how they are, quiet, and knowing.
When Shevki said ‘quiet’; Jamil thought of Major Nuri. He
hadn’t seen him since the morning. He asked, “Doctor, Have seen Nuri?”
“Nuri? Major Nuri? No, I haven’t seen him”
“I wonder where he is. I hope he is not sick.”
“You better go check.”
Shevki started to tell the story about how Anzavour hanged a
lot of people in Gonen. “He ordered many Officers to be executed.”
“That’s how you know he is a bandit.”
“He ordered the execution of the Muftu in Gonen as well as
the President of the local Rights Association. His men plundered the town.”
“Where is he now?” Munir asked.
“He tried resisting our forces in Biga once more but when he
realized that it was useless, he caught the ferry and went away.”
Jamil stood up and went outside. He asked the batman where
Selahaddin was.
“Captain Selahaddin was asked to go to the telegram office
urgently, Sir.”
“Where is the Commander?”
“He is with Ethem.”
“Have you seen Major Nuri?”
The Batman hesitated, “Sir, Nuri is in prison.”
“Did they put him in prison? Who ordered this? Why?”
“Tewfik ordered it.”
“What for?”
“Nuri didn’t salute him.”
“When did this happen?”
“They say Nuri didn’t salute Tewfik as he was leading his
forces.”
“That’s too bad! Does the Commander know about this?”
“Yes, he knows, Sir.”
“Does Selahaddin know?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“So?”
“We couldn’t talk to Ethem, Sir. Selahaddin talked to Hafiz
Huseyin and Hafiz advised us not to interfere. He fears, if someone interferes,
they might put him in front of the firing squad. He advises us to wait a little
and he promised to talk to Tewfik after things calm down.”
“Where is Nuri now?”
“He is at the Gendarmerie Division.”
“Are there any other prisoners there?”
“Yes, there are some Anzavour supporters.”
“Who is guarding the prison?”
“Ethem’s flag bearer, Haji Omer is guarding the prison; he
is a tough man. Maybe you can talk to Ethem. We should let him know. We should
tell him that Nuri has some…mental problems…he needs help.”
Jamil looked at the Commander’s room’s door for a minute,
and then turned towards the stairs, walking fast. When he went on the road, he
was thinking of the terror. He thought to himself ‘Whether we win or lose, we bring terror. Some of us have lived in fear
for so many years, yet they still like terrorizing other people. We don’t know
how to celebrate. That’s not human. Tewfik came to a big city like Bursa as if
he was the conquering Commander and yet he got angry at a man who was sitting
down in a corner silently. How is this even possible? Why would he even think
about putting Nuri in prison?’ Jamil realized that it didn’t occur to the
people of Bursa that they needed to celebrate; it was a time for celebration. The
roads were empty, people were still suspicious and they preferred to stay in
their homes. As he was walking, he became angrier with every step.
As he was approaching the Gendarmerie Headquarters, he
recognized Haji Omer sitting in front of the door. His huge body spread out
over the chair and he was enjoying his water pipe. One leg was stretched on one
chair and the other leg was on the second chair. His arm was on the third one. Not
even Yavuz Sultan Selim was as proud as him when he was returning as a Caliph
from Egypt.
Haji Omer was from Kayseri. When he saw Jamil he stood up,
“Oh Jamil Bey! It is nice to see you, Sir. I looked for you but couldn’t see
you in the morning. Come, take a seat. I will order some tea and water pipe for
you.”
“Thank you, Omer. I don’t have time. I came to see a friend
of mine.”
“Who is your friend?”
“I was informed that he is a prisoner here. Come with me.”
“Oh! Is that right? Who is that?”
“Come.”
Jamil entered the building and walked towards the detention
room. Omer said, “Who is your friend? Oh! I know. It must be the Major that
Tewfik Bey has ordered to be arrested.”
Jamil ordered the guard on duty, “Open the door!”
The bandit opened the lock in a hurry. Jamil entered.
Anzavour’s men were afraid. They stood up immediately to salute Jamil.
Major Nuri was looking through the bars to the outside
absentmindedly. The bars on the window had spider webs on them.
Haji Omer called, “Hey, Major! Don’t you see? You have a
visitor!”
