19 Chapter 19: Civil war (8)

Stop pursuing the enemies, Kruger finds Harry who is leading the Rosewood infantry. He gets off his horse and now lightly to greet Harry:

- Lord Harry, it is my pleasure to meet you. I appreciate that you've received my letter and decide to believe in me.

- Your popularity goes before you, Sir Kruger. The fame about your chivalry has been spread all over the kingdom.

- I'm just a humble servant of house Fortuna, Milord.

- Nonetheless, you have played a very important role in winning this battle, Sir Kruger. Now the enemy is depleted and all we have to do is taking down a castle.

- About that problem, I have an idea, Milord.

- Let's talk about it later, now I have to check my men and the captives.

- Yes, Milord.

The conversation ends and both generals come back to their army to reform their men and check the casualties. Lord Harry loses about 200 men while defending the Craytian macemen; Meanwhile, Kruger loses only 23 riders. The casualties belong to house Crayton is much higher, about 700 macemen are killed, mostly from the cavalry charge. Nearly 2000 are captured and become prisoners, the rest manage to get back inside the wall or desert.

The Fortunian and Rosewood army decide to encamp by the river together with the Rosewood infantry and bowmen protecting the outer part of the camp. If the soldiers from Veronica attack, they will be in charge of blocking the enemies, giving time for Fortunian cavalries from the inner camp to mount their horse and join the battle.

That night, a meeting is held between the Fortunian generals and Rosewood ones. They sit around a round table with Lord Alfred Rosewood sit in the main chair and a map of the nearby area on the table. While everyone has got their seats, Lord Harry, son of Lord Alfred stands up:

- The enemies have been defeated continuously in two battles, now they have to hide inside the wall which they believe can protect them from us. We have to capture his castle, no matter the price. If they can hold until the reinforcements from the Royal Family come, we'll be at disadvantage. So, my lords, if you have any idea, share it.

Kruger, the Blue Viper of Neverwinter, calmly raise his body and speak:

- Lord Rosewood, I suggest we sink them and then demand their surrender.

His sentence gives other confusion. How can they sink a large city like Veronica? Is the Blue Viper talking nonsense? Lord Alfred, raise his hand, signal everybody to be quiet, he speaks:

- I think I don't understand what your intention is, Sir Kruger. Please explain what do you mean by sinking the city.

- I mean what I said, Milord. We can build a dam about 3 kilometers from here blocking the river. When the dam stops the flow of the water, the water that has nowhere to go to will sink the city.

- That's a good idea, Sir Kruger; however, it'll take tons of labor and effort to build a dam. Time is very precious for us now.

- We don't need a proper dam, Milord. I think we can wrap huge rocks with fishing nets and build a temporary rock wall in the river. It should take no longer than 2 days to finish.

- So after Veronica is flooded, how can you persuade the enemies to surrender, they have enough food for years.

- When Veronica is flooded, their soldiers' morale will drop off to zero. I have captured Edmund Crayton so his men will surely surrender. I heard that you have captured Thorax, who is the leader of the mercenary band fighting for Gavin Aetherwolf, so the mercenaries won't be a problem, either. Without them, Gavin has no more than 1000 men, his surrender is certain.

- I'm very impressed, Sir Kruger. I value your plan highly, we'll get on board tomorrow and ride to the south to build the dam. I'll give you the ships that I've taken from the earlier battle with house Aetherwolf. With these ships, your men'll be safe when the water rises.

- Thanks, Lord Alfred, may the gods be with you.

- May the gods be with you too, Sir Kruger. Now, everyone has some rest, tomorrow we'll have many things to do.

- AYE, MILORD!

**********

Gavin Aetherwolf is very nervous right now, his father is hundred of miles away marching with the Royal army to attack the leader of this rebellion, Ivar of house Fortuna. However, their home city is in danger. Under his command now has only about 4500 troops, but most of them are mercenaries and Craytian warriors, so after they acknowledge that their commanders are captured, their morale is desperately low. There are many deserters among his ranks after seeing the army of house Crayton being defeated.

Although he has strengthened the defense of the city these 3 days and the supply is enough for his men for more than a year, he still has an unusual feeling. The enemies act very strangely lately, they all get on ships. A part of their fleet has been sailed to an unknown place, feared that this might be a trap set up by the enemies to bait him out of the city. He breathes deeply to remain his calmness. His men's morale is very low now if he shows his hesitation, they will collapse and Veronica will fall. Now he just prays that the enemies who leave don't come back with reinforcement or clever plans to conquer Veronica.

Unlucky for Gavin, the thing that he fears becomes true. The level of the river rises steadily day by day, which makes Gavin and his man dumbfounded. After 3 days the level of water has reached half of the wall, which means they can't move normally in the city anymore. And not long after that, the fleet of house Fortuna and house Rosewood is deployed near the wall.

Gavin is standing on a watchtower, watching the enemies' ships getting closer and closer. They shout:

- SURRENDER, YOUR SITUATION IS HOPELESS, DROP YOUR WEAPONS, AND WE'LL SPARE YOUR LIFE, KNEEL AND SWEAR LOYALTY TO LORD IVAR OF NEVERWINTER. IF YOU REFUSE, YOU'LL BE DROWN, YOUR FAMILIES WILL BECOME PRISONERS.

The Aetherwolf men are affected by those words, they have no will to fight after losing decisively in two battles. They look at each other; one by one they drop their swords, shields, spears, and bows. Gavin sees that his men are surrendering, he knows that he has no chance of winning now, only swear fealty to house Fortuna might help him to keep his life, titles, and property. He takes his sword out and drops it, order:

- Raise the white flag, we'll surrender.

**********

The defeat of house Aetherwolf and house Crayton is the news that makes the Royal Family of the Alleinstein Kingdom tremble. This defeat makes them no choice but to negotiate with the rebellion, seeking for peace since while Veronica is in the rebellion's hands, 5000 men leading by Lord Aetherwolf marching with the Royal army won't fight with them.

2 weeks later after Veronica surrendered to house Fortuna and house Rosewood. The treaty of Kursk is signed which marks the upcoming fall of the Alleistein Kingdom and the rise of house Fortuna, which will be known all over the world in the future.