No Man's Land in Zelhinan Chapter

Seven days passed since the first wave of Gantronese advanced into the ruins. There the defenders of Zelhinan waited in various hiding places for the first wave to enter their territory. Zema Ilam sprung their ambushes on the Gantronese flanks from alleys, buildings, and walls. Vestrisian Soldiers would mow them down if they were too thick for the ambushes. Most of the Zema Ilam used swords and spears as they attacked the Gantronese. Hundreds died on the first day when the defenders launched a ruthless ambush on their enemy as they entered their part of No Man’s land.

These attacks would occur twice a day as the Gantronese sent entire divisions in to crush the Zelhinan defenses. On one day the Gantronese sent in a hundred thousand against the defenders. When the Zema Ilam attacked they were nearly stunned by the numbers sent in. The Gantronese had more men this time and a battle had to be fought to repel this wave. Among the defenders in the ruins there was not a single Zema Ilam who wasn’t involved in that battle. Aveth and her fellow defenders felt overwhelmed by this large force of that was concentrated on their portion of No Man’s Land. They were located in the middle portion of the defensive flanks. The Gantronese had a plan to overrun a single portion of the defenses and flank the rest as they advanced deeper into the ruins. If their strategy succeeded they would even push on to the free part of Zelhinan.

That same day reinforcements from the Queen’s army arrived. Her arrival boosted morale all across the defensive lines of Zelhinan. Even though their morale increased and they fought with more ferocity, the Gantronese still overwhelmed them. Aveth fought for an entire day killing as many Gantronese as possible. Everyone around her fought for their lives as more and more Gantronese poured into the fight. Aveth must have killed well over a hundred enemies by the time her sword arm began to ache. She grew used to the pain over time and did not stop to let it rest in this battle. The streets became packed with Gantronese, Zema Ilam, Inatu, and Vestrisians who joined the dead in the afterlife. Aveth was so close to the enemy she could smell his breath among the stench of death and other odors that filled the air. Both forces were in close quarters that Zelhinan defenders died just as much as the Gantronese. It was a battle she would never forget for as long as she lived.

Aveth recalled what had saved them from annihilation. Tanks and machine-gunners who had rushed to the front came in and helped her comrades repel the Gantronese wave. At the time they were spared it was already dusk and the streets were getting dark. Very few Gantronese survived the slaughter and even fewer defenders survived that day. Even though it was a few days ago Aveth could still remember the smells that filled the air and events that unfolded before her eyes. Those memories were vivid to her that it seemed like they were happening again.

On the next day they heard that the Gantronese forced their way through the siege lines. This time the Gantronese were led by the Vearxal who cut their way through the Queen’s forces and allies. It was on the fifth day of the battle when this happened. According to various reports from the battlefield, and those who watched, the Gantronese had the upper hand. Many witnessed the Gantronese break through Zema Ilam, Muzad and Vestrisian ranks. Under the leadership of the Vearxal the enemy butchered its way to the settlements. Nothing went well for the Eastern flanks until someone stood up and led the defenders against the enemy.

That one figure was rumored to be a Zhenrai Knight among the Vestrisian Vanguard. His name was Corporal Chiecra Gwynor of the Vestrisian Vanguard. This Corporal Gwynor killed a few of the Vearxal and led his fellow defenders to victory. The Gantronese lost the Vearxal and retreated back to their defenses losing countless men on the way.

Yesterday they spent more time building up their defenses on every front. Today they had just repelled another small wave of Gantronese troops, which were remnants of the previous attack. This wave was the smallest wave Gantronese troops to attack their positions in no man’s land. All they had to do was wipe them out with a machine-gun. Half a dozen Gantronese managed to survive the massacre.

Aveth stared down the ruined street flanked by crumbling buildings and piles of rubble that used to be buildings. In her view she saw corpses of Gantronese troops all over the street stretching as far as the next few blocks. No one considered returning to the original plan of setting up ambushes. That was decided by the commanders after that one day the Gantronese overwhelmed them. Now they had more troops and could set up barricades and fortifications. During one of the previous attacks they lost a commander. Aveth was promoted to his rank and assumed control over the defenses of what used to be a complex of apartments and homes next to them. Most of these buildings were nothing less than rubble and ruins. There were a few structures that were still partially intact. Constant bombings and shelling brought most of these structures down to ruin. The defenders used the second or third stories of the structures. If they used any of the higher levels the ceilings would crumble from the weight. Anyone would just fall through the holes already formed from the shelling and bombing.

