[JenBurdoo] The Line of Fire

[JenBurdoo]

An officer finds his soldiers eating an unexpected meal, and realizes the enemy is about to attack. Explain.

[Mimino]

Were the soldiers not expected to eat at all? not at this time of the day? not this kind of food?
Was the meal: meat? fruits? vegetables? cereals? bread? cake? fish? seafood? mushrooms?
Was the soldiers' meal the cause of the enemy preparing to attack? (i.e. the enemy noticed they were eating and concluded that this would be a good time to attack)
Or was the meal the effect of the enemy's preparations? (i.e. the enemy's preparations made some food available for the soldiers they would not have otherwise)
Was the officer correct in his expectations that the enemy soon would attack?

[trebor]

Was the meal unexpected for the officer? The soldiers?

Relevant what conflict this is? Is it a real conflict? A simulation? Is it relevant where they are eating (mess hall, trench, etc.)? Are they on land?

Was there some sort of warning that was observable because they were eating? If so, was it visible? (Like the water rippling in the glass in Jurassic Park?)

[JenBurdoo]

Were the soldiers not expected to eat at all? not at this time of the day? not this kind of food? There was nothing unusual about the meal or its timing.
Was the meal: meat? This. fruits? vegetables? cereals? bread? cake? fish? seafood? mushrooms?
Was the soldiers' meal the cause of the enemy preparing to attack? (i.e. the enemy noticed they were eating and concluded that this would be a good time to attack) No.
Or was the meal the effect of the enemy's preparations? (i.e. the enemy's preparations made some food available for the soldiers they would not have otherwise) Yes.
Was the officer correct in his expectations that the enemy soon would attack? Yes.

Was the meal unexpected for the officer? The soldiers? No to both.

Relevant what conflict this is? Mildly; assume WWII. Is it a real conflict? Yes. A simulation? Is it relevant where they are eating (mess hall, trench, etc.)? Assume a trench. Are they on land? Yes.

Was there some sort of warning that was observable because they were eating? If so, was it visible? (Like the water rippling in the glass in Jurassic Park?) No.

[trebor]

Was what they were eating unexpected? Drinking? Would the soldiers consider the meal better than normal? Worse? Relevant what meat it was? Relevant whether it had been recently killed?

[JenBurdoo]

Was what they were eating unexpected? This. Drinking? Would the soldiers consider the meal better than normal? Depends on what else they'd been eating lately. Worse? Relevant what meat it was? Mildly. Relevant whether it had been recently killed? Yes, and it was.

[trebor]

Was it horse? Another pack animal? Dog? Pig? Chicken? Beef? Deer? Moose? Human? Seafood? Fish? Duck? Insects? Beyond Meat? (Kidding.)

Did it show that the enemy were nearby? Was it an animal that belonged to the enemy when it was alive? Had the soldiers killed it? Had someone in their camp? Had the animal escaped from the enemy?

[JenBurdoo]

Was it horse? Another pack animal? A camel, but any pack animal would suffice. Dog? Pig? Chicken? Beef? Deer? Moose? Human? Seafood? Fish? Duck? Insects? Beyond Meat? (Kidding.)

Did it show that the enemy were nearby? No. Was it an animal that belonged to the enemy when it was alive? Irr. Had the soldiers killed it? Yes. Had someone in their camp? Had the animal escaped from the enemy? No.

[trebor]

Did they think they were eating another meat, but it turned out it was just camelflage? Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

There was nothing unusual about the meal, but it was unexpected that they’d eat camel? Does that mean it was usual for them to eat camel? Is it this one in particular that’s somehow special? Had anything been strapped/attached/placed on the camel? Inside the camel? Are religious beliefs relevant? Did the camel show signs of [x], where x is the result of some military activity?

[JenBurdoo]

Ha ha.

There was nothing unusual about the meal, but it was unexpected that they’d eat camel? Does that mean it was usual for them to eat camel? Is it this one in particular that’s somehow special? Had anything been strapped/attached/placed on the camel? Inside the camel? Are religious beliefs relevant? Did the camel show signs of [x], where x is the result of some military activity? No to all.

[GalFisk]

Did the soldiers eating the meal also understand that the enemy was about to attack? Did the camel belong to the enemy? Was it a wild camel? Relevant how it was killed? Was the animal present because of enemy preparations? Were they able to kill it because of enemy preparations?

[Sundowner]

Were there normally no camels in the reach of the soldiers? did the enemy's activities stir up the pack? did the camel(s) react to something? if so: noise? vibration? people? tanks? aircrafts?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the soldiers eating the meal also understand that the enemy was about to attack? No, but they should have. Did the camel belong to the enemy? Irr. Was it a wild camel? No. Relevant how it was killed? Assume the soldiers shot it. Was the animal present because of enemy preparations? Yes. Were they able to kill it because of enemy preparations? No.

Were there normally no camels in the reach of the soldiers? Irr. did the enemy's activities stir up the pack? No. did the camel(s) react to something? No. if so: noise? vibration? people? tanks? aircrafts?

[Sundowner]

Did the soldiers get the camel from its owner? did they pay for it?
Were other people (besides the soldiers of two different armies) involved in this story?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the soldiers get the camel from its owner? No. did they pay for it? No.
Were other people (besides the soldiers of two different armies) involved in this story? No.

