Chapter 2: The Siege

14th January

I've just finished eating lunch and tried to play chess with myself. It's boring,there was no one in my village to play with me.

In fact,yesterday,I tried to go for some houses to ask some residents in Visevac to play chess with me and in every attempt,I've got dismissed by them by dismissing me as that weird chess kid and afterwards,closing their doors and at one time,when I knocked on someone's door,I saw a man...well...squeezing his own banana,which led that man to slam his door at me. I'm not a pervert,it was an accident.

Suddenly,my telephone rang and I picked it up. I asked who's it and it's none other than my President Milosevic.

"Вуче,how are you?" he asked.

"I'm somewhat fine,I'm still sick." I replied.

"I see. Hmm,haven't you forgot about the recruitment to Racak?"

It annoyed me slightly,of course I know what he had told me four days ago. But since he treats me decently,I have no reason to be rude towards him.

"Yes I do. Can I ask you a question?" I continued.

"Say it." he said.

"Why am I going to be an investigator?" I asked him.

"Well,I usually didn't assigned you as such,but since the media from all around the World is attacking us constantly,I need you to bring enough evidence that the actions which you and I did months ago aren't causing genocide but justice over the enemies that harm and kill not only us the Serbs but also Albanians." He explained,with serious the tone in his voice.

"Once you defeat them and found enough evidence,you must send them to the first foreign reporter that you see and hopefully,he or she'll change the media's minds about us and yes,the battle will be monitored. That's why you'll be an investigator."

I thought for five seconds and concluded.

"Understood. I will not fail you."

"I know." he said,calmly. He continued.

"Now,you better get yourself ready,the night is nearing."

"I will." I replied.

"Also,a Serbian military group will come to your house and drive you to Racak. Be careful and good luck." he concluded.

"You too." I replied again.

I put down my telephone,it was the first conversation which I've just had on this year in 1999.

23:00 on that same day

I've just took a shower and dressed myself up: one greatcoat,a suit,a hat,a pair of winter boots and fingerless gloves.

Before I dressed up,I've waited for that group to come for around eight or so hours and yet,they're not present. Despite almost reaching the midnight,I assured myself that they would come for few minutes.

Ten minutes have passed and I heard three knocks on my door. I opened it and it's them,that group which Milosevic told me about.

"Hello! Is this Vuk Misic?" the Captain said.

"Yes." I said in a straight voice "I've waited for you."

"I know. Now,let's get going." he said.

"Hold on!" I said loudly,knowing that I forgot to take an AK-47 and a decent handgun. I had them ever since the start of the Yugoslav Civil War and both of them are loaded.

"There,now I'm definitely ready." I said and paused. Then I asked "One question though,why are we going to Racak at the near midnight?"

"Because the KLA have recently conducted the attacks in Kosovo before the dawn and therefore,we will respond to them in kind with that same period." he answered.

I nodded and entered the armored vehicle of theirs,moving towards Racak.

15th January

It's 03:00 and I'm still inside that armored vehicle,now reaching the borders of Kosovo. I'm still awake,largely because I didn't wanted to fight the KLA while being sleepy. The coffee that I've got from one of the soldiers helped me not to sleep,despite being quite bitter. It slightly worsened my sickness,but I didn't cared and much less when it comes to the KLA.

As I observed the environment and the fields around the pathway from which we're moving,a contemplation came to my mind about my Albanian friend called Dhimiter Luka or "Димитрије Лукић",as known in Serbia. I'm not sure how's he doing,but the last time I heard about him was when I got informed that he thanked me and my divisions for helping him against the KLA.

However,the relations between me and him are still disputed,since his people have been deluded into believing that the KLA would somehow help them overcome the hardships from which they're coping with. I hope his people would realize that they've been lied to.

07:00 on that same day

We finally arrived in Racak and as we approached the entrance of Racak,the two police trucks arrived with us. Before that,there was a blockade installed against that village which lasted for half an hour from 06:30 until now.

As we came towards the nearby house,I opened the window and took out the megaphone.