Under Aveth’s command the defenders reinforced their positions with barricades building walls of sandbags and using some rubble from the ruins. Extra supplies and reinforcements were shipped to them just before the morning attack.

“Do you think there will be another attack, Commander?” a soldier asked.

“There will always be another attack!” Aveth yelled at him. “The Gantronese are still here and continue to occupy Zelhinan!”

Her voice echoed allover the ruins of Zelhinan. Everyone around them stopped what they were doing and turned to her direction. Most believed her voice would draw the enemy to their positions. Aveth looked around her seeing everyone had stopped working.

“What the Mervice, I have not given orders to stop working! If the enemy hears my voice then let them hear it!” She shrieked in the direction of no man’s land. Her voice carried all across the ruins.

A young private approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. “Um…Commander, Are we moving into No man’s land?”

“No Private. Our Superiors advised us to hold our ground here.” She said rubbing his chin.

“Commander, the enemy comes again!” a soldier shouted. Aveth turned away from the young private and saw Gantronese banners up the street.

“Men get to your positions!” Aveth ordered.

Hundreds of defenders took their positions as hundreds more poured in and out of buildings taking defensive stances at windows, and walls. Others brought in extra ammunition and weapons up the front. Artillery teams rushed to their posts as tank crews fired up the tanks. Zedelets drove back to the free parts of Zelhinan to pick up any reinforcements or supplies. Aveth observed those under her command running towards their posts and bringing in weapons and ammo. She watched crewmen haul artillery rounds to artillery pieces and fuel to the back in case the enemy shot those. She ordered the fuel tanks to be spread out to reduce the size of the explosions in case any of them were hit.

Aveth turned the private. “Get me a rifle and be quick about it.”

“Yes Commander.” The private rushed to a weapons crate and picked uup a T.M. 13 rifle. He grabs some extra clips and returns to Aveth. She took both from him and loaded the rifle.

“Artillery opens fire!” She ordered as she placed the extra clips of ammo into her belt. Once she placed the last clip into a belt loop Aveth joined her troops with the private trailing behind her.

“Don’t hold back or give them any ground! Your duty to the Queen and Zelhinan is to hold this line!” Aveth yelled to the men under her command. Everyone that was in the artillery teams waited for her orders to fire.

Artillery rounds pounded the areas around the advancing Gantronese killing a few here and there. Several buildings collapsed from the impact. One mall building was destroyed by the artillery. The defenders under Aveth’s command heard shooting from other parts of the Zelhinan defenses. Aveth gave the command to machine-gunners and snipers of o unleashed a hailstorm of bullets into the enemy ranks. Through her sights Aveth watched hundreds fall and even more dive for cover as the artillery and defenders bombarded them.

“Riflemen, fire when the enemy gets close!” she ordered.

Behind her a radioman rushed up to her. “Commander, we have some reports!” he shouted above the artillery and shooting.

                         “What are they?” she yelled back even though he is next to her.

“What?” he asked confused.

“The reports!” she screamed in his face. Moments later the rest of her command opened fire with some return fire coming from the Gantronese. Aveth grabs the radioman and takes him to  a nearby shelter that used to be a vault to the sewers. It is now used a shelter and a commanders office with enough room for housing a few scores of troops. They went through a tunnel that led into the hall where men would be quartered. At the very back it was sealed by debris falling from the ceiling. It cut the tunnel off from the rest of the sewers. There was another chamber from the cave in, which was transformed into office space. As Aveth descended down to these quarters a Forsythan appeared from the office.

He walked up to them with haste. Aveth stopped in the middle of the room to let the Forsythan approach them.

“What is it Commander?” he asked coming closer to them.Both Zema Ilam could see a red birthmark covering a portion of his face from his forehead to his upper lip and trailing along the bridge of his nose. It was the width of his eye.

“Sergeant Gen I need you to take my place as commander for a while.” Aveth handed the large warrior her rifle and he ascends the tunnel to assume command over her troops.

Aveth returned her attention to the radioman. “Now tell me those reports. What are they?” she demanded quickly.

“The enemy was launchd their entire army into Zelhinan against our forces along the defensive lines, including here.” He answered her.

