Old Osric Fortress

Similar letters urging surrender poured into the city like snowflakes.

The contents of the letter quickly spread among the garrison and the civilian population, causing widespread panic and disarray.

General Reynard immediately summoned all his officers and key civil servants for an emergency meeting.

The meeting immediately descended into heated debate.

The "pro-war faction," led by several veteran knights who had followed the general for many years and a small number of young officers, was highly emotional.

"General! We must not surrender! Old Osric Fortress is the last barrier to the Royal Capital! We have been blessed by the nation for generations, how can we surrender without a fight?"

"That's right! The castle is sturdy and well-stocked, enough to hold out! The Sauron are skilled in open field battles, not siege warfare! As long as we hold out, the Royal Capital will not stand idly by! His Majesty's Royalist Army has arrived from all over the country. When our forces are deployed in the center, we will surely defeat the Sauron army."

"If we surrender, we will become the kingdom's eternal sinners! Our families will be disgraced and never rise again! We would rather die in battle than live a life of dishonor!"

However, the "pro-surrender faction," represented by officials in charge of logistics and some mid-level officers, appeared pessimistic and realistic:

"My lord! Wake up! There are at least 100,000 troops outside the city! We only have less than 3,000 defenders! Where are the reinforcements? It's a fact that Fran City and Eagle Nest's Nest are in dire need of defense! Even if reinforcements from the Royal Capital were to come, when would they arrive?"

"Moreover... His Majesty has been in arrears with military pay for half a year, the soldiers are very resentful and their morale is already low. Now that they are surrounded by such a large army, everyone is in danger, how much will they have left to fight to the death?"

"Although the Sauron are brutal, their letter also promised that surrender would preserve our lives and property. If we resist, the fall of the city... that will be our true doom! For the sake of all the people in the city, and for the sake of the soldiers who follow you... I urge you, my lord, to reconsider!"

The argument continued from day to night, with both sides sticking to their own versions of events and neither able to convince the other, while a sense of panic continued to spread throughout the city.

During this time, General Reynard, clinging to a sliver of hope, dispatched several of his most elite cavalry units in an attempt to break through the encirclement under cover of night and reach the Royal Capital for reinforcements.

However, these brave knights had barely rushed out of the city gates when they were discovered and surrounded by the Sauron cavalry who were already waiting in ambush.

Their heads were brutally severed, impaled on spears, and displayed outside the castle's main gate...

The last glimmer of hope has been completely extinguished.

General Reynard stood alone atop the city wall, gazing at the endless torches of the enemy forces outside the city, listening to the faint cries and commotion emanating from within, and thinking of the heads of his once loyal subordinates displayed outside the city walls...

The veteran's psychological defenses finally collapsed under immense military pressure and the overwhelming sense of responsibility for the lives of his soldiers and the city's inhabitants.

The next morning, General Reynard, looking ashen-faced and as if he had aged ten years overnight, summoned all his officials once again.

In a hoarse and weary voice, he announced the final decision:

"Give the order... raise the white flag... open the city gates... we... surrender."

Upon receiving the order, the pro-war officers were struck dumb. Some burst into tears on the spot, while others angrily drew their swords to commit suicide, but were stopped by those around them.

The pro-surrender faction breathed a sigh of relief, but their faces showed no joy, only heavy shame and bewilderment.

The soldiers pushed the winch, and the heavy, massive gate was slowly opened under the complex and pained gazes of countless defenders.

The white flag, signifying surrender, was slowly raised atop the castle's highest tower.

Old Osric Fortress, the last fortress guarding the northern gate of the Royal Capital, ultimately surrendered in humiliation without firing a single shot or experiencing a fierce siege, under pressure from both Besieged from Within and Without.

Friedrich rode alone along the desolate road leading to Old Osric Fortress.

For him, this short three-day journey felt like traversing a living hell.

The sights he saw along the way were like countless red-hot irons, branding his heart with a terrifying mark that could never be erased.

Along the roadside, the once peaceful and tranquil villages have now been reduced to scorched ruins belching black smoke.

The burned-out house was reduced to a charred wooden frame, and the collapsed walls were splattered with dark red blood.

In the fields, the bodies of villagers who had been brutally murdered could be seen everywhere.

Most of the men were beheaded or disemboweled, while the women were disheveled, violated, and then abandoned in the wilderness, their empty eyes staring at the gray sky—a truly horrific sight.

On some crude wooden poles hung the bodies of the Broomflower soldiers who had been tortured to death—a barbaric method used by the Sauron for intimidation and demonstration.

Occasionally, he could still see a few children who had miraculously survived, but had lost everything. Like frightened little animals, they huddled in the corners of the ruins, their eyes filled with endless fear and confusion, sobbing softly as they searched for their parents who were long gone...

Each tragedy was like a sharp knife, piercing Friedrich's heart.

Boundless anger, grief, and intense guilt seared his soul.

His hands, gripping the reins tightly, were bulging with veins, and his teeth were clenched so hard they were almost bleeding.

He hated the brutality of the Sauron, and even more so the collapse and incompetence of the kingdom's defenses, which had caused such a catastrophe for these innocent people!

We must hold them off! Someone must stop them!

This belief, like a last torch, sustained his weary body and mind, driving him desperately toward the last hope, Old Osric Fortress.

This large fortress, named after a famous marshal in the history of the Goldflower Kingdom, was originally designed to serve as the second and last indestructible barrier protecting the north of the Royal Capital should the Blackstone Pass fall.

It should be witnessing the fiercest and most tenacious resistance!

However, when Friedrich finally caught a glimpse of the majestic outline of Old Osric Fortress after a long and arduous journey, the sight before him struck him like a thunderbolt, freezing his blood and leaving his mind blank!

There were no earth-shattering sounds of battle, no billowing smoke, no defending soldiers fighting valiantly...

Yes, there was only one thing: a dazzling, pure white surrender flag fluttering in the wind at the highest point of the castle!

Yes, but the gate that should have been tightly shut is now wide open!

Yes, there were only rows of well-dressed, arrogant Sauron soldier marching into the castle in a grand and unobstructed procession!

The castle walls, arrow towers, crenellations, and all other key defensive positions were no longer occupied by Broomflower soldiers, but by uniform Sauron warriors, wielding scimitars and glaring menacingly!

Old Osric Fortress... has fallen?

No! It wasn't a fall! It was a surrender! It was the surrender of the city! It was surrendering without a fight!

Friedrich could hardly believe his eyes!

An overwhelming surge of anger and humiliation instantly overwhelmed all his reason!

He witnessed countless tragedies along his journey.

The burned villages, the massacred civilians, the comrades whose bodies were displayed as corpses...

All the sacrifices and suffering he had endured now turned into the most biting irony, slapping him hard across the face!

Just as the soldiers and civilians of the North were using their blood and lives to slow down the enemy's advance, and just as countless civilians were being torn apart, killed, and slaughtered.

This strategic fortress, which should have been the mainstay, where a large force was assembled for the final battle, this sturdy stronghold that enjoyed the kingdom's taxes and stockpiled large amounts of grain and military equipment.

To everyone's surprise... to have opened the city gates without firing a single shot, welcoming Sauron army in?