Chapters 7-9 Summary

Chapter 7 opens next day on a railway platform, as the squad prepares to be "thrown" elsewhere. They leave Gauchin-l'Abbé at night, without farewells and find this new town a labyrinth of platforms, buildings, and military vehicles. It rumbles and vibrates. Guns and ammunition are being loaded. Everything, even horses, is camouflaged. Soldiers flow into the station from all directions and are wedged in to wait. As darkness falls again, lights go on, bringing clarity of detail. Cocon bores his comrades with details about the organization and make-up of the 39 corps present, each consisting of four divisions and having a specialization and unique equipment. A cart crashes into the men, wanting to pass, but there is nowhere for them to move.

In Chapter 8 Eudore narrates how he has spent his six-day leave. His wife, Mariette, lives in the hamlet of Villers-l'Abbaye and...