“How many are we talking?” She asked.

“About a million or so Gantronese.” He responded.

‘So they send a massive wave against us.’ Aveth thought. That many troops at once could break their defenses or deplete their numbers through constant fighting. This would turn out to be a battle for survival. Even though they had reinforcements they could still face defeat. The main bulk of her Queen’s armies were still besieging the Gantronese at the walls. The other half of Zelhinan’s defenders were at the wall.

“Are there any reports from our other defenders and the Queen’s armies?” Aveth asked as artillery kept firing above them.

“They’ve just repelled an assault led by the Vearxal-“

“That is old news!” she cut him off.

“Well Commander…the Queen’s forces have begun to clear out the Gantronese forces at the wall. It should take another week to clear them out.” The radioman told her.

“Good! Is there anything else?” she asked grabbing his arms.

“Yes, we’ve received reports from Dorntalla and Nevkamuu. Vestrisian Armour are gaining ground and forcing the Gantronese out. An entire army of tanks have crossed into Dorntalla to join the others there in a large tank battle all across Dorntalla. The Vestrisians are also assisted by the resistance there.” The radioman told the commander.

Aveth looked up and laughed with joy. “This is great news; soon the Gantronese will lose their grip over Zekmar.” She looked at him. Her smiled disappeared when she looked at him and saw the radioman’s face. His face didn’t share the same enthusiasm as she did.

“Commander.” He said in a quiet voice. Artillery and machine-gun fire could be heard outside. “The Gantronese… the Gantronese have…they have sent more troops into Zekmar.”

“How many men have they sent?” she hollered in disbelief.

“Another one million have been added to their garrison in Zekmar. That entire army alone is headed straight for Zelhinan!” He closed his eyes expecting her to kill him. She didn’t, Aveth let go of his arms and turned to the entrance.

“Return to your station and report to me asap if anything new comes up.” Aveth left the radioman in the vault alone.

Their defenses held off the Gantronese forcing them to take positions a mile away from their front line. No Man’s land shrunk to just a mile and a half width, depending on where the Gantronese forces stopped. That night both forces sent in patrols and raiding parties in small squads. The patrols found each other and mistook the other for a larger force. Every patrol sent one person back to report enemy movements. All the patrols were caught in a shoot out where most patrols died and the survivors fall back to the base. The opposing patrol would give chase to the remaining members of the retreating patrol. Some would be successful and shoot them as they ran from the scene. Others would chase them down to the opposing side. Those who’d chase the enemy down would face snipers and machine-gunners. Most patrols retreated back after losing most of their men. Some would die to the last man. There were occasions where both patrols would engage each other and kill the other off. It would come down to the last few or last man before one side gave up. The last ones would either flee or hold their ground against the enemy. Some did this knowing reinforcements would be coming this way. Most would return to base to bring more men the next day.

Each patrol that stayed put found shelter in a crater or under a building that still had some portions of a sturdy roof. It was a picky choice since they were looking for structures with roofs that weren’t on the brink of crumbling or collapsing. They’d often greet patrols who were lost on their way back to base or some stray animal roaming the ruins. Because of the positions of some patrols no man’s land shrank even more.

At dawn Commanders along the front would send in snipers or other patrols to break down the enemy and lost patrols. The patrols would be greeted by an enemy who was waiting for them or a fellow soldier camped out in a ruined building. Snipers discovered the patrols and hid among the ruins. Some attacked the enemy without warning. Others took a hidden position and waited for an opportunity to strike. Zelhinan’s No man’s land lit up with gunfire from snipers and patrols on both sides. For the entire day bother snipers and patrols hid and hunted the enemy down.

On the next day a group of raiders were sent in at dawn to attacked the encamped snipers and patrols with other snipers in the area. These snipers backed the raiders as they moved through the ruins. In response to these raids the other side would send in raiders after them or nearby snipers would pick them off from their hiding places. Some times the snipers would harass them for hours and attack their prey from different directions as they moved around. Skirmishes sparked up as both sides sent in squad after squad of raiders. It grew into a stalemate as skirmishes became heated battles. This forced both sides to bombard the area killing both enemies and comrades. Few returned to the safety of their fortified positions. Many survivors criticized their Commanders. Aveth and others allowed this while the Gantronese had their own men executed for failure.