Pov of Alexander
1917-July-13-20
The three days of rest passed rather quickly. Although our bodies greatly appreciated that respite after days and days of severe training, the kind that could make you cry from muscle pain, it seemed that one of the hardest trainings possible was now coming.
It had already seemed strange to me that ranks had still not been assigned within the ducal army, since all of us held the same rank. The only ones who had positions as trainers or group leaders were trusted men of the Herzog, extremely competent officers of the German army or Jaeger commandos.
Because of that, the wait was quite irritating. In a certain way, I wanted everything to end at once. After so much training and suffering, I could not simply leave things as they were.
The dreaded day had finally arrived, and everyone was preparing for it. My body felt lighter than ever after a more than deserved rest, although I did not even want to imagine what we were going to face.
So, as soon as the trumpets sounded, I woke up and put on the uniform we were supposed to wear, just like everyone else. The entire ducal army stationed in the area was ready for the training.
As always, the day began with food. This time it was nothing like the special meals we had been given during the last three days, when they handed us large amounts of food and we could repeat several times. Now it was simply potatoes, mushrooms and a piece of meat in sauce.
''Eat everything. Do not leave anything on your plates. You will not be able to repeat anything. After that, fill your canteens and prepare to depart'' shouted one of the trainers, who began repeating the message again and again as he walked in front of us, making sure even the last recruit heard it.
''WHAT DID I SAY?! EAT IT ALL!'' one of the trainers shouted at someone who had left something on his plate and was preparing to leave.
While listening to the reprimands, I finished all the food and soon had everything in order to return to formation. Our unit did not take long to complete itself, and the training began. They gave us a heavy backpack that was supposedly loaded with a weight similar to carrying a machine gun on your back, and sent us marching.
The journey was toward a point across the entire forest. The distance was enormous, and I had some knowledge of where we would march because of the marks on the terrain, besides the fact that I had once accompanied a hunt in those woods when I was younger. I knew this place was treacherous if you did not know where you were stepping.
Especially because it had rained recently. It had not been anything extremely heavy, but it had been a storm that left the place full of mud, making movement much more difficult. We not only had to carry the backpack, but also fight against the resistance of the mud every time we tried to pull out a boot.
During the first hour, nothing was too different from the jogs we did every day, except that instead of stopping and continuing toward the beach, which was the usual stretch, we kept pushing into the forest, where the roots of the trees made movement even harder and you had to keep jumping over them.
Even so, we continued, following the one who led the way, one of the Herzog's men. Everything continued like that until we reached a small river.
It was not too large, but it was deep enough to reach your neck if you wanted to cross it by walking.
But instead of looking for a ford, there were several ropes tied between the trees, and it did not take us long to see that the man leading us began crossing the river by using them.
''You may cross the river by getting wet if you wish, but you will have to accept the consequences of the cold'' said our guide as he began crossing the river while hanging upside down from the rope.
Without wasting a second, I noticed the technique he was using and imitated it, trying to do the same so I would not have to get wet. Slowly, we began crossing with the multiple ropes, but when I was halfway across, the rope started to sink a little as I saw many more trying to cross at the same time.
Then I heard multiple shots, and I almost fell into the water from the fright, though I saw that a couple of men did fall, striking audibly against the surface.
Meanwhile, bursts of bullets could be heard being fired.
''Enemy fire! Come on, come on, move across!'' the instructor shouted from the other side of the river while the shots echoed throughout the area.
I sped up my movement while feeling my heart race, since I could hear the whine of the bullets quite close, until I finally fell, striking the mud but without getting wet.
''Those who do not cross in the next three minutes are out of the program'' the instructor shouted, beginning to look at his watch.
Immediately, everyone who had not crossed or was waiting to try their luck with the rope soon entered the water and began crossing, while the shots continued to be heard and those on the ropes kept hanging.
Time passed quickly. I watched the water move as hundreds of men entered it to cross. Some fell from the rope and got back up completely soaked, joining the group.
All of us crossed within the time limit, but the march continued for hours.
We kept moving, dodging roots, jumping over rocks and climbing the small hills that lay in our path.
Hours passed like that, until my stomach began to growl with hunger. But there was no intention of stopping, so I understood that this was only beginning.
In several other sectors, there were small rivers we had to cross without ropes. The water got into our clothes and added weight. I could already understand why those who were soaked began falling behind.
My legs were already stiff when we finally reached another place. It was late, and we had eaten nothing all day beyond what they had given us at the beginning.
''Good. We go back now'' the trainer said, doing nothing more than looking at his notebook and his watch.
''But we would arrive at night'' I said, looking at the trainer.
''If that bothers you, you may withdraw'' the instructor replied dryly as he began moving back.
Pressing my lips together, we all began following him while slowly returning along the same path, now more difficult, since the thousands of boots that had passed through there had turned the ground into a mass of holes that made moving much harder than before, especially when my stomach was demanding food.
Once again, we followed the route while hearing bursts of gunfire frequently during the return.
As darkness fell over us, we finally began arriving back at the camp after hours and hours of marching.
Fortunately, we had something to eat, although it was not the most abundant meal. Nobody had to tell us that we had to finish everything, since we were starving after doing physical effort all day with only breakfast in our bodies.
''Good, sleep. Keep each other warm, because you are also wet, so that will be best'' the instructor said, simply sitting down to sleep while leaning against a tree.
