In the famous words of William Tecumseh Sherman; War is Hell. The atrocities witnessed by those involved is enough to ruin the minds of grown men and women but imagine the toll on the children who also witness the horrors of war. Today’s battle pits two Guerrilla fighters up against each other, both of whom are famous for using teenagers and children to do their dirty work for them. Kidnapped, forced or coerced into committing terrible acts these young men and women would’ve grown up surrounded by violence and with no choice but to participate or end up on the receiving end themselves. Which of these brutal groups will come out on top as;
The LRA: Joseph Kony's brutal terrorist organisation who kidnap children to use as soldiers.
takes on the Khmer Rouge: Pol Pot's communist rebels who committed genocide against their own people.
Who is Deadliest
The LRA[]
| “ | Our guns were still strapped onto our backs, because a gun meant life. Without it there was no life in the LRA.
— Grace Akallo, former child soldier in the LRA.
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” |
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and cult which has operated in eastern central Africa, most notably Uganda and the Congo. Allegedly created in order to spread christian values through Uganda it largely functions as a personality cult around their leader Joseph Kony who came to infamy in the wider world after the documentary released by Invisible Children in 2012. The LRA has since lost most of it's strength and is down to a few hundred members but still continue to terrorise locals and kidnap children to train as soldiers.
Khmer Rouge[]
| “ | To destroy you is no loss, to spare you is no gain
— Khmer Rouge Motto
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” |
The Khmer Rouge were a group of rebels active in Cambodia during the 1970's. Lead by the infamous Pol Pot their aim was to depose the western backed government of Cambodia and replace it with a communist one and after five years of civil they achieved this, placing Pol Pot in charge. The Khmer Rouge soon began purging people including minorities, religious groups and intellectuals, essentially anyone who Pol Pot believe could challenge his reign. The Khmer Rouge were eventually ousted from power by the Vietnamese in 1979 but remained as a fractured terrorist group up until the death of Pol Pot in 1997.
X Factors[]
Training: LRA=50/Khmer Rouge=60
The LRA originally formed from rebels from the Ugandan military and so it's original members would have had some military training. However it doesn't seem like the LRA actually focused all that much on training their men in any way and the little training they did provide was to the children they abducted from villages who obviously won't be involved here. The Khmer Rouge meanwhile were an actual ruling regime with a proper military and so could divert resources and time to train their soldiers even if the quality of training wasn't all that high.
Experience: LRA=58/Khmer Rouge=55
Both the LRA and the Khmer Rouge were far more involved in massacring innocent civilians than they were in fighting in battles and so neither scores highly in this category. However the LRA get a slight advantage owing to their longer time being active as well as having some success in fighting against the military forces of various African countries as opposed to the Khmer Rouge who were defeated rather easily once the Vietnamese invaded.
Mental Health: LRA=25/Khmer Rouge=25
Both the LRA and Khmer Rouge have committed unspeakable atrocities in pursuit of their goals and this naturally means that many of it's members are mentally scarred or unhinged because they take part in said atrocities. Even more disturbingly is the young age in which new members are recruited, with the Khmer Rouge being mostly made up of teenage boys and the LRA having children kidnapped from villages to train as soldiers.
Brutality: LRA=95/Khmer Rouge=90
Clearly we're talking about two extremely violent groups here with neither having any qualms about killing people, whether they be rival militarises or innocent civilians. However the LRA narrowly snatches an edge here because of several much more brutal acts to their name; including sending their trained child killers to murder their families as a sick initiation test and there are even reports of cannibalism by members of the group.
Voting System/Notes []
The battle will take place in a jungle environment.
This battle will be a five on five.
All members of the battle will be at least 18 years old (so no child soldiers for either the LRA or the Khmer Rouge)
In order to be counted in full, votes must be at least 5 lines long or have been done in an edge format.
Anything less than 5 lines but which is competently argued and thought out will be counted as a half vote. I will inform anybody if their vote is considered a half vote and allow them to amend it to bring it up to a full point.
Irrelevant votes will not be counted at all.
I reserve the right to award a vote as half or discount it entirely for reason not mentioned here if I feel it is applicable.
Battle []
LRA: 
A mass of people, hands bound behind their back and down on their knees, look on in fear at the men stood before them. Dressed in green and carrying automatic firearms they watch the crowd intently, ready to fire if anybody dares run. Nearby another group of men, dressed the same as the guard, are digging a large hole in the ground, the purpose of which is clear to everyone there. Satisfied the hole is big enough an order is barked out to the diggers, who leave their duty but do not drop the spades they are holding. Walking over to the crowd of prisoners, each digger takes up position at the end of each line. A teenager, no more than fifteen years old, takes his place near the front and waits for the order to be given. A man strides to the front of the armed men, obviously the leader.
