Reality of war = Personification = the bullets are violent which is emphasized in the Onomatopoeic = "Smacking" = violence. Bullets are also man made which tells us that humans were killing each other instead of nature.
"Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest"
Powerless= the soldiers have been dehumanised to be a cog in a machine. Implying a lack of free will as they are just weapons for the higher ups to use and dispose whenever needed.
"yellow hare that rolled like a flare"
Nature is innocent = Huges is suggesting that animals are being wrongly killed as they are in the middle of the conflict. Yellow = could suggest that humans have killed the land as it is no longer green.
"King, honour, human dignity, etcetera. Dropped like luxuries"
Questioning the war = Criticism of war propaganda = they do not feel honoured or respected to fight this pointless war. The noble values mean nothing to them in war as there life is on the line and they do not care. "Etcerera" suggests they are not even worth listing
'cold clockworks'
strong sense of duty = the soldier feels bound to stay as he is just a small part of the clock. Through the image of a clock and the word ' cold' suggests the inhumanity of war and lack of emotions. His sense of duty compounds him to remain part of the clock and charge
