No Man's Land II

Cont.

Half of his men jumped up the platforms and shot down at the charging Spaniards. M93 and Remington ammo coupled with krupp shells and nordenfelt ammo litter the battlefield as countless Spaniards fell at the same time these ammunitions scatter the field. Booming sounds of artillery and gunfire permeate the atmosphere, rhythmic sounds of death fill the air as the steady din of various guns add to the crescendo.

Then came the incoming sound of an artillery fire near his position.

A huge explosion from a krupp shell blew Aguinaldo off his feet. He lay for a moment in the stinking water mixed with shit and piss on the floor of the trench. He opened his eyes slowly. His ears are ringing and everything is blurry, a few seconds seemed to last like an hour as colour and sound returned to the world, his ears are bleeding and he is covered in dirt, blood and gunpowder as he feels his body for injuries, most are minor injuries but he will probably have hearing problems from now on as his ears are shot and he can't hear shit. The other magdalo soldiers near him grabbed him and stood in front of him to protect their leader. Emptying their clips toward the enemy as to cover fire, round casings litter the floor as they shot with everything they have.

He immediately stood up as an orphan boy run past him, the boy's family was caught in the crossfire so they had no choice but to stay in the trenches, their house was shot by artillery fire beyond recognition and his family was unfortunately killed by artillery fire too, a few hours after settling down the trenches. Aguinaldo looked at the trenches that they had lived in for quite some time now, the dug out that everyone used as a shelter is gone now, it is now a crater ruined by a lot of artillery fire, thoughts ran through his mind as he sighed and realization clicked, both him and the orphan were homeless now. With this sudden realization, Aguinaldo immediately grabbed another gun lying down the trenches, and returned to his battlestation.

The battle effort looks grim and hopeless.

Despite some losses due to the charge and the artillery fire of the magdalo faction, thousands of Spaniards were already too close for comfort, they were already occupying some places in the defense formation, it is now only a matter of time before they occupy the whole trenches and kill every magdalo in the vicinity. Artillery fire as offensive support are now already being shot towards their rear as to prevent the retreat of Aguinaldo's people . Worst of all, he can already see the various silhouettes of more reinforcements and what seems like a cavalry regiment to mow down those who try to retreat.

"Putangina!" Aguinaldo said while gritting his teeth. His people are dying and the formations are falling apart, he looked towards his right and saw a makeshift bunker being overrun by a platoon of Spaniards armed with arsonic equipments, they are probably going to burn the trapped Filipinos alive.

On his right though, he saw his cousin and some soldiers stationary on top of an ammo cache, with bombs strapped on his torso, ready to blow himself up if he's overrun by the enemy, he wants to die in battle. He chants the Lord's prayer;

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen."

He chants this repeatedly even as the people around him are being massacred by the Spanish. He raised his bolo as he looked down on the Spaniards in what seems to be anger and disdain, as if blaming them for the death of his own kin, Aguinaldo can feel his emotions, as if they're connected with one another.

"PARA SA BAYAAAAAAAN!!!!!" He roared his battlecry as he hacked through the head of a Spaniard, and then he let go of his bolo and reached for his match, he lit himself up and the bombs strapped in his body were triggered simultaneously;

*BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!* gunpowder and pieces of flesh blossomed around him as he took down 30 Spaniards with him in the process, what a beautiful scenery, a battlecry as his famous last words, his body now mangled bits of flesh mixed with gunpowder and dirt.

Aguinaldo looked around him and tried to find something to wreak havoc within the Spanish lines atleast before he die.

He found a nordenfelt gun nearby and took control of it, beside the machine gun is a M93 and some ammo.

He took his breath and prepared the nordenfelt for his last hoorah, and pulled the trigger towards the oncoming Spaniards, the bullets tore through the enemy ranks as they fell one by one, this caught the attention of those Spaniards around him and they focused on him, some charged while others took their shots, there was an unbridled chaos within their ranks as a man called Emilio Aguinaldo brought with him his last futile struggle, The Spaniards saw everything, and admired his courage yet they dont want to die so they took cover and let him shoot all he wants to those foolish enough to charge towards that madman.

In the eyes of Aguinaldo though, the world is now a world of blood as flesh and blood splattered in his face.

The last artillery fire dropped from the sky as he his magdalo faction are probably all dead or out of ammo, darkness once again reigned towards the battlefield, the Spaniards are nowhere to be seen but some sounds are still heard, they are probably waiting for Aguinaldo to run out of ammo.

Seeing this, Aguinaldo stopped his barrage and considered the overall situation, despite the berserk thoughts that is still running through his mind and is obvious in his eyes, he still observed his surroundings, his faction is now defeated with probably some small cells still struggling but it will probably be over soon. The Revolutionary Army that is coming from the north is probably on its way now with the capital empty of the Spanish forces because they focused everything towards Aguinaldo's side, they tried for a breakthrough and it worked like a charm because of Aguinaldo's own cockiness and his people's lack of military experience and discipline. He probably has a few minutes to hold on til those northern people comes to the southern theatre, as this battle is probably heard from the capital, as this place is in the outskirts. It is unlikely that he will survive but it is what it is, The only thing that Aguinaldo can do now is to tide through and stall for time to prevent the enemy from completing their breakthrough.

