A hustling wind blew to the fields of broken structures and thickened mud, with the moon shining bright like a torch.
Troops from every direction crouched forward, with their gazes sharp, and their rifles closed to their chest. Every step they made they tried to make as little noise as they could possibly do, trying to avoiding the enemy to wake up.
However, this feeling pumping harder in their hearts and draining their tranquility just wouldn't go away. It felt like a tense serpent wanting to swallow them whole, nothing left but fear of the unknown future.
At some point, the men in grey even thought of going back to where it was safe, as they could smell the horrible odor of the dead soldiers from both sides left behind from the pools of blood and mud due to the heavy battle that occurred before.
But it was already too late for them. They knew if they would go back now, only death as punishment was the only thing waiting. So they decided to keep on going, keeping their fear hidden inside of them never to be seen.
The key to the victory of this advance was stealth, and stealth was their priority in moving forward step by step in the fields of raging death.
Troops were separated into twenty men in every advancing group. Each with their own leader.
In the far right of the fields, there were ten men crouching in a straight line, avoiding obstacles and dead bodies which are probably covered with unknown diseases.
The man in front, the person leading the small group of men was Sergeant Wilhelm, which was then followed by Gunther who was behind him.
As they crouched forward, Kazuto could feel something soft down to his foot. It wasn't too soft that it could be a liquid, nor too sticky to be muddy.
He gazes down with a curious expression and a saw a dead body with its head severed, blood already hardened, and flies flying around it.
Startled, Kazuto quickly moved his foot away from the deceased and leaned himself next to the dirt wall, with his eyes darting as he could feel his heart rate increased.
"Kazuto! are you okay?" Otto quietly said as he crouched towards him.
"I'm fine, I-I was just startled by it," Kazuto rapidly replied, as he slowly grabbed his rifle that he dropped to the ground.
As the soldiers behind were having a commotion, the two who were in front gazed carefully at the enemy trenches, searching for enemy guards who are stationed.
"Sergeant Wilhelm? Can you hear it?" Gunther asked, gazing forward.
"Hear what, there's nothing in the fields to be heard of," Sergeant Wilhelm replied idly.
"That's the point, It's quiet... Too quiet," Gunther muttered, with his movement and expression mostly uneasy.
as Otto slowly helped out Kazuto crouched up, the two gazed towards Gunther with both having a confused expression. So does the rest of the men behind who were listening to the conversation.
"You'll just have to deal with it cupcake. Besides, you've been in the fields for a year now, you should be used to this," Sergeant Wilhelm scoffed, moving forward without even gazing back.
His eyes centered only to the rough terrain, with eyes glaring towards the enemy trench, not even showing a single hint of fear or hesitation in each movement he makes.
"It's just that I have a bad feeling about this, sir," Gunther replied, with his eyes very suspicious around his surroundings.
"Everyone moving forward towards the fields also had the same bad feeling just like you. Look around, look at the soldiers' expressions, they're all the same filled with fear and hesitation. So just deal with it!" Sergeant Wilhelm said furiously. However, his tone wasn't still loud as you say that it was a shout.
"No. mines different, it's just... I can't describe it," Gunther replied slightly hesitant, gazing down to the soft mud, mixed with blood as he could see a bullet shining bright inside of it.
"You should not be too afraid Private Hartmann, you and your friend suggested this plan. So give at least a little sense of pride that the Generals took your advice to create this advance," Sergeant Wilhelm motivated him, but his tone was still threatening as usual. However, Gunther's expression was still unchanged.
"I'll keep that in mind, sir."
Gunther crouched there, stopping, gazing with his mind focused on the bullet. The rest of the men continued crouching forward following Sergeant Wilhelm, leaving only Kazuto and Otto gazing towards him in concern.
"What's wrong Gunther, just spill it out," Otto asked in concern, stopping together with him to gaze at the bullet shining, covered with mud.
"It's just a feeling... nothing too special," Gunther replied, giving a small smile, keeping his hesitant feeling deep inside of him.
He clenched his rifle tightly and walked forward with a solemn expression written on his face. Otto crouched there gazing towards Gunther uneasily, while Kazuto watched, wondering what went wrong.
