Krichtenberg, Altirustzkan Federation. Early morning of February 24, 2026
In the northern regions, dawn came early. As soon as the bombers withdrew from the city, the warm rays of dawn gradually appeared in the east. In the stillness of the morning, a few columns of black smoke rose from the Pankortz district of Weissensezft. Above the low clouds, it was difficult to distinguish the dim morning light from the bright flames of a destroyed Krichtenberg Berlin. As the smoke slowly cleared over the ruins, the most bombed city in the country, Altirustzkan, stood there, bleak and eerie. The entire city was black with ash, pockmarked with thousands of craters and dotted with twisted columns from collapsed buildings. The streets were littered with wooden boxes and body bags. Blood stained the sky.
Entire apartment blocks were wiped out, and in the centre of the capital, entire areas were completely wiped out, nothing left. In the wasteland, what had once been avenues and streets were now rough tracks, winding through mountains of rubble and broken glass. Roofless, windowless buildings, their interiors completely destroyed, gaped at the sky. After the raid, a rain of ash fell, covering the ruins, and in the canyons of brick and steel, only dust was flying. Dust swirled along the A1 extension, the famous trees were now bare, the buds withered on the branches.
Only a handful of banks, libraries and luxury shops on this famous avenue were undamaged. But at the western end of the street, Krichtenberg's most famous landmark, the eight-story Branderkow Gate, still stands on its 12 giant Dorickz columns, despite being riddled with shrapnel. At the massive Reichstag, where the Parliament meets, on the ruined roof above the six-column entrance, overlooking the sea of rubble threatening to engulf the building, are the words in black: – For the Altirustzkan people!
Somewhere south of the city, the Bemeroth base, which was considered the command center for the counterattack, had been completely flattened. The train stations that transported soldiers to the battlefield had even been turned into ruins. Tens of thousands of new recruits had been wiped out before they could even see the battlefield, and the human losses were staggering. The hospital had to withstand the attacks while also receiving hundreds of mangled corpses. The refugee deaths were rampant, to the point where they could not be handled. The newly arrived reinforcements were immediately sent to the front, dying in large numbers. Food and ammunition were also running low. It seemed that all the despair and death were concentrated here.
"Everyone. Let's go, hurry up. There's not much time left. Those barbarians might be secretly attacking there." – A loud voice echoed throughout the shelter.
With the remaining light, I and many other comrades slowly walked out of the bomb shelter after the enemy's artillery attack had passed. All that remained were the ruins of a mighty empire. The dead lay scattered on the streets, blood flowing profusely. The alarm sirens blared loudly, drowning out the desperate cries for help, the cries of pain and despair. Witnessing this scene that only appeared in apocalyptic movies, we rookies could only stand there in horror, our faces drained of color. A few screams began to screech.
"Oh my god. That looks terrible…"
"Blood… it's blood!"
Everyone looked terrified, bewildered and desperate as they watched their blood brothers being crushed and sacrificed by bombs. I stood there, like a lost soul. It was not until a fireman from afar called out that I came to my senses. He looked disgusting with his ragged clothes, covered in blood and mud. His skin was even calloused, with bruises that had long since rotted and turned black. In a hoarse voice, he tried to urge us:
"Hey! Guys! Come out here and give us a hand. I'm exhausted. Damn those Kuznetskozhyans."
I and a few soldiers ran over. It was a 14-year-old refugee boy, the boy was crushed by a rock, bleeding profusely. I grabbed the rock and used all my strength to flip it over. My arm muscles were in so much pain that it felt like they were about to break. I gritted my teeth and screamed in pain. We had a hard time lifting it off the boy, but it was too late. He died before we could save him. His body gradually turned cold, covered with scratches and bruises, blood and flesh vague. I was shocked, sitting there in utter confusion. Everything was crazy and chaotic. War had made this place so desolate and deadly? How terrifying!
A haggard old officer stood up from the rubble, using all his strength to continue his unfinished propaganda speech. It seemed that no one was listening to that nonsense anymore. Because we were all fed up with being bombed day and night by the enemy.
"Fellow soldiers, the barbarians of the Eastern Kingdom of Kuznetskozhyan are preparing to launch a new attack on the city. Currently, all supply lines have been cut off, and there are less than 50,000 people left who can fight right now, while the enemy has more than 200,000 soldiers. Despite the huge difference, I hope each of us will do our best to hold on to this place. We need to kick them out of this place and win a decisive victory!"
