Sector Diksmuide, 1916
"What are they yelling?" one of Belgium's soldiers asked while having the audacity of sticking his head above the trench wall.
"I don't know, perhaps it's better if we get the corporal," another private said, turning around, as he could without having to stand up, because that would mean certain death here, the Germans were only 10 meters away, and there was no inundation to protect the soldiers like in the sector Ramskapelle.
"Corporal, the Germans are yelling," the private said sticking his head in the corporals little dugout. Both men crawled over the dirty trench floor, anxious not to be seen by a German guard.
"Apparently," the corporal said listening to the German shouting, "they want to fraternize."
"Fraternize, should we shut them up?" the soldier asked taking his rifle.
"Isn't Belgium in our trench at the moment?"
"Yes, you two stay here, observe and shoot them if they try to attack us. I'll go and ask Belgium's opinion." The corporal said crawling away.
Belgium was examining a new piece of trenchartillery one of her officers designed: the mortar Van Deuren, the relatively small mortar would be Belgium's promising answer to Germany's Minenwerfer. Belgium found it largely gratifying, in a macabre way but still, that her artillery was a good match against the German one. Belgium's artillery was accurate and well equipped with a large variety of guns, thanks to England and France who send her old or captured batteries.
"Belgique?" the corporal asked, switching from Flemish to French.
"Oui?" Belgium replied looking up from the mortar.
"Je suis caporal De Maerschalck, de la 7ieme devision, je viens de la première ligne et les Allemands veulent fraternizer. "
"T'es sur ? " Belgium asked, she knew Germans weren't trustworthy.
Oui, mon colonel," corporal De Maerschalck answered switching from her name to her grade.
"Voyons celà," Belgium said.
)-()-(
"Are they still there?" the corporal asked.
"Yes, corporal they are still there, a bit less enthusiastic, but some of us have already started so they didn't give up yet."
"Mon, colonel vous voyez," the corporal began but Belgium cut him off,
"I speak Dutch, and personally I don't really mind to fraternize a little, they aren't all evil basterds after all."
Slowly, the Belgian soldiers began crawling out of their dugouts, and out of the narrow trench, the smell of rotting flesh in the air suffocated the smell of gunpowder. With the soldiers, the brancardiers in British Khaki and the sanitäters in Prussian Blue set out to remove the corpses out of the trenches and out of the advanced posts.
Belgium walked alone over no mans land occasionally jumping over hellholes, slowly she became a bit sentimental: this was once a peaceful farming region, now it played host to the worst war humankind had ever seen and yet again she was in the middle of it. But she didn't get much time to get emotional.
"Belgium?" a familiar voice said. Belgium turned around and saw exactly the person she didn't want to see: Germany.
"Belgium," he repeated.
"Germany, how are you?" Belgium blurted out.
"Fine," Germany said after a while.
"I suppose you're happy now," Belgium said sitting down on a low brick wall that had somehow survived the artillery fire.
"How do you mean?" Germany asked, he clearly felt uncertain.
"You've got about 95% of my territory to abuse," Belgium replied.
"I… It's not…" Germany started.
"It's not about me?" Belgium asked raising one of her eyebrows.
"No, well yes, …"
"It's never about little Belgium," Belgium pouted, "poor little Belgium can't do anything, nom, nom," Belgium did as if she was eating some expensive French food, she probably imitates Joffre, Germany thought, "it's just Belgique. This war will probably, nom, nom be over by Christmas. Whatever could Belgium do," Belgium said imitating England, "Of course I will honour your neutrality, Belgium, I wouldn't dream of betraying you," Belgium said with a German accent, "and the next thing I hear is this: the only thing that Belgium can do spread her legs wider when we violate her," she said in a deep voice that resembled Prussia's.
"I, I didn't want this to happen," Germany said.
"Trench warfare? No, neither did I," Belgium smirked. "But look the Kingdom is still there, between you and England's supplies. You weren't able to defeat little Belgium on the battlefield, so you decide to destroy her on every other front."
"Stop Belgium," Germany tried, "please."
"Stop? You don't understand, I thought I found a trusty and powerful friend, not a treacherous fiend." Germany let his head hang. She was right.
"I remember it so well, that day in 1871 when I first saw you."
