Stanislaus Katczinsky:[commenting on the German advance] Paul, if we keep up this pace, we won't have conquered France for 180 years. I worked it out.[laughs]
Paul Bäumer: Don't let them catch you, Kat.
[French cannons bombard the German trenches]
Tjaden Stackfleet: Creeping barrage.
Paul Bäumer: What?
Tjaden Stackfleet: Every couple of minutes, the artillery barrage makes an advance forward. And directly after that, the infantry moves forward.
Albert Kropp: What does that mean exactly?
Stanislaus Katczinsky: That they are coming!
[On Marshal of France Foch's private train, Matthias Erzberger is attempting to secure an armistice; Erzberger and Foch speak in German and French respectively, so two junior officers translate to Erzberger and Foch]
Matthias Erzberger: I stand before you, in the hope that you will take our presence here today as an opportunity to take action to suspend all hostilities. In the name of humanity, I am asking you for an agreement to an immediate cease-fire for the entire duration of our negotiating time to in order to spare our nation's unnecessary depletion. Matthias Erzberger, head of the German delegation.
[Marshal Foch stares coldly at the German delegation in silence, then addresses General Maxime Weygand]
MarshalFerdinand Foch:Weygand, que veulent ces monsieur? (Weygand, what do these men want?)
General Maxime Weygand:Je ne sais pas. (I don't know.)
German Translator: Marshal Foch asks what brings you gentlemen to him.
Mattias Erzberger: We are here looking forward to your proposal for an enduring cease-fire that will include all those on the water, on land, as well as those in the sky.
MarshalFerdinand Foch:N'ai aucune monsieur proposition de ce genre à faire. (I have no proposal of this kind to make.)
German Translator:Ich habe ihn keine vorschläge zu machen. (I have no proposal to make to him.)
Mattias Erzberger: What does he mean by that?
German Translator: I think he disliked the phrasing of what you said.
Mattias Erzberger: Yes. Good. Then...
German Translator:Monsieur le Maréchal, si vous permittez, on aimerais connaître les conditions- (Marshal, if you please, we would like to know the conditions-
Marshal Ferdinand Foch:[angrily cuts him off]Ne pas condition! Si vous voulez un armistice, déclarez! (No conditions! If you want an armistice, declare it!)
Major General Winterfeldt: He wants you to ask him formally.
Matthias Erzberger:Monsieur le Maréchal, I am asking you for an armistice.
Marshal Ferdinand Foch:[after handing the document of armistice to Matthias] You have 72 hours to accept our conditions. They are non-negotiable.
Matthias Erzberger: Seventy-two hours?
Marshal Ferdinand Foch: The war will continue until you sign them.
Matthias Erzberger:Monsieur le Maréchal, in God's name, don't let 72 hours pass us by here. Thousands of lives depend on it.
Marshal Ferdinand Foch:[Stands up, holding a pen out to Matthias]Alors signe! (Sign then!)
