After marching through the scorching desert heat, the 2nd Kubani Division, the 10th Pioneer Brigade, and their support elements set up in preparation to march on the wall the following morning. Then, just before nightfall, the 19th Pioneer Regiment moved up and cleared the forward positions of the Earth Army, capturing several watchtowers and outposts to ensure they would keep the element of surprise. At nightfall, the Ruskian force advanced, led by their scouts. When they reached their positions, the men felt exhausted by the long march but were nonetheless eager for the attack the following morning. After riding for hours on end, General Alexeev was more than happy to stretch his legs before settling into his cot, a grin on his face as the anticipation grew for what awaited him tomorrow.
As General Galong sat at his desk, he couldn't help the feeling of unease building in his chest. He'd woken up early, as usual, despite the fact the Fire Nation had never once attempted to assault his section of Ba Sing Se's fortifications, but for some reason, today felt different. However, despite his strange gut feelings, he'd decided to see how the day would go when suddenly, an officer barged into his office. "Sir, you have to come see this!" he shouted before leaving as abruptly as he came.
Following him, the General left the bunker beneath the wall and found himself standing upon the ramparts, facing toward the desert to the North. Sure enough, he found the same officer standing beside a group of sentries wielding the wall-mounted telescope. "What do you see, Luhe?" he asked as he marched up to the group.
Luhe turned and moved aside before gesturing to the spyglass. "Why don't you see for yourself, Sir," he replied as Galong positioned himself behind it. "Over there, do you see them?"
At first, the General had difficulty seeing anything, but then, he saw what appeared to be moonlight reflecting off metal. As he looked closer, he began to make out what appeared to be masses of men formed in closely packed ranks standing in the far distance, at least 10'000 Li away. "Sound the alarm!"
After waking up early, General Alexeev had spent the last two hours positioning his men on the slope of a ridgeline not far from the wall bordering the lake while his artillery sat on the crest, granting more range. At his disposal were a rounded total of 10'000 men in various capacities, with a third being logistical personnel, while the rest were artillerists and pioneers. The 2nd Kubani Division, consisting primarily of cavalry, was deployed to his rear to guard against counterattacks from Ba Sing Se should they attempt to reinforce the garrison. Of course, this also meant he had no support from the Cossacks, save what guns and ammunition they could spare. But, so long as his foe reacted in the way he hoped, there would be no need for a direct assault until the last moment. However, he could not underestimate these Earthbenders either, as he'd already lost some thirty pioneers due to miscalculations, and many of his men were on the brink of exhaustion. As if that wasn't bad enough, the long march the previous day had left his water reserves dangerously low, meaning that if he couldn't get to the lake by the next day, he would have to abandon his plans and retreat before his men and horses fell victim to dehydration or fever. Suddenly, the last of his riders arrived, saluting him once he came to a stop. "All units are in position, Sir. Shall we begin the attack?"
The General nodded before turning to the gun battery to his left. "Do you have the elevation?" he asked the battery commander.
"Roughly, Sir. Shall we fire a ranging shot?" he replied as Alexeev nodded. In response, he took out his spyglass. "FIRE ONE!" he bellowed as the gunner on the closest piece pulled the lanyard, and the gun recoiled back on its wheels as its thunderous boom echoed across the plain, its barrel spewing smoke as the 24-pound HE shell launched into the sky while the casing ejected from the breech. Not a second after it fired, the crew rolled it back into place and loaded another shell as the battery commander awaited the result. At the same time, other batteries followed the same process, with a dozen guns echoing into the dawn.