Nuri Bey turned to see who had come. He looked at Jamil,
“Oh! Jamil! Did you come for me?”
For the first time since he met Major Nuri, Jamil clicked
his heels and saluted him formally, “Yes, Major I came to apologize.”
“There is no need to…” Staff Major Nuri Bey was about the
same age as Jamil; however, he looked much older. He smiled like a grandfather.
“Mistakes happen, I was so happy to see our soldiers victorious. You don’t know
how happy I was but I think happiness made me tired. I just stayed there. It is
my fault. I should have stood up; I should have known it was my duty. I didn’t
think of it… It is my fault. They are right. Probably they thought I wasn’t
happy for our country on a day like that. All this happiness can make people do
wrong. I know that joy can mislead our nation more than sorrow. You came to see
me. Thank you very much.”
“You are welcome. Please get ready, we are leaving.”
Omer interrupted, “Oh, Jamil Bey. What about Tewfik Bey? He
will punish us.”
He looked at the face of the bandit in such a way that the
man swallowed and was quiet. Jamil’s face was filled with anger.
Jamil asked Major Nuri, “Sir, do you have your walking
stick?
“I think I have it somewhere. Oh! Here it is.”
“Omer! Bring me the Major’s walking stick. I told you to
bring it!”
Omer with his huge body hurried to get the walking stick. As
he was giving it to the Major, Jamil took it and gave it to the Major
himself. “Here is your walking stick,
Sir. I apologize again.” He said to Omer, “Tell Tewfik that I came by and took
Nuri Bey out. If he wants to talk to me, I am at the headquarters, as always.”
“Oh, Sir, there is no need! There is nothing to talk about.
You know Tewfik, I am sure he has forgotten about Nuri Bey. Would you like to
have some tea?” Then he stopped talking and listened outside. Trumpets were calling the soldiers to order.
Jamil hired a carriage, let Nuri board first, and as he
jumped on board, told the coachman to go to the Division headquarters quickly.
There were trumpet noises persistently calling everyone to
order, and messengers were riding their horses hurrying to get to the places
they were going. There were horseshoe noises on the stone pavement.
Everyone was alert when they reached the headquarters. The
orders were short and strict. The Officers, Sergeants, and soldiers all had
something to do. As Jamil was walking toward the stairs, Shaban stopped him,
“Major, it is bad news.”
“What? Is it the English? Did they attack?”
“Worse…This time it is inland, my hometown. It is in
turmoil…This time our own Turks are revolting…”
“What are you talking about? Who are your own Turks?”
“My hometown! The Stupid folks of the inland region! They
are revolting and they are revolting in a really bad fashion. They attacked and
instantly killed our Division Commander.”
“Which Division Commander is that? Are you talking about
Bekir Sami?”
“No, Sir, I am talking about the Commander of the 3rd
Cavalry Division! He was our Commander at the Sinai Front.”
“This is too confusing. Tell me from the beginning or else I
am going to hit you!”
“Captain Selahaddin received a telegram from Ankara; they
ordered Ethem to go to Bolu right away.”
“So Bolu is your hometown? I don’t think so…”
“Bolu is our bordering neighbor, Sir! Turkmens live there,
that’s why it is ours. Bolu, Gerede Duzce, and Hendek all those areas are
revolting against Ankara. There is mutiny everywhere. The boilers were carried
to the town square.”
“What was that for? Are they preparing meals for the
soldiers?”
“There wasn’t much time for that, Sir! Ethem ordered the
merchants to open the Bazaar and he told them to bring meat and sausages
to the square. They are cooking meals for Ethem’s men.”
“Is this for everyone?”
“No, Ethem’s men will be given freshly baked bread and they
will have sandwiches with this meat and pastrami, then they are going on their
way.”
“Is there enough for the soldiers?”
“No, there isn’t. This food is for Ethem’s bandits only. Those
Bashibozouks! Our soldiers will have bulgur soup if they are lucky. The
infantry will follow them. They are making preparations in the warehouses for
the army’s needs. Ethem is giving orders. He wants the best hay for his horses.
He is threatening he will hang people if the animal feed is not up to his
standards.”
“Where is he now?”