)-()-(
Versailles, 1871
"Hello little one, I'm the Kingdom of Belgium, who are you?" Belgium said bending over to give the small boy a hand.
"I'm the German Empire," Germany said shaking Belgium's extended hand. Belgium smiled so brightly that it made Germany blush. Suddenly Belgium took him in her arms and put him on a chair.
"So," she said cheerfully, "look, you're as tall as I am." Germany laughed. He enjoyed her company, she was much nicer then any other woman he had met, she was in his short life the only one who didn't treat him a nation but as an equal and as the child he still was, Belgium didn't mention the fact he was a large empire too many times.
Belgium and Germany quickly found out that they had a mutual interest: industry.
Belgium could talk and talk about the subject and Germany sat and listened too the older industrial nation.
The years past and during these years Germany grew a lot the time that Belgium could pick him up and put him on a chair was gone, but still they had the habit of visiting each other regularly. Germany liked to entertain Belgium by showing new industries, once he showed her around a Krupp arms factory and he convinced her to buy a few guns, something she did gladly. Impressed by Germany's military Belgium took many things home: Mauserrifles, Kruppkannons even a German hat, impressed by the Prussian Blue she decided to change the brighter colours of the infantry into dark blue.
)-()-(
At nights they would watch the sky and Belgium was naming the stars for him. Although Germany was the largest one he still felt like he was the little child, and that Belgium was his older sister.
"There is Sirius, the dog star, did you know he has a little friend?" Belgium asked.
"No, what he called?"
"Sirius B, I know what you're thinking, but it was Prussia who gave it's name," Belgium said.
"The Awesome Me has found a new star," Germany laughed imitating Prussia.
"Actually he didn't see the star: he deduced that there had to be one in 1844."
"Who saw Sirius B first then?" Germany asked.
"No-one, America discovered that theoretically it should be seen easily, but Sirius's light is too bright, he also concluded it had to be a white dwarf."
"How come you know so much?" Germany asked.
"If you are a small neutral nation you don't have to attend world meetings, as a matter of fact I never been at a world meeting. Anyway that means I have loads of time to do other things."
"Would you like to attend a world meeting?" Germany asked his small neighbour.
"No," Belgium shook her head, "small nations can't afford to break international law. Look there is Mars," Belgium said brining the subject back to astronomy.
"Do you think there is going to be a war?" Germany asked.
"I hope not, but in this melting pot that call itself a continent, you will have to be careful. A war is easily triggered these days, so pay attention," Belgium said, her cheerfulness had been replaced by a seriousness Germany wasn't used of Belgium.
"Germany?"
"Yes, Belgium?"
"If there is a war, will you honour my neutrality?"
"Yes, I will."
)-()-(
Belgian frontier, 1914.
Germany and Prussia had joined the spear point of the attack, a hussar unit. The cavalrymen awaited Prussia's order to advance. But Prussia wanted to make it more epic before he attacked.
"Men, to day we march through Belgium, tomorrow we will march into Paris and the day after tomorrow Moscow will be ours!, Follow The AWESOME MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Prussia shouted and charged. Into Neutral Belgium.
)-()-(
"Prussia you went of so fast we nearly lost you," Germany yelled, finally catching on Prussia.
"It's so good to be at war again, so Belgium hasn't surrendered yet, let's force her: burn this village," Prussia said.
"What?" Germany asked a bit shocked by the order.
"You heard it: burn Visé, and every other village we encounter, Belgium will be so scared that she won't try to fight us."
But she didn't run away, behind every roadblock, every river, Belgium's army fired its deadly bullets. Germany and Prussia had to fight a way to Liège and when they arrived there their first assault was pushed back. The more time it took the more Prussia became frustrated. They had to eliminate every fortress, one by one. In the end Belgium lost the battle.
They advanced into Belgium's mainland. The further they went the more Belgium resisted.
Every time she lost. More villages were burned. But still she didn't give up.
)-()-(
"More Villages were burned," Belgium said looking straight in Germany's blue eyes.
"Always the same excuse: my people shot at you, what a lie. In the large cities I had all the civilian fire weapons collected."
"But then in Haelen, I won didn't I? The Belgian militia, like you and Prussia called my army, defeated yours, the greatest army in the universe.
)-()-(
Haelen, 1914 The Battle of the Silver Helmets.
"Belgium, we need a chat," General De Witte said.
