NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 2: Konflict
Watching Ilaina turn away, leaving me with a back that was getting farther and farther away, I could only helplessly sit there, holding my arm that was bleeding profusely in pain. Everyone in the trenches was busy taking turns walking around, carrying ammunition boxes to the 12.7mm machine gun nests along the battlefield.
Soon after, Ilaina returned with a bunch of different medical supplies. She approached me, hurriedly wrapped the burn with bandages and applied ice to them. When she was done, Ilaina took out some painkillers and gave me a temporary injection. After a moment, the pain in my hand lessened a bit. Ilaina sat down next to me:
"Klaus, okay, I've finished treating the wound, you'll need to rest for it to heal."- Saying that, she took out a dumpling from her pocket- "Hey! I brought some food. Want to try it?"
She held out the cake to me, it looked quite fresh but since there was only one, I refused. How could I accept food from a petite girl like her when we were both equally hungry. Not manly at all.
"Well, you go ahead and eat. I'm not that hungry. People like you need that."
"Forget it, I'll split it in half for you and half for me."
Even though I said that, Ilaina still smiled and gave me half of her portion of dumplings. Looking at the five slender white fingers that had just handed over the food, I silently accepted half of the dumpling. The dumpling had a soft white skin, and inside were some meat noodles that I hadn't eaten for a long time. Not forcing myself any longer, I devoured the dumplings, finishing it in just half a minute.
It had been a long time since I had eaten such delicious food. Most of us had been fighting in a state of near starvation. The only food we had was expired food, moldy bread, and river water. Some units even had to use sewage and animal carcasses for food. I let out a satisfied sigh. Seeing this, Ilaina pinched my ear, her sapphire-like eyes narrowed, and she said with a smile:
"Now who says they're not hungry? Do you want more food so I can steal it?"
"What are you talking about? This is stolen property. You're really good. It's not easy to steal things here. If you get caught, you're done for." – I was quite surprised by this, a little admiring and a little worried.
Ilaina grinned:
"You flatter me, I do this all the time at home."
Suddenly, there was a sound that shook the heavens and earth, and then a series of bunkers we had built suddenly exploded and caught fire. Then came tens of thousands of 30mm bullets, followed by flash floods.
Crack! Crack! Bang!
The sound of rifles and cannons echoed in a rush. Above us, everywhere, bullets were popping or booming in long bursts or single shots. That dark and fiery storm never, ever stopped. People were buried at the bottom of an eternal battlefield. But as with the ticking of clocks in our houses in the past, in a past that has almost become a legend, here one only heard the shots when one listened.
Before we could recover from our shock, two Eurasian T-72-72 main battle tanks suddenly appeared on the vast steppe, entering the battlefield and firing an armor-piercing shell at our bunker. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. After the tank cannons blew out a cloud of hellish smoke, the whole sky was in chaos, and the trenches were filled with smoke and dust.
Ilaina and I quickly returned to our defensive positions. Holding the dirty Mark-18 automatic rifle with blood on it, I shakily pointed it forward, where the Eurasian army was rampaging. I couldn't help but curse when I saw the approaching soldiers clearly.
"Damn it! It's the famous 82nd Assault Corps… Are you ready? Ilaina."
She replied to me with a calm yet slightly mischievous expression, raising her voice a little at the last syllable:
"Alright, it's finally time for battle, heh~"
Hundreds and thousands of Eurasian soldiers wearing full body armor, holding AK-74 rifles with long bayonets, rushed forward like flying arrows. They shouted and brandished their weapons, like gods preparing to purge all of humanity. The heavy footsteps made the ground shake.
Looking at the group of people charging towards me, I couldn't keep calm. My nerves were tense and I reflexively pulled the trigger with the other brothers. One gunshot, then two, three, then a hundred gunshots rang out at the same time. The Eurasian assault soldiers were hit by bullets and fell to the ground one after another. The machine guns behind them also started firing wildly. The enemy fell like straw. But it seemed that was not enough. Despite our rain of bullets, the Eurasian soldiers with fierce determination still charged forward, determined to fight to the end. With the roar of a well-trained army, they broke through our defense line.
