35 Miles Southeast of Pelisa
The trench warfare grew on. The more time passed, the dimmer the chance of peace. The soldiers were hiding in their trenches, the planes roaring overhead dropping bombs on the beaten landscape and shooting down enemies from both sides. They barely wanted to be out in the open of the trenches, much less run across No Man's Land.
The command center would receive a priority call, alerting them of their reinforcements. A sergeant would move out of the bunker to go see what they were able to retrieve.
Ten steps from the safety of the bunker.
The open sky was menacing. The metal beasts of war thundered overhead, bullets and bombs and debris flying everywhere.
Fifty steps from the safety of the bunker.
The sergeant encountered a blown out part of the trench, still on fire from a recently dropped bomb. A medic was tending to a screaming soldier, the soldier clutching his bleeding arm.
Hundred steps from the safety of the bunker.
The sergeant ran, a moving target was harder to hit. The reinforcements were at the cross of Trenches H05 and V26, and he was currently running along the length H04 at the cross of V13.
Hundred-fifty steps from the safety of the bunker.
He'd see one of the new artillery cannons further down, part of the reinforcements, and taking up a large amount of space. One of the operators would notice, waving to the sergeant, making others poke their head around the corner of H05 and V26.
Hundred-eighty steps from the safety of the bunker.
The high-pitched whistle of metal flying in close would pipe up in the trenches.
Hundred-eighty-two steps.
"INCOMING!"
Hundred-eighty-three-and-a-half steps.
The sergeant wouldn't get to finish putting his foot down before there would glimmer of metal in his vision. The canister would slam into the ground, detonating on impact and exploding. From behind, the soldiers would see a violent cloud of fire and gore get thrown just over the lip of the trench and back down onto the muddy ground. From the front, the artillery would only see the fire, then no more sergeant aside a shredded leg and a burning helmet.
It'd take ten minutes before a different soldier returned to the bunker, alerting the command unit of the reinforcements and the death of the sergeant.
No time for grief, they had a war to focus on.
Five hours later, the artillery would be set up in the middle of the trench lines. The soldiers would hold their breaths, waiting for the signal. There would be a shout that would echo across the trenches before the pound of artillery filled the air, raining shells down across the enemy lines. The planes would reconvene, focusing their attacks around the artillery laden area to stop any side advances to protect the area.
After five minutes of relentless fire, the soldiers would shout before scaling up the side of the trenches and rushing across the wasteland, jumping around undetonated ordinances and sharp barbed wire.
The troops would enter the trenches just as the artillery fire stopped, the ground troops clearing out any remaining soldiers as they worked to secure the trenches. They'd manage to cross one thousand feet of ground and clear 1 mile of trenches, causing some of the enemy to retreat further into their territory. Their soldiers would begin digging across No Man's Land, going to connect their new acquisition with the rest of the trench lines.
The commanding officers of the Weracht army were pleased to send the word on to the central command, a three month stalemate finally turning in their favor.
