"That's truly amazing," Nixon said with a smile. "Well then, good luck to us!"
When Parks bid farewell to Winters and returned to the barracks, several brothers in the barracks were sitting as if waiting for him. Seeing him enter, they all looked at him.
"What's wrong with everyone?" Parks sat down, scanning his brothers who were all looking at him expectantly.
"Parks, we're setting off tomorrow!" Cobb said hesitantly.
Parks smiled at him. "Is there a problem? This is no longer a secret, and tomorrow we're marching to Atlanta. Are you planning to secretly tell us this military secret? Perhaps I should ask Captain Sobel to send a few military police to arrest you as a German spy."
If it were a normal day, this would undoubtedly cause a burst of laughter among the brothers. But today, there was no reaction.
"Go on, you must have something on your mind." Parks spread his hands towards them, indicating his surrender.
At this moment, White stood up and said to Parks, "Tomorrow's long march will be a huge test for us. Heaven knows why Colonel Sink came up with such an idea. And he specifically chose the Second Battalion to complete this task. You know, the brothers in the company aren't very confident right now."
"I know that! What's wrong?" Parks shrugged. "Do you think Colonel Sink will understand the people's feelings and cancel this march just because we complain it's difficult? Don't dream, brothers. Don't say I'm just a Sergeant; even Lieutenant Winters wouldn't even consider trying to persuade Colonel Sink. That would definitely be asking for death."
White smiled a little awkwardly. "Our brains aren't broken; why would we ask you to do something so difficult? Uh, it's just asking for a favor. I heard you gave Ellie a massage today?"
"Yes! So what?" Parks looked at them strangely. "Unless you've also been punished by Sobel, don't even think about such good fortune!"
White immediately became anxious. "No, no, Parks, you know, we've been exhausted these past few days. Now everyone in Easy Company knows that after your massage, Ellie's body is even stronger than before he was punished."
Damn Ellie! Parks suddenly felt that he had probably done a good deed that backfired this time. Looking at the few guys in the barracks, he could only smile bitterly and say, "Don't look at me. For this matter, I can only say I'm helpless, gentlemen!"
"Oh, don't be like that!" White cried out, and the others all showed disappointed expressions.
"However, I can teach you how to massage each other. As long as you follow my instructions, the effect should not be bad!" Parks glanced at them. "You choose, either I go to sleep, or you massage each other. There will be some effect."
"Alright!" White could only agree, and there was no dissenting voice in the barracks. Doing something was better than doing nothing!
This was just an interlude before departure. Although there was massage, it couldn't solve the fundamental problem, and they had no knowledge of acupoints, so it only had a slight effect in relieving fatigue.
Early the next morning, at 7:00 sharp, soldiers from D Company, Easy Company, and F Company of the Second Battalion in the entire camp set off with all their gear and weapons. The entire team advanced in an orderly fashion, with Easy Company leading the way under the command of Captain Sobel and Lieutenant Winters. They were the vanguard company, which even excited Sobel for a long time; he believed his performance was undoubtedly the best in Colonel Sink's eyes.
When they set off, the weather had become colder. Major Horton, for some unknown reason, chose a country road, and as rain and light snow began to fall in the afternoon, the road became muddy and difficult to traverse.
"Damn it, I feel like I can't breathe!" Malarkey, a mortarman, was carrying a mortar tube that felt like a mountain. As he was complaining softly, his foot slipped, and he fell sideways.
"Watch out, Malarkey!" A hand firmly supported his shoulder, then helped him stand up. Parks was quick-witted and helped him in time.
"Thank you, Parks!" Malarkey nodded gratefully. "When will this highway come to an end!"
"Don't complain!" Gordon said softly from behind at this moment. "Watch out for Sobel; you'll be in trouble if he hears you!" Then he adjusted the heavy machine gun on his shoulder. "Look at me; I'm no lighter than you."
Just as the few of them were talking in low voices, they heard a "thud," someone had fallen. It was Floyd. Then they heard Sobel roaring from behind in his loud voice, "Damn it, Sergeant Floyd Talbert, you coward, we haven't even completed the usual training distance, and you've already fallen. Get up, no one help him, let him get up himself!"
Talbert struggled to his feet, both hands covered in mud, but he didn't bother to wipe it off and quickly returned to the team. Now, everyone in the team had a suppressed emotion.