"KLA! You maggots! This is your last chance to surrender! We've kicked your asses for some time and you have the final chance to surrender! Surrender now and we will spare your lives that you don't deserve to have them!" I shouted,knowing that the KLA is everywhere around this village. Additionaly,I also shouted to the residents to stay at homes or flee until we clear the KLA out.

"I repeat: Surrender now or perish!" I repeated many times until I reached the 7th time when a KLA fighter has fired at my megaphone,which led me and my division to shot at this son of a bitch dead,which also led one of the KLA groups to retreat to Petrovo village. Cowards,all of them.

08:00

When the Captain assigned three groups to hunt the village down from the KLA,he assigned me to lead one of the three groups consisting of four soldiers,two policemen and me,the investigator.

He also told us that we'll go by the separate paths. I myself may have the fear and hate of war,but I don't fear the KLA,at all.

08:30

I'm alone in a random farmland in Racak,as my 6 men have gone on the separate ways until we regroup. Though I had a slight dread for being alone,the fight has just started.

At the beggining,I pulled my loaded handgun and went to the houses near the farmland which I'm standing.

While I walked towards them,I saw a KLA terrorist peeing on the tree. I didn't hesitated and shot him twice behind him. After that,I took the KLA badge from his bloodied clothes and put it into my bag. The first evidence is here.

Next,I scouted one of the three houses which had an open door and surprisingly,nobody was there,neither a KLA member nor a citizen,with the exception of a gramophone which played some random music. I've found nothing useful and left the house.

Then,in front of that house,I went to the nearest forest pathway where there was a wooden fence and an allotment which stood behind the pathway. As I approached the pathway,I saw a sleepy KLA member and a legbag which I thought that it was his. I took the legbag and shot him in the head. I know that this might look cruel,but the affiliation which he was in is cruel and therefore a terrorist and I have no sympathy for the terrorists.

In addition to the legbag,I took two grenades and two bombs that I took from his pockets and put them into the legbag.

"Great,these could be useful for me." I thought to myself,especially when I spotted a bunker near the spot where I stood.

As I approached it quietly,I've heard two Albanians discussing something inside a bunker and since I didn't wanted myself to be spotted,I quickly threw a grenade into the open door of the bunker and killed them both. They laid dead and I noticed that they've played tick-tack-toe on the table before they were dead.

And like with the first one that I've killed 10 or less minutes ago,I took another KLA badge and variations of munitions from their guns and yes,I took their guns too. Afterwards,I left the bunker.

09:00

I've finally found my group of six men,they've positioned themselves behind the wall and I did so too. They took their rifles and I took my AK-47. However,while I saw some of the Serbian military trucks approaching through the roads where we were at,I asked one of my men to give me the binoculars in order to see if there are any KLA terrorists out there.

While I saw only two new houses,several KLA terrorists were in the right house and noticed me,thus starting to fire at me and trigger my men to shot at them,which also led me to quickly duck.

"Shoot at the open windows and doors,the KLA are attacking from them!" I ordered.

I got up to put my AK-47 on the wall and started to shot them. In particular,one KLA member had a machine gun which luckily,he missed us,since we were one hundred meters away from them.

I wasted less than ten bullets just so that I can finally kill that son of a bitch while dodging him constantly. I reloaded my gun and continued. After some seconds,I saw the one with the machine gun to fall down,which led me to shoot the other window where two of them shot at my men. However,just few seconds after one of those two had died by one of my men's gun,the one with the machine gun got up and started to shoot at us.

"Oh no you won't,this time!" I shouted at him.

I shot at him trice or more and he fell down,this time for real since he didn't approached his machine gun anymore,thus having ourselves marching towards that occupied house.

While I gave my men the signal to move,we neared the house and I shot and missed at the KLA terrorist while he was running.

As one of my six men have kicked and smashed the closed door open,we searched the lower inner part of this house. I,however have stumbled upon the stairs and caught another enemy wondering around and killed him.

When we exited this house through the other side's door,I moved first and at this point,I didn't hesitated to shoot anyone in front of me.

I killed two additional KLA terrorists behind the crates,but the third one has appeared from the wall in front of me and has successfully managed to hit me at my left breast and at my shoulder. He managed to significantly hurt me,but nevertheless,he died.

"Move into the house near us and clear it from them." I advised them.

