Rise

September 15, 1916.

The attack whistle shrieked.

"Start the engine!" Captain Davies commanded.

Weaver pulled the lever that began the movement of the spark plugs in the engine which in turn started the rest of it. I had spent my time inspecting my work station, one machine gun and what seemed to be almost like a cannon also mounted in my pillbox. I looked over at Paul and he gave me a thumbs up, symbolizing he was ready for battle.

"You ready, driver?" Captain Davies shouted over the engine.

Sheppard rotated his torso around and nodded, then returned to face forward and leaned down to begin moving the tank. I began smiling slightly, almost overwhelmed with ecstasy for an unknown reason. The tank jolted forward and began moving, shaking everyone around inside. I looked out the window I had and watched as the infantry sprinted out of the trenches and across the battle field. We slowly came up behind them, rolling meter by meter forward. Then it began, the machine gun fire from the Germans. Men were torn apart, their arms and legs being torn at the seams, some unfortunate souls having their head cut clean off. Some fell to the ground in a fate worse than death, left to watch as their allies fall around them, they themselves bleeding in the mud, soon to return back to the earth.

I felt sick, my stomach churned, I was on the verge of vomiting at my station, but I managed to keep it in as I took deep breaths. I feel onto my back against the tank's walls for a moment to regain what little consciousness I had. I shook my head after I felt better and got back into position. Enemy fire wizzed past us, bullets flying everywhere and hitting the tank without them knowing. Then the artillery barrage began. The artillery rained hell upon the German trench in front of us, which in turn caused the Germans to abandon the trench and fall back to the their secondary trench line. One German was hit directly by it, the only surviving part of his body being his arm, flying several meters into the air then returning back to the ground.

The infantry force had dropped into the trench, using their bayonets to stab through anyone they found on the other side. None of our men came up out of the trench but remained in there as planned.

"Alright, kick up the speed driver! That's our cue!" Captain Davies advised.

The tank sped up only slightly, but enough. I looked into the trench, worried we would fall into it, but we rolled over it, becoming almost a bridge across it. I was relieved then focused on the enemy in front of me. The machine guns began. The Germans thought the infantry were approaching. The tank emerged from the smoke of the artillery.

"Open fire! Tear them to shreds!" Captain Davies yelled.

I aimed the mounted cannon towards on of the machine gun nests, and pulled the trigger. Immediately, at least ten men had lost their lives, all from the pull of a trigger. Paul took his shot and punctured a hole into the trench line further off on the right side. The attack whistle blew from the Germans, and they rose from the trenches and sprinted at us. A lot of them kept their eyes closed which would only lead to their demise, many kept them open, only to be frozen where they stood. I used the machine gun and began sweeping across the left side of the battlefield, Paul doing the same on the right. Tens of men fell by the second. I watched a man fall onto his back, then he yelled out for mercy and prayed to the Lord, only for his prayer to be cut short by a bullet going through his helmet. One man had his abdomen burst open, his internal organs spill out before his very eyes, his life too cut short by a bullet.

The line advanced along with the German retreat. We began our crossing of the trench, then a German had thrown a grenade to attempt to hinder our progress which only worsened for them. I turned the machine gun to face the trench line to our left. Tens of men's eyes stared at me, filled to the brim with fear and tears. I bit my lip and closed my eyes and unleashed the cold and merciless touch of death upon all of them. Men who simply wanted to retreat to live another day, men whose lives were ended because of a duty I was enlisted to accomplish. Paul did the same on the right side of the trench. The tank sputtered in the mud of the trench.

"Sutton, with me!" Captain Davies commanded.

I opened my eyes and watched him exit the tank.

"Help me clear this mud out of the tracks," he said as he began clearing the mud.

I used my hands to begin clearing out the mud from tank treads. After we had cleared all the mud, the tank forced itself up onto the ground above, stopping awaiting for us to renter. We climbed in and got back to our stations, I closing the door behind me. I watched hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Germans running for their very lives back to the tertiary trench. Sheppard noticed a dip in the trench, and began for it, giving us a chance to clear the trench again. The infantry pushed alongside us, slaughtering everyone in their path. An unstoppable iron force.

We approached the dip, a poor German man's timing being very unfortunate, the triangle object on the front crushing him, splitting him into two, killing him instantly. His foot had been caught on barbed wire and he tripped, slowly watching and screaming for help as the tank came upon him. I watched his death. I could not handle it, I opened the door of the tank and projectile vomited onto the mud of the trench, as it went on for several long and slow seconds. My inability to keep my composure allowed the left side of the trench to retreat, while Paul decimated the right side.

I regained my posture and composure and returned to my station after closing the door. We pressed on forward through the battle field. I had hardened myself in that moment to the death I was causing, so that I may grieve those whose lives I wrongfully took after the battle. The entire battlefield was gray and destroyed and filled with mud and blood, trees missing branches and blackened by ash, bodies missing parts and skin, men lying face down in the mud never to be recognized, and eventually, forgotten.

The bullets I controlled rained across the battlefield, ending many Germans' lives. I watched them fall into the mud, then I moved on to the next, and the next, and the next. A grenade came from out of the trench, and landed right next to the track, immobilizing the tank entirely.

"We need to evacuate, Tozer! Sutton! Man those guns and defend us while we join the attack force!"

Paul and I continued raining death upon our foes, every single one until they were all in the trenches and our squad mates had left the tank. I stayed and defended while Paul made his way out. After he dropped into the mud, I fired one last cannon shot into the trench and caused disorder among the men, then fled from the tank into the mud, stumbling as I came in contact with the ground.

"We don't have our rifles lads, so we use our pistols to assist the attack force. The plan continues as normal, but now we are vulnerable. Remember men, we fight for king and for country!" Captain Davies exclaimed, the man really knew how to give a speech.

I readied my pistol and ran out with my squad mates toward the trench line. Friendly infantry began dropping into the trench taking out the Germans. We flowed into the trench, the Captain going first then myself then everyone else. I dropped onto a German and beat his skull repeatedly with his helmet, conserving my ammo. I grabbed his rifle and made it my own and used it against his comrades. One German grabbed me and struggled and fought me. I kicked his shin and staggered him, then flipped him over my shoulder, shouting with adrenaline coursing through my body. I ended his life with a bayonet pierce through the heart. I used the same bayonet to charge at an enemy, launching myself up onto his chest to easily come down upon him, using the bayonet almost as a spear. The sight of myself using this man as a step stool for his own demise seemed to inspire my allies, as they pushed on and fought harder and harder, or at least I hope.

"Chase the bastards out!" Captain Davies shouted after shooting an enemy in the skull.

I peeked my head over the trench and fired upon the retreating soldiers. They had no trench left to go to. Gunfire rang out all around me, my teeth were gritted and my breath steady. I took down another 7 Germans retreating before they made it to the clearing and out of sight. We all cheered victoriously, how wrong we were.