The Sound of Guns in the air

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 01-23-2007, 04:54

Boom!Boom!Boom!, the sounds of guns in the air as they rain death upon me and my fellows. The officer is heard yelling "To the frontline! To the front! Do not let the Austrians through!Wake up you dogs and man your stations!". I wake up and pick up my rifle, and go to the frontline. I run toward the front trenches and......

Boom!

The trench is hit with a shell of artillery and I fall to the ground, barely missing the place where the artillery hit. I wipe the dirt off my face and look in front of me.

Nothing.

Nothing but a gaping whole in the earth where the section of trench was. hell, there weren't even bodies. Just,

Nothing.

I grabbed my.....wait! This wasn't my rifle, but I grabbed it anyway. I tried regaining my footing, but another shot hit the line and I fell back down, out cold.

....
....
....

I regained consciousness. My officer grabbed me and shouted "Grab your rifle and grab a bayonet, they're coming!". I grabbed a rifle and attached the bayonet, and waited.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

The artillery quieted down, but now there was,

Nothing.

I hear the sounds of whistles and I see men run from their trenches into,

Ours.

I fired my rifle once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, reloaded, once, twice, thrice, fou- WHACK!

I fell to the ground.

An Austrian was about to fire his pistol into me, when I kicked his gut. He backed away, and I grabbed my rifle and hit him with it. Likewise, he grabbed a rifle and hit me with it. We wrestled and blood oozed on my uniform. At first, I backed up, thinking I was shot. Then I looked in front of me, at my supposed shooter, and I saw what happened.

Blood on his helmet.

He was shot point blank in the head.

He looked at me, coldly, and fell to the ground. My officer stood looking at me, with his pistol pointed. I walked up to him, ignoring all that went around me, and stared at him face to face. I saluted. As did he.

My name is Alexander Ajax, and I am here in Macedonia holding the line for Greece against Austria-Hungary in 1918.

And this is my story.

**Ludens** · 01-27-2007, 15:19

Impressive. I really like the Spartan way in which you manage to convey a trench experience, and the ending is well done too. I think this is your best story yet.

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 01-27-2007, 16:56

After the attack, the Austria trenches were mostly empty. They had lost most men in the attack. Our officer walked to the front of the trenches and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, everyone. I have important news" As he spoke, we would sit on barrels or boxes even on the bloody ground "The German Empire has been broken through! At Cambrai, the Hindenburg Line was broken through! This means that we will win and go home to our families!" Everyone cheered.

Except one.

He spoke up, "Officer, what about jobs after the War? And what of the Austrians and Bulgarians?"

Silence.

"Well that is the next telegram I got" the officer said. "Greek Company S will be sent to Skra-di-Legen to capture the Bulgarian position, why? Because they are the veterans they are Company Spartan!"

What he said was true. Company S has seen alot of action. We were nicknamed the Spartans.

I was in Company S. I looked into soldiers in my company, they stared rock solid, yet I could see the fear in their eyes.

One man came up to me.

"Hello Ajax, it's been a long time" the soldier said.

I lit up. It was my old friend, Nicholas. He had always been my childhood friend. He was in a different company than me.

"Nicholas! how has it been?" I asked.

"Other than the shell shock, smell and fighting, I've been pretty good" he said.

"Company S, pack up and go to the convoy waiting at the rear!" the officer said.

"Sir Yes Sir!" Company S shouted.

I packed up and Nicholas stood next to me and said, "It's said that heroes will be remembered through time, Ajax, do you think we will be remembered?"

I put my hand on my shoulder and said, "Nicholas, we will always be remembered, by our families, by our friends. History will talk about how the Greeks fought in Macedonia. How we defended Balkan democracy. How we gave our lives defending what we love."

Nicholas smiled and said "Well, Ajax, I only hope you make it"

"Ajax! Get over here! Onto the convoy! Go Go Go!" the officer shouted.

"Yes sir, good bye Nicholas" I ran toward the convoy. Nicholas went back to the frontline trenches.

The convoy started moving, I am going to Skra-di-Legen.

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 02-01-2007, 06:49

Nicholas wiped the sweat off his forehead. He loaded his rifle, and prepared. The Austrians had new arrivals, Bulgarians and Germans. It seemed the Central Powers were more commited to defeating us than we though, Nicholas said to himself.

