‘Gunfire!’Zikov almost shouted

‘Gunfire!’Zikov almost shouted and tears filled his clafish eyes. Gregor lifted his head. In front of him the troop sergeant’s grey greatcoat rose and fell in unison with the horse’s back; on each side stretched fields of uncut corn; a skylark danced in the sky at the height of a telegraph pole. The entire company was aroused. The sound of the firing ran through it like an electric current. Lashed into activity, lieutinant Polkovnikov put the company into a fast trot. Beyond a crossroad, where a deserted tavern stood, they began to fall in with the carts of refugees. A squadron of smart looking dragoons went by. Their captain , riding a sorrel thoroughbred, stared at the Cossacks ironically and spurred up his horse. They passed a great, pockmarked artilleryman carrying an armful of boards probably torn from the fence of the tavern, and came upon a howitzer battery stranded in a muddy and swampy hollow. The riders were lashing at their horses, whilst the gunners struggled with the carriage wheels.
A little farther on they overtook an infantry regiment. The soldiers were marching swiftly, their overcoats flung back. The sun glittered on their polished helmets and streamed from their bayonets. A corporal in the last company threw a lump of mud at Gregor:
‘Here, catch! Chuck it at the Austrians!’
‘Don’t play about grasshopper!’ Gregor replied, and cut the lump pf mud in its flight with his whip.
From now on they were continually passing foot regiments crawling like caterpillars, batteries, baggage wagons, red cross wagons. The deathly breath of imminent battle was in the air.
A little later, as it was entering a village, the fourth company was overtaken by the commander of the regiment, colonel Kaledin, accompanied by his second in command. As they passed Gregor heard the latter say agitatedly to Kaledin:
‘This village isn’t marked on the ordnance map, Vasily ! We may find ourselves in an awkward situation.’
From the book ‘And quiet Flows the Don’ by Mikhail Sholokhov, translated by Stephen Garry