General Galong watched in astonishment as thirteen bright flashes lit up the opposing army, followed by the same number of small, glowing projectiles flying at the bulwark, the weapons making a screeching sound as they arched downward before they slammed into the dirt to either side of the fortress wall and exploded in a great pillar of earth and fire. Well, all except one, as the last bomb arched down to his right below where Luhe and the other men were standing. "Brace!" Galong shouted as the other Earthbenders quickly threw up a stone barrier. But, as fate would have it, they had not accounted for the speed and force of the projectile as it smashed into the stone before exploding, sending debris everywhere and knocking back the defenders. As the General began to stand up, his head aching from his hard fall, he turned to find the others in similar or worse condition, as several were bleeding or bruised from the pieces of stone thrown back at them when the bomb exploded. Of course, he'd known the Fire Nation used Sulfur bombs, but these, while much smaller, wielded far more explosive power than any device he'd seen before. Suddenly, not a second later, the weapons fired again. "BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
After their ferry pulled into the harbour earlier that night, the crowd of refugees quickly disembarked and were funnelled into the immigration center built into the bunker beneath the wall in preparation to enter Ba Sing Se the following morning. Among them was Tiya, a young girl with green eyes and long, matted brown hair, her only possessions being the worn clothes on her back and the passport and ticket she'd stolen a week ago. Well, not just her, as she and her older brother had taken them, but they split up to ensure they didn't look suspicious, so he'd left Fullmoon Bay two days before her. Tiya would have made it sooner, but the last two ferries left filled. Luckily, no one at the port seemed to pay her any mind, save those she persuaded to give her what little food she had to survive. After all, why would they care? She was just another war orphan with no prospects, just like many of the other children she saw around her. Sure, many of them appeared to have parents, but, in truth, orphans would typically attempt to be "adopted" into preexisting families only to leave them once they got where they needed to go. She and her brother had done it when they left what remained of their home, finding a group of refugees from a neighbouring town making their way to Ba Sing Se, only to leave them once they got to Fullmoon Bay, as she and her brother didn't have papers. But that was all behind her. Now, she and her big brother would be able to build a new life for themselves in the great city, away from the war that killed their parents-
Suddenly, the walls began to quake as loud "booms" echoed above them, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. The crowd fell silent as one of the side doors opened, revealing a large group of Earth Kingdom soldiers who rushed into the room and began raising stone pillars to strengthen the floor above them. As one would expect, the refugees panicked, grabbing whatever valuables they could before attempting to rush the exits, with cries of "It's the Fire Nation!- Let us out!- We're all going to die!" and so on. Even being only twelve, the young girl knew very well what it would mean if the Fire Nation was here-
"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!" shouted an Earth Kingdom soldier, causing the mob to stop as they turned to face the man who spoke, herself included, though it was difficult due to her diminutive height. "You will remain here! Now, are any of you Earthbenders!?" A few men, women, boys, and girls around her tentatively raised their hands. "Good, then brace the roof! We don't want it caving in!" That, of course, was another thing. If the girl were an Earthbender, even while orphaned, she would at least have some value to society. But, no, she was a non-bender girl whose fate seemed sealed as more impacts shook the ground above them, so she began to cry, unheard by the masses of confused and scared refugees and soldiers.
General Galong shuddered as another wave of impacts struck the barrier he and his men had erected to defend themselves from the relentless barrage. However, as minutes turned to hours, he knew it was only a matter of time before the strength of his benders wore out. "How- can they- keep this up!?" he shouted, though it sounded more like a whisper to his deafened ears. The noise! Oh, how he wished it would STOP! The cacophony only ended for seconds at a time before the next salvo hit like a tidal wave against the seawall. Sometimes, one of his men would collapse out of nowhere, blood pouring from their ears where the noise was loudest.
Then, there was the smell! It was worse than the barracks he'd inherited during his officer training when, one night, he returned to his room to find it filled with smelly shirts as a prank! The stench of sweat, blood, and death hung heavy in the air inside this oven of stone they'd created for themselves to protect against the high-arching projectiles. It also didn't help that his lips were dry from lack of hydration. But the worst, by far, was when the bombs made it through the barrier. One moment, there were mighty Earth Kingdom soldiers, a proud, strong, and stubborn exemplar of their nation. The next? A bloody corpse of one kind or another. For those furthest away, a large piece of metal or stone sticking out of them, possibly a limb or two blown off. But those closest to the explosion? Nothing remained, save small bloody chunks of what was once a human. There was no honour in dying here, nor glory, just death from an enemy they couldn't even see.
