Man at War – Excerpt No. 210

“Yes, Sir,” Leblanc said.

As the patrol approached, they spotted an officer in the ranks and promptly altered course.

Some officers believed they had to manage every element of a mission. A method that invariably led to burnout.

Other officers believed in delegation and empowering their men. Marc believed in the latter, and that officers should be content to keep to their domains. The caveat was that officers should be there to prop up a tent moments before it collapses. All because it went to shit.

Either way the patrol had no desire to determine the type of officer he was, or risk drawing the wrath of someone with a huge chip on their shoulder. They probably get more than enough of that with their unit.

a surreal and vibrant cinematic photo of a British officer with a determined expression, wearing a worn and tattered uniform from 1915, holding tightly to a canvas tent that is on the verge of collapse, its ropes and poles strained, as chaos unfolds all around him in the dark and muddy trenches of No Man's Land at night, with explosions and fires illuminating the sky, the officer's face is illuminated by a faint moonlight, his skin pale and sweaty, his eyes wide with fear, the scene is captured in a photorealistic style with a subtle film grain, the colors are muted and subdued, with shades of brown and gray dominating the landscape, but with flashes of bright colors from the explosions and fires, the overall atmosphere is one of intense drama and chaos.

Disclaimer: This novel is an work in progress and readers may encounter grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Please view this a draft and not a published work.