17 The Eastern Expedition

From an outsider's perspective, Roland's achievements seemed extraordinary, almost to the point of being miraculous. He started as a lord of a small town but in just a few years he had managed to conquer most of Graycastle. Now, only one region remained which did not answer to him - the Eastern Region. Now, it was time to bring them back into the fold.

Since Roland no longer needed to attack the church, the army he had been preparing could now be sent against the Eastern Region. Roland himself would lead the expedition. After preparing the supplies, the First Army marched toward the Eastern Region.

As Roland was leaving, Anna hugged him and told him, "Please come back safely."

"I will", answered Roland. "After all, I have Nightingale here to protect me."

Nightingale looked quite pleased as she was able to accompany Roland during the expedition. Anna was unhappy that she had to stay behind. However, she had to remain in Neverwinter because she was important for the industry.

After Timothy had been defeated, Duke Wilion immediately began preparing for war. However, Roland's advance came sooner than expected. Duke Wilion had tried to copy Roland's cannons, but he was unable to even produce a working prototype. Now, with a large army bearing down on Valencia and many of his troops deserted, it seemed like a doomed battle. Nevertheless, he was determined to try his best to hold the city.

Without time to sabotage the roads and flood the land, Roland was able to bring cannons along with the army. A force of several thousand soldiers armed with guns, along with three cannons surrounded the city of Valencia. The siege of Valencia began.

Roland sent an emissary to the city to demand its surrender. Duke Wilion refused and the next day, Roland began his attack.

The cannons fired and the walls were lit up in flames. Dozens of defenders were maimed with each shot. As the cannon fire continued, the defenders abandoned the wall, unwilling to continue being sitting ducks.

Then, the cannons directed their fire toward the gate, which was soon blown open. With the defenders in disarray and the path into the city open, the First Army advanced into the city.

"Damn it", thought Duke Wilion. All of his plans had come to nothing and the walls have already been breached. He desperately tried to think of some way to turn the tides of the battle.

Duke Wilion turned to his loyal knights and said, "the enemy has entered the narrow streets of the city. Here, they will be unable to maneuver. This is our chance men! The enemy has came right into our trap. We shall hit them with a powerful charge that will destroy their force before they are able to reload their weapons."

The remaining forces of Duke Wilion were gathered up. There were a few dozen knights willing to fight as well as a couple hundred infantry. As the First Army went deeper into the city, Duke Wilion signaled for the attack.

The cavalry charged toward the line of soldiers with Duke Wilion leading in the front. For a moment, Duke Wilion believed that he might be successful. As the horses got closer, he saw several enemy soldiers take out what looked like a large gun on a tripod. Suddenly, the guns started spewing flame and he felt only pain.

Duke Wilion fell to the ground as he and his horse were shot by several bullets. Behind him, the knights also fell as the machine gun delivered its fatal contents. The armor of the knights was useless as the bullets were able to penetrate through the steel plate, burying themselves in the bodies of the knights.

The infantry following behind fared little better. They too were taking massive casualties from the concentrated rifle fire. After seeing the knights in front of them fall, they lost all hope and began fleeing. The defenders were either dead of fleeing with no desire to resist.

The army advanced and soon took the castle with little difficulty. The remaining forces surrendered, with their leader dead and their forces decimated, they saw little possibility of winning. The Warden of the Eastern Region had fallen, and with him, all hopes of resistance in Graycastle.

After the city had been secured, Roland entered and took up occupancy in the castle as he surveyed the situation. Fortunately, Duke Wilion had not had enough time to enact his scorched earth campaign Although the peasants had suffered due to the war, it was not as bad as it could have been. The farmland was still intact and more food could be grown.

When Roland had taken Valencia, the remaining nobles of the Eastern Region quickly offered their surrender. Most of them had abandoned Duke Wilion and were hiding in their own lands. Roland called them to Valencia to discuss the terms of their surrender.

The nobles soon arrived at Valencia, though their fate would not be what they expected.