//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 No man's land // Story: A war to close to home // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 6: No man’s land I awoke with a gasp and panted heavily. When I got up; thought I had died and gone to hell. Houses were destroyed and burning. I was in the middle of a burning skeletal wreckage. It had buried everything. Still panting, I looked around trying to remember what happened. It was night. The airship coming down… the explosion… Babs! She was nowhere to be seen. I doubt I would find her in this rubble field or the skeletal wreckage. Checked myself, I was apart from some few bruises and scratches unharmed. I had lost my weapons but a dead crew member of the airship was lying next to me, a C96 carbine in his hand. I took it and started to move from the crash side. Just when I got 10 meters from it, someone coughed behind me. Turning around it was Tommy, his left leg was bleeding and his uniform was dirty just like mine. “Tommy! You’re alive!” “Yeah, got some Bandage Pouches?” I nodded and gave him one. He drew his sidearm, a Webley-Fosbery Self-Cocking Automatic Revolver, also known as Auto Revolver. In my spare time on the front, I studied enemy weapons in case I had to use them. “Where’s Babs?” he asked, looking around. “I don’t know, that’s why I’m concerned.” I replied. “Hey look,” Tommy pointed to something on the ground. Bloody Hoof steps! “It appears that she got disoriented or a concussion and walked away. I hope we find her before it’s too late.” We moved to a farm as the hoof steps leaded us there. I saw the back of the British trenches were in front of us. I’m just gonna say, I’ve had plenty of practice moving quietly. To get the cookie jar, to avoid trouble – you don’t need the details. Anyway, I headed east towards the German front, quiet as a cat. Between me and the German Front were British trenches, British Guns. Oh, and half the population of London, all spoiling for a fight. It was quiet unlike the last night. Our lucky day. The Brits must’ve been sitting down for tea and crumpets instead of shelling us. Still. I had to get through to our side of the line before those guns started up again. Some soldiers guarded the back at camp fires but they all had their backs turned so it was easy to sneak past them. Tommy sat down at the sickbay where the artillery was. It was empty. Only now, I noticed that they built their trenches the same way we did. “You can stay here, you will be treated fairly.” He offered. “Thanks but I’m not resting until I found her.” “Okay, but be careful, the front is guarded by Americans of the 69th Infantry Regiment.” “I will.” Dang it. Why the Harlem Hellfighters? An infantry regiment of the U.S. Army National Guard comprised of African Americans that were known for their toughness and the fact that they never lost a trench, foot of ground, or a man through capture to the enemy. We gave them this nickname. Holger saw it firsthand. I could still remember when we talked about them. “What news?” I asked him. “About the Harlem Hell Fighters.” “Are they in our sector?" I asked surprised and a little bit scared. “No.” “Thank God.” I was relieved. “Command is trying to downplay what is happening, but I have a friend who works in headquarters, and he says there is real concern about one of our lines crumbling because of them.” “You know they have never lost a trench or a meter of their lines-ever! I hear they never allow themselves to be captured. They fight to the death.” I explained to him what I heard about them. “I saw it firsthand. I was on a nighttime raid and we suddenly found ourselves right onto of one of their positions.” “Christ.” I couldn’t believe it. And now I have to. Now I came to another sickbay where a Doughboy was sleeping, and another was blocking the way smoking, standing next to the alarm. I killed him from behind with my Shovel and disabled the alarm by letting the air out of the tank. Better safe than sorry. The siren died quietly, the sleeping soldier was not waking up. Those trenches were packed full of the King’s and US President’s finest. But hopefully, most of them would be looking for trouble coming other way. Hopefully. The American and British had almost the same mood as we had in the trenches. “My feet are ice-cold. The Germans are the only ones to blame!” One of them complained. “I don’t care! Do you understand?! I don’t CARE! Got it?!” Another yelled at him. Just like back in our trenches, expect we blamed the French people for it. I moved crouched through the trenches and came closer to the front, confirmed by the bullets that hit or flew over the trenches and the behavior of the soldiers. Some were aiming at the enemy front ready to shoot, some were leaning against the wall for cover, while others were using helmets as sniper decoy, only to see that the decoy got shot instantly. I saw that Bab’s blood trail leaded into no man’s land. If she managed to get back to German lines, I tip my helmet at her. The dozen British machine guns at my back kinda encouraged me to keep my head down. No Man’s land was a maze of barbed wire, dead bodies, and debris. I was frozen and couldn’t move as I heard the sounds of war and horror. In the autumn of 1914, both sides of the Western Front lost the opportunity of flanking each other. The force of modern weaponry, such as machine gun and field artillery, made it a suicidal venture to reside on open ground, thus completing the phase of mobile warfare. The soldiers disappeared in the safety of trenches and dugouts. Heavy grenades tore the earth between the trenches, while soldiers hurried across the country in the hope of a breakthrough that belonged to no one. Forests were shot in pieces, poison gas killed fauna and flora, and heavy rains filled millions of shells with water and turned northern France into a huge swamp. It was truly a death zone - created by man with the help of modern warfare. I had entered no man’s land before, but that was during the day and a truce to retrieve dead and wounded, but never in the night. But I had to find her – so I went into that hell. It was my only choice. Someone tipped me on my shoulder, causing me to flinch. It was Tommy. “What are you doing here?” “I changed my mind. I won’t let her died out here. We saved her once in no man’s land and we can do it again.” We moved in crouched to avoid being shot. I still couldn’t believe that I went in there. “Hey, what’s that?” Tommy pointed to something in the distance. I couldn’t see what is was exactly but the blood trail leaded here, so we walked to it. “Babs!” I exclaimed but she showed no reaction. The foal was bleeding from her gut to chest and appeared to be collapsed on her back against a burning tree. No pulse! “No, No, no! Don’t die on us!” Tommy stopped her bleeding and bandaged it. I got my syringe out and stabbed her with the adrenaline injection. She gasped for air and panted heavily. “I saw a white light and gates!” “That was a close one.” Tommy let out a sigh of relief. “Babs! We’re in no man’s land, we need to go. Now.” She tried to get up but the pain was too much, so I gently picked her up. Still she grunted in pain. Tommy went back to his own trench, only to get hit by a bullet in the head. A quick and merciful death, I made mentally the catholic cross. Babs Seed hadn’t noticed it as she was shocked by all the dead bodies around her and threw up. “Sorry.” “None taken.” She was stable and alive but she could only make a full recovery at our sickbay and the shot wouldn’t hold forever. I didn’t have much time to get her back alive. The Americans aren’t really known for giving up. “Voices. Doughboy raiding party.” A raiding party on my left side who didn’t notice us tried to get behind our lines but got killed by an MG. Also, a German raiding party tried the same on my right side but got also killed. The German Front was insight, but like the Doughboys, they had spotlights. “We have to avoid those spotlights. MG’s are trained on ‘em. They’ll shoot at anything.” Babs nodded scared, shocked by no man’s land. I went to cover to avoid the lights, waited until they passed, then moved to the next cover. “Lights… your boys will think… we’re Brits…” Babs managed to say, trembling in fear. As we come closer I heard a voice. “It’s one of ours! Cease fire, get a medic!” A soldier waved at us to get in. Inside our trench, two medics took Babs gently from me to treat her. I looked into the sky, realizing through what kind of danger and hell we both just went. “He carried that child through no-man’s land? This guy’s a damn hero!” A soldier exclaimed. I’m really a Hero?