WARNING, THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MANY GRUSOME DEATHS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
As he grinned at the result of the bombardment, Vassili turned to address the commander of the Siege artillery. "Viktor, have your howitzers retire! I don't wish to expend any more ammunition!"
"Of course, Sir!" the General replied before turning about on his horse and making for the gun crews while Alexeev watched the shells fall.
As Azula departed from the Bulwark, she had to hold her hands over her ears to avoid losing her hearing as she bypassed the active cannons to make her way to the Life Guards, all the while feeling the earth tremble with every shot fired. When she finally arrived, she began calling out to him as she attempted to push through the ranks of soldiers blocking her way. "IVAN! IVAN!" she screamed, causing the men to separate in shock as they turned and let her reach the front, where she spotted the young Grand Duke standing to her right, looking at her in shock. "Oh, there you are!" she shouted as the guns fell silent.
"AZULA!?" he questioned before recomposing himself. "What in the blazes are you doing here!?"
"I wanted to see you in action!" the Princess replied, purposefully hiding that Nikolai suggested she visit him.
"ARE YOU MAD!?" he bellowed back before shaking his head and seemingly sighing. "You know what? It's fine. Just stay behind us, please."
Azula rolled her eyes before walking up beside him. "I can take care of myself-" and that's when she paused as she turned and saw clouds of dust rising from the outer wall. At first, she could hardly believe it! She'd heard the report of how her uncle had breached the wall, creating a gap wide enough for several hundred men to enter if they stood the same way the Ruskians did. Yet, as she looked on, she predicted the breach created by the Ruskians was at least double that. But, as if that wasn't impressive enough, she could see smaller gaps beginning to form as their foundation crumbled beneath the onslaught of the Ruskian cannons. Once again, she considered herself lucky to have signed the agreement when she did. Otherwise, it may have been her fort under siege. Then, as she watched the scene unfolding, she glimpsed silhouettes appearing out of the dust knocked up from the walls and the desert sand. At first, it was only a few, but as the cannon ceased firing, the full might of the Earth Army bearing down on them became visible. Across the field, just beyond the breech, stood tens of thousands of Earth Kingdom soldiers, arraying themselves for battle, with the bulk facing directly toward where she stood in what she recognized was the center of the Ruskian line.
As his men exited the gap in the wall, and the enemy stopped firing, General Wu managed to wrangle an ostrich horse and started directing his troops into position as reinforcements began arriving from the inner city and other sections of the wall, bringing the total number under his command to some 300'000 men. Of course, he didn't know the accurate number, only that he was in command until General How, leader of the Council of Five, would arrive to relieve him. Unlike those stationed facing the enemy the night before, these men were fresh and well-rested, eager to avenge the deaths of their comrades and the dishonour done to their glorious capitol. After all, it was named BA SING SE! The impenetrable city! Not Na Sing Se! Yet, it may as well have been, for all the walls were worth against their new foe. "MEN, FORM INTO LINE AND AWAIT MY SIGNAL!" Wu cried as he rode ahead and started getting his men in formation. Unfortunately, as was tradition, it fell to him and him alone to guide them into place, with his numbers and their current predicament making the task all the more difficult. Yet, he persevered, and with the help of a small detachment of riders, he managed to get the majority of his troops set up in under an hour. By this time, the sun had fully risen, showering the barren field with its feverish rays, giving him a clear view of the enemy army, or at least, the portion not blocked by the shallow dunes to either side of him. "FORWARD, FOR THE KING!" he bellowed as the units closest to him began moving, soon followed by the rest of the army. "May the spirits guide us," he whispered as he led his men onward.
As Ivan watched the enemy advance, he couldn't help the knot beginning to form in his chest, seeing that the bulk of the enemy line was coming straight for the Life Guards. "Well, it appears they decided to attack for once," she said as she stood beside him.
"Pardon my bluntness, Your Highness, but why are you still here?" he questioned with a sigh.
"And miss this chance to see you perform? I wouldn't dream of it," from her voice alone, he knew she was smirking.
Suddenly, Sergei Antonov walked up to them with a confused gaze. "Your Highness, what are you doing here?" he questioned before turning to his superior. "Sir, what is she doing here?" the man asked him in Ruskian.
Ivan heaved exasperatedly. "Because she decided to be here, Senior Lieutenant," he replied as Azula rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, it's not as though I haven't fought Earthbenders before," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Antonov looked to Ivan, who merely shrugged, causing the Junior Officer to sigh before saluting Ivan and returning to his post.
