The Battle of Juaz

[callmedelta]

Victory was at hand; General Claude could taste it. Juaz was the last Union holdout in Tafatu - taking this city meant this war was practically over. Provided, of course, Pareau didn't want them marching on down to Noscovo. It didn't matter to Claude, really. The name General Claude von Riegan would be plastered on every damn newspaper in the country, the Tafatu would be free, and all of the men under his command could go back home to their lives instead of being on these bloody battlefields. General Claude's 4th Army of 110,000 Heavy Infantry, 160,000 Standard Infantry, 1,500 Artillery, 1,100 Mortars, and 12,500 Special Infantry marched to Juaz, and if it wasn't for the damnable cavalrymen they could have had better forward scouting of the city. No matter. The army would set up camp thirty kilometers away from the city itself while infantry scouts were sent forward to divine exactly what sort of defenses the city had so he could formulate how best to break it. It should be practically empty, but overconfidence was a slow and insidious killer. 

[Greywall]

Juaz had about 15,000 men and 1000 field guns, heavily fortified and out of the loop. Contact with veneshy had long been lost and no one from Taronki had come in weeks. It left them in an eerie situation, isolated and cut off.

Union commanders were paranoid, they had probably the most well defended position but if everyone else was gone.

They focused on rationing food and supplies most of it having left with Taronki. They say around waiting for anyone to show up.

[callmedelta]

General Claude almost didn't believe the scouts' reports. Only 15,000 men? General Claude's expectations were low, but that was an even worse garrison than he was expecting. If a battle was to commence, it would be the Union's Do'rville, only without any reinforcements to save them. "Get me some volunteers and white flags," Claude called to one of his officers, "It's time to dictate terms of surrender."

~

The man chosen for the job was one Lieutenant Colonel Ludovic Gaume. He was of a high enough rank that it wouldn't be an insult to send his battalion out, but low enough rank that it would be no great loss to the war effort if he was to be captured. Gaume set out with the roughly half of his battalion who had volunteered for the duty, serving as guards in case the worse did come to pass. With the Lieutenant Colonel was a letter penned by General Claude himself.


To the commander of the Union Forces in Juaz,

I am General Claude of the Royal Franerri Army, representing the people of the Tafatu. Your war is lost. Do'rville and Ferville have fallen. General Falalu has been captured, and the commander of the forces in Ferville has either fled the field or been killed in action. Your army is hopelessly outnumbered; I have 300,000 men and 3,000 artillery pieces to my command. To resist is to invite bloodshed not only on your men, but onto the innocent civilians of Juaz and pointless destruction on the city herself. I demand unconditional surrender. If you surrender, you will be treated with fairness and civility, and will be returned to your homes in the Union once this war is over. If you refuse this offer of surrender, I cannot guarantee you will be afforded such rights in the future. I will give you one day to make a decision, after which I will begin approaching the city with my army. If you do surrender, you are to raise white flags over the city, and assembled outside your defenses bearing no arms.

-General Claude von Riegan, Franerri Fourth Army.

[Greywall]

The Union commander was to say, at the very least, stressed the fuck out. He hadn’t heard from anyone in months and now a massive foreign army stood before him. He could hold out for a bit but it looked pointless.

Surrender was shameful, they had powerful foreign artillery that could tear the frannerre apart. But his men were rattled, Taronki took the best of them to ferville and the rest went south to fight the kithium. They were not the best of the UST not hardened to fight to the death like those men.

“Franneri captain, I ask that my men and me be allowed to avoid prison sentences and be released upon surrender. You may take Juaz and it’s armaments but my men shouldn’t be prisoners.” He would write back.

[callmedelta]

There would be no further reply that day, the Lieutenant Colonel and his party retreating. The next day, the Franerri Army would march on Juaz, assembling outside the city, outside artillery range, but still within eyeshot of the city. This time it would be General Claude himself leading the negotiations under a white flag. He was somewhat saddened to see no men outside the city, but he hadn't seriously expected a last-minute change of heart. The men of General Claude's army had brought along a small table and two chairs for the two to sit and talk. "So," General Claude said to the Union commander as he approached, "Seeing my army arrayed out here, do you still wish to defy me?"

[Greywall]

The Union commander grimaced, “my men deserve to live, this war, has taken enough lives. We do not resist. The city is yours.” The commander took his saber and presented it to the general.

[callmedelta]

"I'm glad you could see reason," General Claude said, accepting his second Union saber of this war. "You may not have accepted my original offer, but I will let it stand. Return to them, and have them leave their defenses unarmed. Every man who does so will be captured and cared for with all dignity. With any luck, we can all go home shortly."

[Greywall]

The UST soldiers filed out in single file with defeated looks on their faces. Many of them young 17-20 year old men, the commander just couldn’t stomach the idea of throwing them away for a war that was lost.

[callmedelta]

General Claude left 20,000 Standard Infantry to sort out the prisoners and ordered another 30,000 Heavy Infantry to begin securing a perimeter around the city. General Claude would lead another 30,000 Heavy Infantry to secure the city itself. General Claude wasn't sure what he would find inside. The commander who surrendered seemed cut from an entirely different stock than Falalu, and from the outside there didn't appear to be any oppression of the civilian population. Claude called for anyone who may have constituted a civilian authority in the city

It was, of course, near this time that the rider from Ferville arrived. With the successful capture of the city, Claude had men to spare. He sent 50,000 Standard Infantry 50,000 Heavy Infantry, and 1,000 Artillery to Ferville