“They are big through the chest by measurement, and healthy. But they are still fools.”
“The granatieri are tall,” Manera said. This was a joke. They all laughed.
“Were you there, Tenente, when they wouldn’t attack and they shot every tenth man?”
“No.”
“It is true. They lined them up afterward and took every tenth man. Carabinieri shot them.”
“Carabinieri,” said Passini and spat on the floor. “But those grenadiers; all over six feet. They wouldn’t attack.”
“If everybody would not attack the war would be over,” Manera said.
“It wasn’t that way with the granatieri. They were afraid. The officers all came from such good families.”
“Some of the officers went alone.”
“A sergeant shot two officers who would not get out.”