After saying that, he slowly walked with his haggard appearance to a street corner and used the pistol in his pocket to blow his own skull, freeing himself from this hell. A gunshot rang out, ending a short life. Two guards quickly carried his body to burn it and walked towards me. They were very violent and vicious, directly grabbing me by the neck and throwing me straight into the marching army like an inanimate object. They even cursed and cursed me terribly.
"Get out of my sight! You snotty little brat! Go away!"
"Get in line quickly if you want to live! You're in unit 92, right? Oh, I forgot, they're all dead. Well, go back to company 96, kid!"
I was pushed into a soldier and then both of us fell flat on the ground. Mud and dirt just stuck to both of our clothes. Seeing that, I panicked and ran over, helped the other person up, a bit confused and asked:
"Excuse me! Are you okay? Let me help you up. Sorry for bumping into you."
I looked at the badge pinned to her chest. It turned out that she was a female marksman. She was quite short compared to us, only about 1m69. That girl had platinum hair, neatly tied behind her head. Her face was delicate, with deep blue eyes that seemed to contain an entire ocean, beautiful and mysterious, making me unconsciously drawn deep into those eyes.
The strange girl stood there, staring at me, as if she had recognized something. I also found her very familiar, as if we had met before. How strange. It seemed that after she had come to her senses, the girl replied to me:
"It's okay, I can take care of myself. Who are you? I just saw those policemen beating you up, it looked so brutal." She smiled and asked me.
I lowered my voice:
"I'm Klaus Polskarov, a member of the 92nd Platoon of the 7th Guards Corps. But they're all dead, I'm the only survivor left. Nice to meet you."
"Ilaina Ilytasivich Kilova. Nice to meet you."
Ilaina simply introduced herself and asked me:
"Are you also Kuznetskozhyan?"
"Half. My father is Kuznetskozhyan and my mother is Altirustzkan."
After a while of talking, Ilaina and I realized that we had a lot in common and felt very familiar with each other, like old friends. I learned that she was a sniper of Kuznetskozhyan who had deserted to Altirustzkan because she realized the meaninglessness of this war. While we were getting to know our new friend, a high-ranking officer, who seemed to be a platoon leader, suddenly came up and asked:
"What are you two doing? Hurry up, those bastards Kuznetskozhyan have already crossed the outskirts, why are you still standing there!"- After saying that, he looked at us meaningfully, the corner of his mouth slightly curved up - "You're new, right? Welcome to hell on earth."
I helped Ilaina up and together we caught up with the new platoon. We passed by 73 Neistalyat Street, the beautiful little palace that had once been the official residence of the former Altirustzkan prime ministers, completely burned down inside. The palace had once been described as a mini paradise. But now the exquisite architecture, the beautiful decorations, and the sea goddesses in the magnificent fountain in the front yard had been violently destroyed, lying in ruins, the only thing that seemed to be saved were the two twin statues of the Rhinert virgins on the chipped roof leaning towards the rubble-strewn courtyard, their heads missing.
A block away, building number 77 was relatively unscathed, just slightly dented. Bricks were piled up around the three-story U-shaped building. The brownish-yellow paint was chipped in several places, and the shiny gold eagles with crosses on their claws that were placed on the gates were badly scratched and chipped, seemingly taking away from its once majestic appearance.
The imposing balcony juts out above, where a frenzied speech was once delivered to the world. The Reichskanz, the office building of Chancellor Altirustzkan, still stands. Above Kurfurst, Krichtenberg's Fifth Avenue, the battered skeletons of the once-magnificent Memorial Church lie scattered.
As we marched toward the deadly trenches that surrounded the capital, everyone's faces were filled with unconcealed anxiety. The desolate landscape gradually revealed itself with each step we took. The land was vast and watery under the long, gloomy scene of dawn. On the rough road were puddles of stagnant water, funnel-shaped depressions rippled in the early morning wind. The trails that the footsteps of the soldiers and the night convoy had just carved out, in the fields now barren, full of hidden bomb craters filled with stagnant water, shone like steel rails in the pale light.