After Mai finally awoke from her slumber and dressed, she found Ty Lee sitting alone in her room. "I hope he's okay," the brunette whispered as she anxiously stroked her braid.
"Are you talking about Petr?" she asked, nearly causing the girl to jump in fright.
Upon realizing who it was, she took a breath to calm herself. "Oh, Mai, I didn't see you," she said as the gloomy girl entered and sat beside her. "But yeah, I was. I'm just so-"
"Worried?" Mai finished for her as the other girl nodded. "I understand," she began before looking around in confusion. "Where's Azula?"
Ty Lee pondered before her grey eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, she went to see Ivan's Dad. I think. But I haven't seen her since."
Mai smiled slightly. "That's fine. I didn't want to see her anyway," she began before sighing, regaining her usual demeanor. "So, I presume he slept here?"
Ty Lee shook her head. "Not like that," she replied with a huff. "I mean... it's not that I didn't try, but he wasn't having it."
Mai snorted and smirked. "That just means he's a good guy," she told her while shaking her head.
The acrobat thought about it for a moment. "I... guess you're right," she said, tapping her chin before smiling and embracing her. "Aw, thanks, Mai. I was kinda worried he didn't like me or something."
As Pyotr watched the enemy advancing across the field from behind the crest of a low ridge on the left flank, he felt his heart pound in his chest as he awaited the order to mount up. Of course, his commander already informed him of the plan, meaning he would have to wait until near the end of the battle, but he was excited nonetheless. "Hey," he heard one of his comrades whisper beside him. "I heard you slept with a girl. Is this true?"
Pyotr shrugged. "Yeah, I did. But I didn't do anything stupid," he replied with a glare as the other Hussar shook his head.
"Hey, are you two going to whisper like schoolgirls or watch the battle so you can inform us when it is time to strike?" he heard the blunt tone of his commander say, so he turned to see his superior staring at the two.
Both Hussars stood up and saluted him. "Apologies, Sir," they both replied before returning to their posts once the man turned and began walking away.
As he did, the other Hussar slapped his shoulder. "So, you're saying you didn't, uh, you know?"
Pyotr shook his head with a grin and whispered. "No, I slept on the floor. Even though she tried to invite me," he said, turning back to watch as the field guns began opening fire.
"Well, Sir, I don't know how you could do it. But I know I couldn't," the man replied as he followed suit.
As Azula watched the Earth Army draw ever closer, she reconsidered her earlier bravado as the enemy began to reveal his numbers. Initially, she thought there were at most one hundred thousand. But as the dust began to settle, she realized there must have been at least three times that number advancing toward the Ruskian line as she watched from behind the low wall in front of the Guards. "I don't think I've ever seen so many people in one place," she thought aloud as she watched the tidal wave of jade-clad soldiers slowly advance toward them.
Curiously, she heard Ivan give a mirthless chuckle. "Ты понятия не имеешь..." she heard him whisper as he shook his head. Suddenly, one of the Grand Duke's superiors ran up and began shouting unintelligible orders as his men spread out by an arm's width. "Your Highness, you may want to stand back now. It's about to begin."
Azula nodded and slowly backed away until she stood between two Ruskian soldiers. "This is as far as I'll go," she huffed, trying to conceal her nervousness at the prospect of facing down the jade sea moving toward them.
"Very well, Your Highness," he said with a sigh before drawing his sword and turning to his men. "ИСПРАВИТЬ ШТЫКИ!" he shouted, with every other Officer doing the same all across the line. As she turned, she realized the Ruskians hadn't affixed their spears to the ends of their weapons as they drew forth the triangular blades and fixed them to the end of their vintovki. However, as they drew closer, she began to see the horrific result of the Ruskian cannonade, seeing groups of men be torn to pieces before her eyes, with others screaming in pain or doubling over before being trampled under the feet of their comrades. Sure, she'd seen some bad things in her life, from her brother getting half his face burned to hitting her uncle in the chest with a gout of flame. She'd thought she'd seen it all. Little did she know it was about to get so much worse:
"ВЗГЛЯД!" she heard the Major shout, followed by the Ruskian infantry raising their weapons to their shoulders as the Earth Army continued drawing ever closer, suffering more casualties from the cannon fire as they did.
"ОГОНЬ ПО ЖЕЛАНИЮ!"
And it was then, at that moment, she wanted more than ever to vomit as the Ruskians fired their weapons in unison, with scores of men tumbling to their deaths, and her ears became deafened by the sound of gunfire and that awful ringing was all she knew. In the process, she also lost sight of the enemy due to the smoke from the Ruskian weapons.
