To save face and "inspire discipline," Mireau demanded that 100 men be executed for cowardice. After a heated argument with Dax, the number was reduced to three—one from each company. The Farce of Justice
The night before the execution, the mood in the camp was haunting. The three men faced their end in a barn, grappling with fear and the absurdity of being killed by their own side. Orizzonti_di_gloria_1957_HD_-_Altadefinizione01
Shortly after, Dax found his surviving men in a local tavern, rowdy and whistling at a captured German girl forced to sing for them. As she began a simple, mournful folk song, the room fell silent. The soldiers, reminded of their own humanity and the wives and mothers they might never see again, began to hum along, tears streaming down their dirt-caked faces. To save face and "inspire discipline," Mireau demanded