The Fall of Silver Maple City, Part Two

At the commander-in-chief's words, the legion commanders and the nobles entitled to attend headquarters meetings fell silent. Over the past month, Victor's campaign across the Central Region had brought them all firmly to heel.

Sure enough, not long after the Catapult units stopped firing, cheers erupted from the south, while cries of despair rose from the city walls.

As everyone wondered what had happened, a messenger bearing a signal flag sprinted toward Victor, shouting as he ran, "The South City Gate is open! Our forces control the southern wall, and Viscount Hawke's Fourth Legion has entered the city!"

The crowd burst into cheers. Then everyone gathered around Victor, praising the commander-in-chief for his brilliant foresight: he had taken Silver Maple City, the Grand Duchy's last stronghold, without breaking a sweat.

Victor graciously accepted their praise but said the capture of Silver Maple City was a shared achievement. He would not claim all the credit for himself.

Silver Maple City covered a vast area. Even with more than a hundred thousand troops under his command, Victor could not surround it completely.

Instead, Victor stationed his forces in four camps, one facing each wall, to ensure that no one inside could escape.

He had placed the Catapult position outside the northern wall to draw the defenders' attention there.

He had drawn up the plan before entering the Central Region, and Alex's help had been indispensable.

During the battle in Sextus County, Victor had not captured every fleeing soldier of the Duchy Army. He had let some escape back to the Central Region.

None of those survivors were legion commanders, but there were several regimental commanders among them. One was a covert asset Alex had turned through the Intelligence Department.

That man was Viscount Taros Honeysuckle. Formerly a regimental commander in the Third