"Look, this is our Captain Sobel! That damned fascist!" White muttered beside him, gritting his teeth.
"Shh!" Parks shushed softly; at this moment, Sobel's roar came again.
"Who? Who's talking in the ranks?" Sobel looked around, but he couldn't see anything. Everyone remained silent. "I promise, if anyone talks without permission again, I'll kick him out. He doesn't deserve the Silver Wing Badge."
The rain was getting heavier, and the muddy path became even more difficult to walk. Even though snowflakes occasionally fell, accompanied by a biting cold wind, the brothers were already soaked with sweat from exhaustion.
Night marches were even harder to endure than daytime ones. Soldiers constantly fell on the muddy road; even Captain Sobel fell several times, his crisp uniform now covered in mud and looking a mess. He didn't have the energy to care if the soldiers were talking or falling, or if someone was helping them up. If he hadn't been helped up a few times, he would have found it very difficult to get up from the muddy road.
Sweat-soaked clothes, when blown by the biting cold wind at night, immediately made one shiver uncontrollably.
"This is hell!" Cobb's tone was a bit beyond endurance.
"Hey, Cobb, are you trying to rebel? Then go throw mud at Captain Sobel and Major Horton! I guarantee they'll let you take a train to Atlanta." Guarnere joked beside him.
"Please, Mr. Gonorrhea. I guarantee this is what you want to do too!" Parks chuckled from behind.
Cobb immediately perked up upon hearing this and said defiantly to Guarnere, "Mr. Gonorrhea, don't talk about throwing mud. You can only dream of that. You don't even have the courage to complain loudly in the ranks."
"I only complain to Parks because he's my superior; I only complain to my superiors, Cobb, just like you complain to me. Who told me I'm a Sergeant now?" Guarnere said earnestly. "I think Parks should complain to Lieutenant Buck Compton, and then Buck complains to Lieutenant Winters, and Lieutenant Winters complains to Captain Sobel." Then he paused, "I just hope Captain Sobel can be more of a man and complain to Major Horton, instead of trying to curry favor."
Immediately, the few people around them burst into laughter.
The appropriate jokes slightly eased the pain of the soldiers who were struggling on the long march. It continued like this until eleven o'clock at night when Major Horton finally ordered them to set up camp and rest.
By this time, the entire battalion had marched 45 miles. However, Major Horton chose a small hilltop for their camp, where there were no large trees, no small bushes, and no shelter from the wind. The temperature dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. They couldn't even use the mess kits, leaving the cold and hungry soldiers unable to eat a hot meal.
"Can this be eaten?" Malarkey looked at the bread with a little butter, dry and unappetizing. "All I want to do now is sleep well. Hey, Muke, lend a hand, let's set up the tent."
"Alright, but I have to finish my bread first!" Warren Muke replied. "Malarkey, I think you'd best eat a little, otherwise, tomorrow will be enough for you. At this rate, we'll have to be out here for two more days. Conserving energy is the most important thing!"
"Alright, alright!" Malarkey took two bites of bread, but it choked him, making his eyes roll back.
The cold wind grew stronger at night. The snow that had stopped for a while in the afternoon suddenly intensified during the night. The temperature had dropped to twenty degrees Fahrenheit, and despite being covered by tents, it was of no use.
"Clack, clack!" White's teeth were chattering loudly. He had wrapped the blanket tightly around himself, only exposing his nostrils. Parks shared a tent with him, and although his physique was very good, such cold weather was still a bit unbearable. However, he knew that this situation was nothing compared to the agonizing days later in Bastogne. He didn't intend to help anyone; if the brothers of Easy Company couldn't even get through this, how could they endure the difficult days and nights in Bastogne later on?
At 6 AM the next morning, a sharp whistle woke up all the officers and soldiers in the camp, and then they found that everything in front of them was covered with a thick layer of frost.
"Damn it, my boots and socks are frozen solid." White cursed, but he quickly realized that many others were in the same predicament. The soldiers had to untie their bootlaces, otherwise, their swollen, frozen feet couldn't fit inside. Rifles, mortars, and machine guns were all frozen to the ground. And the two-person tents were frozen solid, full of cracks, like peanut brittle.
"Oh, I really hope the weather on the krauts' side is even colder than this!" Cobb laughed. "That way we won't have to go to Europe; we can just freeze them to death!" The brothers of Easy Company all laughed.