Story: An Unknown Soldier

December 18th, 2017.
Dear diary. Today, I was conscripted into the 3rd army. Apparently if you volunteer then you are signed to the 2nd army. If you are a payed soldier then you are in the 1st army. If you are, like me, a conscript then you go to the 3rd army. From what I gathered, they use the 3rd army for all major offensives, 2nd army for as defensive units and the 1st army as military police. The 3rd army is full of many people from many professions, though most were unemployed before they got drafted, like me. Had I known that they were conscripting all unemployed people, I would have volunteered. At least then I would have had gotten a decent weapon. We have to share a bolt-action rifle, made 50 or so years ago, between 2 people. I for one do not get a rifle. I got one hour training before they sent me here and most of the training was how to reload the rifle with ease. That was this morning. My hands are still sore. I have to hope that someone near me dies so I can get their rifle, otherwise I will have to rush the enemy bare fisted, since they have machine guns, I do not think it will be a fair fight.

December 19th, 2017.
Dear diary. Last night… it was a slaughter. We attacked as soon as it became night. We pushed forward. I kept trying to stay behind cover, holes created by artillery and fellow soldiers, like Lieutenant Rikrak had told us before the offensive began. No mans land is full of corpses at the moment. Most of the rifles were recovered. I now know how they decide who to promote in the 3rd army, they simply promote those who make it back with a rifle. I was promoted to corporal like everyone else with a rifle. In a way, I feel privileged. Fate has decided that I am worthy for now. When we came back from no mans land, Lieutenant Rikrak gave all corporals one clip. I guess it is unlikely that we will even use that clip. 5 bullets. It is more then enough considering the circumstances. Some of our soldiers stayed in the artillery holes after the retreat was called. They were shot by the enemy forces when they tried to make it back during the morning. I am sure there are more but they are smart enough to come back during the next offensive which will be tonight. We got lots of recruits today. The army seems to not be concentrating on the unemployed anymore. They are now mass conscripting homosexuals. I asked Lieutenant Rikrak why that was the case and he simply replied that Marshal Baktok considers them useless in the long run because they cannot have children. Lieutenant Rikrak also told me that Marshal Baktok has already started to conscript all people above the age of 50 who can walk and hold a gun. Lieutenant Rikrak told me that if someone has to die, it is better that the old die and not the young. Even though he was quoting Marshal Baktok, he made a good point. I do not know many more times I can survive this sort of thing.

December 20th, 2017.
Dear diary. Today’s offensive went well. The enemy attacked us before we them. Perhaps they thought we were low on manpower because we attacked them every night? It does not matter why they did it. We quickly overwhelmed them with an immediate counteroffensive before they could even reach half-way into no mans land. After we defeated the men who did not retreat, we proceeded onto the enemy trenches. The machine gunners were too busy trying not to hit their own retreating men to kill a significant number of us. When we got there we outnumbered them 2 to 1. Not even their artillery could stop us. We are invincible. Lieutenant Rikrak has told us that tonight we are not making an offensive. We can finally have a good sleep.

December 21st, 2017.
Dear diary. Today I have decided not to talk to anyone anymore. Every time I make a friend they die that night. I wish I could write about the funny moments I have had during these past 4 days but it only reminds me of the dead. I do not wish to remember the dead. 10 or so men were ordered to strip everything from the people who had died in no mans land. There were so many corpses it is unbelievable. The clothes, guns and everything else was given to those of us who didn’t not have enough supplies. We have captured some enemy guns and ammunition boxes but we sent them away. I now realise that I have not seen Lieutenant Rikrak smile once since I got here. I know why. I killed someone last night. I shot him at close range. Then I bashed his head in with my rifle butt just to be sure. Today I have more time to write but nothing has really happened except the occasional artillery barrage. Sometimes they score a hit, most times the miss our trench. It does not matter because every afternoon we get more recruits, hundreds more. Still not enough rifles to go around though.

December 22nd, 2017.
A massive counter-offensive was committed by the enemy. They managed to flush us out of our new trench and back into our old one. Because of the 2nd army which was stationed in our old trench, the enemy was not able to gain more ground then that. After the defeat the 2nd army also retreated to a trench behind ours. Lieutenant Rikrak told us that the 1st army will also be stationed in the trench behind ours so if we retreat from this trench we will be shot for treason. When we retreated from our new trench, we had to leave behind the wounded. I can still hear them calling for help.

December 23rd, 2017.
We made an offensive for the first time with artillery support. We attacked at midnight this time. I think half of them were asleep when we attacked. I was promoted to Sergent today. Everyone has been given one grenade and told that if you are surrounded by the enemy, you should pull the grenade. I remember when I was younger and counted days. Now I count hours. Every second I am alive I feel happy not to be dead. This diary has become my only means of escape. I have kept it with me even when I go into no mans land. If I die, I hope that someone finds this diary.