''In comes the General.
He is no pistol-slapper, but a big businessman; an excellent politician, the executive type.
The Army is the biggest business, at that moment, in the world.
He takes the half-assed pointer, and he shows us, with complete conviction, and without forebodings, exactly what the attack will be, why we are making it, and how facilely it will succeed.
There is no problem.''
''Go on,'' the girl said. ''Please let me fill your glass and you, please look at the light on the ceiling.''
''Fill it and I'll look at the light and I will go on.
''This high pressure salesman, and I say this with no disrespect, but with admiration for all his talents, or his talent, also told what we would have of the necessary.
There would be no lack of anything.
The organization called SHAEF was then based on a town named Versailles outside of Paris.
We would attack to the east of Aachen a distance of some 380 kilometers from where they were based.
''An army can get to be huge; but you can close up a little bit.
They finally went as far forward as Rheims which was 240 kilometers from the fighting.
That was many months later.
''I understand the necessity of the big executive being removed from contact with his working people.
I understand about the size of the army and the various problems.
I even understand logistics which is not difficult.
But no one ever commanded from that far back in history.''
''Tell me about the town.''
''I'll tell you,'' the Colonel said. ''But I don't want to hurt you.''
''You never hurt me.
We are an old town and we had fighting men, always.
We respect them more than all others and I hope we understand them a little.
We also know they are difficult.
Usually, as people, they are very boring to women.''
''Do I bore you?''
''What do you think?'' the girl asked.
''I bore myself, Daughter.''
''I don't think you do, Richard, you would not have done something all your life if you were bored by it.
Don't lie to me please, darling, when we have so little time.''
''I won't.''
''Don't you see you need to tell me things to purge your bitterness?''
''I know I tell them to you.''
''Don't you know I want you to die with the grace of a happy death?
Oh I'm getting all mixed up.
Don't let me get too mixed up.''
''I won't, Daughter.''
''Tell me some more please and be just as bitter as you want.''
CHAPTER 31
''LISTEN, Daughter,'' the Colonel said. ''Now we will cut out all references to glamour and to high brass, even from Kansas, where the brass grows higher than osage-orange trees along your own road.
It bears a fruit you can't eat and it is purely Kansan.
Nobody but Kansans ever had anything to do with it; except maybe us who fought. We ate them every day.
Osage oranges,'' he added. ''Only we called them K Rations. They weren't bad. C Rations were bad. Ten in ones were good.
''So we fought.
It is dull but it is informative.
This is the way it goes if anyone is ever interested; which I doubt.
''It goes like this: 1300 Red S-3: White jumped off on time. Red said they were waiting to tie in behind White.
1305 (that is one o'clock and five minutes after in the afternoon, if you can remember that, Daughter) Blue S-3, you know what an S-3 is I hope, says,
‘Let us know when you move.'
Red said they were waiting to tie in behind White.