Le Four: Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

By Zoltan L. Bartwood

Inspiration - foreword.

The book is inspired by a true story, and of course it has elements and characters taken from history, but it is also an adventure novel based on elements of history, with many characters added to real historical characters... And if you think you can find similarities - it is just a coincidence.

Original quote:

"Judging from the Roman occupation of Hungary, our little Latin allies have the refined marauding appetite of a predatory fish from the Mississippi River, the chivalrous instincts of a young cuckoo bird, and the same longing for justice as a sea-sick man has for pork and beans."

H. H. Bandholtz, President-in-Office

5 October 1919.

In memory of Brigadier General Harry Hill Bandholtz, later Major General, who was forever remembered by the Hungarian people for his heroic deeds.

  His full-length statue and commemorative plaque to the ongoing attacks by the Soviet Union and Romania can still be found today in front of the United States Embassy in Budapest.

Recommendation:

I would like to recommend this novel to Harry Hill Bandholtz - whom I respect very much, and I would also like to recommend the novel to all my fellow Hungarians who have a little bit of a desire for revenge, dissatisfaction and curiosity - and of course dissatisfaction with the final 1920 - June 4 decision...and if given the opportunity - would I want to change it?  Well, in my opinion - you my friends will have a great experience to follow the protagonists through a couple of centuries, from 1867 to 2044. I wish you a lot of fun.

Original quotes:

"Don't waste the opportunity that a good crisis gives you."

Winston Churchill

"War is treachery and hatred, the confusion of helpless generals, torture and murder, sickness and fatigue, until at last it all passes away, and nothing changes except that new suffering and new hatred come."

John Steinbeck

"It is a strange thing to come home. Everything looks the same. It smells the same. You feel the same. You realize the only thing that's changed is you."

The strange life of Benjamin Button

"Where we love is home - the home that our feet may leave, but our hearts never will."

Oliver Wendel Holmes

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zoltan L. Bartwood
• Release date: Feb 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9798215914731

Book preview

A képen térkép látható Automatikusan generált leírás

Zoltán L. Bartwood

Table of Contents

Title Page

Le Four: Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

ISBN 978-615-01-4283-8 | National Széchényi Library | ISBN Office

–The reconciliation–

–Szabó Szaniszló–

–Biscu Sebastian–

–29-30 July 1919–

–Invasion of Budapest–

–Henry James Bart Holzer von Bartholz–

–The mission–

–The ultimatum–

–Attack at the Museum–

–Budapest - or the great power game–

–Biscu Sebastian and Szabó Szaniszló enter the scene–

–The story of Biscu and Szabo–

–The shot–

–Previous day - National Museum–

–The knife fight–

–Le Four–

-The journey-

Le Four

Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

A képen szöveg látható Automatikusan generált leírás

Zoltan L. Bartwood

Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

Le Four

Zoltan L. Bartwood

Le Four

Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

Based on the original script by Zoltán László Bártfai

and adapted into a novel by the author himself

Zoltán László Bártfai

Registered as a volunteer: 27.04.2020

Le Four

Transylvanian Taxi Driver Part One

––––––––

2020 Zoltán László Bártfai

Published By Zoltán László Bártfai

Printed in Hungary 2022

ISBN 978-615-01-4283-8

National Széchényi Library

ISBN Office

Photograph of the author by Szidónia Adrienn Nagy. The photo was taken in Upper Austria.

Edited by László Zoltán Bártfai

The cover was drawn in front of the National Museum on the site by Zoltán László Bártfai

Literary and grammatical proofreading by Szidónia Adri-enn Nagy and Laura Serlegi.

Regény & Novella Factory

Responsible publisher: Bártfai Zoltán László se.

Inspiration - foreword.

The book is inspired by a true story, and of course it has elements and characters taken from history, but it is also an adventure novel based on elements of history, with many characters added to real historical characters... And if you think you can find similarities - it is just a coincidence.

Original quote:

––––––––

Judging from the Roman occupation of Hungary, our little Latin allies have the refined marauding appetite of a predatory fish from the Mississippi River, the chivalrous instincts of a young cuckoo bird, and the same longing for justice as a sea-sick man has for pork and beans.

H. H. Bandholtz, President-in-Office

5 October 1919.

In memory of Brigadier General Harry Hill Bandholtz, later Major General, who was forever remembered by the Hungarian people for his heroic deeds.

