As he watched him go Captain Feders said: “You have to hand it to him—he's no fool. And that could mean trouble."
“Officers are requested to take their places for the exercise," cried the A.D.C.
The officers didn't wait to be told a second time. They quickly stubbed out their cigarettes, brought their conversations to a close, and went into the dining-room, which had been turned into a classroom for the officer elite. They took their places and eyed the General expectantly.
Major-General Modersohn sat at his table working like a headmaster at his desk, quite undisturbed by the entrance of the officers. He was looking through the documents which the A.D.C. had collected for him, and there was a writing-pad beside him on which he was making notes.
The A.D.C. now made the further announcement that Major Frey, commanding officer of Number 2 Course, would be in charge of the exercise.
This marked down the first victim of the evening. Others would follow later. For a tactical exercise of this sort had a dual purpose: first, to work out in theory some situation that might arise in practice, but secondly to permit special tasks to be allotted to as many of those present as possible. Once this was done the business of fighting a major fire could be worked out step by step. Each participant had to describe both concisely and comprehensively exactly what he would do in the emergency, or alternatively cause to be done, if for instance he had charge of a party detailed to prevent the fire from spreading, or one of the brigades themselves—or simply of a supply store. And thus it would go on throughout the entire night, if Modersohn felt like it.
Captain Feders, that experienced tactics instructor, found his companions waiting on his every word. “The man who'll really catch it is the one who has to play duty officer," he told them.
“Duty officer," read the A.D.C. from the pad on which the General had been making his notes, “Lieutenant Krafft."
Krafft only just managed to suppress an oath. He was an old enough hand to realize that he'd got the most thankless task of the whole exercise. The General had obviously had his eye on him, and the thought worried Krafft.
“May I have a copy of the guard regulations?" he asked.
The General nodded, and the A.D.C. had the guard regulations handed to Lieutenant Krafft. The officers regarded with interest the man who seemed likely to be the scapegoat of the evening—though without sentimentality, for someone had to be the victim and this time it just happened to be this fellow Krafft. One could hardly hope to interrupt a general's dinnertime conversation and get away with it.
The A.D.C. had now finished reading out the list of those participating in the exercise, and no one, it seemed, had been forgotten. Everyone had been allotted a role of one sort or another or at least the supervision of some role. The officers found themselves sweating with anxiety. The traps were set, but who, apart from Krafft, would fall into them?
The A.D.C. announced the opening situation: “A major fire is presumed to have broken out in the region of Number Four Company. Origin unknown. Scale so far unknown. Day: Sunday. Time: zero one thirty-eight hours. The exercise begins."
Captain Feders grinned happily, for he had spotted the pitfalls at once. “Number Four Company," he whispered to his companions,” is almost bang in the middle of the barracks—what a marvelous chance for a fire to spread! What's more we're caught in the sacred silence of a Sunday morning with almost everyone still away on late pass. What possibilities! There'll be some smoke here all right, I can sniff it already."
“If you please, Major Frey," said the A.D.C. at a glance from Major-General Modersohn, " the exercise has begun."
“Alarm!" cried Major Frey in slightly strained tones, and they were away. All Frey had to do now was to find someone to carry the game on. “Number Four Company area is on fire, then. What is Number Four Company going to do?"
“I pass on the alarm," said the officer in charge of the company. “I, in my turn, alarm the duty officer."
All eyes now turned towards Lieutenant Krafft, who leant back in his chair. He was determined not to let himself be stampeded. He wasn't going to be the lamb led to the slaughter by sheer weight of numbers. “Are these guard regulations to be regarded as authoritative?" he asked.
“Of course," said Major Frey at once. “They’re the official regulations."
“Does that mean that I have to obey these regulations?" continued Krafft stubbornly.
“But of course, man!" cried Frey with some sharpness. He felt most indignant. “Regulations are there to be obeyed. Every order has the authority of law, and a written order is the law itself."
Krafft made it clear from his expression that he regarded the Major's pronouncements as the last word in stupidity. The officers sensed a sensational development. With a mixture of hope and alarm they looked from Krafft to Major Frey and from the latter to Major-General Modersohn. The General observed placidly: " The guard regulations are to be regarded as authoritative, Lieutenant Krafft."
“Then, general, this exercise has no foundation in reality at all," said the Lieutenant. To those present it seemed little short of an attempt at suicide. “Because these guard regulations just don't make sense." The heavy silence which now fell across the room seemed to be waiting for a flash of lightning to shatter it. Even the happy grin on Captain Feders's face partially froze. Then Captain Kater gave an indignant snort. The evening had reached another climax.
With remarkable softness the General said: “Would you explain that a little further, please, Lieutenant Krafft?"
Krafft nodded rather wearily. He had shown the courage of a lion so far, but it now threatened to desert him as suddenly as it had come. He began to have a panicky feeling that he had gone too far.
“Well?" asked the General with devastating politeness. “I’m listening."
“General," said Lieutenant Krafft finally,” these guard regulations are not only imprecise in certain respects but on a number of vital points they actually contradict each other. For example the order in which the fire hydrants are to be used is given as numbers one, two, three, and four, but this is senseless, considering the actual position of these hydrants. If the duty officer were to go by these regulations, he'd have to waste an enormous amount of valuable time rushing backwards and forwards all over the place. Because there's only one possible sequence for the effective use of the fire hydrants, which is: four, one, three, two."
“Anything else, Lieutenant Krafft?" asked the General, still very softly. Krafft brought forward four further points to demonstrate the defects of the guard regulations: inadequate alarm system, incorrect inventory of fire extinguishers, wrongly stored explosives, and a shortage of picks, spades and axes in the guardroom equipment. “If the duty officer were in fact to go by these guard regulations the entire barracks would be burned down before there was a chance of getting a single hose into play."
“Let me see, please," said the General.
The guard regulations were handed to Modersohn, who turned over the pages and skimmed through the relevant sections. His face remained a mask, as imperturbable and detached as at dinner. All eyes were turned towards him and the General accepted this as if exposed simply to the rays of the sun.
Then he raised his head, looked at Krafft and asked: “When did the defects in these guard regulations first strike you, Lieutenant Krafft?"
“Three days ago, sir," said Krafft. “When I was duty officer."
“In that case,"