Main execution, phase 2

“Fifty... fifty, fifty, fifty...”

“As predicted, Alex.”

“Yes, Ella, you were brilliant with the fake tracks, the encirclement and so on, but clearly you need to read up on your classics.”

“I read philosophy classics, not the old battles from the Romans, or even the Greeks. You must have had a lot of time on your hands before the war.”

“I had... Not much to do in the winters as a gardener.”

“Reinforcements crossing Nagold. Opening fire.”

The good old Caesar. The battle of Alesia against Vercingetorix. Caesar had surrounded a village with one wall, then had built a second wall around it to hold off the reinforcements. We didn’t have walls, but we had split our troops to encircle it in successive surprises, killing them, weakening them. They either called in the reinforcements or they lost indeed all their men to be besieged again. Snipers at three sides behind them in the east, two snipers in front of them, uphill. And ten extra to counter the reinforcements, in foxholes, and heavily armed. Now we really brought out the big guns. Or the big toys.

Houses blew up all of a sudden.

This was not a village. It was a minefield of carefully prepared charges. Suddenly blowing up by either remote detonation or by cables running deep under the snow. Grenade launchers were fired at enemy positions in the village, and at the same time the reinforcements were shocked and terribly awed, by machine gunfire. A present from the arsenal. They were in a crossfire. A lot of the reinforcements fell at the first hellish fire. They were pounded and had only uphill to go. Or south or north. Where the real mines lay. The village was on fire now and bullets and grenades fell upon them. The reinforcements tried desperately to get out, but were met by more machine gun fire and sniper fire, or simply **** rifle fire. If a plane had bombed the village it couldn’t have done it any better.

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning...”

But I didn’t have napalm, nor planes, but fire and brimstone was just as good. There was no cover for the reinforcements. It was slaughter. The village was no cover at all. It was a massacre.

“Alright, blow up the remaining charges in the village. Then stop firing at all sides. Then bring in the shields.”

You would think steel shields were useless at this day and age. But they were still used in battles nowadays. They used them in Ukraine. We used them in the second battle to cover our retreats. I didn’t want to lose people by some lone surviving gunman, in case he survived.

All was silent now. Except for the screaming of men wounded in this one sided battle.

“Report.”

“Squad West, two wounded, minor.”

“Squad North, one wounded, minor.”

“Squad South, okay.”

“Squad East 1, okay.”

“Squad East 2, okay.”

“S1 okay.” “S2 okay.” “S3 okay.” “S4 okay.” “S5 okay.”

“Ooph...”

“Three wounded, Ella. Three.”

“Minor ones, Alex. Not life threatening.”

Losing an eye is not life threatening...

“List minor wounds.” I radioed.

“Squad west, shrapnel from explosion, glanced shoulder of Freia. Bullet grazed arm of Livia.”

“Squad north, bullet grazed arm of Catherina.”

“See, Alex, all fine, we’re all fine.”

“It’s not done yet. One idiot with a grenade...”

“They will shoot before they near them. We told them a thousand times.”

Indeed, I could hear the systematic pistol shots. Clearing the village, clearing the river valley. Cries were cut off. Whining cut off. It took a long time. But then it was finally done.