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"If we charge here, like we used to do, we will be defeated, however one of my officers had the idea that we should take cover and let them charge."
"But the troops are so anxious to attack on horseback," Belgium answered.
"I know, but I think we have no choice," General De Witte said.
"You are the general, I put myself at you command," Belgium gave in.
General De Witte smiled. He ordered the cavalry to hide behind the trees and hastily erected barricades.
The German cavalry proved overconfident. They were met by a rain of bullets. Wave after wave broken on the Belgian defence lines.
And in the midst of the battle Belgium noticed Prussia, he had lost his helmet and was covered in blood, but he was still mounted and he was furiously hacking into her soldiers.
Belgium ran bayonet first against Prussia's horse. The poor animal screamed out in pain and fell. Prussia was thrown out of his saddle. When he turned he felt the warm sticky blood on a bayonet, on the other end was Belgium. Prussia laughed.
"Belgium, you can't imagine how…" Prussia would never finish his sentence because then a bullet entered his head, as a nation it didn't kill him but it him knocked out for a few hours.
)-()-(
"Where am I?" Prussia asked when he woke up.
"Don't worry," a deep male voice said, "you're in good hands."
"West," Prussia sighted with relief, "I thought Belgium had captured me."
"She didn't: she knocked you out and went back fighting," Germany said.
"Since I'm here, does that mean we won?" Prussia asked.
"No, we lost," Germany shook his head, "we can't always win".
"We lost against Belgium?" Prussia asked in disbelief.
"It wasn't an important battle. Now sleep and give your body a chance to heal. In a few days we'll be in Brussels." Germany said.
Prussia smiled: Brussels, Belgium's capital, he would humiliate her by organizing a grand defile.
A few days later Prussia marched into Brussels, his grand defile took one entire day, he felt much better now, but Belgium didn't give in.
"Belgium has retreated into Antwerp," Germany said, "the way to Paris is open."
"Let's go then, Prussia said, "to Paris at last."
"But I didn't stay quiet, not? My king and I launched three attacks to help the French and the British." Belgium said, "O, yes you are a bad loser."
)-()-(
"The French are in desperate need of some relief, if we attack the Germans here they will be forced to keep more troops here, so France will get some relief. Fortunately we are no longer fighting against those elite troops from at the start, so we should be able to succeed to do more." Belgium said. She and her king had discussed the matter deeply and agreed that it was the right thing to do.
"Belgium, sire, a message from Germany," an officer said.
"It's a request for a peace agreement," king Albert I said, "what's in yours?"
"Dear Belgium,
This war was an unfortunate necessity, I hope that our old friendship has survived this. I long for the days that we would visit each other and just talk about random things, that's why I have send a request for a peace agreement, I will be more then happy to start negotiations with you and when the war is over I'll do my best to repair the damage done, I only ask a right of passage, one word of you and on every town hall your flag will be hoist again. I wish that we can get out of this together and march hand in hand into this new century. I can even promise you French-Flanders, if you like.
Please let us be friends again.
Germany."
"The bastard," Belgium said, while her king looked at her with a with an expression which screamed: 'how dare he?' "I'll send him a reply right away," Belgium wrote:
"Germany, I have nothing to say to you, before this madness started I had asked you three fucking times if you would honour my neutrality, every time you affirmed with the strongest possible terms, then all sudden you declare that it's a mere scrap of paper and invade without a clear declaration of war.
Then you kill innocent people and burn their houses down without any reason.
Then you are surprised that I actually protected myself and you burn more houses.
So, shut up when this war is over, I don't care who wins, I don't want to see you at my house ever again.
As for French Flanders, I'm really not interested."
"I kept that letter," Germany said, "what you said hurts."
"It hurts? It hurts the great stoic nation?" Belgium shouted, "It hurt me that I had to write the letter in the first place, I had build an entire world of trust and care around us and then you suddenly decide it's a scrap of paper? Not only that, to scare your own men you invent the story of Franc-tireurs, I know that in the beginning one might have fired at your men, but to burn down entire cities, to deport hundreds of civilians, among them many children and women," Belgium stopped dead she averted her eyes: "You killed so many women and children, the youngest was only a few months, the men, I could understand, but all these children and women?"
"I, what, they opened fire," Germany said.
