Kaboom!!
A cannonball suddenly exploded next to me, the heat wave and the sand raised by the cannonball covered me completely, leaving me stunned.
"Cannonball..?" I murmured confused, how could they have shot at me with a damn cannonball?!!
I looked around feeling absurd, around me, the vision of a chaotic battlefield appeared before me, artillery shells, cannons, and groups of soldiers in German military uniforms.
The soldiers held their weapons and fired constantly at the enemies in front of them, of course, the enemy did not fall behind and returned fire causing a rain of bullets and artillery shells.
"This is real.." I murmured realizing the situation, the smell of gunpowder and blood in the air, the howling of shells passing by and the bloody impact of bullets hitting the human body made me realize this.
But despite that, I still can't believe this is real, a moment ago I was exploring an old World War II submarine as part of my job as an archaeologist and the next I am here, in the middle of a battlefield, that doesn't make sense.
"Ammo! Frank! Ammo, get the damn ammo..." Suddenly, a German gunner shouted.
Quickly I realized that the German gunner was addressing me, then I looked at the ammo box not far from me, it seems that my new name is Frank, a war "Ball Boy".
I decided not to think too much, I extended my hands to pick up the ammo box and walked towards the German soldier, who frowned upon seeing me.
Then I realized, I had walked like a fool towards there, I should have crawled on the ground, that's a basic skill for a soldier, otherwise I wouldn't live long, so I immediately lay down on the ground.
"Damn, I hate this, why do I have to be in a damn war?" I cursed in my mind for being in this situation, but there's nothing I can do because I'm already here and I can only do my best to survive.
The machine gun buzzed in my ears, I recognized it as the German general-purpose MG-34 machine gun, I know its performance and history very well, for example, it is a general-purpose machine gun, both light and heavy, which can use 50, 200 or even 250-round belts, as well as 75-round drum magazines, among other options.
But this was the first time I saw it spitting fire tongues in front of me, especially when the bullets it is firing are actually killing the enemies one after another.
Gradually, the sound of gunfire weakened, the gunner raised his head and looked forward.
"Alright, the enemy has fled!" These words made my heart, which I thought I had lost, return to my chest.
Instantly I fell to the ground like a deflated rubber ball gasping for air, I tried to untie the helmet strap around my neck to breathe more comfortably, but I gave up after struggling for a while.
"What's wrong, Frank? You looked like my autistic brother." The gunner removed the machine gun and asked.
"Has anything ever been normal? It would be strange if one day it becomes normal." Said another German soldier with his face completely covered in soot kicking me in the legs.
The German soldiers laughed out loud, they were already used to this foolish boy, but they can't deny that he has some luck to always come out alive.
I ignored their cynicism, now I just want to lie down and rest, then I'll think about what the hell is going on, but my wish was mercilessly shattered.
"Keep moving forward!" An officer shouted and then turned to me, shouting: "Frank, get your ass up and make it move, otherwise I'll leave you here forever!"
I'm not sure if what the officer said is true or false, but I know that it was not uncommon for German troops to shoot deserters and passively fighting soldiers, so I panicked a bit and because my legs were weak, I almost fell to the ground again.
Seeing this, the German soldiers burst into laughter once more, I quickly stood up and followed the team while trying to sort out my thoughts.
"I'm sure of two points, first, I'm in the desert, to be precise, in Libya, our unit is currently pursuing the British army.." That's right, now I'm part of the German army, designated as the 5th Light Armored Division, from my memories I know that Rommel landed in Libya with this unit and saved the Italian army on the verge of collapse.
Knowing this at least is not so bad, because at least I know that our army will win the battle, but who can be sure of that? War doesn't work like that at all.
"Second, this German soldier named «Frank», or rather me, is very unpopular with his comrades." This is probably because Frank is not so good at charging at the enemy in battles, which is the same as me, I have no interest in serving as cannon fodder!
Therefore, my task consists of transporting ammunition to the front-line soldiers wherever necessary, for example to machine gunners, riflemen, etc..
To be honest, I don't dislike that position, at least I don't have to wield the Kar-98 rifle to fight against enemy soldiers, which means less risk of dying.
"Kar-98.." I murmured looking at the rifle in my hands, in my previous life I collected some of these babies as a collection, but I never thought that one day I would actually have to carry one into the battlefield.
"Hey, ballast!" The gunner shook the empty water bottle in his hand a few meters ahead and shouted: "Is there any water left?"
"No, no more!" I shook the canteen on my waist with my hand, which was also empty, by the way, I forgot to mention that Frank's nickname on the battlefield is "Ballast".
"Damn it!" The machine gunner cursed: "How can the logistics troops move slower than us? We won't die fighting the enemy, but instead we're going to die of thirst!"
"Shut up, Filthy!" The officer interrupted the gunner: "That way at least you'll be alive when the supplies arrive, so stop wasting saliva!"
"Yes, sergeant!" The gunner and the German soldiers smiled knowingly, the machine gunner's name is Filthy, nicknamed Big Bear, due to his strong and bear-like physique.
He always likes to show off his muscles in front of Frank intentionally or unintentionally.. which sometimes makes Frank feel like he's being seduced.
Later, it turned out that he just likes to show off in front of weak people, and Frank is obviously a weak person.
"Here!" The officer approached me and handed me a canteen and said: "Drink mine, keep it!"
"Thank you, sir!" I said with gratitude, giving water to others in the desert is not an ordinary gesture.
The officer's name is Otto, he is the squad leader, because he was a baker before joining the army, the soldiers called him "baker" in addition to his military rank of "sergeant".
"Can we..." After walking for a while, I couldn't help but ask: "Can we stop to rest for a while?"
The baker smiled, looked at a plane flying above and said: "Ask him!"
I didn't understand what he meant at first, but soon I realized: Rommel always liked to sit in the plane and supervise his troops, so it couldn't be anyone else but General Rommel who is in the plane!