Chapter 55: Jenkas

The portcullis was fully lifted, and the infiltrating soldiers had secured a toehold at the gate entrance. General Bertrand and Victor's plan was working well, and now all they needed to do was flood the city with their soldiers.

The Luxenberg soldiers charged at full speed and began to reinforce their comrades, who had created a perimeter. As more soldiers stormed the city, the Maximillian soldiers began to be overrun. 

Osiris and his family in the palace were quite alarmed to hear the commotion. Their palace was in the centre of the city so they were quick to be informed of what happened. Beatrice and Benedict were beginning to panic, there was no way for them to escape now that the gate was under Luxenberg's control.

'How could this have happened? My deployment was flawless, men were able to take breaks during the night watch, how did no one spot the infiltrators?' Osiris worriedly thought. The rumours about his intelligence were half right. He was a brilliant tactician, orator and student, however, he was not that smart in terms of understanding people.

At this point, it was useless to worry about who betrayed him or how this had happened. What mattered now was ensuring that the city did not fall and his family was not captured. They still had 2 other cities under their control besides Jenkas. 

The city of Leibenzig was near the Dupont Marquisate border, and the city of Kreighelm was in the eastern part of the Maximillian territory. If they could get to either of the cities, they could try to rebuild their army and retake the territory taken by Victor. 

While Osiris was coming up with his plan of action, Victor's soldiers had pushed further into the city. Systematically, multiple regiments worked in unison to expand their control of the city. Whether it was on the walls or in the streets, the Luxenberg soldiers were dominantly pushing to capture the entire city.

With every fire of the musket, a Maximillian soldier dropped dead. The inexperienced soldiers that were hurriedly conscripted stood no real chance against the well-trained and disciplined soldiers of Luxenberg.

Sensing that if they continued to resist they would be annihilated the Maximillian soldiers gradually began to surrender. Half the city was now in control of Victor's army and a few regiments of soldiers had now reached the Maximillian palace.

The sun was beginning to ascend and the citizens of Jenkas were holed up in their homes, waiting for the fierce battle outside to end. The same could be said for Beatrice and Benedict, while the chaos was erupting outside the palace those 2 were freaking out. Osiris had to go to another room while they were panicking as they were a distraction. If he was to come up with a solution to this crisis, he had to have peace and quiet. 

The palace guards were getting swamped from all sides. Victor's regiments were demolishing any form of resistance from them. The palace gates were taken over so suddenly that the reinforcing guards could not stop the momentum of the surging soldiers from Luxenberg.

Osiris could not think of a way out. The city was crawling with too many soldiers to fight or sneak out. Luxenberg soldiers had breached the palace interior and were now hunting the Maximillian family down. 

It was not long before the Luxenberg soldiers apprehended the Maximillian family. A few hours after sunrise, the city was pacified. Victor rode into the city and marvelled at its beauty. He loved Hannover, but this city was definitely grand.

As he trotted through the city many of the citizens watched as a conquering Grand Duke now marched into their home. They were frightened, they did not know what the future held for them. They had lived in peace and luxury but now that was at risk with the new Grand Duke.

Victor received a welcome of whispers and glares in his new city. He expected this, as the Maximillian family were good rulers of the territory and saw that their cities flourished under their reign.

Finally arriving at the Maximillian palace, Victor was greeted by his soldiers who had detained the 3 Maximillians. Beside Victor were all the high commanders. Marshal Soult, Larys Cassell, General Rapp and General Bertrand. 

Stepping down from his horse, Victor approached the captured family. With a neutral expression, Victor began to converse with them. "Greeting Grand Duchess Beatrice, Grand Duke Osiris and Benedict. It has been too long. I must admit you have such a beautiful city. I think I will come to love this place as this becomes my new fief."

Benedict was acidic with his hostility, while the Grand Duchess was mentally beaten. Osiris remained composed. Matching Victor's expression, Osiris responded, "You have already defeated us, Victor Luxenberg. There is no need to gloat. You have your prize."

Smirking at Osiris's remark, Victor could only be amused. Looking at them on their knees made Victor think of his father-in-law, Cedric Dupont. The captured family before him had inflicted a lot of suffering on Cedric. Especially Benedict, who he had believed killed his son, Conrad. 

Not wanting to make the same mistake he did with Osmund Maximillian, he ordered the rest of his family to be imprisoned while he took stock of his losses and the damage inflicted on the city. With his plan set, the group of high commanders entered the palace and set up an HQ while the other officers set off to assess the situation of their newly conquered city.

By the end of the day, the death toll had been tallied, and a report of all the damage sustained had been compiled. The Luxenberg army lost 2,500 infantrymen in capturing this city, while the Maximillian defenders lost 7,000 infantrymen. Regarding the city, no major damage had been sustained, and no civilians were caught up in the battle.

In the meeting room of the Maximillian Palace, Victor and his commanders were studying a map of the Grand Duchy of Maximillian's territory. With the fall of the capital and the capture of the ruling family, all that was left to do was capture the remaining cities in the territory. Leibenzig and Kreighelm were cities on a similar level as Sardia, they had an abysmal garrison due to many of their soldiers being called to Grand Duke Osmund Maximillian's army.

Excluding the Cassell army Victor still had 48,000 infantrymen, 7,000 cavalrymen and 220 guns. When the city had been pacified Victor would organise the 2 corps to move and capture the remaining cities, but for now, the attention solely rests on Jenkas.

Victor was hoping that he would have completed the 'Conquer the Grand Duchy of Maximillian' quest by taking the capital and capturing the royal family but that was not the case. It was fair to assume that the other 2 cities also had to be captured.