I need to know what does this quote mean

Can u help me explain what does this quote mean please

"Much that we would think funny in the days to come would scarcely have caused the shadow of a smile at home in Vilna but we needed to laugh as much as we needed bread."

I think it means that they have laughed as much as they needed bread.

Greetings!

What the quotation is saying is that the people ("we") have endured some very difficult times, and they now needed to experience joy. They therefore found humor even in small things that they might not have considered funny back when times were good, because laughter can feed the soul the way bread feeds the body.

I hope this helps!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com

Convoluted sentences and its meaning!

A thoughtful-looking fair man in military dress, his eyes bore the telltale traces of laugh lines at the corners.

"Well, it was a hell of an embarrassing mistake," Simon said. He glanced back at the club, where a thin line still snaked out the door and halfway down the block. "I doubt they'll ever let us back into Pandemonium."

the driver laying into his horn as if he needed to get their attention.

the gray ponds edged with lacelike films of white ice.

The battle between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, rebels opposed to his rule and Islamic State has also driven more than 11 million people from their homes.

I am not sure whether it is the battle between the forces which are loyal to the president or it is the conflict between the people who obey and not obey the president!

Monitors say IS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, who have fought each other in other parts of Syria, were working together in Yarmouk.

Working together? does it mean they are fighting against each other once more?

Please kindly explain those sentences to me!