So he immediately ran towards the remaining Magdalo people in the vicinity to rally them up for a last hoorah, to probably mount a defensive formation to stall some time for the Nothern Army to catch up.

He shouted; scurried towards the gunshots as he brought some ammo and his rifle to help the last remaining magdalos and probably to gather a measly amount of people to stall.

He helped them win their skirmish as he ordered the remaining 300 people to man up defensive positions and stall for time for the northern army to catch up.

The remaining Magdalo personnel sat in total darkness and took up their defensive positions. Aguinaldo looked around the vicinity for possible movements. The battlefield is lifeless, as tension permeate the area. Not a single magdalo was afraid of death for they have already resolved themselves when they took up arms against their oppressors.

A silhouette was seen a distance away, but that tiny silhouette grew in number, and slowly but surely, countless Spaniards show themselves in the field.

Aguinaldo and his men waited for them to approach the range of their guns

Aguinaldo whispered;

"Steady"

"Aim"

"FIRE!!!!!" all 300 people stood up in their formation and rained fire towards the Spaniards, bullets tore through the battlefield as they ripped through the Spaniards.

Not to be outdone though, Terrero and his men returned fire and countless Magdalo personnel died because the Spaniards are better shooters than the Filipinos.

Seeing the massive disparity, Aguinaldo's men despaired, seeing that their shots are not connecting while the enemies continously marched through.

When they were about to crumble and focused everything on their front, a cavalry regiment sprouted from their sides, mowing down those unaware shooters and reaped through the lines as if a hot knife to butter, with the galloping of horses in their rear and the steady shots on their front, Aguinaldo's men were killed effortlessly.

Aguinaldo was shot to the shoulders by an unknown shooter as he fell to the ground, he watched as his men were either shot down or cut by the cavalry that charged in their blindspot, a horseman played with the head of one of Aguinaldo's men as he skewered it using his saber and spun it like it's a toy for kids. Another one shot every limb of a Magdalo soldier as he was begging for death, as if anything is funny, the Spaniard laughed at the limbless man's plea for death because of the pain of losing his limbs. Blood sprouted as he tried to kill himself by bashing his head in but this spurred the Spaniard to laugh harder. Aguinaldo was livid by what he is currently seeing but he can't do shit, his body is now paralyzed as the bullet probably hit some of his nerves which led to his paralysis.

Emilio Terrero walked towards Aguinaldo and picked up the 16 year old teenager, he looked down the kid with contempt and manic joy as he told him "So you're that boy wonder that your troops are so proud about, what a joke!"

Terrero spat on Aguinaldo's face, he looked towards his men and showed the paralyzed boy towards them.

The men shouted in happiness and ridicule after seeing the foolish boy who joined this war at a young age.

Terrero held him in one hand while his other hand pointed his finger towards Aguinaldo's eyes, he then poked his eyes using his fingers and grabbed the boy's eyeballs, just for the heck of it.

Aguinaldo screeched in pain and tried to break free but he can't even move! Shouting and screeching are the only things that he can do!

Terrero laughed in a manic pattern as he threw Aguinaldo's eyeball towards his mouth and chewed on it, he then immediately spat it back towards Aguinaldo's face as the boy laughed out loud!

Terrero was puzzled by what happened and immediately said;

"What are you laughing about boy? Is this too much for you? You lost all 10,000 of your men while I only lost 1000 people! I humiliated you and you are still laughing?!"

Aguinaldo simply smiled towards his enemy and summoned the remaining strength in his now weak body and said; "PUTANGINAMO!"

After saying those words, his body immediately limped, and he fainted on the spot.

Terrero on the other hand was puzzled by this as he threw Aguinaldo's body to the floor and ordered his men to march through and escape towards the South to escape the wrath of Renaldo's army.

While packing up though, countless creaks and some kind of machine sound permeated around them, this immediately roused the attention of the Spaniards.

A moment later, countless Tanks and Greyhounds encircle them, leaving them no place to escape.

The Spaniards, including Terrero DESPAIRED! as horror is obviously seen in their eyes! THEIR GREATEST FEAR HAS COME THROUGH!

As a young man in black barong armed with a sidearm is seen riding a tank and clapped as if seeing the Spaniards despair is worthy of applause.

That man immediately spoke in Spanish as if to let the Spaniards know of their impending demise;

"FUEGO!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!* countless turrets convened on their positions as they were smothered and cleanse with holy shells!

As the sound of turret shots, machine gun rounds and the cries and despair of the Spanish permeate the battlefield, Renaldo murmured under his breath;

"I am the culmination of your sins."