A False Victory

    The light was everywhere. I couldn’t see anything else. Just the bright light that surrounded me. I felt at peace here. A special kind of peace. It was a mesmerizing place. Only me and the white glowing abyss that seemed to stretch forever. There was nothing below or above me. There was nothing anywhere at all. It certainly wasn’t home. Or anywhere else.

    I realized that I was slowly rising up, towards the source of the blinding light. I squinted hard, unable to adjust to the ever rising light level. I tried to shield my eyes but couldn’t see my hands, let alone the rest of myself. The source suddenly pulled me in faster, forcing my eyes shut. There was a deafening sound that distorted the closer I got.

    I started falling. Really fast. I opened my eyes as my body thumped on the ground, dirt flying all around me. All I could hear was this high-pitched ringing sound. My friend was shaking my body, yelling at me to get up. I started to get a bearing of the area. We were in a trench, destroyed by a bomb. The bomb that almost hit me. The white light place must have been heaven. I didn’t know. I was shell-shocked.

    “Come on, Kilian!” he yelled at me in German. Kilian. That was my name. Must have been. I stared at him intently, trying to recognize who he was. He certainly was familiar. That I knew. I looked at his uniform. He had a field-grey steel helmet, army field blouse, trousers, and march boots. His dog tag had the name Wenzel engraved on it. I remembered. He was my best mate.

    “Wenzel?” I asked him. He stared at me.

    “Yeah, it’s me, what’re you waiting for?” Wenzel pulled me up and shoved my rifle into my hands. “We’ve got to go on.”

    I nodded and we sprinted through the trenches. There were bodies scattered everywhere. I saw injured soldiers dragging themselves to the closest medic, wanting an end to their agonizing pain. I heard shouting as men charged over the bridges above us, only to get mowed down by enemy guns. Screams of the dead hung in the air. I shook my head and focused ahead. 

    We stopped at a small outpost built a little distance away from the trenches, hidden from enemy view. It was a small structure built of strong stone, reinforced with metal. There was a field commander and radio operator there, along with a couple of medics and heavy troops.

    “We need reinforcements! Our men are dying here!” Wenzel exclaimed.

    “We are not in need of any assistance, our heavies will deal with them alright.” the commander pointed at the heavy troops armed with MG 42s. He turned to them. “It’s your time to shine, gentlemen. Make Germany proud.”

    The commander saluted and they returned the salute. I ran out, followed by Wenzel and the troops. We made our way on the dirt track back to the trenches. A friendly plane swooped down and rained fire on the battlefield, dropping shells all over. The mortars and artillery backed it up. I looked at the magnificent machines. They would help us win this war. I grinned and we went on. The troops overtook us and we took cover behind them.

    The battlefield was harsh and deadly. Men were dying left and right, cavalry taking down enemy foot soldiers, tanks destroying frontlines and turret shelters. There were flametroopers burning enemies that dared to venture close. The heavy men we were with started shooting as well. I looked at Wenzel. He was resupplying ammunition to the heavy men.

    The tanks crushed the barbed wire and barricades on the frontline, allowing us access into enemy trenches and outposts. Soldiers flooded through the opening, killing the enemies that were trying to flee. I heard an explosion. It was the enemy mortars. A cheer went through the crowd. But that was only a part of the battle.

    I threw my dynamite through a slit of a stone bunker and activated the charges. It blew up, fire blazing high. I didn’t have time to look at it. I continued through the trenches with Wenzel and the heavy troops. We were about to enter the trenches when enemy M3 Lees came through. I ran into a storage bunker and grabbed a panzerfaust. I aimed it at a tank and fired it along with an anti-tank grenade bundle. The vehicle exploded, parts flying into trenches.

    That wasn’t all. There were still a few other tanks rolling on, killing many of our men. We ran out of panzerfausts destroying a few of them, and were unable to use dynamite as we would be run over. I was considering retreating when our tanks flanked the enemies and caught them by surprise, destroying the armoured vehicles of destruction.

    I moved down enemies in the trenches, making sure none of them were alive. Wenzel watched the front while I guarded the back. We separated from the heavy troops when grabbing the panzerfausts, so we continued on our own. I felt like we were going to win this battle.

    “Kilian, look! Enemy village!” Wenzel yelled as he pulled ahead. I saw it too. It was a small village occupied by enemy forces. Friendly soldiers charged towards the village. We were about to reach when enemy planes dropped shells on our people. I jerked left as one of our tanks blew up and another damaged badly. I searched for Wenzel in the crowd of disorientated soldiers.

    I found him near the front, shooting down heavy enemies.

    “For Germany!” someone yelled.

    “For Germany!” the rest of us yelled back. We charged ahead, energized by the will to protect our country. I fired at the closest soldiers I could see. The tide of the battle was changing. We were gaining ground. We were going to win.

    I pulled back to a mobile radio operator and touched his shoulder. He looked at me.

    “We need sector artillery up on the back of the village, now.” I told him. He nodded and sent the message. Shortly after, large shells fell on the top of the hill, wrecking buildings and barracks. Soldiers scattered as stray bombs fell near them. I held my rifle up in triumph and the army continued on. We were near the last position we needed to capture.

    It was an old factory. I could see it up ahead. It was a grand building, but it was surrounded with tanks and heavy weaponry. It seemed to be their main outpost of the area. We still pushed on. It didn’t matter. We had a job, and we would finish it. Wenzel and I went around the side with the heavy troops. It was the perfect flank. They would never notice us.

    We tossed a few grenades and charged onto the unsuspecting enemies. We mowed them down and took the factory. We had the area. We had won the battle.

    We were about to call in the capture when many bombers appeared out of nowhere. We had no time to react. Bombs fell onto the factory area, killing many and destroying almost all of our armoured vehicles. It was a bad development. I told the radio operator to ask for reinforcements quickly.

    We got a response. Troops would be coming in soon. They were our last hope.

    “Enemy reinforcements incoming!” someone yelled. I feared that we wouldn’t make it. I thought we had killed them all. We had to hold our position at all costs, or the battle would be lost.

    The soldiers stormed the factory we were in, taking down many men. I saw Wenzel go down. I ran over to him, and ducked over him.

    “Get up, Wenzel!” I shook him. My tears fell on him. He was badly injured. He wouldn’t make it. “Come on, don’t die on me, my friend!”

    “Kilian…” he stared at me weakly. He smiled faintly. He pulled out his engraved knife, and looked in my eyes. I knew what I had to do, but didn’t want to do it.

    “Goodbye, old friend.” I took the knife and raised it high. I took a last look at my friend, and brought it down. I took his dog tags and stuffed it into my pocket. I looked at the enemy soldiers. Deep down, I knew our reinforcements weren’t going to make it. We were going to lose.

    I looked at the mayhem unfolding around me. People were dying, soldiers fighting for a lost battle, not going to see another day. I had fought valiantly, and it was time for me to go. I would die happy fighting for my country.

    I stood up and closed my eyes. Bullets lodged themselves into my body, thrusting me back. I fell on the ground, bloodied. I was happy to die honourably.

    Everything faded to darkness.