Three days later.
Three more pages had been torn off the calendar, bringing it to December 6.
Vidal State, Republic of Burkina.
Nijia City.
The boundary between the areas controlled by government forces and rebel forces.
Winter nights always lasted a little longer. The clock on the wall had ticked its way to 7:30, but the sun was like a bashful young lady from a fine family, refusing to show her face.
"Tick, tock, tick, tock..."
The second hand urged the minute hand onward. After another twenty minutes, the edge of the sky finally began to pale, like a fish rolling over to show its belly.
"Tick, tock, tick, tock..."
The minute hand continued forward, pushing the hour hand to eight.
Just as the morning sun rose, and Nijia City prepared to welcome the light after its long, long night-
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-boom!"
Piercing sounds tore through the sky, finally becoming earth-shaking explosions that jolted everyone still lost in dreams awake.
What happened!?
Startled awake, people pushed open their doors in bewilderment and came outside with clothes draped over their shoulders.
Then they saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives-
Shell after shell came screaming in, falling into every corner of the city as deafening explosions sent dust billowing into the air.
Black smoke slowly rose from the ruins, obscuring the entire sky and plunging the city that had been about to welcome the light back into darkness!
At that moment, old and young alike understood what had happened.
It was this-
War had come!
Dugagu, the presidential palace.
"Tap, tap, tap-"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Hurried footsteps, followed closely by knocking, instantly shattered the presidential palace's tranquility and destroyed Sankara's sweet dream.
"What happened?"
Sankara had only gone to bed a short while ago before being forcibly awakened. Still irritable from being woken up, he wore an ugly expression.
"Mr. President, we just received an urgent telegram from the Nijia City government. Half an hour ago, the rebel group 'Alliance for National Liberation and Progress' launched a surprise attack on Nijia. They may already have entered the urban area."
Minister of National Defense Katelai handed Sankara a telegram while delivering his report with a grave expression.
"!?"
Katelai's words were like a north wind in the depths of winter, blowing Sankara fully awake while he was still somewhat groggy. The sleepiness on his face vanished without a trace.
Sankara snatched the telegram, lowered his head, and scanned ten lines at a glance, imprinting every word on it into his mind.
A few seconds later, Sankara raised his head and asked:
"What about our troops stationed near Nijia? Why was Nijia's city government the first to send us word?"
"We don't know. We've been calling since we received the news, but we still haven't been able to contact the Vidal Brigade."
Katelai shook his head, then offered his conjecture:
"Either the rebels routed them right at the outset, or they've surrendered and defected en masse!"
"..."
Hearing Katelai's speculation, the corner of Sankara's mouth twitched. He irritably crumpled the telegram in his hand into a ball and said:
"I'd rather they'd surrendered and defected en masse!"
Although "surrendering and defecting en masse" might seem very serious.
"The Nijia Brigade was routed right at the outset" was actually far more serious, and far more frightening.
Because that meant the National Liberation Alliance, short for the "Alliance for National Liberation & Progress," was already militarily powerful enough to crush a regular army force of around seven thousand men.
"Whew-"
Sankara took a deep breath and ordered:
"Summon all senior military officers to the Ministry of National Defense's conference room immediately!"
"Yes, Mr. President!"
Katelai gave Sankara a military salute, then immediately turned and left.
Nijia, the urban area.
Fierce exchanges of gunfire rang out on every street in the city.
But those exchanging fire with the rebels were not soldiers in military uniforms, but armed police units in black police uniforms.
With only light weapons and a small number of heavy weapons, they were relying on the terrain as they struggled to resist the rebel fighters' assault.
Nijia Police General Bureau.
Police officers in all sorts of civilian clothes were converging from every direction, some driving and others on foot, running straight into the police station.
Meanwhile, a squad of officers who had just finished putting on their equipment passed these hastily arriving officers, climbed into police cars, and drove toward the combat zone.
Inside the police station.
"Still haven't contacted the Vidal Brigade?"
An old police officer with a head of white hair asked loudly, his voice full of urgency.
"Chief, we've tried every means of communication we can think of, but we can't reach the Vidal Brigade. It's like they've evaporated off the face of the earth!"
A young officer who was repeatedly dialing the phone answered.
"Bang!"
Hearing this answer, the old officer addressed as the chief slammed his fist onto the desk with a heavy thud, then said furiously:
"Those damned bastards! They usually take so much money from us, and I've never shortchanged them at New Year or the holidays, either. But when it counts, we can't reach them!? Fuck them!"
Perhaps because he was so furious, his body even began to tremble slightly.
"Chief, what do we do now?"
Another young officer who had also been repeatedly making calls put down the phone in his hand and looked at the old officer with confusion and fear, asking in a trembling voice.
"Heh! What do we do?"
The old officer sneered and answered:
"What else can we do? Since we can't count on those soldiers, we can only rely on ourselves now!"
"But we're no match for them on our own. Why don't we just surrender?"
A young officer spoke up, trying to persuade him.
Hearing the young officer's words, the old officer looked around at the other officers and found that most of the younger ones shared that thought.
The old officer shook his head with a bitter smile and said:
"If it were any other rebel group coming today, I'd absolutely order you to surrender immediately. But today, it's the National Liberation Alliance!"
"You youngsters might not know, but I know all too well what sort of people they are. They've given themselves a nice-sounding name, but everything they do makes them nothing but a bunch of terrorists committing crimes against humanity!"
"Rather than surrender and be tortured to death by them, we'd be better off fighting them to the end!"
Perhaps feeling that this was still not convincing enough, the old officer continued:
"If you don't believe me, ask the older officers beside you, or any other elderly people. Ask them what sort of organization the National Liberation Alliance is!"
Hearing this, the young officers all turned their eyes toward the older officers beside them.
Then they heard one old officer say in a frightened yet utterly resolute voice:
"If you don't want your heads cut off and kicked around like balls, if you don't want your wives and daughters to become someone else's sex slaves, if you don't want your fathers and sons used to make soup."
"Then I suggest you-"
"Take up the weapons in your hands and fight to the last moment!"