His full-length statue and commemorative plaque to the ongoing attacks by the Soviet Union and Romania can still be found today in front of the United States Embassy in Budapest.

Recommendation:

I would like to recommend this novel to Harry Hill Bandholtz - whom I respect very much, and I would also like to recommend the novel to all my fellow Hungarians who have a little bit of a desire for revenge, dissatisfaction and curiosity - and of course dissatisfaction with the final 1920 - June 4 decision...and if given the opportunity - would I want to change it?  Well, in my opinion - you my friends will have a great experience to follow the protagonists through a couple of centuries, from 1867 to 2044. I wish you a lot of fun.

––––––––

Original quotes:

Don't waste the opportunity that a good crisis gives you.

Winston Churchill

War is treachery and hatred, the confusion of helpless generals, torture and murder, sickness and fatigue, until at last it all passes away, and nothing changes except that new suffering and new hatred come.

John Steinbeck

It is a strange thing to come home. Everything looks the same. It smells the same. You feel the same. You realize the only thing that's changed is you.

The strange life of Benjamin Button

Where we love is home - the home that our feet may leave, but our hearts never will.

Oliver Wendel Holmes

–The reconciliation–

1867 - 30 March

The House of Representatives adopts the 69-point Ha resolution

Coronation Ceremony - 8 June 1867

Matthias Church - Buda Castle District

xxx

We are in the midst of the coronation celebrations in the Buda Castle district - on Trinity Square in front of Matthias Temple... the House of Habsburg and the Hungarian Kingdom are celebrating the much anticipated coronation that has been planned for so long. The first milestone of this - the coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Hungary - is now in the offing. External and internal pressures have created a new and powerful empire where the sun never sets. And his name will be feared by the whole known world, and as a result he will, sadly, live a short life in all likelihood.

This country is called...

––––––––

Austria - Hungary

E:\Munka\Forgatókönyvek, Regémyek, Novellák\Az Erdélyi taxis II. Le patrimoine regény\flag_of_austria-hungary_1869-1918.svg__0.png

DAS IST UNSERE HEIMAT - THAT'S OUR HEIMAT

LONG LIVE THE KING AND QUEEN

shout soldiers in both Hungarian and German - as military marches fill the square. Thousands of demonstrators and dignitaries celebrate the birth of the new empire, the new King and Queen of Hungary - Franz Joseph and his wife Queen Elisabeth... the Hungarian people's favourite royal dignitary, Sisi. The unbridled celebration of the crowd of soldiers and civilians captivates everyone present at this huge coronation ceremony.

Here and now, there is only one man who, even in defiance of death, is willing to lay down his life and express his opposition to the cause...

A soldier in Romanian dress uniform makes his way to the podium among the celebrating crowd of high-ranking officers. But so far, no one in the crowd has noticed.

His physique shows the typical features of a Romanian man... brown hair, brown eyes, height of about 180 cm - a man with a gypsy look... a handsome man. He is very determined and confident in his way around people, sometimes even not afraid to push people aside. So far, he hasn't made much of an impression on the celebrating crowd, and moves forward as if he knows the consequences of his actions.

Meanwhile, the Austrian and Hungarian officers on the platform are making speeches to the already cheering crowd. High-ranking officers and soldiers stand on the platform and make speeches... one after the other.

Without warning, the Romanian soldier draws his sword... and must know that this run will end in death. Sword against the Schoenauers. His hatred is hungry and must be fed.

- Away, you Hungarian dogs and you filthy Habsburg pigs!

He shouts in rapid succession in Hungarian and German. And with all his might he bursts out of the crowd, pushing everyone aside. One Austrian officer takes notice... who is almost certainly trained against such plans - his eyes picking out any suspicious movement.

Achtung Wachungsdienst

Shouts the Austrian officer. The guards near the platform hear the order and take notice of the Romanian soldier. They immediately aim their weapons at the threatening person... while 5 dozen or so soldiers surround the platform in 3 rows, protecting the dignitaries.

Bereit - Feier

- Target... fire!

Shouts the senior Austrian officer, and thrusts his sword into the air. The guns are fired almost simultaneously. Five powerful shots ring the leg, but it's actually 25 bullets, because the trained soldiers empty the magazine of the Mannlicher Schönauer (Rug Zug) containing 5 bullets into the Romanian soldier at the same time - executed with pure precision, no doubt about it. The precision and consistency is menacing to any resistance... the smell and smoke of gunpowder wafts through the air.

