Final answer:
Soldiers' response to the dropping shells around them as they moved through the lines can be described as a conditioned reflex infused with grim resignation. They endure ongoing threats with a sense that survival is more a matter of luck than skill or bravery, leading to a numbed or disassociated reaction to constant bombardment and violence in trench warfare.
Step-by-step explanation:
The soldiers are responding to the Five-Nine artillery shells with a mix of resignation and conditioned reflex. They are not running in terror, nor are they simply hiding; rather, they are enduring the consistent threat of death with a grim acceptance of their circumstances. According to the provided excerpts from various sources, including poems and descriptions of trench warfare, the soldiers face constant bombardment and threats from both conventional and chemical weapons with a sense of inevitability. Trench warfare in the First World War is characterized by a persistent state of anguish, where shell shock, terror, and bravery became elements of daily existence for the combatants.
The soldiers' responses are largely defined by the impersonal nature of mechanized warfare; bravery and skill are often useless against the random chaos of warfare exemplified by artillery barrages. Those ordered "over the top" could only hope for survival rather than any heroic victory, ⟨with sheer luck often playing a major role in who lived and who died. This form of warfare left soldiers in a state where they no longer responded with fear as an individual might, but rather acted almost reflexively to the horrors around them, many times feeling numb or disassociated from the violence due to the overwhelming scale and constancy of the threat.