I sat down on the road as the nurses herded the children together and guided them to their new home. The little girl took one last look at me and wished me good luck. I guess she thought of me as an older brother. After that she turned away and followed the group. This war had put a curse on many but still little lights of hope shone through the darkness.
General Luger, the commander of the city's defenses, approached our weary group and greeted us. He then proceeded to inform us that we would be taking part in a combined arms operation named " Shatter Shield", which was a four pronged assault on RLA occupied territories in the Caucasus Region. Its objective was to capture the oil fields and the newly founded industrial cities of Salem, Eden, Haven and Arsen. We were then dismissed and further notified that we had 2 months to prepare.
2 months later I was on a truck along with around 29 others. We were to reinforce the offense at Salem. Trenches had been dugs just days after the offense had begun in anticipation of a counter attack by their drones. MRLSs' were pounding the city with their rockets and one could hear the distant explosions. A bullet whizzed past my head as I got down from the truck and automatically I crawled towards the nearest trench which was to my right.
Tanks engaging each other on the outskirts of the city the roars of their cannons could be heard for miles around. Our airplanes were engaged in strafing runs and bombing missions. The enemy returned fire and counter barraged our position and all I could hear was my own breathing and heart beat as the bombs fell throwing dirt into the trench. Then, the order came from the General to attack.
We all got into the APCs and were carried into the heat of battle as shells exploded all around us shaking the inner compartments of the vehicles. I took a look through the gun port behind my seat and saw one of the APCs being hit by the enemy's artillery as they kept on firing at us. The scene resembled the D-day beach landings of World War 2.
To be honest I pissed myself when a shell exploded right next our APC. Among familiar faces were new ones. Young boys who could barely stop shaking from fear and anxiety. These young men were fresh from boot camp. So, us veterans had to get off first and watch their backs as they learned from our actions in battle.
As the doors opened, the ones with experience got out first as the fresh recruits followed behind. Almost immediately we came under fire from the UGVs and mortar shells rained our positions. The city was reduced to its foundations as the fighting intensified over the next 2 months. We barely had enough sleep if any. Snipers lurked around every street and block. Sometimes we had to eat the stray dogs and rats as supply convoys had a hard time getting through to us. 10,000 of us died from starvation and I envied the enemy as they had replaced most of their soldiers with drones so pressure on supply lines were lessened.
Finally on 12th October, we had finally taken the city or what was left of it anyway. But no songs of celebration were sung that day as the snow fell on the bodies of our fallen comrades. Silence filled the air as we gave them one last salute followed by the sounds of the 21 Gun Salute. Helicopters carried them away to their homelands with coffins draped in the colours of the UNF Flag.
The city still burning, embers smoldering and ashes floating away like them that gave their lives. I sat down on a wooden bench that had somehow been left unharmed. Looking up at the clouds, I wondered why God remained silent. Was it to make us become stronger? OR Was it to rediscover what it felt like to have Peace?.
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