The battle wasn't that horrifying if you were in the trenches waiting for sun down so you can crawl back to the supply post. There was the slim possibility of a mortar falling directly beside you in the trench, but if you think about it much then you'd be paralysed by fear.
Yujer was waiting patiently for the sun to set. There were still 10 minutes but the battle was slowing down, the sounds of explosions were dimming, it was time to rest.
He wasn't a soldier, didn't have the guts to be one, so he was a transporter, his job was to carry things from the Supply post to the front lines. It wasn't a difficult job, you crawled from the supply post to the front lines and then you could sleep in the trenches and when the sun went down, you crawled back to the supply post. Easy Peasy.
Yujer did his supply crawl twice a night. He wasn't the best supply crawler, there were some people who did 3 crawls a night. He was envious of them. They got paid per crawl. All the money was tied to outcomes for the tertiary support systems. A lot of people did not like the system, but you couldn't argue with it, you want more money? Do more crawls and get the dough.
He slowly climbed up the trench wore his night goggles and started crawling towards the supply post.
He had to crawl for 7 km, why he wondered? Strict command from the higher ups, always crawl, no ducking, no running, only crawling.
He could just run, but then the pause on the battle was unofficial, wars don't stop because sun goes down. There is no reason to fight in low visibility as you'll be wasting bullets and not causing enough damage to justify the cost of ammo.
If you run on the battlefield, good chance some sniper will pick you off and add one more death to their count. Snipers maintain count, there is some contest, every army maintains stats, roughly. If you don't follow the rules of war you are going to end up as a stat on a board in some HQ.
Crawling is hard it takes a lot of effort, especially if your arms aren't strong enough, Yujer realised this the hard way, he should have taken the PE lessons more seriously. But he never thought he'd be participating in a war.
He used to think wars are just to keep the fear alive, but now he was participating in keeping the fear alive or so he thought.
You have to just focus on your destiny while crawling, if mortar falls near you, you pray that it doesn't kill you. It happens rarely as all crawling happens at night. But pray and move, pray and move, pray and move.
Ammo is important, if a soldier is in a predicament to save ammo or save you, he will save the ammo. Higher management has conveyed that while you are brave, you are also expendable and not more precious than the cargo you carry. It sucks but it is what it is.
You have to persevere for your family, you have to carry the cargo to its destiny because you want your country to win the war. You have to keep crawling because the soldiers on the front lines are depending on you. You have to keep your weakness aside and move continuously so that the chances of a mortar falling on you are less. You have to pray.
In the trenches, Yujer wrote letters to his parents, he used to talk about the situation and what was happening. He used to write long letters because he knew a lot of it will be censored in the name of national security. Spies are more active during wars or so the higher management told us.
We were also told to keep eyes on other crawlers and report if someone did something suspicious. They told us as we weren't soldiers we were the weak link. Imagine being called a traitor when you risk (not as much as a soldier) your life to supply ammo.
We all wanted an end to the war so we can take a breath, spend some time with the family and use the money that we were making risking our lives. But turns out if you mention this in your letters then it gets flagged and you will be kicked out of the army dishonourably.
Praying for the end of war is considered as cowardice. So we all prayed, privately.
Crawlers could be transferred to different battlefields depending on the needs of the army. Nobody wanted to go to the mountains, it was a death assignment.
On a mountain, there is no sunrise or sunset, the enemy attacks 24/7 and you have to crawl/ climb 24/7. If you get stuck or are circled then nobody will come to save you. Your best bet would be to pray for a landslide. God forbid you get captured by the enemy.
Crawling on flat land was easy. It was not a death assignment, well, you could die but better than being caught by the enemy.
If you get hurt while doing the job, you would be sent to the hospital where they'd treat you and send you back to the battlefield, if somehow you get hurt badly then you get to work at the factory where ammo gets made. Sounds like a cozy assignment, don't it? It isn't.
The wages are low, your hours are long, and the work environment is toxic, you inhale things that will make you sick for life. It is better to work on the battlefield, at least you will have a shot at normal life when the war is over, if you don't die, that is.
Yujer kept crawling.
You have to just focus on your destiny while crawling, if mortar falls near you, you pray that it doesn't kill you. It happens rarely as all crawling happens at night. But pray and move, pray and move, pray and move.
Ammo is important, if a soldier is in a predicament to save ammo or save you, he will save the ammo. Higher management has conveyed that while you are brave, you are also expendable and not more precious than the cargo you carry. It sucks but it is what it is.
You have to persevere for your family, you have to carry the cargo to its destiny because you want your country to win the war. You have to keep crawling because the soldiers on the front lines are depending on you. You have to keep your weakness aside and move continuously so that the chances of a mortar falling on you are less. You have to pray.
