The End of the Siege; November 7th

"Ivan… you sure these guys want to surrender?" I asked. Walking with the trusted Major at my side, one of the original soldier's i'd summoned, among the highest echelons of the military…

"Well sir, they've been placed in a rough spot. The ongoing siege riled up the undead, then sandwiched them between god knows how many hungry zombies and most of a corps of the finest soldiers in the world…" Ivan allowed.

General Luka grumbled. "We barely got the opportunity to exploit the new equipment before the ceasefire kicked in."

"I'll be glad this bloodbath is over, our divisions have been mauled rather badly by this siege." Erik scolded Luka.

"We've not even fully cut them off yet? Why throw in the towel?" Luka continued. 

"Well it might have something to do with a tank division sitting on every possible resupply route bar the Golden gate bridge…" Erik replied.

"Why aren't you complaining more Erik? Your division hasn't even fully cut off 237 yet." Luka prodded. Erik sighed and shook his head as we continued walking towards a small group opposite us. Half a dozen figures wearing US army uniforms.

"That should be Lieutenant General Gearald Foss. As far as we can tell, commander of the California national guard." Ivan whispered quietly as both Foss's group and ours stopped a few dozen feet away from each other.

I silently stared at the General, confirming it was him by the name sewn onto his uniform. Neither group spoke, staring intently at the other. Around the perimeter of the field on each side were soldiers eyeing each other warily. Finally Gerard sighed.

"I want to discuss terms…" he said.

"Unconditional." I replied, my voice steely.

Gerard nearly choked for a split second. "You can't be serious…"

"Ten, nine…"

"What… I'd thought better of you, a former soldier… you're a disgrace…" Gerard spat.

"Four, three, two…" I continued.

"Fine!... We accept." he growled. I smiled a bit and chuckled.

"Good, order your soldiers to approach soviet troops under a flag of truce and surrender. Rest assured Foss, your men will be fed." I smiled and turned on my heel, walking back towards the BMPs that had brought us here from the headquarters at Morgan Hill.

"Ivan, I'm sorry to throw more work at you, but make sure the prisoners are secured and transferred to the department of Prisons and labor… maybe the Premier can find some use for a few thousand prisoners…" I directed.

"It's no issue sir, i'll see it gets done." We stopped at the rear of the BMP3, watching as the US soldiers cautiously advanced forward under the watchful eyes of the Soviet soldiers.

"God, at least it's done…" Luka said with a sigh, watching as the first of the Americans dropped their rifles under the direction of one of the interpreters.

"Erik, I know the 1st Division is tired from all the fighting, but start passing orders to the men to start taking prisoners, pass them to the rear… Luka, I know it'll be almost as difficult, but scratch together a few BTGs and start probing towards Sacramento." I said.

"General, do you want me to bypass Stockton?" Luka asked while Erik ducked into the BMP for the radio.

"Stay clear of the cities, just have them get eyes on Sacramento… I want to know if there's any civilian government left, or if we just kneecapped what was left of the old American government in the state." I answered.

Luka nodded, walking to a different BMP, leaving me alone to watch as the US soldiers were disarmed, a few trucks we'd had on standby rolled into the park. Soldiers were loaded into the back and they started their drive south. The prisons were not ready for this…

"Sir, I've directed for the Engineering Battalion still in Los Angeles to find a suitable holding area, they should have at least started by the time the first trucks arrive, the MPs should be taking over security until we can get the civilian government to take over." Ivan saluted as he walked back over.

"How bad were the losses Ivan?" I asked quietly.

"..." Ivan didn't reply for a moment, looking to the west at some dark, rumbling clouds.

"The replacements you summoned will take a day or two to fill in all the spots, but the units should be back to full strength by the end of the week, even with this new organization." Ivan said, staring into the distance.

The major's shoulders slumped slightly… "General Reichenbacher… I… I don't know how many losses yet, but as of the casualty reports I read this morning… the 1st division is around 45% fighting strength, 4th division around 43%..."

"The 3rd, 4th, and 5th VDV airlanding regiments were between 29 and 53%...the 2nd naval infantry regiment for all intents and purposes does not exist."

"What about the 2nd Division?" I asked quietly.

"Far better, General George pushed up a 87% combat readiness last night, though apparently he's been having difficulty with Black Horse's probing attacks around Bakersfield." he replied.

"We were gutted…"

"Brutally sir, I doubt the Americans got off any better though, resistance in front of our units where we've been pushing has progressively lessened." Ivan allowed.

"You know… I don't see the casualty reports, my system doesn't tell me that, just how many hostels are killed… and by tallying the numbers… you know… over the last 73 days we fired 53,700 122mm rounds. Over 700 rounds a day, just the howitzers… this city has been destroyed." 

"The Premier holds some misguided belief that industry can be restarted here, that the city can be rebuilt… we'll be lucky if that happens within the decade." I laughed.

"We've made it this far in half a year sir, I think we'll do just fine." Ivan said with a smile. I glanced over at a flashing notification, I pursed my lips as the counter that technically was for San Francisco since Operation Asseio de Suenos began.

'Killed Zombies: 786,431 walkers, 405,841 runners, 7,846 tanks, 67,548 reavers, 57,456 berserkers, 4,436 Sentinels, 11,945 Specters, 873 Juggernauts, 37,451 Harpies, 2,458 Gargoyles. Killed Humans: 7,841 soldiers, 4,277 Police, 3,649 Survivors: rewarded 4,215,596 Credits, 19,161,594 xp. Please view the shop to use your credits.'

'You have gained 19,161,594xp, 34,386,421/20,000,000 xp needed for your next promotion.You may be promoted, accept promotion? Yes, No.'

I sighed, pressing Yes. Let's see what new toys and horrors I get to torment myself with…

'Promotion applied. Congratulations Lieutenant General, you have been promoted to Colonel General. You may now command a reinforced Corps(10 Divisions),15 independent Brigades, 20 support Regiments, 24 support Battalions, 80 support Companies, 8 aviation brigades, 4 naval squadrons. Additional naval assets, small carriers and battlecruisers, are now available for command and purchase. Access to allied units up to 2 Divisions. HQ has granted you 20,000 credits for your service'

'You have gained 0xp, 14,386,421/80,000,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'

'Allied Divisions requirements met, (Warsaw Pact) Access granted to Polish, East German, Czechoslovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Albanian forces. Please see the shop to purchase allied units!'

Damn… even more shit… and other nations too? How the hell was this system supposed to even work? Will Trevor gain access to every commonwealth nation's military or something? Why did I suddenly get access to the entire Warsaw pact?

"Promoted Sir?" Ivan asked with a rueful smile. I nodded, opening the shop to see several new flashing tabs at the top with different nations. I let out a sigh. I'll go over this with Ivanov when I get back. But damn, the next promotion would require another four of the siege of San Fran? Hell no, I'll pass.