Piles of mud, here and there a few broken poles stuck out, broken X-shaped supports, bundles of twisted wire, twisted into bushes, mud flats and puddles that made the ground look like a cloth, some floating, some sinking. It wasn't raining, but everything was wet, dripping, soaked, and even the pale light seemed to be running away.
"So slimy and sticky…" – Ilaina furrowed her pretty eyebrows, her face filled with disgust and fear.
Well, she is a girl after all. I reached out my hand to her and said:
"Come on Ilaina, let me help you down."
I slowly jumped into the trench and then gently helped Ilaina down. Damn it! The sight below made my stomach churn, suppressing the feeling of nausea, I took a step forward. The foul-smelling mud stuck to our leather boots, making it difficult to walk. In addition to the stench of corpses and blood, we were witnessing the most bloody and deadly clashes today. I gritted my teeth, trying to slap away the remaining water in my boots but it was useless, unwilling to let it soak into my skin.
Ilaina turned to me and said:
"Thanks. This place is as bad as they say."
Taking out her sniper rifle, Ilaina skillfully placed it on the gun rack, aiming straight ahead. I was not idle either, quickly taking out my Mark 18 to check it again. The same went for the others, some even took the opportunity to get to know each other because the original members were all dead, we were essentially just a bunch of random people thrown in for show.
"Ilaina, have you killed any Kuznetskozhyan soldiers since you joined the army?"
"Not yet. This is my first time in real combat. Normally, I just stand far away and learn how to fire to support infantry, not shoot at close range like this. What about you?"
"We're the same. I haven't even learned the theory yet. All my skills come from games." – I shrugged and replied.
Ilaina's eyes stopped on me for a few seconds as if considering the truth of my words, then turned back to her half-prepared gun and asked me:
"So why did they push you out to this deadly place? Doesn't everyone who goes to the battlefield have to be thoroughly trained?"
"No, actually we just finished learning how to use guns, we haven't made much progress. All the elites are dead, now we're just burning the reserve volunteers-"
Before I could finish my sentence, the sound of a fighter jet engine suddenly echoed from afar. Just a few seconds later, a Su-27 Flanker with a red star painted on its fuselage flew over our heads. It was so huge that it seemed to block my vision, the plane disappeared at the speed of sound. I saw enemy fighters flying over our heads at breakneck speed, suddenly dropping tens of thousands of tons of deadly bombs. In just a moment of shock, the vehicle carrying reinforcements behind us suddenly exploded into hundreds of pieces. I panicked, without thinking much, I quickly hugged Ilaina and lay down on the ground, avoiding being hit by the bomb fragments.
The rocks and soil fell like rain, even with blood on them. A huge fire broke out, followed by a cloud of black smoke. I held Ilaina tightly and lay motionless, the enemy's bombs and bullets swept over our heads like a hurricane, drowning out the painful screams, cries, and groans of our comrades. They were hit by the hot bullets, their bodies were blown away or were hit by large broken rocks. In the chaos, someone shouted:
"GET HIDE EVERYONE! IT'S A FIGHTER PLANE!"
Then came another series of explosions. The air seemed to be sucked out, the smell of smoke and blood rushed straight into my nose. Ilaina, who was beside me, coughed continuously, and had to sit up to catch her breath. At that moment, countless phosphorus bombs fell. She stood there, stunned, unable to react to the impending disaster. My heart stopped, my pupils constricted:
"ILAINA! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!"
My body reflexively hugged Ilaina in fear, using two or three big steps to quickly bring the two of us to hide in a corner of the trench. Then the ground was immediately plowed up and roared, as if it wanted to tear the sky apart. The heat of death blew past me, it seemed like something had brushed past my arm, causing my arm to ache as if it was crippled, but it did nothing but hold onto Ilaina's small body, using my own body to shield her, preventing her from dying. I felt Ilaina's hand tighten on my shirt, she was also opening her mouth to breathe out with difficulty. The sound of bombs and artillery outside continued to ring out, my body was as tense as a bowstring, drops of sweat ran down my face, I closed my eyes tightly. I hugged Ilaina even tighter, I was very worried about her, I didn't know why, I realized my feelings for Ilaina were very strange but in this situation I didn't have the mood to think about it so I put this problem behind my mind. Pray to God above to keep us safe and sound. We just hugged each other like that during the entire time of the enemy's bombardment.
