Captain Selahaddin had other thoughts. He seemed preoccupied
as well.
Lieutenant Farouk was happy and was anxious to go. He asked
Halit, “How long will it take to go to Kuyucak?”
Young Turks 1909
“It will take five or six hours.”
“How many homes are there in that village?”
“Around seventy.”
“How many horsemen can they provide?”
“We will send messengers to all the surrounding villages. I
think we will have four hundred horsemen in a couple of hours.”
“That means we can arrive in Manisa tomorrow evening!”
“That’s what I think, if we don’t get killed on the way.”
All four Officers thought about that sentence. It was still
raining heavily outside and Shaban was busy downstairs with the preparations.
Farouk walked to the window. He looked outside. The street looked as dark as a
river in the night.
Shaban and two others
loaded the carriage with forty rifles and six cases of ammunition. They
stretched the mattress on the empty space that was left. They put the tent up
and tightened it.
Even though Jamil told Farouk to get on the carriage, Farouk
preferred to walk along with Ali. The Commander was riding Ali’s horse. The
coachman was a bearded immigrant. Farouk was carrying his Mauser over his
shoulder with the barrel pointing to the ground.
Two in the carriage, four on foot, and three riding their
horses; altogether they were nine. They were walking slowly. The oxen were big and they had curved horns.
It was midnight and the town was dark.
After they left the town the road changed from hard paved
road to wet and soft ground which was easy to walk on.
It was already very dark outside and Jamil and Selahaddin
were in the covered carriage which was tightly closed and therefore even
darker. The visibility was very poor.
Jamil lit his second cigarette and offered one to
Selahaddin. When he lit the match he raised it in order to see his friend’s
face. “How are you?”
“I am getting better. Just tired. Did you ever have malaria
fever?”
“Many times.”
“Then you should know! It is good to change location. When
you go to higher elevation you feel better. He listened outside. It was still
raining. “I hope the Commander has a good raincoat. I don’t want him to get all
wet.”
“I think he has a good raincoat. He put the hood on as
well.”
“Good thing he is a Circassian; He is used to mountain roads
and this kind of weather.”
“I worry about Farouk for he is very slim. He will get his
feet wet and he might get sick.”
“He could have joined us here in the carriage.”
“I asked him but he declined.”
“Let him walk. If he gets tired he could always come in. He
is slim but he is strong as well. He is a good marksman. He was competing
against the best marksman and he won.
Halil Pasha rewarded him with the Nagant revolver that he is carrying.”
“Is that right? Which Halil Pasha? Uncle Halil?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you with him, in Iraq or in Caucasia?”
“Where were you with him, in Iraq or in Caucasia?”
“I was with him from the start. Farouk came later to the 5th
Caucasia Division. The Commander was Major Nazim who was the Chief of Staff of
the Islam Army. Do you know him?”
“Who is that?”
“Ottoman Balkan Forces Commander, Major Nazim.”
“Yes, I know him. Nazim Kayseri.”
“Yes! Initially he didn’t think Farouk was any good. Now,
when he thinks back on that, he is embarrassed. He said; ‘I thought I knew people well. I was mistaken’. While saying that,
he slaps his knees. He sent Farouk to the 28th Battalion of 10th Caucasian
Regiment. The troops were supposed to make an initial attack the next morning.
The grass was as tall as human height. They were walking in secure positions.
They were ambushed from all sides. The troops were about to dismantle. They
went to the road. Then they noticed that some were fighting back, so they got
encouraged. The rear defence was retreating while still under fire. It was 45
degrees Celsius; it was boiling hot. You felt like you were in a hot oven. We
were under fire and thirsty. And worst of all, the enemy didn’t take prisoners.
If they captured you, they killed you. Don’t forget the Battalion was
dismantled. The enemy claimed the mountain artillery. We had only two anyway.
We lost 19 men. Our animals were gone.”
“What happened to the Battalion?”
“Two Officers dead and two wounded. When the 30th Battalion
came to help they saw that Lieutenant Farouk was still holding strong with a
couple of men. Then the experienced soldiers told us that when they saw young
Farouk fighting with all his might they were not able to leave the battle field
and decided to continue fighting.”
Maiden Tower Baku
Selahaddin’s face was lit up by the cigarette momentarily.
“This happened in Gokchay which is located between Baku and Gence in Caucasia.
Just a small town. I was thinking about this at the hotel. Farouk fought there
like that. However, the people here refuse to fight. Why are they so
discouraged? Is Farouk so courageous? Or is he mad? Is he so competitive like
the athletes? Is he the only one who loves his country? What about the others?
Why are people here not as patriotic as he is? They were born here. It is their
land.”
“It is not that. Farouk was born in Istanbul. If it had
something to do with birth place he would have stayed and defended Istanbul.”