“For you crimes against Cambodia and our glorious leader Pol Pot you have been sentenced to death,” the man says. His tone is disinterested, having clearly had to give this speech many times before. Many of the crowd start weeping and begging for mercy but the leader is unfazed, and he gives a sharp nod to the assembled diggers and the slaughter begins. The teenager lifts his shovel up above his head but hesitates as he stares down at the young woman who is sobbing quietly. He glances over at his superior who is watching him with a keen gaze to see how he handles the task.
“I’m sorry” he says under his breath as he brings the shovel down…
Poeu Chey bolts upright in his bed, drenched in a cold sweat. Morning light is breaking through the crack of his cabin door and he exhales heavily as he realises it was only a dream. He swings his legs over the side of his bed and sits there, head down and gripping his knees tightly. The nightmares have been more frequent recently and while the people and circumstances change, they all have the same recurring theme of death and destruction. Banishing the thoughts from his head he dresses himself and goes outside. The rest of the camp is waking up around him as the other Cambodians start their daily chores.
After the regime had collapsed many members of the Khmer Rouge had fled into the jungles of Cambodia but some instead chose to flee the country entirely. Poeu Chey remembers the desperation of the people as the Vietnamese army closed in on their position, men and their families crowding onto the boat. After several weeks at sea they had landed somewhere in Africa and for the last twenty years they had been eking out a living, avoiding contact with the outside world as much as possible. Poeu Chey enters a small cabin which acts as storage and arms himself ready for his morning patrol. Once this is done, he heads to the scouting outpost where he finds the other four men on his patrol. They are all young and fresh faced, too young to really remember Cambodia or the regime, something Poeu Chey envies greatly. Many of the older men who made the journey on the boat have since died and Poeu Chey is one of the few left to train up the youngsters. He does a brief check to make sure their uniform is correct, and their weapons are fully stocked before leading them off into the surrounding jungle.
“Remember to keep your eyes peeled, we’ve heard reports of another rebel group in this area.”
“Yes sir,” comes the reply from the rest of the patrol. At the head of the group, Ojore’s eyes flicker across the jungle checking for unnatural movement. It was his 18th birthday today and three years since the LRA had stolen him from his family on a humid summer night. He glances back at the others, all snatched from their own families as well. “Eyes to the front soldier,” snaps the man at the back. His name is Vincent, the oldest and only one of the group to have joined the LRA voluntarily. Ojore turns away, stifling an angry grimace and goes back to checking the surroundings. Vincent is always at the back of the patrols, AK-47 pointed at their backs to make sure they don’t try and escape. Some had tried but all of them had ended up dead, their bodies left to rot in plain sight as a warning to the others. Something catches Ojore’s ear suddenly and he stops dead. “What’s the holdup?” Vincent asks.
“I think I can hear something sir,” Ojore says. As they stop to listen, they can hear the sound of leaves crushed under foot. The noise appears to be coming from their right and the group quietly move towards it, crouching down behind a fallen tree trunk for cover. On the trail in front of them is a small group of armed men who seem to be on patrol just like they are.
“They don’t look like one of the local rebel groups,” one of the LRA says quietly.
“They don’t even look like they’re African,” Ojore replies.
“Well whoever they are we can’t let them live,” Vincent says. “Aim your weapons and fire on my command.” Ojore and the others look at each other uneasily but they all the know the punishment for disobedience. Pointing their guns at the group a deathly silence descends on the area as if even the creatures of the jungle know what is about to happen. “Fire,” comes the shout from Vincent and the silence is broken by the sound of gunfire. Two of the group are torn to shreds by the gunfire while the rest scramble to find cover amongst the foliage. 
Poeu Chey ducks behind the twisting root system of a large tree to avoid the hail of gunfire. Unfortunately, two of his scout party were not as lucky and they lay dead on the forest floor. As he returns fire, he checks on the rest of the scouting party, who have also taken cover behind the root system. There is clear panic in their faces, and they are returning fire wildly and without really aiming. Almost by luck they manage to strike one of the LRA in the head, leaving him slumped over the log they are taking cover behind. If anything this only serves to intensify the gunfire from the remaining members, and it is quickly apparent to Poeu Chey that they are outclassed.
“We can’t stay here, or we’ll be shot to pieces” he says.
“Should we retreat back to the camp?” one of the boys asks.
“No. If they follow us then they’ll know exactly where we are. The whole camp would be in danger. When there is a lull in the shooting we head north, opposite way to camp so that at least they can’t find where the other are.” The two nod their head in agreement and once the LRA stop to reload the three men bolt from their hiding spot. However, one of them still has ammo left in his weapon and shoots at them as they flee. A bullet tears through the neck of one of the fleeing Khmer Rouge and he drops to the floor, gargling and choking on blood. The other turns back to help him but Poeu Chey grabs his arm firmly and pulls him forward. “It’s too late for him Phirum, we need to think about ourselves,” he says and drags the young man further into the jungle before he can change his mind.
“After them!” Vincent shouts and vaults over the log.