"Don't lie to me, I know you well enough to know when you lie," Belgium said, "the next thing I did was attacking." I attacked three times. But the second time shocked me the most. We were marching to Leuven, I hoped to capture and evacuate the city. When suddenly."
)-()-(
"Belgium, you might want to see this," one of her men said. Belgium followed the private: he pointed at a door written on that door was written, in German, 'Vernichten'. "Mijn God," I said: "Germany organizes the destruction."
"Hello little girl," a drunk German soldier said, to a poor four year old Belgian girl, "come over here, come on don't be afraid come close I have some chocolate."
"Chocolate?" the little girl asked. She was hungry and she didn't had any chocolate since the Germans came. Slowly she came closer.
Then instead of giving her some chocolate he took his rifle and started to beat the girl hard, she cried out in sudden agony.
"You don't like chocolate?" the soldier asked, the girl didn't respond she was already dead but he kept beating and kicking her. Belgium saw him ran towards him and a red mist came over her eyes and she kicked him to death.
Then German troops succeeded in stopping the Belgian offensive, but the cruelty hadn't even begun, when the attack started the German troops were on the run, the garrison of Leuven thought it was the Belgian army, panicked and fired at the troops the came towards them, after a shot but terrible battle, they finally noticed it weren't Belgian they were shooting at.
"Out of revenge your men and you, Germany, set fire to Leuven," Belgium said staring blankly in front of her.
"I'm sorry Belgium," Germany whispered.
"You're not sorry, you're happy. You're happy that you destroyed a town that was already for 700 years the intellectual capital of the Low Countries, you burned one of the oldest universities of Europe down, you set fire to an irreplaceable collection of books, and what for: nothing."
)-()-(
Near Antwerp, 1914
Antwerp fell, Britain had sent only a few troops. Although one of his officers, Churchill or something had promised many more, but none came, they didn't exist. The Belgian Field Army retreated out of Antwerp. Many refugees followed the army.
Belgium and her men came close to the Dutch frontier. The houses were unharmed, the lights were on and families were happy and united.
She was holding the hands of two children from Dendermonde which had been totally destroyed by German troops, her officers had found the two girls in a cellar of a spared house, Belgium had taken them with her.
There was someone standing a bit further, his hair was standing up again making him look taller then he actually was: the Netherlands.
"Belgium?" he asked.
"Holland?" she replied.
"I see you haven't given up yet," Holland said.
"Not yet, but I'm not really hopeful."
"Come on cheer up, you have faced hotter fires haven't you?"
"No, Holland I haven't, you can't thank God enough that you haven't been dragged into this," Belgium said.
"Belbel, who is he?" one of the girls asked.
"That is Holland, my brother."
"Is he a nation too, Belbel?" the other girl asked.
"Yes he is," Belgium replied.
"So, Belgium," Holland asked, "where are you going?"
"France," Belgium replied.
"France, but that would mean that you'll be captured by Germany?"
"I have no choice. France fights hard to stop them at the Marne, my men will be sent to rest in Calais."
"You sacrifice yourself too much Belgium," Holland shook his head.
"Look, will you take these two with you to Den Haag?" Belgium said pointing at the children. Holland examined the two girls, then looked into his sisters eyes.
"All right, then," Holland said. He extended his arms towards the tired children.
"My brother will take care of you two," Belgium said kneeling in front of the kids. She gave both of them a hug, waved Holland goodbye and watched them disappear into the night. She smiled at least two children would be safe.
The 4th Regiment of the Line marched past her, many of them had lost their boots, their uniforms were reduced to rags and they were dirty and tired.
Many of the refugees crossed the border, some soldiers did the same, and the officers had to work hard to keep the soldiers in line, but they glanced longingly to the calm houses on the other side. The Dutch army had come to take over the wounded and to keep out people who wanted to cross the border.
)-()-(
"And finally we arrived at the Yser," Belgium said, it was there that I heard those horrible stories: you destroyed more and more villages, it was like you wanted to destroy me completely. Holland sent me a letter in which he described how the night sky was lit by the flames of burning farms. I heard about a burgomaster who was closing the windows when he got shot in his leg, when the doctor came to make the best of a bad job, your soldiers, Germany, came in dragged him and his 15 years old son out of the house and shot them, just like that."
German sat down next to Belgium: "Can I tell you that I'm sorry?"