“That’s right!”
Selahaddin opened the tent door to throw out his cigarette
butt. It was not raining anymore. There was no one behind. They must be walking
in front of the oxen. The animal’s feet were smashing the mud.
Selahaddin inhaled the fresh air. “So what is it then? Why
would people fight like mad men? Without any fear? Is it because they are
angry? Is it because they are stubborn?”
“Halil Pasha and Dr. Munir talked about this for a long
time.”
“What did they conclude?”
“Dr. Munir talked about the uprising of March 31st. He
accused the Unionists of not having revolutionary forces.”
“And?”
“They wanted the Hunter Troops to leave Istanbul before
March 31st and journalist Hussein
Jahid said that ‘they were the forces
of the revolution. They should not be allowed to leave Istanbul. This was
fifteen days before March 31st.
Dr. Munir said that we had taken those Hunter Troops right out of Abdulhamid’s
army instead of forming our own troops to guard the revolution. If they hadn’t
come from Monastir we would have used some other troops from some other
location. Even after the revolution we didn’t train them for their new duties.
So how did Hussein Yalcin conclude
that these were the troops to guard the revolution? He didn’t know about the
new revolutionary cadres or he simply had chosen to look like he didn’t know
about this. I think some of our leaders had profited from March 31st.”
“Your doctor doesn’t know what he is talking about! We were
all in danger in the counter revolution of March 31st. How could
anyone profit from them?”
“I don’t know! That’s what he said. He gave some examples.”
“Like what?”
“He said we killed Hasan Fehmi. We didn’t care about the
death of Dervish Vahid! We let the bigots influence the army. We let them form
their own association called Ittihad-i
Muhammediye. And worse, we let Abdulhamid’s men govern after our victory.
Dr. Munir was convinced that we didn’t have any progressive ideas or we were
intimidated by the progress. Generally speaking, these things were causing us
to profit from the old ways and the corruption.”
“What did Halil Pasha say about all this?”
“He just smiled under his moustache.”
“No way! Halil Pasha?”
Taksim March 31st
At this moment, the tent door was opened. “How are you,
Selahaddin?”
“I am fine, Farouk. How about you? Are you tired?”
“No. Is your fever gone?”
“Yes. The malaria is
gone. If you are tired come sit with us, there is enough space. You must be
getting wet.”
“It is not raining anymore and I am not tired yet.”
“Is Shaban with you?”
“Yes, he won’t leave us.
He always finds something funny to say.”
They heard the Coachman’s voice, he had a Balkan accent. “Is
he Molla Nasreddin?”
Shaban pretended he was sad. “Better than that. They say
when the donkey is hurting he will run faster than the horse. That’s us! Even Koroglu’s famous white horse wouldn’t be
able to keep up with us. Don’t you know? I have my gun now. I wasn’t allowed
before. We will beat the gangs. My feet are soaking now. If it gets worse and I
still have my courage, then these mountains will see a real warrior!”
“Good for you, son! You are a brave soul.”
“Thank you. Even the Major likes my courage. I am a handy
guy; I am sure I will be useful.”
Zaybek Ali said, “What is all this rain, Shaban? Is it the
fool’s rain?”
“Right on! That’s the fool’s rain. I know because it is
raining on Greeks. When you see the Greeks, it means Victory for us. I am sure
about this. The Greek King’s whole job in this earth is to make the Ottomans
happy!”
Crete
“Don’t you know they have already taken Crete from us?”
“Never mind Crete!
It is like I said.”
“What about the Balkans?”
“The Balkan wars were different. The Greek army is invading
our country because they are encouraged by our defeat at the Balkan wars. They
have come and they are asking for it. We are going to win and forget the
miseries of the Great War. I know this for sure. I don’t understand why you guys
didn’t finish them in Izmir? What happened to the brave men of Aegean?” He
waited for an answer. When there was none he sighed. “It is our Government’s
fault. They didn’t install telephone wires all over. That’s why people didn’t
learn about the situation in Izmir. Am I right?” He waited for an answer again.
Then he added, “I am not blaming the Gavour Efe of Akhisar. He somehow knew that Izmir was under attack
even though there wasn’t phone connection. That’s why he collected his gang
right away and attacked us. He only had pebbles for ammunition. He was
attacking the wrong people. He must have acted that way in order to save the
honour of his town.”
They were going uphill and it was hard to proceed in the
mud.
Jamil let Lieutenant Farouk sit in the carriage. When he
came in Farouk opened his bottle and offered them some brandy.
They took a little sip and ate some raisins.
There was a light wind in the morning and it took the clouds
away to Salihli. The weather was cool and wet.
The Reluctant Warrior
by Kemal Tahir
Translated by Elif Mat
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