Utterly Mad

Going to start a bit of a series in this from a soldiers perspective.
----------------------------------
Road to Holdenberg Square part 1: Shots Fired

We're soldiers of the United Isles of The Kingdom, ready to sacrifice our lives for the crown. But even the most hardened soldiers would have second thoughts if they had been put into our boots. We were marching for Holdenberg, or as we called it 'The Iron Fortress'. No assault, no matter how big, had taken it. And so many of us were fresh recruits straight out of boot camp.

Ryan sat in the truck, keeping himself busy inspecting his standard issue rifle. The others were doing similar, trying to keep their minds off of the upcoming battle that would most likely cut their numbers in half. But there was only so many times a man could read the same serial number before he went insane. Idly Ryan pulled out his notebook and began writing, trying to keep from the insanity that he felt so close to.
'Right out of boot camp and I got loaded into a canvas covered truck and handed my equipment. I knew that I would be sent straight into combat but I had hoped to be able to send a letter to my family before moving out.' He wrote down, then closed the book and put it back in his bag. He would have more to write later, but this bumpy road was giving him trouble writing.
Oh well, back to reading the serial number.
--6 hours later--
Ryan had just put his canteen back into his bag when he heard a deafening explosion and then felt the entire truck tip over onto it's side, tossing everyone in the back to the ground. Ryan landed on his shoulder and felt pain shoot through his arm, but he forced himself to his feet and scrambled to grab his rifle that had been flung a few feet from him.
He grabbed it as the first shots rang out and he heard one of his fellows scream  in pain. Ryan finally got hold of his weapon and turned to see a group of CGYI soldiers in their grey uniforms firing at the United Isles of the Kingdom soldiers. Ryan ran back to the truck for cover as one of the enemy started to track him. The rifle bullet tore through the air and missed Ryan as he took cover behind the toppled truck.
Ryan checked to make sure a round was chambered before leaning out of cover and lining up one of the enemy in his sights. He pulled the trigger and felt the butt of the rifle push against his shoulder as the shot screamed through the air and tore the targets head open, right between the eyes. Ryan worked the lever on his rifle and then sent another shot that tore into the stomach of a second enemy before he ducked back into cover as the enemy returned fire.
Ryan worked the lever again as he heard several of his fellow soldiers yelling and firing their weapons. Ryan leaned out of cover again and fired a shot at the enemy, watching as the wave of bullets from his allies tore into the enemy squad and left the rest of the enemy lying on the ground, dead or wounded. Ryan shouted "Okay, someone check the driver!" and then rushed towards the bodies of the enemy.
Most of them were on the ground dead but Ryan saw a few that were only wounded. The other soldiers with him looked at each other and one of them said "I don't see any wounded, how about you boys?"
Ryan looked at him and said "I do, now come on let's get these guys tied up and patched up, they could have some intel we could use."
The other soldiers nodded, what Ryan had said made sense. And since the CO was unconcious at least someone was taking the lead. They grabbed the enemy wounded and picked them up before bringing them to the medic. Ryan walked over to the two men who had pulled the driver out of the cab. "How is he?"
"Unconcious but okay other then that. CO is took a bullet to the shoulder but our medic got him patched up, he got knocked out when the truck threw him head first into the road." One of them said.
Ryan nodded absently, the adrenaline he had felt earlier wearing off. He walked over to the side of the road and puked his lunch onto the dirt. Several of the other new recruits were doing similar, having never killed a person before and having never seen that kind of blood and gore. Ryan stood up, his stomach having emptied itself of it's contents, and walked over to the medic. "You gonna be able to save these guys?"
The medic sighed "Much as I wish I wasn't obligated to try a couple of them look to be in good shape and should survive."
Ryan nodded. One hell of a first day he thought, then walked to the now waking CO.