General Wu couldn't believe his eyes or ears as many hundreds of his men fell dead as thunder filled his ears and a giant smoke cloud covered his view of his enemy. He could hear the screams of the wounded and the cries of the maimed, and he looked around. His army seemed, much like him, overwhelmed with shock and terror as his men, trying to help the wounded or frozen in place, appeared struck as though in awe. Suddenly, another wave of projectiles slammed into the ranks of his army when the smoke began to clear, only for the smoke to cover their foes as more of his men fell dead. At this moment, he didn't know what to do or what orders to give his wavering army, and as he feared, his indecision cost him: First, it was one, just one, a single man who suddenly turned and began to flee on the far side of the line. Then came another, and another, and before he knew it, a sizable portion had fled toward the city as more volleys slammed into his forces every few seconds.
As Azula observed the carnage, she spotted a lone man sitting on an ostrich horse, attempting to rally the breaking troops. Deciding she may as well do something to help her new allies, she stepped forward, ignoring the ringing in her ears, and arched her arms around herself, with electricity following in the wake of her movements, before passing the arc off to her right hand and shotting a bolt of lightning from her index and middle fingers. Her bolt hit home, electrocuting the man instantly as he fell from his mount in a frenzied heap. Not long after, the entire Earth Army began retreating in disarray as Ivan and the other Ruskians turned to her with a shocked expression. "What?"
"Y-You-" Ivan began before shaking his head as the Major ran toward them.
"Who did that!?" he shouted, looking around.
"I did," Azula stated as he turned to regard him.
"H-how did you-" he began before taking a deep breath and turning to his unit. "Злачный лейб-гвардии, вперед!" he shouted as he drew his sword and gestured forward as the soldiers began advancing to the sound of drums, all the while crying:
"УРА! УРА! УРА!"
Ivan marched with them, shouting the same cry as he pointed toward the fleeing enemy with his sword while Azula kept pace with him.
As Captain Hu continued trying to keep his men in good order despite the violent death of his commander, which he'd seen from across the field, he heard the beating of drums and battle cries to his rear as his foe left their entrenchments and began advancing across the entire line. However, due to the enemy's slow movement, he knew they could not catch- A lone trumpet called out across the plain, followed by the sun glancing off speartips to his right. That's when the Captain saw them: Hundreds of men in blue uniforms, riding upon unknown steeds and wielding lances, came into view as they appeared atop the crest of a hill. Then, when the trumpet stopped, he heard- SINGING!?
"Bogurodzica dziewica,
Bogiem sławiena Maryja.
U twego syna, Gospodzina,
matko zwolena, Maryja!
Zyszczy nam, spuści nam.
Kyrie eleison."
As they sang, they began moving forward, slowly at first, then faster and faster, until they neared him and the others. Thinking quickly, he stamped his foot and bent a trench with a wave of his arms in an attempt to stop them, only for two of them to stow their lances and fire at him with their weapons, causing him to stop as a projectile slammed into his shoulder. "AHHH!" he cried between gritted teeth just in time for a lance to pierce his chest as they rode past him, with his last moments spent trampled under their mounts.
After seeing the Dobrish charge on the right flank, Pyotr and his fellow Hussars mounted their horses alongside several units of Cossacks and Cuirassiers as General Orlov rode ahead. "NOW'S OUR TIME, FORWARD!" he shouted before gesturing with his cocked hat as the cavalry began moving in pace to the sound of trumpets.
Pyotr couldn't help but grin as he watched the cavalry on the other flank begin advancing, following the overeager Dobrish into the routed mass of the enemy. As they did, he singled out a bannerman who was seemingly attempting to rally those around him, and began kicking his legs, telling his mare to push herself into a gallop as those around him did the same. "Come on, Yelena, faster!" he cried as he charged directly toward the hapless shambles of a once mighty host knee-to-knee with the other Hussars as the front rank lowered their lances. The Hussar Lieutenant could feel the breeze on his face and raised his sabre before striking a man across the neck as another Yelena trampled under hoof. As he did, a single spearman attempted to stand between him and the banner.
Despite the evident fear on his face, the man braced his spear, only for the Hussar to Pyotr's left to run him through with his lance as he passed, giving the young Officer the opportunity he'd been waiting for. He pressed beyond the line of cavalrymen, his horse jumping over holes in the ground created seemingly out of thin air, and he barely acknowledged as rocks and stones unceremoniously bounced off his pelisse as he caught up with his target and impaled the tip of his sword through his chest and grabbed hold of the banner as he continued his forward momentum. Yet, to his amazement, the man, starting to cough blood from his fatal injury, held tight to his flag and encased his feet in stone. As he came to a stop to keep himself from falling, he felt someone latch onto him from behind and attempt to pull him off. But before the hulk of a man could, he'd swung his sabre around and struck him on his helmet before Yelena turned and bucked him to the ground at his command as he continued the struggle for the flag. While this happened, men fell all around him, both the enemy and his own, as small sections of the Earth Army began to rally to stop the cavalry from cutting down their fellows.