While I quickly killed a KLA terrorist at the window upon which he just opened,one of my men has thrown a grenade into the room and killed the additional two KLA terrorists. I reloaded my gun afterwards.

As I entered the room through the open door from the other house,I've stumbled upon seven KLA fighters and successfully killed them,this time like a maniac,since at this instance,I didn't wanted to kill one by one but all in one shot. When I did,I pointed my gun at the stairs just so that I can check if there are any KLA fighters at the of them. This time,they weren't.

I shot one from the door which I just saw when I was about to exit the house and one behind the door which tried to kill me from the back. I took a photo of some of the dead KLA fighters which laid on the field and after that,me and my men went to the trenches.

10:00

As we rested for a bit and gave them a medical kid for them,I took a bandage and rolled over my left chest and shoulder (yes,I also have them over my arms,but that's for another story) and after that,we continued.

As we came into the very center of the village,we noticed many villagers to run into many directions,but from us and from the KLA.

"SHIT,IT'S THE SERBS! RUN!"

"THE KLA IS ATTACKING!"

"SAVE US!"

Those were the occasional words that came from them and I can't blame them,they want to survive as much as we do,but from our and the KLA's strikes. That's why they should hide from the combat that we were in.

We approached the entrance which was covered with a big wooden wall. However,as we noticed the three KLA fighters firing from their machine guns,we crouched behind the wood logs and started attacking them.

Once we did,with a bit of difficulty than the one from the last hour,we entered the building near us,but not before I threw a grenade at the KLA machine gunner which only tried to injure one of my six men by the ribs and who blocked our way into entering it.

"Alright guys,we're moving on." One of my men said to us.

We moved towards the local shop,but we already heard the shooting noises one hundred meters from us. I also noticed a wooden cottage and a garage.

I shot and killed the attacker from the bush. I knew that since the bush glowed yellow and white from the shots. While I reloaded by gun again,I tried to shoot an attacker at the other house's window. Thankfully,three enemies have died when two of my men killed for me when I was busy killing the one from the window,thus securing my life. They're doing their job as much as I do.

"Thanks and good job!" I shouted at them.

"No problem" One of the two men have responded.

We continued. At the midst of the fighting,we found our Captain while he was busy clearing his way into coming towards us.

"Everybody move!" He shouted at us "Come on! We're nearing the final stage of containing the KLA!"

Once we heard him,we followed him into reaching the north side of Racak,where about fifty or less KLA terrorists are located. I'm glad that he's still alive.

10:30

We,along with the Captain,have approached a local graveyard but before we entered it,we entered a yet another line of houses.

"This is where those KLA scum are located the most." he told us in a serious tone "Here's what we'll going to do next: The first group will attack on the left side of the north Racak where there're close to the graveyard itself. The second group,the one that I'm leading,will strike directly at the graveyard."

"And the third group" he continued,pointing at me "will go to the right side of that same part of the village. We'll met at the third group's destination. Have I made myself clear?"

"Sir,yes,sir!" I and the rest of us replied.

"Good." he concluded "Now,let's go!".

11:00

While the first group have cleared the first house row at this destination and the Captain's group attacked the ambushing KLA soldiers inside the graveyard,I and my group have just passed a local church into the location from which I needed to go into.

My group has positioned near the market and,as we saw the allied first and second group advancing towards the final KLA squadron of twenty,we got ready.

"This is it,we caught their place!" I shouted" On three: One,two,three...CHARGE!"

Me and my group have released our guns and started shooting at the various directions. They can be anywhere.

While the first two groups were fighting at the positions,I rushed behind the wall where I heard the Albanian sounds and threw two grenades at them through the wall,thus killing five in an instant.

At this final stage,unlike the previous ones,it lasted for the next four hours,largely because those three groups,including my own,have rested for an hour and so were the KLA. The reason why it lasted for so long unlike many others is because the KLA have used something that we didn't: Bazookas.

Yes,they did used that. They managed to blow up six cars and injure 10 out of the three groups of ours of 100. They've indeed prepared themselves,but fortunately,they were too late. The KLA is at its final moments.

15:00

We're winning. I killed dozens of the KLA fighters where they,predictably,hid themselves from us through many empty houses.