[Sundowner]

Did the soldiers set out hunting? and returned with a camel? or did they simply come across the camel in the vicinity of their trench? (did the camel fall in the trench?)
Had there always been camels in the vicinity? or did they show up only very recently? were they abandoned by their owner?
Did the availability of a camel for food indicate that the enemy is taking particular preparations for an attack? like: building roads? building a landing strip? moving trucks? people? horses? air traffic?
Type of attack relevant? tanks? artillery? cavalry? airborne?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the soldiers set out hunting? and returned with a camel? or did they simply come across the camel in the vicinity of their trench? This. (did the camel fall in the trench?) No.
Had there always been camels in the vicinity? or did they show up only very recently? This. were they abandoned by their owner? Assume yes.
Did the availability of a camel for food indicate that the enemy is taking particular preparations for an attack? Yes. like: building roads? For a sufficiently vague value of "road." building a landing strip? moving trucks? This. people? And this. horses? air traffic? None of the others.
Type of attack relevant? Assume infantry... tanks? ... and tanks. artillery? cavalry? airborne?

[Sundowner]

Did the owners of the camels (i.e. the local people) flee this place? because of the impending enemy attack? did they know of the attack? were they warned? by the enemy? were they evacuated?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the owners of the camels (i.e. the local people) flee this place? because of the impending enemy attack? did they know of the attack? were they warned? by the enemy? were they evacuated? All irrelevant.

[GalFisk]

So we can assume a civilian owned the camel and abandoned it, correct? Willingly? Out of fear? Patriotism? Being forced to? Not needing it anymore? Not being able to bring it with him/her? Because it could not be transported? Could not walk/run fast enough? Did the enemy relevantly interact with the camel owner?

[JenBurdoo]

So we can assume a civilian owned the camel and abandoned it, correct? Yes. Willingly? Out of fear? Patriotism? Being forced to? Not needing it anymore? Not being able to bring it with him/her? Because it could not be transported? Could not walk/run fast enough? Did the enemy relevantly interact with the camel owner? No. All else irrelevant.

[GalFisk]

Was it the abandonment of the camel by the civilian that led to it being where it was? Was it something that happened later? Relevant where it was abandoned? Was it in a building? A fenced-in area? Did the enemy break a fence? Remove barbed wire? Remove or change some other barrier?

[JenBurdoo]

Was it the abandonment of the camel by the civilian that led to it being where it was? Was it something that happened later? Relevant where it was abandoned? No to all. Was it in a building? A fenced-in area? Did the enemy break a fence? Irr to all. Remove barbed wire? Irr. Remove or change some other barrier? Yes.

[trebor]

Did the enemy remove a barrier that had been keeping the camel in place? Did they remove something that had been attached to the camel?

Is more than one camel relevant?

Did the officer know that there were camels in the area? And then realising that they had moved/were able to be hunted was what alerted him to the danger?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the enemy remove a barrier that had been keeping the camel in place? Did they remove something that had been attached to the camel? No to both.

Is more than one camel relevant? No.

Did the officer know that there were camels in the area? Irr. And then realising that they had moved/were able to be hunted was what alerted him to the danger? Yes.

[Sundowner]

Did the enemy remove or alter something that was a natural barrier for the camels? like: a hill? a dune? a river? a lake? Did the camel go the "road of svv of a road"?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the enemy remove or alter something that was a natural barrier for the camels? No. like: a hill? a dune? a river? a lake? None of these. Did the camel go the "road of svv of a road"? Yes.

[Sundowner]

Was the "road" intended to be used during the attack? or rather, to bring in material?
Did this happen in a desert? in a forest? in a swamp? in grassland?
Were the enemy's activities invisible for the soldiers?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the "road" intended to be used during the attack? This. or rather, to bring in material?
Did this happen in a desert? This. in a forest? in a swamp? in grassland?
Were the enemy's activities invisible for the soldiers? Yes, although....

[Sundowner]

Was the "road" built on sand? on rocks? on salt? Did the enemy use machinery to build the road? make relevant noise? did they add something to the natural ground?
Did they build the road during night?
Was there a relevant reason why the camel would not have made it to the soldiers without this road? Were there mountains? dunes?
Or did the camel simply have no reason to run away until the enemy started its activities?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the "road" built on sand? Assume this. on rocks? on salt? Did the enemy use machinery to build the road? No. make relevant noise? No. did they add something to the natural ground? No.
Did they build the road during night? Yes.
Was there a relevant reason why the camel would not have made it to the soldiers without this road? Yes. Were there mountains? dunes? No to both.
Or did the camel simply have no reason to run away until the enemy started its activities? Incorrect, possible FA.

[Sundowner]

Would the road qualify as what is called today a dirt road? Was the road built by simply compacting the sand? As they did not use any machinery, was the compacting done by men tamping down the sand? maybe with the help of tamping rollers? (tamping rollers drawn by camels?)
Did the camel have a role in building the road? was it released after the road was built?

[JenBurdoo]

Would the road qualify as what is called today a dirt road? In one sense yes, in others no. Was the road built by simply compacting the sand? No. As they did not use any machinery, was the compacting done by men tamping down the sand? No. maybe with the help of tamping rollers? No. (tamping rollers drawn by camels?)
Did the camel have a role in building the road? No. was it released after the road was built? Yes.

[JenBurdoo]

SPOILER:




This occurred in the North African desert along a stretch of Italian trench.

The area in front of the trench was filled with land mines, to prevent a British attack.

When the Italian officer discovered that a camel had wandered through the mined area to be caught and eaten by his men, without being blown up, he realized that the British had secretly defused enough mines to pass an army through, then released the camel. If it wasn't killed by the mines and reached Italian lines, the path was clear enough for soldiers. A British attack was imminent.

This puzzle was drawn from the Italian film El Alamein: The Line of Fire.

[irishelk]

Nice one!