General How watched aghast at the horrific scene before him. When the messengers informed him of the situation, he'd thought he had an army, yet before him was nothing but the shattered remnants of one as he watched the enemy's mounted troops flank the fleeing mass from either side. "Sir, what are your orders?" the Cavalry commander to his right asked in concern as one banner after another began falling or being captured by the enemy.
The General could do nothing but pinch the bridge of his nose as he weakly gestured forward. "Go. Save what you can. I must inform the Grand Secretariat," he stated with a defeated sigh, receiving a salute from the commander as he turned his Ostrich Horse and headed for the inner city.
"You heard the General! Mount up, men!" he shouted to his riders as he gestured forward, with the cavalrymen following his command as what remained of the Royal Guard began patching up the remains of the outer wall in an attempt to stall the enemy.
After chopping the man's arms with his sabre, pulling the banner from his dead limp hands was easy. "URA!" Pyotr cried as he held it aloft for all to see, with several of his fellows cheering him as they passed. Now, no longer stuck in place, Pyotr quickly galloped back toward his lines, dropping his prize at the feet of the advancing infantry, before returning to the conflict as a large mass of enemy riders advanced out from the walls. "Oh, dear," he whispered as he returned to his unit and informed his commanders of what he'd seen. Word soon spread to the other units, who broke off their attack, save the Dobrish, who were much further ahead.
"What are they doing!? Crazy bastards!" General Orlov shouted in anger as he began forming the whole of the regular cavalry into a wedge, with the Cuirassiers at the center. However, despite getting one of his trumpeters to sound the recall, the Dobrish continued to circle the routing infantry. Then he realized they wouldn't escape in time as the enemy would get to them first. "Brigadier General Krukov, have the cavalry delay the enemy for as long as possible! I'm going to order the infantry into squares!" he commanded to his subordinate as he rode toward the columns of advancing infantry.
As Krukov ordered the cavalry to advance, Pyotr returned to his unit and took his place in the formation as they slowly rode toward the enemy to keep their cohesion when they charged. He was slightly winded from the prior engagement. But the youth's fatigue faded as he felt the adrenaline pumping in his veins as he approached the enemy. As they came closer, the Ulans finally realized their mistake and began to flee toward friendly lines. But, to the speed of the Earth Army's mounts, they soon caught up with them, forcing a melee. By this point, the remains of the enemy infantry had already reached too close to the wall for them to attack, as the cavalry had given them enough breathing room to make their exit, leaving their mounted troops unsupported as the Ruskian wedge smashed into their lines. However, with their mission seemingly accomplished, the Earth cavalry soon turned tail, with the Ruskians unable to give chase as their two-legged mounts dashed off, honking and squealing like ostriches, and the Ruskians cheered as they watched them disappear behind their walls.
Azula couldn't help but try to hide her disgust at the carnage she was witnessing, as everywhere she looked, everywhere she stepped, there were the dead, wounded, and dying. Not among the Ruskians, of course, but that didn't make her stomach feel any better as she'd heard the squelch of flesh and felt the wetness beneath her feet. But the worst of all was the coppery scent of blood under the noonday sun. Yet, she could also feel something stir in her chest when she'd feel someone grasp her foot, only to look and find a man who'd had half his face blown clean off, with his skull and brain visible with the other half looking just as normal as ever, save the blood seemingly covering everything. She didn't know how long she'd stared at the man's cold, dead eye until she heard the Ruskians break out in cheers. "Azula, we won!" she heard faintly as her heart beat in her ears. "Azula?" suddenly, she felt someone grab her shoulder, and she turned to find it was Ivan. At first, he seemed concerned, but when he saw her and what lay at her feet, his expression shifted to one she'd never seen from him before. The next thing she knew, his arms wrapped around her as she fell limply into them, her vision going blurry until blackness overtook everything.
Hello everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed this latest installment, and I hope you will all tune in for next time for Long Feng to reconsider his plans, Iroh, Katara and Zuko to realize what's going on, and Azula to come face-to-face with PTSD. Anyway, I am also proud to announce that we've officially reached over 100 favorites and over 120 follows on this niche story.