[center][h3]T H E R E P U B L I C [/h3][/center] 

[center][h3]Siege of Kaifeng [/h3][/center] 

[center][b]Zengravian Democratic Front [/b][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/G68ty68.png[/img][/center]

The Imperial Palace had been the jewel of Kaifeng. 

Now it was little more than a smoldering ruin. 

Its ornate façade crumbled under the constant barrage of heavy explosive shells and machine gun rounds, its garden’s trampled under jackboots, and hand carved furnishings used as makeshift barricades by the palace’s defenders.

Colonel Cai Xi ducked his head back, a cascade of rifle fire pounding the area where his head had just been. A Blue Guard answered with the bark of his submachine gun while a second shocktrooper stepped out from the corner to hurl a grenade down the hall and towards the drawing room. The grenade made it past an overturned table, the defenders had a moment to realize just what had clattered at their feet, a scream came before the sound of the roaring explosion cut them off. 

Cai Xi moved slowly down the pockmarked hall, according to the plans he had of the palace, the throne room was coming up and resistance had been steadily growing to the final crescendo. Over the bodies the Zengravian’s advanced, bloodied but ready to continue. The brigade had taken nearly forty percent casualties between the bloody tunnel fighting and the storming of the Imperial Palace. 

The Blue Blood that had been spilled had not been shed in vain, as Cai Xi stormed the Throne Room, a second company was raising the Republican flag over the palace’s battlements. Yet the prize of the Duke would continue to elude him. Cai Xi was disappointed to find naught but an empty chair defended to the death by a loyal cadre of doomed servants and life guards. 

The bullet ridden bodies lay scattered throughout the room. Cai Xi stepped forward, mounting the dais to the Throne and sat.

For a moment, he allowed himself to dream.

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If it was one thing that Liu Shao was good at, it was evaluating the worth of a potential investment. Kaifeng had been captured – or would be in complete Republican hands shortly. The outer districts had received damage but nothing that could not be fixed. The population had been spared and with that work force as its engine, Kaifeng could be a bastion for the Republic. 

The bloom of explosions and pop of gunfire still hung in the air but the conclusion was foregone. The Republic had achieved its first victory in a decade but it hadn’t come without a caveat. Strange reports of riots in the capital had reached Shao. The President had expressly forbade him from returning, no doubt in order to ensure that the Governor General couldn’t start any trouble. 

No matter who the culprit was, Shao had bigger problems. His army was tired and bloody, it would need to be re-equipped and consolidated. While the Nationalists fought the Royalists in the North, it did not mean that the Republicans would be immune to retaliation.
 
Perhaps the true battle for Kaifeng was just beginning.