January 3, 1896
at-Turrah, Arari Kingdom
The battle was rough. It was joined en masse on the twenty-third, by the thirtieth most of the fighting had been ramped up and it ended on the first. Hell of a way to spend New Years Day. The gods smiled on us though, we defeated the demons and scattered their armies. We’ve been advancing the last two days and reached the town of at-Turrah. It was burned to the ground by the retreating enemy. As I write this I sit in the charred out husk of what was probably some kind of cafe. Another beautiful place destroyed by the ravages of war.
Already three months into this conflict and there might be an end to this. The Republic has sent a delegation to Matorre to discuss a ceasefire and to begin negotiations for peace, or so the officers tell us. Not sure if they’ll accomplish anything. I’ve also heard rumors from some of the men from the north-eastern front that there is going to be some kind of naval landing in Transnura proper. I hear that a lot of their nation is sand, dunes taller than the tallest temples back home. That would be a sight to see. Offensive could be what we need about now, get off the defensive.
Alistaire is supposed to arrive in country sometime in the next couple weeks, he’s gonna be in Galmesh for a bit and then I’ve been informed he’ll join my squad. Seems like grandfather still had enough pull to get this done. Gonna give Aire a black one when I see him, idiot. Ollie says he’ll help me look after him though, really glad I made a friend in him. He had my back at Al-Arroun, saved my ass from a grenade by throwing me back and then throwing it back at the enemy. Earned himself a étoile de bronze (bronze star). He deserves it, the Captain said that if he keeps this up he’ll find himself wearing a Croix du’Guerre. I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time this conflict is over he’s wearing the Medal of National Honor and Pride. He just seems like that’s the kind of person he’ll be.
Got a letter from Charles today too, second one from home. He says that there are strikes in the states of Malass and Lorlast. Factory workers walking out over the conditions. Archon Saunier is said to be considering nationalizing the factories for the war effort which would for sure render the strikes to be useless. As Charles told me, a strike at a nationalized factory is actually a crime against the state and punishable by imprisonment. Sounds harsh to me, I’ve seen those factories, conditions are quite poor. Sentiment seems to be the same among the soldiers and the factory workers, this war is for the big guys up top and not for us. We’ll see how this goes I guess.