"No you can't, I heard of another occasion where you gave people a shovel and ordered them to dig their own or their beloved ones grave and the story that you ordered a burgomaster to collect all firearms from his town, he did so and the next day he was shot for owning an arsenal."
"You talk about it as if you were completely clean of it, I for instance recall the fact that your men attacked a feltlazarett and killed every wounded man," Germany defended himself.
"I'm not proud, but 100 of your soldiers, versus 1000 innocent civilians of mine…" Belgium trailed off. She started sobbing.
"I feel like I don't know the world anymore," Belgium cried, "it all feels like a bad dream that won't stop." Belgium whipped her tears of with her sleeve.
A bit further away Belgian soldiers were playing football with Germans.
"Belgium," Germany said, "look at them, can't we just let it go for a while?"
"No, I can't let it go, every night I live through 1914 again and again and again," Belgium sobbed harder and buried her head in her hands.
"Shells, gas, bodies everywhere, in the trenches and in no mans land, the smell that horrible smell," Belgium cried, "and I have to fight against everybody, against you on the battlefield, against France and England because they want to send my men into your death-trap for their own benefits, they don't give a damn about me, they never have."
Germany swallowed. When he had come to talk to her he had hoped that she could set it all aside, but she couldn't, the happy carefree Belgium that had been so kind to him was gone, he had killed her, he had killed one of his best friends, he understood that She couldn't put it aside it was too much to overcome. Only now he understood what he had done.
"Germany," Belgium had stopped sobbing now, "I have only one question left for you to answer me, but answer it honestly."
"Very well," Germany said wondering what the question might be. On the other hand he didn't want to know.
"Promise?"
"I promise that I'll answer your question honestly," he said. He meant it he was going to be honest with her.
"Why did you bring all this over me?" Belgium asked.
"I…" Germany hesitated, he had predicted this question a long time ago, he knew the answer, but didn't dare, he had promised. Should he?
"Germany, I beg you," Belgium said.
"F… For... the Schlieffen-plan to work," there he had said it, now it was his turn to bury his head in his hands.
"Thanks," Belgium stood up and said, "there won't be a next truce. I'll fire at you men if they try again."
German looked up and saw her walking away her khaki dress waved in the warm summer wind. She didn't look back a single time.
About 15 minutes later Germany heard a mortar nearby, next thing he saw was an explosion in his trench and everybody ran back to his own positions, the truce was over. The madness would start again.
Germany knew it had been Belgium who had fired the mortar.
)-()-(
Authors note,
All mentioned events are either real, or based on true facts.
With the exception of the truce. There were loads of these back then.
And the children are a reference to all the Belgian civilians who fled to the Netherlands.
Belgium says that next time she will fire: as a matter of fact in 1917 a new German unit wanted a truce, which was welcomed by Belgian gunfire, so she kept her word.
The Mortar Van Deuren was invented by the Belgian officer Van Deuren as a reply to the German trenchmortar 'Minenwerfer', it proved to be a very effective weapon.
Translations:
"Belgique?" Belgium
"Oui?" Yes
"Je suis caporal De Maerschalck, de la 7ieme devision, je viens de la première ligne et les Allemands veulent fraternizer. " I'm corporal De Maerschalck, from the 7th division, I come from the first line (defence line the Belgian troops had three main defence lines, Belgium is in the second) and the Germans want to fraternize.
"T'es sur ? " You're sure?
Oui, mon colonel," Affermative colonel
"Voyons celà," Let's see.
"Mon, colonel vous voyez," You see, colonel,…
Brancardier/ Sanitäter, Medic
Feltlazarett : German fieldhospital.
About the Belgian Front.
Nieuwpoort, Ramskapelle, Pervijse, Diksmuide, Lo and Steenstrate are the six front sectors the Belgian army helt. The First 5 are named after towns or cities nearby, the last one is named after a cobblestone road. This story is set in the sector Diksmuide.
The defacto capital of the Kindom of Belgium during 1914-1918 was De/La Panne, a small coastal town, because the King had his residence there. The Army HQ was in Veurne.
In my Belgium storyline about WWI Belgium is part of the 5th regiment of the line.
To see how she looks like in uniform follow this link: .com/art/Death-Proposed-To-Me-173893987?q=&qo=
The drawing is mine.