Letters from the Front

[Selection from the collected letters from Hazavágyódó Miklos (family name unknown), discovered during an apartment renovation in 1954. Courtesy of the Magyar-Slovenian National Archive.]

My dearest Anna,

Oh, how I have missed you! The men here have taken to calling me Homesick Miklos in the old fashion, I pine for you so. 'Homesick Miklos,' they say, 'crying after his little wife and son.' There are four of us Miklos in my regiment alone, so we need the extra names. Barrel-Chested Miklos is the man I told you about in my last letter, the man who was whipped for drunkenness in front of everyone. I do not know if he was really drunk, but he is very big and I suspect the Szakaszvezető wished to make an example of him. There are many such examples, but the food is not bad this far south, and they pay us. Even though it is cold, it is not as cold as in Gyula, and we soldiers are warm enough here. I hope that the meager salary you find within can help feed little Janos, he is such a fair little boy.

I tell you about Barrel-Chested Miklos because we have grown to be good friends. It is good to have a man so strong as your friend. He has not caused trouble since his beating, and I have done my best to be an obedient Honvéd. We are the Gyula 4 Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment, and even though they have moved us to southern lands, (as you know, becuase it has been nearly eight months since we could see each other, my dear) we all still call it the Gyula regiment.

Dear, we have marched and marched, and I have seen battle! This, at least, is what Szakaszvezető Scőlz has told us. Battle seems little danger, my love, but it is very exhausting. We have marched eastward many miles along a fine, wide river, and then many more miles south. The Gyula regiment is nearly in the middle of our Empire's army, and the leading units surprised a contingent of Moors that had wandered into the country, and were making their way to the capital, which for some reason they call Zsofia, as though the city were a wife. They fought, I am told, and the Turks ran. No one knows where they ran to.

Barrel-chested Miklos says that our army chased the Turks clear into the channel, however the Szakaszvezető told our small batallion not to be too sure of ourselves, because there are Russians on the waters, and the boats were shooting big guns on teh Turkish army to make them afraid. Szakaszvezető Scőlz says we would be fighting them ourselves and maybe even have retreated if they'd received support from their capital, or if the Turkish fleet had occupied the Russian one. He says we are very lucky, and I think he mistrusts the Russians too. He has made many unsavory comments about foreign generals (even the ones in our glorious empire) and the ability of all commanders everywhere. Barrel-chested Miklos laughs at all of this, and says we were just too mighty for them, that nothing can stop the empire of the dual monarchy.

I do not know if I agree with either, Anna. The purpose of the Army appears to be to threaten and posture. I think I prefer this to actually fighting other men, but I know that fighting has happened too and not far away. I don't know if I could stand to kill another man. Barrel-Chested Miklos talks as if he would like to do this, but I think he is as afraid as I am.

I miss you dearly my love.

--Hazavágyódó Miklos

Builds:
Austria: BUILD Army Budapest
England: BUILD Fleet Edinburgh
England: BUILD Fleet London
France: BUILD Fleet Brest
France: BUILD Army Paris
Germany: BUILD Fleet Kiel
Germany: BUILD Army Munich
Italy: BUILD Fleet Naples
Italy: BUILD Fleet Rome
Russia: BUILD Army Moscow
Russia: BUILD Fleet St Petersburg (north coast)
Turkey: BUILD Army Smyrna

NEW MAP (click)