Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 13 War Turns Man into a Beast
Busalam, on the eastern coast of the Hashim Kingdom.

The 5th Mechanized Infantry Division of Zion captured the key town at noon on the 6th, and 250,000 civilians were taken prisoner. The smoke from the battle had not yet dissipated in the city, and the air was filled with the smell of burning and a faint stench of blood.

Sergeant Joshua Levy crouched behind a bullet-riddled, broken wall, smoking a cigarette while looking at a photo of his girlfriend in his pocket.

Before the war, he was studying history at Tel Aviv University, planning to find a decent job after graduation and then marry his girlfriend. But the call for the "Holy Patriotic War" ignited a burning passion within him.

So Joshua resolutely chose to enlist and become a glorious soldier of Zion.

"Joshua!" came the shouts of his comrades from the front.

Joshua stood up, brushed the dust off his khaki military uniform, and found shards of glass still stuck in his hair.

His comrade came over and said to him, "The platoon leader just gave orders to us to search the residential buildings and see if there are any guerrillas or snipers hiding there."

Joshua nodded. The Arab troops weren't much, but the Bedouin guerrillas were like annoying flies, making the Zion infantry feel disgusted every time they entered the city.

Two days ago, Sergeant Girard, who was in the same platoon as him, was blinded in his right eye by guerrillas. The enemy used glass bullets stained with feces. If it hadn't been for timely treatment, Sergeant Girard would most likely have died painfully from infection.

"Levy, what are you daydreaming about!" Squad leader Doron kicked open a rickety shop door, and shards of glass rained down.

The shop was already deserted. The group searched around but couldn't find anyone. The squad leader, however, found a metal cash box. He smashed it open with the butt of his gun, and several US dollars fluttered down like butterflies. It was probably stored by the shop owner for restocking.

Squad leader Doron casually tossed the photo aside, then skillfully divided the banknotes into several portions. Joshua pretended not to see it, but the squad leader still stuffed the money into his pocket.

A woman's scream came from the end of the street. Joshua instinctively raised his rifle until he saw two comrades drag the woman in the black robe into the doorway and disappear. Then the door closed, and the woman's cries seemed to be silenced.

"Don't meddle in other people's business." Squad Leader Doron patted him on the shoulder.

"Maybe this kid is still a virgin, never seen a woman before, how will he sleep with one?" Several soldiers in the same class laughed.

"I have a fiancée, and we're getting married when the war ends!" Joshua's face flushed red, whether from anger or something else, it was unclear.

“That’s why you should save more money, college student,” the class monitor reminded him. “When you buy a house in Tel Aviv, you’ll thank yourself for the extra money in your pocket right now.”

Looking out the window, Joshua could see the government buildings of Busalaam, the site of the most devastating battle, where the bodies of Hashim's troops still litter the ground.

A bespectacled soldier was searching the corpses, taking their watches and rings, and even their gold teeth, stuffing them into his pocket.

At a nearby church, a tank soldier was speaking through a loudspeaker:

"Listen up, you people inside! If you don't come out, we'll open fire!"

A moment later, the church door opened a crack, and an old woman holding a white flag and leading her grandson walked out, trembling all over.

"Don't kill us, we surrender."

"Is anyone inside?"

"No, it's just me and my grandson hiding here," the old man replied fearfully.

The tank crewman's lips curled into a cruel smile, and the next second, he opened fire with his machine gun.

The old woman and her grandson were like autumn leaves, swept away by a storm of bullets.

Even on her deathbed, the old woman shielded her grandson with her body, but unfortunately, they both lost their lives.

The tank crewman made a gesture, and the other soldiers understood, immediately starting to throw grenades into the church.

Joshua's stomach clenched upon seeing this.

"There are no snipers here. Let's go search the next house." The squad leader glanced out the window and then ordered his men to search the next house.

Bullets rained down, shattering the gate. The screams from inside thrilled Sergeant Doron and the other soldiers. They kicked open the front door, and one soldier couldn't help but whistle, "A wealthy family indeed!" Sergeant Doron looked at the well-dressed man, his dirty leather shoes resting on the expensive leather sofa, and asked with interest, "What do you do for a living?"

"I am a banker."

Squad Leader Doron's eyes lit up: "Then you must have a lot of money?"

The male homeowner looked at him with a panicked expression, but finally nodded.

“How about we make a deal?” Sergeant Doron said. “You pay to save your wife and daughters’ lives, and we can pretend nothing happened.”

To save his life, the man had no choice but to agree.

He led his soldiers to where he had hidden his money, and as soon as he opened the safe, a flower of blood bloomed from his back.

Sergeant Doron put away his gun, looked at Joshua who was standing there in a daze, and said, "What are you standing there for? Come and help clean up."

"."

Joshua stood there, stunned, his mind blank.

Immediately afterward, he heard a disdainful sneer, and the captain shoved him aside with his shoulder, his icy expression evident.

Cries and screams came from inside the house; it was the wealthy family's female members being raped.

Just then, the bugle call to assemble suddenly came from outside the door. The two teammates pulled up their pants and got up, looking rather disappointed. They hadn't even had a chance to taste the banker's beautiful daughter yet.

Shuya felt somewhat relieved, but then two of his teammates pulled out guns and killed the banker's wife and eldest daughter.

Just as they were about to lay a hand on the sister, Sergeant Doron stopped them and handed the pistol to Joshua.

"Wait a minute, let our college students fire the shots."

Joshua looked at the trembling girl with tears still on her face. He instinctively took the squad leader's gun, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

Seeing Joshua hesitate to fire, Sergeant Doron covered his head and stomped his foot on the floor in frustration.

"Oh my God, Joshua!"

Just as Doron was about to dispose of the girl himself, he spotted the returning cameraman and had an idea. He called out, "Hey! Can we borrow your camera?"

"Uh, of course, no problem, Lieutenant."

The photographer handed over the camera, and Captain Doron adjusted the angle and took a picture of Joshua, who was holding a gun and standing there dumbfounded, and the fallen body.

“If you don’t shoot, this photo will be sent to your fiancée, letting her know that she’s not marrying a glorious soldier, but a murderer.”

Joshua noticed the bloodshot in Sergeant Doron's eyes, and in a daze, he recalled how his fiancée, while studying literature, often quoted a certain Ant writer:

"War turns everyone into beasts."

Knowing she couldn't escape death, the girl under the gun softly hummed a folk song in her final moments:

"Birds, lovers of the long night"
Teach me how to forget

Kexin has been pierced
But tears can never heal it.

Joshua closed his eyes in anguish.

He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

(End of this chapter)