“He is at Ulucami; he gathered all the big turbans to the
Mosque.
“What is he doing
there?”
“He is making the Hodjas witnesses to the message that he is
sending to the Sultan. In his message, he is letting Istanbul know that he
already defeated Anzavour and advising the Sultan to get himself a better
Pasha…. He told the Sultan not to send any more unworthy commanders to fight
with him; he is letting the Sultan know that he is going to Bolu now and to
beware of what will happen next when he returns from Bolu.”
Selahaddin called from upstairs so Jamil left Shaban and
climbed the stairs. Selahaddin said, “Did you get the bad news?”
“No, what is it?”
“Colonel Mahmud got killed in Duzce by the rebellion.”
“You don’t say. How did this happen? Was he killed in
action?”
“No, I think Mahmud was confident because of his Circassian
origins but they tricked him. First, they sent an envoy to him, that’s why
Mahmud ordered the cease-fire trumpets. Then he went out of the trenches and
proceeded towards the enemy. When he was close enough, he realized that the
other side was not meaning well. He realized what their intentions were got
the rifle from the Officer and fired. When he missed, the enemy shot and killed
him.”
“I am sorry to hear this. He was a good friend of mine. He
was very brave.”
“Upon hearing the news our Commander cried like a child.
There is worse news; the resistance is spreading from Bolu towards Ankara.
Ethem got the orders to go and attack them immediately!”
“I will ask the Commander’s permission to leave and join
Ethem’s forces now.”
“We already talked to the Commander about this. It is
impossible. We can’t leave Bursa. We have to guard the city. We don’t have
enough soldiers here.
“Why did you gather
the hodjas in the Mosque? Are they going to give counter Fatwa?”
“Yes!”
“Are they willing to do that?”
“Sure, they will issue a counter Fatwa. In fact, they are fighting
one other to sign it first. You know those Hodja types as well as I do. They
can’t resist power.”
Selahaddin ran to open the coded telegram that was brought
in by the batman. Jamil went out of the building.
When he went to the town square, he saw Ethem’s men lining
in front of the boilers to get meat to put in their sandwiches. Once they got
their food, they were returning to their horses. They had all rested in Bursa’s
famous hotels. They shopped at the bazaar and enjoyed the thermal waters for the
last couple of days. They have fresh clothes on. Since they changed their
horses at every chance they got, their horses were quite handsome.
When Ethem’s Battalion Commanders came to the town square,
the cavalry units were ready to leave.
Ethem bid farewell to the Commander and the Governor and
told Jamil quietly, “I will ask for Ankara’s permission for you to join my
units, even though I asked the Commander here, he refused to allow you to come
with me.”
The horsemen were following Omer the flag bearer in an
orderly fashion; two horses, side by side. They had their rifles across their
shoulders. The silver of their saddles and knives were shining in the sun.
Jamil didn’t want to nod to Ethem’s older brother, Captain
Tewfik, so he looked towards Lieutenant Shevki’s heavy Machine Gun Unit.
The regular army soldiers had patched clothes and ripped
boots, however, they had the pride of real warriors on their faces. They
weren’t defeated by the bandits. Jamil saluted those proud soldiers. He didn’t
put his hand down until the last soldier who was carrying water, passed by.
The Heavy machine gun troops suddenly started singing the
famous patriotic song of the Great War. The song echoed from the front of the
troops to the end. They were walking on the dusty road.
Dr Munir said, “Ethem the Circassian defeated Anzavour the
Circassian, and now he is going to crush the resisting Turks who are against
the War of Independence. Do you understand that, Shaban?”
Shaban was behind. He was staring at Munir’s skinny neck
with his one eye. He tried hard to understand. “Yes, Sir, I understand. How can
I not understand?”
“Wow! Good for you, you are very clever.”
Since Munir said this in a Balkan accent, Shaban knew he was
joking so he smiled. Then Dr. Munir got mad. “If you were back home I would
kill you for laughing. Thank the Lord you are here!”
“I think it is best to be here on a day like this. Don’t you
think, Doctor?”
“Don’t ask! If you were back home right now what would Ethem do to you?”
Shaban didn’t hesitate, “He would hang me, Sir! I am sure of it!”
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