“But sir they’re fleeing and there is only two of them left. I think we’ve made out point,” one of the other says. Vincent stops in his tracks and turns slowly, with a face like thunder. He jabs the barrel of his rifle into the boy’s chest and pulls the trigger, blasting a hole in his chest and killing him stone dead.
“If we let them get away then it shows that we’re soft” Vincent strolls over to the downed Cambodian who is still just about alive, slams his foot down on his neck and snaps it with a twist of his boot. “Either you’re with me or you’ll end up like these sorry sons of bitches here. Understand!” he says, the defeated silence from the others confirming they do. He gestures with his gun and they head off in the direction the men disappeared to. Following the trail left by the two, they come across two diverging set of tracks. “They must’ve split up. You,” Vincent says pointing at one of the rebels “You come with me and follow these tracks and you” he continues gesturing to Ojore “follow those ones.” He dashes off after the tracks with an LRA solider in toe and Ojore hurries after the other set. After a few hundred metres the tracks stop and Ojore looks around in confusion. Ducking down low he listens out for anything unusual.
The area is quiet, too quiet for a jungle teeming with life and it tells him something unnatural is nearby. As he listens more closely, he can make out the faint sound of breathing as if someone was catching their breath. He pinpoints the sound as coming from a particularly thick gathering of vegetation, opens fire with his Uzi and a body riddled with bullets collapses through the brush . Ojore flips the body over with his foot to make sure they are dead and satisfied that they are he begins retracing his steps through the jungle until he finds himself back at the track divergence…
Poeu Chey controls his breathing as he peers out from his hiding place. He’s pulled down the brush to create a makeshift camouflaged position and affixed a silencer to his submachine gun. Sitting here, waiting for the enemy to appear, reminds him of being back in Cambodia. He watches as two men wander into his field of view. The lead one, clearly agitated starts barking out orders before walking off somewhere, leaving the other one behind. He starts looking around, clearly trying to see if there is anyone hidden nearby. As he gets to Poeu Chey’s position he notices the glimmer of steel, but he doesn’t even get time to aim his weapon as he is pumped full of lead.
Instinctively he checks his ammo count to find he only has a couple of rounds left. Mouthing a curse, he eyes up the AK-47 lying next to the Ugandan’s body. He inches out of his hiding place slowly, checking around constantly for danger. Snatching up the assault rifle once he gets close, he checks the ammo count and tests the weight. It’s at this moment he feels the cold hard barrel of a gun pressed into the back of his head.
“Drop the weapon” Vincent says coolly. Poeu Chey does as he is asked and tosses the weapon to the side. “Now, put your hands behind your head,” Vincent continues. Poeu Chey moves his left hand behind his head and slides his cane knife out with his right hand. He knows he only has once chance to get this right. He swings the cane knife round suddenly and he hears ringing in his ear as the gun is fired. Luckily the bullet only grazes his ear and the cane knife slices into Vincent’s right hand, almost severing it from his arm. He let’s out a shrill shriek and Poeu Chey aims another blow for the neck, gashing it open. Snatching up Vincent’s pistol from the ground he finishes him off with two bullets to the back of the head and he lies bleeding on the ground.
It’s at this moment Ojore bursts out of the undergrowth, spraying out bullets with his Uzi. Poeu Chey scrambles away returning fire with the pistol. Ojore quickly runs out of ammo and draws the bowie knife, launching himself at Khmer Rouge soldier before he can fire again. The two struggles, with Poeu Chey trying to keep the knife from plunging into his chest and Ojore keeping a firm grasp on the pistol to stop it firing. It is the Cambodian who gets the upper hand in the end and manages to turn the barrel of the pistol into the Ugandan’s stomach and squeezing the trigger. Ojore gasps and loosens his grip on the knife which allows Poeu Chey to twist the blade around, plunging it into the teenager’s chest.
His body shudders from the impact and Ojore looks up at him and for the first time he realises just how young the man he has been fighting is. In that moment there is a silent understanding between the two, their eyes bearing the pain of a childhood destroyed by atrocities, before Ojore draws his last breath.
Poeu Chey lowers the boy’s body to the floor gently. The memories of all those years ago seep into his mind, all the death and destruction he had seen, that he had taken part in. He’d convinced himself for the longest time that he had been forced, that he had to do those terrible things, or he’d have been killed as well. But on the other hand, he had still committed those acts, there was no escaping that, so was he just as bad as those who ordered the killings? Poeu Chey doesn’t know anymore but what he does know is that he has to go back to the camp, to let the others know of their loss and let their mothers grieve over their lost children. It’s a scene he knows all too well.
Winner Khmer Rouge
Final Verdict[]
The Khmer Rouge won this battle because they were the more organised and better trained fighting force. The LRA had more relevent combat experience but lacked organisation and while the Khmer Rouge are not exactly the poster boys for 'well drilled fighting force' there were at least a bit more professional. Furthermore they were just bringing the superior weaponry to the battle which put the nail in the coffin for the LRA.