Forgive Me Baba

Hell On Earth

At the early hours of Tuesday, we were sent to the heavily infested area that has been crawling with rebels; where the heat of battle was raging on.

Our commanding Sergeant ordered all of us to jump done from the trucks and armed with our M-16 rifles, we engaged in a heavy gunbattle with the rebel fighters.

The sight was a ghastly one as most of our men were hit by enemy gunfire. I saw a man who wet his pants as he snuck under a tree and hid there, saying a prayer whilst clasping his rifle to his chest; unfortunately for him a mortar landed at where he was and he was blown to shreds.

Then came the heavy bombardment from enemy planes which killed a lot of our soldiers; thus throwing us in to a fit of confusion. I was scared; my heart beat louder than you could ever think of, I heard the cries of our men as they were being gunned down by the enemy.

Some of our men had to toss away their weapons away and run for their lives, but unfortunately for them, a sergeant saw them and shot a good number of them on the back (It's considered a crime to retreat from a warzone without orders from the commanding officer).

To make matters worse, some of our men resorted to suicide rather than be captured and killed, whilst some hurled grenades at the enemy only for them to be killed by enemy snipers. Immediatly, I saw a rebel fighter who was armed with an RPG and was about to pull the trigger; fortunately for me I was able to take him out with a clean headshot.

As I was recovering from the shock of having killed a human being for the first time in my life; a rebel fighter jumped on me and tried to shove his knife into my chest. We brawled for a while, until I reached for my pistol and fired two shots into the man's guts, killing him in the process.

Feeling scared, weak and exhausted, I forced myself to stand on my feet and before I realized what was happening, a mortar landed before me and I fell to the ground, unconscious.

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"Rasheed!, Rasheed!"; a voice called out and immediately I was violently pushed. I opened my eyes and it was my commanding officer.

"Stand up man, the fight is over, the rebels have retreated…..for now"; he said extending his hand to me to help me get on my feet.

"Yes, sir"; I said and as I tried to stand, I immediately fell on the floor, drowning my head in the sand and blood that have sprawled across the battlefield.

The Sergeant then gave me his canteen so that I can be able to use his water to watch my face. After I was done, I thanked him and went to join the medics in bringing in the men whom were injured in the attack.

I saw a soldier who was split in half from a mortar fire, his limbs were splattered all over the floor; we had so many casualties that day and for once in my life I felt grateful to God for keeping me alive.

We counted our dead and they were up to 200 men who lay slain on the battlefield; since there was no time to bury these men, our commanders ordered us to strip those dead soldiers naked of every possession they had and then set fire on their corpses. We did as we were told, and the remaining of us who were in good shape marched into enemy territory for the final offensive.