An enemy soldier jumped onto a sandbag and used his melee weapon, a Cossack sword, to slash downwards, hitting dozens of people in the face in an instant. The sound of the sword slashing was followed by a miserable scream from the Oceanian soldier, who pulled out an assault rifle, fired, and killed countless people on the Oceanian side.
I tried to stay calm, loaded a new magazine, pulled the pin, and turned around to shoot him dead before his eyes and the barrel of the gun could sweep over me. As the guy fell to the ground with a hole in his head, I suddenly heard the sound of wind tearing behind me. I turned around and saw the ferocious face of a certain Eurasian guy using a bloody knife that was about to pierce my brain. It was really over. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out for only a moment, causing the guy's head to explode, blood spraying everywhere. That red substance seemed to cover most of my face, the strong fishy smell rushed into my nose, causing me to regain my senses after that heart-stopping incident.
I reached out to wipe away the blood on my face, but it seemed that action only made my face dirtier. At that moment, a towel was brought in front of me. I raised my eyes and met Ilaina's curved peach blossom eyes. A slight smile hung on her lips as she opened her mouth:
"So? Is my shooting technique okay?"
I took Ilaina's handkerchief. Thinking back to the scene just now made me shiver a little.
"Nice shot!"
Her smile grew deeper, happily saying:
"You owe me your life."
We quickly returned to the battle, the situation was getting worse and worse, screams and bombs were ringing from all sides. The Eurasian army seemed to be endless, more and more were pouring in. In contrast to the Eurasian army that was showing off its might, Oceania was suddenly attacked by a large number that could not fight back, and reinforcements were nowhere to be seen, making the balance of the disadvantage tilt in their favor.
Although the disadvantage is as clear as black ink on white paper, we do not give up regardless.
After learning from experience, I used the gun with only one bullet left in my hand to accurately shoot and kill a Eurasian who was trying to approach me from behind. I took away his rifle and did not forget to kick him back in the opposite direction, tripping two other guys on his team. I took the opportunity when the two guys who were tripped did not have time to react and quickly pulled the trigger and shot, killing them.
My team seemed to be in a better place, Ilaina and I went to support the other team. A nearby Eurasian was also accidentally blocked by us. He was terrified and opened fire blindly. I retreated, pulling Ilaina along to dodge, waiting for him to use all his strength to miss and scream, then fired three shots in a row with my gun. Three bullets pierced his chest, and he fell backwards, still holding his rifle and sharp bayonet.
I lowered my eyes to look at the person who had just fallen on the ground. Surely a young person like me, with a future ahead of him. Maybe someone's relative, maybe someone's friend, those people might still be waiting for him to come home, they waited for him but only waited for the news that he had left this world forever, died on the front line. But guns and bullets don't know how to love. In war, only the strong have the right to survive and no matter who fired the bullet, it was not righteous.
Under the enemy's heavy fire, more than half of my comrades were buried, dying painfully. But no one stopped, no one retreated, we could not let the enemy invade any further. We would rather sacrifice everything than let the nation's right to self-determination fall into the enemy's hands. The defense line must be held at all costs, even if it means death.
The enemy was still firing so hard that I didn't dare stick my head out even a little bit, but I tried to regulate my breathing, mentally preparing myself to be shot and die. If I died, it would be okay, because at least I had protected my country, and had successfully fulfilled the last wishes of thousands of heroes who had gone before me.
"Die! Invaders!"
I stuck my head out of the trench, my hand gripping the rifle tightly. I fired forward like a wild beast, desperately destroying its prey, regardless of the dangers ahead. The barrel of the gun gradually heated up. As soon as the bullets ran out, I ran away, moving to another bunker. Suddenly, a tank shell flew past me, crashed into the battle line behind, killing several new recruits who were there. I couldn't help but curse:
"Damn it! Can someone handle those T-72s?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a T-72 suddenly blew its turret and was engulfed in flames. It turned out that reinforcements had arrived, bringing hope to those who were on the verge of exhaustion. They brought with them many giant metal monsters. Those were the steel arrows of Oceania – the M1 Abrams tanks. Seeing this, the T-72 could only retreat.
