Soon, however, a group of German artillerymen pass by their farm, and they took away Joey and Topthorn to pull their artillery wagon. The two horses meet Friedrich, who befriends them and tries to care for them as much as he can, growing to love Topthorn and telling them that he didn't want to be a soldier. Joey and Topthorn are two of the last few survivors of the artillery-pulling team. One day, after drinking water with Joey, Topthorn dies from heart failure. The Allied artillery starts shelling right after the Germans and Friedrich is killed. After seeing an Allied tank for the first time, Joey runs in terror and is wounded by barbed wire before breaking free. Both the Allied soldiers and Central Power soldiers see the wounded Joey in no-man's-land, and an Allied soldier wins possession of Joey by flipping a coin with a Central Power soldier and winning. However, their few minutes of friendly peace create a bond between the two before they separate, and both wondered together what could have been if not for the war.