Then, it all just- stopped. The last explosion echoed, and there was nothing save the gasps of the living. Ears ringing, General Galong turned to his left to see that, of the hundreds of men he'd commanded this morning, only a third remained standing, the rest either unconscious, wounded, or dead, and he looked to his right to see the same. Feeling mentally and physically drained of all strength, he dropped his bending stance and fell to his knees, his cape flowing as the breeze entered through the large gap left by the section of the barrier he was no longer holding up. But as he sat on his knees, he heard something that sounded remarkably like- laughter. Curious, he turned to the source of the sound, only to find the Luhe, who'd entered his office all those hours ago. His hands covered his ears, his eyes wildly darting from side to side as he rolled on his back, laughing like a lunatic. Now, in all the time he'd known him, Luhe was the best Earthbender Galong had ever known, able to detect an opponent's move before they made it. Yet, as he looked upon him now, he could scarcely believe he was the same man. But, as he sat, he hardly noticed the rest of the barrier collapse to the ground below.
Suddenly, he felt someone lift him to his feet, and he turned to see a private and a nurse helping him. "Sir, are you alright?" the soldier asked as they carried him back to his office, passing other medical personnel who'd come to remove the wounded and the dead. Feeling the last of his strength leave him, he succumbed to dehydration and fell into unconsciousness.
General Alexeev watched the battle unfold as he and his headquarters finished lunch, a grin on his face as he'd watched the artillery shell crash against the Earth Kingdom defences before he turned to regard the bridge which once connected the bastion to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, now destroyed to ensure none escaped to warn the city of what was to come. "Sir, look!" Shouted one of his aides as he gestured at the battered wall.
Sure enough, when he turned to look, he was astonished to see the earthbent outer shell had fallen to reveal the damaged wall behind it as cheers erupted from the gun crews around him. Of course, they'd stopped firing to eat, but as several officers began looking through their spyglasses, they found their enemy broken as the artillerists broke out in song:
"We love our homeland faithfully in our hearts. We battle to death for our beloved motherland.
Cities are now burning, with all covered in smoke. Forward, forward, brave sons of Ruskia!
Artillerymen, Tsar Vladimir gave the order. Artillerymen, the motherland calls us.
With the one-hundred-thousands of batteries, for the tears of our mothers, for our motherland — fire! Fire!"
They collectively sang as Alexeev found a staff officer who'd finished his lunch. "Major Benigsen, tell the Pioneers to advance, would you," he ordered as he wiped the butter from his face.
"At once, Sir," the man replied as he stood up from the table and took his cocked hat before mounting his horse.
General Galong found himself shaken awake by one of his aides. "Sir, you've got to get up! We don't know what to do!" he shouted in his face.
Galong quickly got up, finding his thirst was relieved, likely by someone giving him water while he slept. "What is it?" he asked as he turned to the man.
"I don't know, but you need to come, Sir!" the officer shouted as he helped the man onto his feet and took him up to the battlements.
When he arrived, General Galong found himself shaken as he watched as ranks of men wearing metal armour advance on their position. However, far more interesting were the men in green uniforms riding in front of them bearing a white flag. As they approached, what soldiers remained readied themselves for battle, with the remaining benders taking position along the edge of the wall and the non-benders circling the various gaps in the bulwark with their spears, which the enemy could use to climb onto the rampart. Unfortunately, while his Earthbenders had attempted to repair as much as possible, there wasn't enough left to mend all the gaps in time. When the riders came close, the General raised his fist as the benders lifted large stones in unison. "SPEAK NOW, OR I SHALL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO CONSIDER THIS A BLUFF!" he shouted at the men on strange quadrupeds.