"Klaus, do you have sniper bullets?" – Ilaina asked me, panting.
"I'm afraid I don't have any. I'll have to pick up someone else's." – I replied to her.
The two of us ran back to the trenches of our friendly unit and found that everyone had been killed, their throats cut and their bodies torn to pieces. I tried to suppress the feelings that shouldn't be there at this moment and together with Ilaina, whose complexion was even worse than mine, quickly searched for ammunition around. Suddenly, some damn guy suddenly jumped out and pressed Ilaina down, intending to use a knife to finish her off. My heart suddenly skipped a beat, and the power erupted, kicking him several meters away. I gritted my teeth and used the bayonet on my gun to stab him straight in the stomach. Blood flowed out profusely, quickly spreading around.
My eyes followed the blood to his chest, and in a moment I saw the badge for the Oceania Coalition Force soldier on his chest, my pupils immediately contracted, and I stood still. The blood on the ground had flowed to my feet, wetting my boots that I always tried to keep clean, but at this moment I didn't care about it anymore, my brain seemed empty and seemed to have a bunch of chaotic thoughts.
I pulled out my bayonet and looked at him writhing on the ground, his terrifying expression constantly changing. His eyes were wide open, staring at me, his dark eyes filled with fear and madness. He mumbled a few words that I couldn't make out.
This guy was probably lucky to escape from the Eurasians but had to witness the entire horrifying scene of his comrades being massacred. Perhaps because his mentality was too vulnerable or the surrounding environment was too harsh, his nerves were always in a state of tension and fear. The horrifying scene just now seemed to cut off his last ray of reason, forcing him to go crazy, his mind unclear. Everywhere he looked, he saw ghosts, unable to distinguish who was friend or foe, so he treated everyone he met as an enemy and killed them.
In the end, he died from excessive blood loss. I felt a little guilty, but that was quickly erased. On the battlefield, there must be people who live and people who die. If you hurt your own people, you are the enemy. If you don't kill, you will be the one who dies.
"Klaus? What's wrong, are you okay? Klaus?"
I regained my composure after a few calls from Ilaina. Seeing her furrowed eyebrows and eyes filled with anxiety and worry about to spill out, I could only suppress my previous expression. Picking up the remaining bullets, I reassured Ilaina. It seemed that she still hadn't noticed what happened earlier:
"It's okay Ilaina, I'm fine. I was just a little absent-minded."
The nearby Eurasians seemed to have noticed us, and were running towards us. The rallying cry made my nerves even more tense.
"This is bad. Run! Hurry!"
Ilaina and I ran with all our might. The enemy was chasing us fiercely, as if they wanted to eat us alive. We ran together, trying to find a way to lose them. My heart was beating fast, everything was so scary.
Boom Boom Boom…!
Dozens of gunshots rang out, wiping out the Eurasian column behind us. A man stepped out with a heavy machine gun in his hand. Like a savior, he said:
"You guys are safe, go ahead! I'll take care of these bastards."
The two of us had no choice but to retreat to the rear because we had lost too much strength and were seriously injured, while the others stayed and held out until the last man.
The enemy kept advancing, wave after wave like a black tide, wanting to drown the world in its bosom. Our machine guns fired furiously, bullets and fire rained down like a storm, fighting against the tsunamis coming from the land of Moswatov. Tens, a hundred, a thousand shadows advanced slowly but rolling, but terrifyingly. Deliberately spreading fear, as if about to swallow an entire nation.
The sound of bullets whistling from the muzzles of both sides. Thinking was slow but acting was fast, in just a moment, human lives were just numbers on the scoreboard. One by one, half a company turned into cold corpses, lying down before the mindless bullets. No one knew when their turn would come, only crazy heads, blind eyes, guns with sparks, shell casings falling randomly on feet and a battlefield covered with corpses.