And then the guns.

They fired endlessly, from both sides. Every so often one would hit the trench, but little damage was done. Up in the sky, planes from the French and Greek airforce fought the German and Austrians. They would spin and turn, like birds. Every so often, they would spit at each other, and a plane would come smoking,

Down.

Then there were the whistles.

The enemy rushed out of the trenches, in numbers far greater than before. Nicholas fired into the mass of men.

"Come on you-"

SHUNK!

The bullet hit Nicholas in the chest. He staggered back, gasping.

He looked ahead, the officer was in front, pistol firing into the crowd. He was shot, too, by a Bulgarian, he fell to the ground. There position was overrun. He let out an odd sigh, and then, with a dazed look, slunked over, and died.

**Warluster** · 02-01-2007, 07:03

Whoa! Great story, but is it over already? I like the way you describe the guns, and planes.

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 02-02-2007, 03:21

"Bastards!" Ajax screamed. It echoed down the length of the whole bunker. A few soldiers looked. The officer, who's name was unknown, but everyone called him the officer, ran down the hall to see what was going on.

"Sir, they got him, they got everyone there!" Ajax screamed again.

"I know, I know, trust me Ajax, you aren't the only one. I too have suffered tragedy because of the War" the officer began.

"When Greece entered the War, my brother enlisted. I had just came to the Army. He fought in Serbia. He was killed when the Austrians took him prisoner. Ever since I can't think of him. The pain of losing someone is almost unbearable." the officer paused as a soldier gave him a telegram.

"Alright" the officer began, "We are moving back to the front. We are pushing into Serbia, gentlemen. We will redevous with the French at Skra-di-Legen.

Ajax got prepared immediately. He got onto the convoy. Tey were going to pay for what they had done, the Austrians. They rolled on toward Skra-di-Legen.

Skra-di-Legen

The officer jumped off to meet the French commander.

The officer started speaking French, he was educated well, Ajax thought.

The officer came back.

"Men, we are being folded into the French Macedonian Unit. From there we will hit through the Bulgarian lines, circling around the Austrians and liberate Belgrade."

Ugh, it was going to be a tough war.

**Warluster** · 02-02-2007, 06:57

Oops, i just realised it was Nicolas who got hit, not Ajax

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 02-04-2007, 04:48

As I enter the Army, I will not be able to continue this story.

Though, anyone can pick up where I left off. But, as a gift, I will be posting one last chapter.

**Warluster** · 02-04-2007, 07:51

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FRANKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Darn it, once again, that episode of The GodFather sticks in my mind, sigh.................................

Anyway, it was a very good story, and I dont think anyone will pick up from it because it is your own personal writing style, and no rwo people have thr same style.

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 02-04-2007, 18:44

I will end this with my last chapter.

"Into Belgrade!" the officer screamed.

We charged into the city under fire.

Screams and shouts rang in my ears.

"Ajax! There! In the bunker!" the officer grabbed me and jumped in.

And there they stayed.

And waited.

While the sound of guns in the air echoed.

The room went dark.

"Anyone have a light?" a soldier asked.

Ajax took out a match.

A shell hit the roof of the bunker.

And we fell, and the match lit out, and it was dark.

"Ah crap!" Ajax shouted.

The bunker door opened, and two Austrians stood there.

Ajax fired his rifle.

One fell, and then-

GASP!

Ajax was hit.

I managed to drop the last Austrian.

"Dammit! Ajax!" the officer jumped toward me.

"Come on Ajax, stay with us" the officer ordered.

"Medic! Medic!" a soldier shouted.

Ajax looked up into the sky, the roof was blown out.

He saw light and the clouds parted.

He saw his ancestors, and he saw Nicholas.

"Sir" Ajax began, the officer looked at him "make those Austrians go to Hell"

Ajax laughed and coughed and then,

Nothing.

The officer looked at Ajax's face, and closed his eyes.

"I sure will, Ajax, I sure will" the officer got up.

Epilogue

Ajax and Nicholas would later be given a Victory Medal and a Victoria Cross, for bravery and suffering through hardship before they died.

The officer would buy a house later in the small mountain village of Askos, he died peacefully in 1942.

Dedicated for the brave Greek soldiers who fought in Macedonia to help save freedom and democracy in the Balkans.

Eleftheria i thanatos! Victory or death!