At this point,most of the KLA thugs have rushed towards the exit,but we killed less than half of them. The remaining ones which retreated out of this village into the hills were spared,but under the condition that they must tell their masters of Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj that they're finished.

Once the battle has settled,the Captain has approached us.

"We made it!" he shouted proudly "Those KLA scum have retreated to the hills like the cowards they are and left us some "gifts"! Vuk,show us the "gifts."

Those "gifts" were weapons which I and the rest of them have took from the KLA. I reported the following.

"Sir,we've captured two machine guns,one bullet belt,36 automatic weapons,two sniper rifles,five Chinese-made grenades,twelve mines,twelve bombs and 7282 pieces of munitions from different calibers." I said,bringing the stashed and collected weaponry to the group.

"And finally,we've managed to kill less than one hundred KLA terrorists." I finished,smiling.

"You did a great job!" he concluded "We gave the KLA the message that,I hope,will never forget. We've beaten them hard with almost no loses from our side."

"Yes,we did it as a team." I replied,knowing that all of our groups have done their equal work and effort to level the KLA,including myself.

"That's right." he replied "Because of your success,you earned yourselves the resting time for a day in Racak!"

I grinned out of joy,but not before I asked him the following.

"Uhm...Captain,what's your name?" I asked.

"Goran Radosavljevic." He bluntly replied.

I noted it.

22:00

I was in a local empty house in that same village and I'm totally exhausted. I took off my clothes and boots and went to sleep.

But the sights over this village was nothing but smokes,ruins and blood. The effects of war has ruined this place,even after the KLA was driven out.

I hope that this village has calmed itself down.

16th January

It's 13:00,I've just dressed up and gone to the place where,according to the reports that I've just received from Goran,the KLA was there with the Western reporters. I can tell that from the American flags waving from the cars and trucks.

"Mr. Misic,should we kill them?" One of my soldiers asked.

"No." I replied while holding the binoculars,looking at them "Let them whine for all we care. They've lost and I hope that this time,the reporters won't listen to them".

The next thing that I've heard from the KLA while I still watched them was the lie that,and I quote: "The Serbian Forces have entered and raided the village,then moved the dead villagers the center of the village,separated men and women and moved the men into the ditch in Babush."

I laughed quietly. They're such morons,when they didn't managed to defeat the opposing army,they proceed to whine that the West will somehow save them. Not today.

17th January

Nothing much has happened today except that the British journalists have tried to enter the village without the police but with the KLA to guarantee their withdrawal after the witnesses.

We denied them and as a result,we got the threat of being sent to the Hague Tribunal. We didn't cared and continued to patrol the village.

The British journalists have left the village afterwards.

18th January

We moved the dead bodies of innocent residents to the local mosque in Racak. Many of them have died trying to escape the battle,including a woman and a 12-year old child.

The KLA was busy killing civilians in order to put the blame on us,aside from fighting us in a pathetic way. They're not only cowards but also hypocrites.

"Excuse me"

I turned and saw an imam approaching me.

"Would those innocent people that died be alive?" he said in a sad tone.

"I hope so," I replied,with a pause "at least a few of the wounded should survive. Most of them haven't...managed to survive."

I was about to cry at the sight of the dead and tried to contained the tears,which led me to stutter.

"A...a...and women,ch...ch...children and elderly t...t...too. I continued,with an agitated breathing. "T...t...they also died there."

A tear has slipped through my cheek by my second sight of a dead child placed on the floor. When the imam asked me if I was crying,I told him that it was just something on my eye and cleared the tear.

When I managed to calm down,I walked over him.

"Have you seen Димитрије Лукић?" I asked.

"Dim-who?" He got confused,because he didn't knew the Serbian language.

"I...I...I mean Dhimiter Luka?" I repeated again,this time correcting the name.

"Him? I haven't seen him in many months." he said "But the last time I saw him was in Prizreni where he tried to contact the ambulance to save the wounded and near-dead people when the KLA attacked it."

I saw him pause for a moment. He was silent for more than 10 seconds.

"Is that it?" I asked him.

"Yes. I don't know when did that happened." He finished.