The lead man took out a strange cone-shaped device. "I AM LIEUTENANT GENERAL OF ARTILLERY VASSILI SERGEIEVICH ALEXEEV OF THE RUSKIAN EMPIRE! ON BEHALF OF TSAR VLADIMIR II, I DEMAND YOU TO SURENDER YOURSELVES OR BE DESTROYED! ANSWER ME NOW, OR HOLD YOUR PEACE!" he bellowed, his strange accent and references making it clear to the General that this man was not from anywhere he knew of. As for his threat, he only wished he was in the position to refuse it. To be remembered as a hero who refused to bow to the enemy. But, as Galong watched the foreign soldiers approach and compare them with his own, he quickly surmised that was all he would be if he decided to resist: A tale a mother told her children, children, who may not have a father because of him. But then, he remembered the refugees. What would happen to them if he continued fighting? What if these Ruskians decided to destroy the fortress without any idea of what lay below? After all, the Fire Nation wouldn't have offered him any quarter, and these men seemed reasonable, at least on the surface. The only thing he couldn't understand was: why? What business did these people have intervening on the Fire Nation's behalf? After all, it was the only thing which made sense because why else would they attack the bulwark and demand his surrender? But, if there stood a chance his men would survive, he would take it. Most of all, after everything he'd been through today, he just felt drained of any motivation to fight.
So, he let his arms slump to the side, his eyes downcast as he made his fateful choice. "I SURRENDER!"
Tiya, like everyone inside the bunker, could only hope the Earth Army held, and she could join her brother in Ba Sing Se. But, once again, fate threw her under the ostrich-horse-drawn cart as a terrified soldier ran into the room. "General Galong has surrendered the garrison!" he shouted to the collection of soldiers standing around their pillars.
People began to panic once again before one of the doors opened, and the crowd turned to see armed men in dark green uniforms, metal armour, and helmets enter the massive chamber. "Everyone move back!" one shouted with a strange accent as more poured in, taking the Earth Kingdom soldiers prisoner and forcing the crowd into two parts. "Make way for the General!"
Suddenly, Tiya found herself in the front row with one of these strange armed men facing the adults above her. Suddenly, she turned as a man in the finest clothes she'd ever seen entered the room, followed by several others dressed similarly to himself. He walked strangely with his head held high and shoulders back as he and those behind him waved their arms in sequence with their steps as he gazed about at the crowd, examining them with his cold stare when suddenly, he paused as he stared at her. Tiya felt her throat hitch as this man focused on her and raised his arm before pointing at the man in front of her. "Ты, приведи ее ко мне," he said as the armed man turned to face him before raising his hand to his forehead before moving aside, gesturing for her to follow him. Fearful, she slowly complied, her eyes downcast as she attempted to avoid the man's stare until she stood before him. "Tell me, what is your name, child?" he asked, his voice far softer than she'd expected, and she turned to find he'd squatted down to her level.
"I-I'm T-Tiya," she responded, too shocked to say anything more as the man examined her clothes, a strange look in his eye as he stood up.
"Which of you are this girl's parents!?" he shouted, his tone angered as she fell back and began to cry, his words bringing back memories she thought she'd buried. Slowly, she felt as the man drew near her, and she turned to see his eyes were sad. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he said, offering his gloved hand. Slowly, she took it, and he helped her back onto her feet before taking a pure white cloth from his jacket and handing it to her, allowing Tiya to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Do you not have parents?" she shook her head as he nodded in understanding. "I see," he stood up before turning to one of the other men in armour. "Сержант, отвезите Тию обратно в мой штаб и дайте ей немного еды," the man responded with the same hand gesture as the other one did before he came up and signaled for her to follow him, which she did, mostly out of fear.
After dealing with Tiya, Vassili turned toward the center of the room and continued his march, with his commanders following behind him. "Pardon me for asking, Sir, but what was that about?" whispered one of his commanders.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave that poor girl in such a state. I have three daughters and would never wish to see any young women forced to wear rags. Not to mention how thin she was," he whispered as he turned to face the crowd. "NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, I SHALL EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN! YOU ARE ALL, HENCEFORTH, CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE OF RUSKIA, AND YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO SERVE YOUR NEW MOTHERLAND FAITHFULLY! IN EXCHANGE, YOU WILL RECEIVE THE FULL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE ROYAL CHARTER!" he exclaimed. "THIS I DECLARE, IN THE NAME OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, TSAR VLADIMIR II, EMPORIOR BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF THE RUSKIANS!" he shouted before saluting the soldiers and walking between the confused and dumbfounded crowd of former Earth Kingdom civilians.
Wow, I'm really on a spree this week! Well, if there is anything wrong with this chapter, please let me know, as I effectively wrote it in one day due to how excited I was to finish it.