We all looked at each other, since we would not even be able to sleep in the beds. But we ended up placing ourselves together, feeling our bodies tremble and hearing the sound of teeth chattering while the night made the wet clothes even worse. Even so, we managed to fall asleep.
I fell asleep while feeling the warmth of the food in my stomach.
The sound of weapons firing woke me up, just like everyone else. We looked everywhere while hearing rifles being fired.
''Good morning, sleeping beauties. Time to train'' the trainer said while holding the rifle and continuing to fire, working the bolt until he spent the last bullet.
It was still dark. Who knew how long we had slept, but while we had been resting, some trucks had arrived with logs, and our orders were to go and return as if we were jogging with them in groups of six. We had to do it until they told us to stop.
That lasted for hours and hours. We moved through the hills full of mud and holes, jumping over roots while we had to balance a log and pass through the rivers carrying it together.
I felt my breathing grow heavy while my muscles screamed, but after several trips, while my stomach demanded food, we were finally able to leave the logs on the trucks and eat something. Little, since the rations kept getting smaller and smaller.
They let us sleep a little, but shortly after, they woke us again. They made us do push-ups and sit-ups, followed by burpees, ending with endless jumping jacks while moving our arms and legs.
Only one day of training had passed and I already felt as if I was almost dying, falling over from exhaustion. That could also be seen in my companions, whose numbers slowly began to decrease as more abandoned the program.
On the morning of the third day, the training was mainly jogging, before they made us swim in the river and fight against the current. It was not the worst thing, but if I wanted to rest, I had to swim upriver while waiting for the last man to finish.
I was one of the first to reach the point they had ordered us to reach, and I fell onto the ground, where I quickly settled beside my companions to warm ourselves a little and sleep for at least a while.
That nap barely lasted a few minutes. Then they made us eat before sending us back to the camp at a jog.
The first ones had the right to a few minutes beside the bonfire.
I clenched my teeth and, although my body was about to collapse, I kept forcing my legs while breathing unevenly, trying to stay at the front and watching how others were in the same state or worse than me, staying on their feet through sheer will.
I arrived fifth and won the right to stand beside the fire. Those minutes felt wonderful. While I felt the heat strike me, I fell asleep crouched down until they pulled me away from there, since we had to sleep.
After another short nap, they made us run again toward the nearby river and repeat the process with the log, having to move it from one side of the river to the other while they made us raise and lower it with other companions who could barely manage their own bodies. We depended on everyone's strength, since even my own muscles gave out at times.
The groups grew smaller and smaller as more men threw in the towel.
I was swearing that I saw things that were not around us, because I could have sworn there were Russians watching us while we picked up the log again and lifted it onto our shoulders to cross the river. Then I noticed someone I had seen before. It was the Herzog, who was leading a group of men doing the same thing as us and, for some damned reason, looked far too well for all the shit we were going through, while I felt my body falling apart.
Finally, the day ended, but the night was quite freezing, so we slept in tight groups, trying to keep warm in that damned cold. Then I noticed that the man who had created the program was also sleeping in another group.
The nap was short, barely a few hours, and when we reached the sixth day, less than half of those who had started remained. But I could not focus on that when we moved to a training field where we had to crawl under barbed wire, while soldiers fired machine guns at us and the whine of bullets passed a few centimeters above us.
Again and again, we crossed that field full of mud until we were more mud than people. Then came the burpees again and the obstacles, stopping only to eat something and continue.
I was fighting just to keep my eyelids open. Several times, I lost focus while continuing to run simply by instinct or because others helped me keep going.
On the seventh day, I arrived like the others, exhausted, and leaned against a tree, watching everyone get up. I doubted whether I could continue, since I could barely see properly. Everything was blurry.
''Come on, Alex… get up, you idiot. We did not get this far to fail at the end'' someone said, taking me by the arm and forcing me to stand.
''Ah…'' I said, rising with difficulty while someone held me and dragged me into a jog.
My body responded almost unconsciously while I followed the others without any clear direction, until we stopped to eat. I fell asleep as soon as I finished, and they woke me with a shot into the air so we could continue training.
The final test was the wretched log. We had to carry it one last time from one side of the river to the other.
Not wanting to be a burden to my team, I gave everything I could to help while everyone gave what they had left in that final attempt.
Crossing the river, we threw the log into the mud and collapsed, hearing everyone's heavy breathing while we could not move a single muscle.
We slept for a long time. When I opened my eyes, it was already night and I woke up because of the cold.
I saw that everyone was beginning to return to the camp and we did the same, dragging ourselves as best we could to go back and waking the others. There, we were finally able to take a hot shower and sleep in our beds.
The next day, after eating, I still felt drained. I had no strength at all and did not know how I had managed to overcome all of that.
But after eating, they took us to where everything had begun. There stood the Herzog, who, like us, had very marked dark circles under his eyes.
''Congratulations to those who passed. I must say you exceeded my expectations, since I thought only a quarter would make it. But here we have four out of every ten who managed to pass. So, besides telling you that you clearly have more willpower than the others, you are now part of the duchy's special forces. You have two days of rest before beginning shooting and camouflage training'' the Herzog said, stepping down afterward with a yawn and leaving the place.
''I hope it was worth it'' I said, running my hands over my face.
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