The endless historical battlefield that began with World War I

The first thing Joseph looked for was charcoal.

There were charcoal blocks for cooking in the camp. Joseph moved a small basket, sat on the ground and started smashing them, breaking the large pieces into powder, and then filtering them with a cloth, keeping only the finest part.

O'Connor crouched down and glanced at her sideways for a while.

"What are you doing?"

"Make gas masks."

"Use charcoal?"

"Use charcoal."

O'Connor was silent for a few seconds, then grabbed a piece of charcoal and smashed it on the ground, mimicking the other man's actions. The charcoal shattered into pieces, splattering black ash all over his face. He spat out a mouthful of ash, squinted his eyes, and said, "Fine, I won't ask for a reason. Just tell me what to do."

Joseph began to explain the principle behind gas masks.

Chlorine is a heavy gas, heavier than air, and will sink when released. It kills not by explosion, but by corrosion—once inhaled into the lungs, the moisture in the lungs reacts with the chlorine to produce hydrochloric acid, which burns through the body from the inside out.

"So those who lay prone to avoid the shells died the fastest," he said.

O'Connor threw down the charcoal in his hand, stood up, and thought about his usual prone position in the trenches. His expression changed slightly.

"Can charcoal stop it?"

"Charcoal powder can absorb gases. While not a perfect solution, it can reduce the amount inhaled to a non-lethal level in the absence of a proper gas mask." Joseph looked up. "If you also use a damp cloth for filtration, plus a sealed environment..."

"What should we use to seal it?"

Joseph pointed to a corner of the camp where a batch of spare rubber tarpaulins were piled up to cover supplies; each tarpaulin had a loop of rope with holes punched in it.

"that."

Over the next few hours, Joseph's laboratory opened for business.

Location: A two-square-meter open space behind the trench.

Equipment: a bayonet, several thin ropes, a basket of charcoal powder, three old shirts, some scraps of rubber waterproof cloth, five rolls of cotton gauze from a medical kit, and some glass slides.

Assistants: O'Connor (main contribution: being sarcastic), McDonald (main contribution: having a steady hand), Tom (main contribution: helping to hold down the fabric to prevent it from slipping).

Bystander: Harris, standing three steps away, arms crossed, with that veteran's expression on his face—not entirely believing, but not entirely disbelieving either.

Sample number one was a complete failure.

Joseph folded six layers of cotton gauze, sandwiched charcoal powder in the middle, and sealed the edges with rubber strips. The result looked like a dumpling he had carelessly made while drunk, crooked and loose, and if you covered your face with it, air would leak from the sides.

"It's like you're not wearing one at all," O'Connor commented.

"Okay, redo it."

Sample number two solved the air leakage problem, but it was too thick and heavy, making normal breathing difficult. McDonald tried wearing it for thirty seconds, then took it off and calmly said, "Wearing this, I would suffocate before I was poisoned."

"Understood. Remove one layer and change the fixing method."

Sample No. 3 —

Joseph picked it up and examined it from all angles for a while.

Four layers of cotton yarn, sandwiched with two layers of charcoal powder, with an outer rubber strip cut into an arc shape to fit the contours of the face, secured with a thin rope from the back of the head, leaving the bridge of the nose exposed to prevent pressure.

The goggles were a bit of a struggle—the glass was sourced by MacDonald from a nearby abandoned greenhouse. These greenhouses are common in villages in northern France, used specifically for growing vegetables. They had been abandoned long ago after the war began, but the window frames were still there, and most of the glass was intact.

The problem was that they didn't have the tools to cut it. Joseph thought for a moment, then asked O'Connor to find a piece of cotton rope, soak it in kerosene, wrap it around the area where the glass needed to be cut, light it, and as soon as the fire burned out, immediately press the glass into the muddy water next to it. The glass cracked along the heated line, the cut was rough and the edges were jagged, but the shape was basically correct.

He ground the glass edge twice, wrapped it with rubber strips to hold the edge in place, and then fitted it into the pre-reserved position on the mask.

It's not perfect, but it's usable enough.

"Where did you learn this method?" McDonald asked, still holding the extra piece of glass in his hand, examining it from all angles.

"In the book," Joseph said, "a book from a long time ago."

He placed sample number three on his face and then took a deep breath.

It's a bit stuffy, but I can still breathe.

He walked around the open space, letting his heart beat a little faster, then inhaled and exhaled.

It can still breathe.

He took off the mask and handed it to McDonald.

McDonald put it on, walked around for a while, and nodded.

He handed it to O'Connor. O'Connor put it on and immediately began to gasp for breath, acting as if she was about to die. Then she took it off. "It'll do for now, but if I rush forward wearing this, the Germans will probably run away in fright."

Tom poked his head out from the corner: "Shall I give it a try?"

"Let me finish yours first," Joseph said, already starting to remove the second piece of rubber. "Now help me cut all that gauze to the same size."

Harris stood by and watched as Joseph made each mask one by one, failing several times and starting over several times. Finally, five crooked but basically formed black masks were laid side by side on the ground to dry.

"Does this thing really work?" he asked.

Joseph didn't turn around; he was still working on the sixth one.

"If the chlorine concentration is too high, nothing will work," he said. "But if it's a concentration that's diffused in the wild, charcoal adsorption combined with wet cloth filtration can reduce the inhalation amount to a non-lethal level." He paused for a moment, "probably."

"perhaps?"

"Sergeant, if you want me to give you a 100% guarantee, I'm afraid not." Joseph turned the mask over and continued sewing. "What we know so far is: if you don't wear anything, you'll die if the chlorine concentration reaches the safe level. Wearing this might save you. Two options, which do you choose?"

Harris remained silent for a moment.

"How many do you want to make?"

"Each person in our line has one."

"What about the whole company?"

Joseph paused for a moment.

"We only have enough materials to make this much," he said. "I've gathered all the usable rubber sheets we could find in the camp."

Harris didn't say anything more.

*****************

Training began that evening.

Joseph gathered the students in the class together, lined them up, and placed their own masks in front of each person.

"From now on, this thing is as important as your rifle," he said. "Keep it by your pillow when you sleep, take it with you to the toilet, and put it on within five seconds anytime, anywhere, whenever you hear my command."

"Five seconds?" O'Connor picked up the mask and examined it. "Will this work?"

"Train until you can function properly." Joseph glanced at everyone. "Ready? Put them on—"

O'Connor used one hand to put the mask on her face, but she did it crookedly and had to take it off and start over. It took about twelve seconds.

McDonald put it on in nine seconds, but it wasn't fastened tightly, and air was leaking out from the side.

Tom took seven seconds, then looked down at his reflection in the puddle, looking like a dog covered with a black cloth. He burst out laughing. "I'm telling you," he said, "wearing this, even if we don't get poisoned, the Germans will laugh us to death."

"That's still more dignified than being poisoned." Joseph took off his mask and demonstrated the slow motion again. "Note that you should go up with your right hand first, then pull the rope behind your ear with your left hand, align the bridge of your nose with the center line, and then pull it off—" He looked up, and the mask was already on his face. A muffled sound came through the mask as he mouthed, "Two seconds."

Everyone stared at him for a while.

O'Connor took off hers first and started over. This time, it was ten seconds.

Next time, eight seconds.

Next time, six seconds.

The seventh time, five seconds later.

"Alright," he said, taking off his mask and exhaling heavily, "before you were in the army, weren't you in a circus?"

"Maid," Joseph said, "ten more times."