[Music] in Chapter six of All Quiet on the Western Front the soldiers returned to the frontlines early and on their way they pass a bombed-out schoolhouse with a hundred fresh coffins stacked outside it dawns on the soldiers that the coffins are for them they notice that the British have strengthened their artillery in comparison their German shells have begun falling back into their own trenches because their long-range guns are so worn out morale is at an all-time low on top of this the soldiers notice that the rats in the trenches have multiplied and are eating the soldiers thread when soldiers rations increase they get nervous because it signals bad times ahead days pass without incident but soon they're awakened by heavy fire that lasts all night and into the next day nearly destroying their strength their rations are delayed because of the barrage and they begin to go hungry one of the newer recruits begins to lose his mind he tries to leave the trench Paul and Kat eventually force him to calm down but tensions remain the bombardment ceases and the attack begins the soldiers begin throwing hand grenades and firing machine guns at their attackers the French army Paul and his comrades have become wild beasts and the enemy becomes death not any particular country or army the soldiers finally reach a new trench that's in better condition that night Paul on watch recalls being in a peaceful Cathedral and a grove of poplar trees he played in as a child the memories belong to a peaceful world before the war a kind of peace that's now unattainable because Paul and his comrades have changed so profoundly over the next few days the dead and wounded begin to pile up around Paul and the other soldiers cries of the injured and dying haunt them the smell of the corpses becomes unbearable most of the newly dead or new recruits and so reinforcements are sent in again men with very little training were often killed quick due to their inexperience at one point Paul encounters corporal Hamas das in the trench pretending to be wounded Paul is furious knowing that the younger recruits are above risking their lives while Hamas da scours and safety Paul heaves him out of the trench and Hamas das rejoins the troops as though nothing has happened Paul notes that it was summer when they arrived at the front and now it's autumn only thirty two men remain in their company out of the 150 they arrived with this chapter brings to a head the psychological and physical suffering that comes with trench warfare describing it in brutal detail world war 1 was fought on a different scale and with different tactics than previous wars the goal is not to defeat an opposing army but to wear them down with endless bombardment until they were forced to retreat Paul likens the front to a cage in which we must await fearfully whatever may happen death and destruction had become absurdly inevitable you