"What's wrong with him?" Kazuto asked gazing towards Otto, waiting for an answer.
"He's afraid, afraid of the silence. I'm sure you've noticed that it's too quiet," Otto replied, gazing towards Gunther moving forward with a solemn expression.
"Now that you've mentioned it, it does seem like that," Kazuto replied, covering his mouth with his right hand, gazing down as his eyes slightly tremble.
However, there was something more than just fear of the silence that was lurking in that bitter and nervous expression of his as he crouched forward. It was Failure, failure of his own guidance, failure of his own plan that he had suggested that the generals fully approved, failure of the trust that they had given to him.
"Hey! the rest of you, keep going, we're almost there. Only a few meters left," Sergeant Wilhelm quietly ordered them, as he glared at both Otto and Kazuto.
The two noticed and nodded, as they followed the order. However, before the two could even make a step forward, foreign words can be heard in the enemy trenches. The words spoken were full of haste, as if they were full of hatred, as if they were ready to open fire.
Multiple lights shined brightly to the enemy trenches all at once, as machine-gun fire a gun can be heard loudly, spilling to the fields with everlasting bullets.
Most of the men in the fields got shot, screaming in agony, yelling for help, with their bodies full of lead and covered with blood and mud. While some didn't even have the energy, as they were deprived of their souls.
With a sudden attack, soldiers around the fields started panicking, some tried to escape and gain the price of death. While others decided to fight back, aiming their rifles and shooting back to the enemy with all their worthless pride. While the bare minimum cowering in fear.
"I knew something wasn't right, there were no signs of activity in the trenches, nor guards patrolling to defend! They knew we are coming all along!!" Gunther yelled, aiming his rifle, pulling the trigger, and shooting back to them with his bullet. "But how!?" He whispered to himself.
"All right!! I get it now!!" Sergeant Wilhelm loudly replied, aiming his rifle and pulling the trigger as well.
Back to the main defensive trench, the two Generals gaze up, as both have a firm look as they could see light sparking to the distance with gunfire almost imminent everywhere.
"So much for a stealth offensive that you thought in mind. huh, General Braun," General Rhine mocked him. However, it didn't even sound offensive, but rather, it sounded like he was concerned
General Braun sighed in frustration, as he slowly gazes to his left.
Men from the 14th division that was supposed to be deployed a mere minute ago, but now they were now cowering in fear, with most of them trembling and their eyes widened just thinking of a sudden death once they step foot of that dreadful wasteland. Their hands shaking holding their rifles near their chest, while some gripped in their weapons harder hoping to kill their anxiety, it didn't. It looked as if they were completely immobilized, worthless, no help other than standing there in fear.
"So they used their strong senses of hearing for their advantage, huh? I should have noticed that!!" General Braun muttered with an angered expression, clenching fists tightly as he gazed in shame.
"There's no point pointing out our blunders General Braun. Besides, there's no good if we just stand here complaining all day," General Rhine said, as he overheard General Braun's mutters.
General Rhine took a deep breath after what he said to General Braun, and released it all at once, as he glared towards his division still cowering in fear.
"Men, ready those big guns of our and shred those dirty Elves to bits!! I don't want anyone to laze around, I want those bombardments to be fired as quickly as possible!!" General Rhine yelled behind the soldiers of the trench, with his deadly glare immediately scaring the artillery division.
After what he said the soldiers hurriedly went into the positions of the artillery, as they started to aim to the enemy trenches.
"Men!! Ready yourselves, because once that first artillery piece is fired I want all of you to charge to the fields with no fear!! Remember what your fighting for here!!" General Rhine yelled aggressively towards his own men, as all the troops towards him gazed at him. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath and release it, as he slowly opened his eyes and continued his speech in a much lighter tone. "For the Confederation."
The troops who were once cowering in fear gazed towards him with pride, as their low morale instantly faded away as they were reminded of what they were fighting for all this time.
"FOR THE CONFEDERATION!!" the soldiers yelled in unison, gazing towards the trenches with no fear carrying around their backs.