Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 13

[Translation By Divinity]

Gunfire erupted from all directions.

“Nicole! Run!”

Following Damian’s signal while providing cover fire, Nicole dashed forward and took cover behind a tree.

She briefly caught her breath, pulled the pin on a grenade, and hurled it towards the source of the gunfire.

With the explosion echoing behind her, she started running again along the valley.

Damian ran alongside her. Not just them, but other platoon members were also scattered around, running.

However, amidst the chaos of gunfire and explosions, the terrain was dense with trees, obstructing their vision. They couldn’t even tell where their allies were or what they were doing.

A few soldiers who were running ahead spotted Damian taking cover and firing, and they approached him.

“Lieutenant! We’ve reached the objective point!”

“Good!”

They had successfully lured the enemy to the designated point. Now all that was left was to retreat to the safe zone.

“Deploy smoke grenades!”

At Damian’s command, the nearby soldiers simultaneously fired smoke grenades.

The other platoon members, using the smoke as a signal, started running towards the safe zone. But even through the thick smoke, bullets continued to fly.

Damian dragged a soldier who had been hit by a stray bullet and rolled into the safe zone. He counted the platoon members who were already there. It seemed like a few were missing.

“Report.”

At Damian’s command, Sergeant Benas quickly reported.

“One missing, four KIA, no critical injuries, but six are unable to fight.”

“Fewer casualties than expected. So, we have eighteen who can still fight and move. Not bad.”

Considering his argument with Paul, the losses were minimal. They had lured the enemy into the kill zone, and now it was time to rain down bombs on the clustered troops.

As Damian let out a small sigh of relief, the radio operator quickly ran up and handed him the radio. Without a moment to spare, Damian spoke into the device.

“This is Delta Platoon. Main unit, please respond. We’ve entered the safe zone. Requesting bombardment as planned.”

After a brief silence, a rough voice came through the radio.

—This is the main unit. Is this Damian on the radio?

The voice was filled with static, but Damian recognized the speaker from their tone.

“Yes, it’s me, Major Jeska.”

For some reason, a string of muffled curses followed his response. Then Paul spoke urgently.

—Damn it! Damian, get out of there right now!

“What’s going on?”

—There’s no support bombardment! The plan has changed. We can’t send any bombers your way!

Damian frowned, unable to comprehend Paul’s words immediately.

“No bombardment…?! Then what happens to us?!”

—You’ll have to escape on your own.

“We’re in a valley, sir. There’s no escape route to the north or south, and a large river blocks the east. Without the bombardment, there’s no way out!”

—…I’m sorry, Lieutenant Stern. We have no other options here. But if you can rejoin the main unit, we can retreat smoothly from there.

“It’s uncertain whether we can even rejoin the main unit! At least send some support…!”

—The bombing plan fell apart, and you think the main unit is having a smooth battle? We can’t send support. We have no way to extract you.

“…”

Damian bit his lower lip.

—That’s all I have to say. Good luck, Lieutenant.

Damian ended the call with Paul and put down the radio with a dejected expression. He covered his eyes with his hands and muttered,

“I asked for reinforcements so many times...”

“L-Lieutenant, so what’s going on?”

The platoon members had sensed something was wrong from Damian’s tone on the radio.

But they couldn’t guess the details and waited anxiously for Damian’s explanation.

“There’s no bombardment. The plan changed, and the bombers can’t reach us.”

“What?!”

The soldiers’ faces paled.

“T-Then what are we supposed to do? Is there any backup?”

“No backup. We have to escape on our own until we rejoin the main unit.”

“Damn it…”

Everyone was speechless at the shocking news, and someone muttered under their breath. That triggered a murmur among the soldiers.

“Is that even possible?! That’s basically telling us to die!”

“Did the main unit abandon us?!”

“I don’t even understand how there can be no bombardment!”

Damian, lost in thought, didn’t even try to calm them down.

‘How do we get out of here? If we need to leave the valley, should we head towards the river?’

‘No, the river is deep and the current is strong. We blew up the only bridge to stop the enemy, so there’s no way to cross.’

So, the only option left was to cross the valley, but the risk of being spotted by the enemy during the crossing was too high.

‘Or maybe there’s another way to escape…’

But the soldiers’ protests were so loud that it was hard to continue his train of thought. He frowned involuntarily, and Nicole, who was standing next to him, shouted at the soldiers on his behalf.

“Quiet!”

The soldiers looked like they still had a lot to say, but Nicole’s fierce glare silenced them. As the commotion subsided, Sergeant Vic spoke up.

“Do you have a plan in mind, sir?”

Damian rubbed his eyelids.

“I have a few, but they’re all risky.”

The soldiers looked at him expectantly, hoping another brilliant strategy would emerge from Damian’s mind.

He was, after all, the one who had earned two medals and been promoted twice to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

If anyone could lead them out of this predicament alive, it was Damian Stern, who had survived countless brushes with death.

Sensing the atmosphere, Damian sighed softly and said,

“I hate to admit it, but I’ve accomplished some impressive feats. However, those were the results of me acting alone. Leading others… I’m sorry, but I’m not confident I can do it significantly better than anyone else.”

“But you said there were options.”

“They all involve someone getting left behind. I couldn’t come up with a way to save everyone here.”

“…”

A chill fell over the group at Damian’s words. Then, someone raised their hand and spoke.

“We could surrender. At least as prisoners of war, there’s a chance we might be released later.”

“No. It might be better than dying, but surrendering is not an option.”

Someone objected to Damian’s firm refusal.

“Why not? We can’t endure this kind of attritional warfare for much longer. Then at least we should try to survive…”

“If you want to, go ahead. I won’t stop you if you’re determined. But only the men can do that. The women can’t.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Think about what happens to female prisoners of war. Other units might be different, but the enemy we’re facing is known for its brutality.”

The faces of both men and women hardened at his words.

While the treatment of prisoners of war was generally poor, the treatment of women was particularly horrific.

They often suffered human rights abuses that men didn’t, simply because they were women.

“That’s why I’m against surrendering. Nicole, what do you think?”

Damian looked at the female soldiers. After a brief silence, Nicole spoke cynically.

“Ha! I’d rather kill myself than surrender. But if anyone wants to surrender, go ahead. Even the Lieutenant said it’s your choice.”

Then she counted the number of female soldiers present and muttered,

“If the men surrender, the remaining women will have to break through the enemy lines and retreat. So… with just… five of us?”

“Six. I’ll go with you.”

Damian added, shaking his head slightly. Sergeant Benas spoke in a rough tone.

“And we’ll be labeled as traitors who abandoned our comrades and surrendered.”

“Hmm.”

Damian swallowed a groan, his face troubled. He hesitated, then said,

“Then let’s go with this plan after all.”

“But you said there was no way.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow. But Damian shook his head slightly and said,

“I said I didn’t know how to save everyone, not that there was no way to save at least some.”

“Some…?”