After the series of earth-shattering noises ended, the silence returned. After those near-death moments, I was exhausted and lay on the ground. I was panting, my breathing was rapid, a little dazed from the events that had just happened. Fear enveloped me, I noticed that Ilaina was not moving. I gritted my teeth, trying to use some strength to shake her awake.
"Ilaina. Are you okay? Are you hurt?!"
Ilaina's lifeless eyes gradually condensed and looked at my face, her blue pupils seemed to flash with a trace of panic, as if regaining her composure, she said to me:
"Klaus! You look like a wreck, your skin is all burned. Come on, let's get out of here. This is chaos."
I covered my arm with my hand and mumbled a reply as blood continued to ooze out. She helped me through the trenches that had been torn open by artillery fire. Others were busy filling in the huge hole in the front line that was filled with stagnant water. Just then, the siren sounded, signaling a new artillery barrage.
"Hide! Enemy 155mm artillery."
A shell suddenly fell into the trench, exploding right before Ilaina and me. It sent everything around us flying high into the sky, tearing their bodies into hundreds of pieces, a few drops of blood splashed on my face but I didn't have the heart to wipe them away. We could only watch as their flesh and skin were covered in dust without being able to do anything, truly a death without a whole body.
Knowing that the battlefield is so fierce and terrifying, I still can't suppress the feeling of nausea in my stomach, my face turns pale and green, I just want to get used to this situation quickly, otherwise I will die on the battlefield not because of bullets or explosions but because of these kinds of scenes that make my heart stop or disgust me to death.
As soon as the dust cleared, on the ground where the two of us stood, there was a hole with flesh and blood splattered everywhere, leaving the ground a mess of mixed flesh and blood that people could no longer recognize that it was a human being. And the only thing left to distinguish them from the dirt and rocks was the hat they wore and the tattered military uniform.
Coming to a trench, Ilaina gently let me sit down to rest. She brushed my sweaty platinum hair back, I felt Ilaina's gaze soften like a calm blue lake with a gentle breeze, she looked at me and said:
"You stay here and rest for a bit, I'll go get the first aid kit."
Suddenly I found myself being a burden to Ilaina:
"Don't worry about me like that, just leave me here."
She looked at me disapprovingly and replied:
"No, I can't let you die here. Just wait."
Watching Ilaina turn around, 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 I could recover from the shock, on the vast steppe, two Kuznetskozhyan T-72-72 main battle tanks suddenly appeared, entered the battlefield, and fired an armor-piercing shell at our bunker. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. After the tank guns blew out the hot smoke of hell, the whole sky was in chaos, the trench area was 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 Kuznetskozhyan's 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 Kuznetskozhyan 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 crowd 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 shot, then two, three, then a hundred shots rang out at the same time. The Kuznetskozhyan 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 Kuznetskozhyan troops with fierce determination still charged forward, determined to fight to the end. With the roar of a well-trained army, they broke through our defenses.
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 Altirustzkan soldier, who pulled out an assault rifle, fired, and killed countless people on the Altirustzkan 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 swept over me. When 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 someone next to Kuznetskozhyan 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 splattered everywhere. That red substance seemed to cover most of my face, the strong fishy smell rushed into my nose, causing me to regain my composure 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 Kuznetskozhyan army seemed to be endless, more and more were pouring in. In contrast to Kuznetskozhyan who was showing off his arrogance, Altirustzkan was suddenly attacked by a large number and could not fight back, and reinforcements were nowhere to be seen, which made 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 Kuznetskozhyan 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 situation, Ilaina and I went to support the other team. A Kuznetskozhyan nearby was also accidentally blocked by us. He was frightened 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 consecutive shots with my gun. Three bullets pierced his chest, 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 up its turret and was engulfed in flames. It turned out that reinforcements had arrived, bringing hope to the exhausted people here. They brought with them many giant metal monsters. Those were the steel arrows of Altirustzkan – the M1 Abrams tank. 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 that spread to his chest, and in a moment I saw the badge for the Altirustzkan 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 a little 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 Kuznetskozhyan's men but had to witness the entire horrifying scene when his comrades were 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 was unclear. He looked everywhere as if 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 Kuznetskozhyans nearby 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 Kuznetskozhyans 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.