I left the mosque without letting him know that I'll come back someday. Afterwards,I called the hospital to bring the bodies to the morgue.

19th January

Just as I was about to leave this place while the ambulance trucks have approached,I noticed the Finnish journalist trucks reaching the village and this time,unlike the American and British ones,they followed the conditions which the Serbian Police has made.

On one of these trucks,a blonde young man with turquoise uniform,white cap and a camera has got off the truck and approached the village. His name was Tino Vainamoinen and he's a reporter. I ended up calling his surname as "Vaina" since it was too long to pronounce it correctly.

He saw me walking past him.

"Hey,you!" he called me "What's going on?"

I really wanted to go back to my home,but since I had to do one last thing of making the headlines see the truth,I stayed for a short period of time.

"The battle has occurred there. I participated in it." I told him,showcasing him the smokes that rose up from the village a kilometer from us.

"And what happened next?" he asked.

I explained everything from the details of the battle,stashed weaponry and emblems of the KLA,causalities,journalists and the aftermath of it. It took me half an hour or less to finish it.

"I see." he said "However...are there any indicators that this action was brutal or not?"

"There wasn't" I stressed,now slightly louder "I can assure you that there were no beheadings,no body mutilations,no shootings at the close proximity or any other lies which the Pro-KLA reporters have spewed about."

"Alright," he concluded "I'll see what I can do,but the conclusions will take less than a month to finalize it,as some of my allies would deny my point of view."

"Thanks!" I joyfully replied "If you successfully manage to convince the World or invite a resolution to be put in place for Kosovo and then peace with it,I'll be forever grateful."

I winked at him and wished ourselves good luck and farewell. He was indeed gentle. If the resolution is concluded under our side,I'll finally have time to recover without any difficulty. Slowly,but surely.

20th January

It's early in the morning and I'm at the military truck with a driver driving me towards my home in Visevac.

I didn't managed to find Dhimiter,he's probably in Albania,I really want to see him again,the same should be said about Arisha.

While we're nearing Kragujevac,the most populous city which is near my own village,my phone rang and I took it from my pocket.

"Who's it?" I asked.

"It's me,Slobodan Milosevic."

Finally,he phoned me. I think he's pleased with the victory that we brought five days ago.

"We did it!" I was honest "Sure,I got injured over my chest and shoulder,but it's nothing. And,oh,you should've seen their faces and asses of the KLA once we managed to bring them to the corner. They've run like headless chickens!"

This made me,Milosevic and seconds later,the driver himself to laugh with us.

"Oh,Vuk,you've indeed did a great job. Mr. Radosavljevic has told me about it." he said.

"And have you heard about the Finnish reporters?" I asked.

"Yes I did,on the news. I assume that they'll defend us in the peace deal over Kosovo." He told me. "Furthermore,because of this operation,the KLA shouldn't attack us for at least two or three months."

I tried not to jump over my seat in success,but I instead moved my right arm and fist down as a sign of victory.

"Thanks. At least they'll leave us for now." I finished.

"They'll sure do." He ended the conversation after he said it.

When the driver asked me why did I do something with my arm and I explained to him that the KLA will leave us alone for at least two or three months. He hugged me after he stopped the truck for a moment.

Indeed,it was a great moment. A sad,bloody,deadly and tragic moment,but a glorious moment. I'll never forget it.

27th January

It's the St. Sava day,the day when all of the schools from the Orthodox World celebrate,including my own.

I've felt better after succeeding in Racak. My president allowed me to play outside because of my better but still unstable health.

When I finished playing,I turned on the TV and it was Tino himself.

"I don't know who's to blame for this crime against humanity," he reported to the TV,trying to act completely neutral "but whoever it is,it wasn't a massacre,it was a battle between two suspects."

It confused me. On one hand he said that it was not a massacre (I told him so) and on ther other,he pretended that he doesn't know who did what. Maybe because he didn't want to upset the ones who didn't wanted to hear the truth or at least,that's what he told me.

Whatever the reason may be,I told myself that Tino is still on my side,hopefully.

And that's the (Alternative) historical second chapter. It took me long to make up the scenes of the Racak Operation.

You can look up on the Serbian and the English/British Wikipedia.