Several shots pass through the soldier - Bullets hit him in the ribs - the bullets take pieces of flesh from the victim as they leave the body.  It is clearly visible for all to see as the bullets tear the Romanian soldier's body apart, leaving huge exit holes behind.

- Reload your weapon... shoulder arms! Back to your positions!

Says the Austrian officer in a mechanical voice. The soldiers immediately follow the order, their faces betraying no emotion... no regret, no smile of satisfaction at the execution... they are doing their job as machines, but that is what they were trained to do. In a few moments they return to their positions.

The only way to tell that something's happened is that the music and the people stop screaming. Almost all eyes are on the Romanian soldier... yet, people don't realise what they are seeing. But I will tell you that if you don't mind...

The Romanian soldier pauses - the blood keeps flowing from his mouth - he drops the sword - he holds his stomach and his twisted intestines with his hands... he raises his hands... the blood is all dark: this liver - torn by a bullet, not to mention the intestines - blood is running everywhere... The soldier stands on his feet, then drops to his knees...

- In the end there's nothing left... and there's nothing you can do, hiding behind the Habsburg house...

A gurgle escapes the Romanian soldier's mouth as he speaks, accompanied by a spurt of blood, and then he continues...

- Both countries will perish... it is written - The gods have written - you Hungarians will perish forever, your lands, your women, not a single messenger will be left for your bastard people. Not only Transylvania, but all of you will be the property of the Roman crown.

The Roman soldier shouts thunderously as blood spurts from his mouth, and after his demonstration, which is drowned in a great thundering roar, he falls into his own twisted intestines and bloody mouth.

An Austrian officer walks up to the Romanian soldier... rummages in his pockets... pulls out an ID card... a soldier's book - reads...

- Captain Biscu Sebastian... born 1844. 05.05.05 Bucharest.

Says the Austrian officer loudly. After all this, he leaves the body and walks towards the platform with a blank expression on his face. The music starts again as if nothing had happened, as nothing can disturb this ceremony.

The celebrating crowd is quickly made aware of the identity of the person... while the corpsmen scoop up his corpse. They try to lift him by his arms and legs... but the body splits in two - right at the waist, his internal organs burst, and his spinal column is exposed... the smell of blood and guts suddenly engulfs his immediate surroundings.

A few nearby revelers faint, a few vomit at the sight. Many of the stronger women put handkerchiefs to their noses and turn away.

A couple of the drunken celebrating soldiers start laughing - like an animal, as the orderlies regularly roll the two members onto the stretcher... legs and torso overhead... quickly running off with it.

A few moments and the rivalry of conversation and celebration continues with a little impromptu re-enactment...

- You dirty Hungarian dogs... you will have nothing left... everything will be ours!

A drunken Hungarian soldier re-enacts the events of that day, even falling to his knees while his Austrian colleague splashes him with red wine - thus completing the show...

- empire will finally fall to nature!

The Austrian and Hungarian soldiers add with laughter, and then pour red wine on each other.

Biscu is quickly removed from the scene, as if he were a piece of rock that didn't belong there. The swirling crowd is now focused on the ceremony.

xxx

But let's skip to the next exciting and very sad events, who's sad and who's exciting is subjective... let's continue in 1916 in the middle of the great war...

–Szabó Szaniszló–

August 1916

xxx

We are in Austria: Somewhere between Wiener Neustadt and Eisenstadt on the Hungarian-Austrian border, a country called Austria-Hungary since 1867, as I mentioned, but now the tables are turning, and more countries are now laying claims to the Carpathian Basin, which we can justifiably call the borders of King St Stephen, or the duchies - if we exclude the small piece of land where Croatia is now situated, or as it was called at the time - the Archdiocese of Spalatov.

The question is, will King Stephen's borders remain intact even if Austria-Hungary ends up on the side of the victors after the Great War? Of course the answer is more often than not, but why? We find out from the novel.

If you ask for the exact coordinate of the...: N 47.774654 E 16.326861. And there's a nice-looking castle here, this is the Rose Garden Castle according to the map.  And the huge perpetually snow-capped peak is Schneeberg about 25 km to the west as the crow flies, the Rax Alps a little to the left behind it, and to the left of that is the Semmering Mountains, where the first high mountain railway was built by Europeans, and it's a legend, and it's true that the railway was finished long before the train was ready to make the journey, but they knew that train would come one day. Anyway, it's beautiful, a place worth fighting for for sure.

