All Quiet on the Western Front ②

I respond to yet another enemy charge—I’ve long since lost count of how many—with a counter-attack that has become equally routine. We rake the charging enemy ranks with barrages of gunfire and artillery; once the noise dies down, we surge out of our trenches to finish off the survivors and thoroughly level the ground. In return, a hail of bullets and shells comes flying back from the enemy lines; if you don't want to end up as fertilizer, your only choices are to fall back or charge forward and silence the enemy for good. This grueling, back-and-forth "chore" has been repeating for years on end. The land has been churned over so relentlessly by both sides that not a single blade of grass grows here. It will likely take a long time for nature to reclaim this place, even after the war finally ends. That is the depth of the scars and the karma they have carved into this earth.