Herald of Steel

Chapter 722 Alexander's Plans for Thesalie

"Hahaha, my lord! We did it! Hahaha, we did it."

With the confirmation that the walls were fully under their control and the capture of it stamped in gold, it naturally caused a huge cheer of joy to break down in the Alexander's camp, going from the lowest soldiers to even the highest officers

Adhania in its hundreds of years of effort, had never gone so far, so this achievement was especially monumental for the natives.

Thus came this euphoric cry and all the previous doubts and anger that some of the officers and soldiers had held towards Alexander evaporated like the midday dew, with some even having to resist the urge to hug the man who had planned this.

Some like Jamider (Earl) Tikba who had been one of the most vocal critics of Alexander, but now felt like kissing the man in joy. 

The man had never been so happy to be proven wrong.

And if was only the fact that many of these men were tired as dogs and simply lacked the energy to celebrate too boisterously, these cheers would have shaken the very sky itself.

While Alexander being surrounded by this good news only lightly smiled and nodded, "It's good that the walls are secure."

They still had not taken the city so he was not eager to start celebrating so soon.

Furthermore, the tiredness inflicting everyone was felt by Alexander too, who after staying awake for twenty-four hours finally had all that exhaustion clutch him in its grasp.

And it was a deadly grip indeed, for having fought a full-fledged battle and then conducted a wall assault, Alexander barely had the energy to give an acknowledging nod to the happy news.

Then he quickly issued the following command before he forgot. 

"Good, now that we have the walls we have to make sure we hold it."

"Have the first and second legions retire to their camps. They are too tired."

"Then wake the seventh legion up and have them take over of the defense. Make sure they remain alert and ensure the enemy cannot launch any counterattack and retake it. That would be truly disastrous."

"As for the third and sixth legions…have them round up the stragglers. We will relieve them later."

It seemed that though the third and sixth had gotten an easy job, they also were required to do the longest.

"At once,"  And contrary to Alexander's exhausted face, Melodias surprisingly looked fresh.

The man was built like a bull.

So the general of the army went off to put the finishing touches on securing the newly captured 'territory'.

While Alexander, feeling as if an elephant was standing on his eyelids pulling them down, quickly handed command to Menes and for the rest of the day his best friend was the bed, with the man only waking up at night to finally relieve these tired officers.

And as Alexander oversaw the men, a strange but predictable sight could be seen.

He saw all the camp followers running all about around the battlefield.

Those slavers that came with him were having a field day, as even now, in the dead of night, these men showed no signs of stopping as they chased around the Tibian stragglers, trying to catch them from their horseback.

It had to be remembered that they had been going at it since morning, truly showing that if you love your work, you won't have to work a day.

While many of the other followers, who did not have the strength to take part in that delicious feast, instead turned their focus on the corpses.

All the dead bodies were stripped of their weapons and armor, as well as any valuables they had on them, and then buried.

That last act was the condition that Alexander had set for them in exchange for letting the men and women do this.

And so under Alexander's nonchalant gaze, this continued. 

Alexander would meet up with everyone the next morning, now rested and refreshed, as he got down to understanding the new state of siege.

And Melodias was there to let him know, 

"My lord, we are unable to go to the second wall through the passages. They are completely blocked," 

"In the meantime, the enemy continues to keep shooting from the second wall. It seems we will need to take the second walls as well."

Though he had expected it, hearing so still made Alexander pull a sour face.

He really did not want to do things the hard way.

"Has anyone responded to our surrender calls" Alexander placidly posed, but got a shake of the head, "They shot at the messenger even before he could finish!"

It seemed that the situation was really going to force him to take the second wall just like the first one, through brute force.

"........Okay. Then proceed just like we planned." And after a poignant pause, Alexander defaulted to the original strategy, ordering Melodias, 

"Gather the camp followers and have them dig up the foundations of the first walls."

"We will set fire to them, collapsing them, and then our siege towers can roll up to the second towers just like the first wall."

Hearing which Melodias let out a bitter sigh at all the extra work that he would need to do, cussing, "Fucking Tibians. They have clearly lost. Why wouldn't they just give up? What's the point of fighting anymore?"

Clearly, the man was not looking forward to the prolongation of the siege.

But he knew since the enemy wanted to dance, he would have to humor them.

So asking to be excused, the general quickly went off to start on his task, though the way he shook his head while leaving clearly indicated his mood.

And Alexander had similar feelings.

He was not looking forward to another month of this.

Because that was how long it was going to take at minimum to collapse the walls. 

But then an idea popped into his head.

A frankly very cruel idea.

An idea he frankly did not want to do but decided it might be needed.

So once the war council was dismissed, Alexander called his herald, to his room, where he gave him a few instructions.

"Finish it as quickly as you can," 

Then after handing him a small piece of paper with the set of instructions written on it, dismissed the man to carry out the tasks.

"Yes, my lord," The man bowed before leaving.

Afterward, coming out of Alexander's tent, the man first went to the administrative, where he ordered a few hundred notes be made with Alexander's message written on them.

And over the next few days, these small notes would be tied to arrows and shot over the walls for the defenders to read.

At the same time, messengers from atop the walls would shout out what was already written there:

"Surrender! You have lost! We have defeated your army and taken your walls. There is no more hope for you. Open the gates and we swear by the gods that no one will be harmed- men, women, or children."

"Our lord promises a safe passage of three days for every soul in the city, as well as all their possessions."

"Surrender and everyone, be it nobles, commoners, and slaves all will be spared"

"There will be no need for further bloodshed."

"But if you do not surrender, if you continue to fight, know that once the city walls are breached, every living being will be put to the sword! None shall be spared!"

"Pray that your leaders choose wisely!"

It was a deadly threat.

Not that this kind of warning had never been issued before, in fact it was regularly given.

But still, to slaughter a city of 100,000 or now 70,000 was no laughing matter.

And given how close Alexander was taking the city, those on the walls all felt their hearts waiver.

The conditions were very generous, while their real chances of defending the city were almost nil.

Thus quickly whispers of surrender began to surround them.

While Alexander, to put even more pressure, as well as to show he was truly serious, over the following days, he made sure to spread the same message to every surrounding village, until even the housewives were gossiping, 

"I heard the city is going to be burned to the town if they do not surrender soon. Oh just open the gates and then they can escape."

Even to these uneducated peasants, the offer Alexander presented was a no brainer.

"My lord….are we truly going to do so if they do not surrender?" While Alexander was asked if he was really serious about it.

Many of the officers felt squeamish about such a huge massacre, and a few pragmatic ones even saw it as a waste of good labor.

'Perhaps we can make them slaves,' They hopefully thought.

"Yes!" While at the inquiry, Alexander very clearly confirmed, and gave his reasoning as to why they all had to die, dashing the slave plan.

"Because this will send a message."

"Once we take the fortress of fortress, Thesalie, every other enemy we will ever come across will know that they can either surrender and live or resist and face total annihilation."

"After all if we can take Thesalie, what chances do they stand?" 

  "This will make all of our future campaigns a hundred times faster." 

"So for that benefit, I am willing to sacrifice one hundred thousand men to the gods!"

"I even hope they don't surrender!"

Alexander very ominously ended.