I'm going to hide in the trees and start my stonewalling.

xxx

A training camp is unfolding, part of this vast green field, the whole area filled with the smell typical of Austrian agriculture: typically the smell of cow dung carried by the wind all over the place.

The boundary of this agricultural area is lined with red and white posts with a wire fence, which is itself a training base for the Austrian army. Beyond the fence, groups of men and soldiers are training with guns, sabres and knives.

A little further on, a two-storey mansard-roofed castle in classic neoclassical style, typically yellow, with a red and white flag, the flag of the country, and of course, next to it, the slightly smaller Hungarian flag and the flag of the united monarchy.

On the roof structure of the building a huge sign informs everyone: that this is the AOK.... and under it - Armeeoberkommando Niederösterreich.

I see and hear a pair.  Two men are dagger-fighting each other, Szabó Szaniszló and a young man of about 20, clumsy blond white skin half a head shorter, definitely Austrian, and yes, his accent makes him absolutely certain. 

The truth is, I've spent a lot of time studying human behaviour, that's my main job - I've had enough time to judge all-work thought by human what-ifs and behaviour. So I became a living lie detector, or rather a mind reader, and believe me, it's not some hocus-pocus, but on the contrary, an easy science to master.

That is why I ask the dear reader and listener to accept the simple fact that I am an omniscient narrator in this story... of course, I will not influence you... I will let you make up your own minds. Is that all right with you? Then I'll begin...

xxx

The aforementioned trainer and the knife-fighting duo are having a wild fight...

- Come on, Jürgen, you're not getting off that easy!

Says Ensign Szabo.

- Don't say that, sir, I'll get him anyway.

- Your hands, not your mouth.

The aforementioned Juergen goes on the offensive and stabs Szabo. It looks scary to me, the way the aggressive, stocky, muscular man lunges at Ensign Szabo. Of course, I'm just an intelligence officer, not an enforcer, I'm not well versed in martial arts... nevertheless, I can't really fear Ensign Szabo...! I don't think anyone would be afraid of such a creature. It's true that Jürgen - a grey-backed gorilla with the intimidating appearance of a terrifyingly aggressive fighting machine - Szabó, on the contrary: a young man of almost two meters - around 25 years old - is a combination of an old Roman gladiator and a modern Olympian. What does all this mean...?

... Ensign Szabo easily parries the sucker punch and swings Jürgen's body away, pushes him off, Jürgen has difficulty regaining his balance, but then finally succeeds, turns and starts towards Ensign Szabo, taking the knife from his left hand into his right - Szabo also takes the dagger into his right hand and steps aside as Jürgen tries to land a left straight, then a slashing move from Jürgen, aiming for Ensign Szabo's jugular, and this is no longer a joke - Ensign Szabo ducks, steps behind Jürgen and pulls the aggressive little goon to the ground, knees Jürgen's hand holding the knife, then presses the knife to his throat. 

A bitter smile appears on Jürgen's face, the face of a man who has just emerged from humiliation, and of course I must add that Jürgen finds it hard to accept the victory of a Hungarian from Transylvania... because Szabo is from Transylvania: It is a known fact from history that the Austrians have always felt superior, but knowledge is knowledge, and they can boast Einstein, who was of German origin but later became an Austrian citizen.

But Mozart is undeniably theirs, just like the defeated Corporal Jürgen, and Ensign Szabo makes this known with a nice little smile. He makes the defeated man feel that he has no chance against him in a real fight, I would put the fight at about 6 to 8 seconds in time-in-interval, of course only if Flag-Lance-Colonel Szabo doesn't attack immediately... because if he does, well, I wouldn't give the fight more than 1 to 2 seconds.

xxx

- Jürgen I already told you not to change hands when you attack, you can see that you are about to punch and want to hash on the neck.  Me, I roll you over, I take you down, and you're dead, you're dead.

- Sure, sir, as long as it's a simulation - but I'd take him on the battlefield.

Says Jürgen, with a little groan, and stares at the knife, with a thug's eye, that's around his neck. Ensign Szabo smiles at Jürgen's comment, then adds...

- Shall we try again Corporal?

- No sir, I've had enough for now, I'm