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[center][h3]T H E  R U I N E S  O F  A N  E M P I R E [/h3][/center] 
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[quote][i]"Socialism and democracy are two sides of the same coin. Let it be known, all over Zengrav, that our republic is build upon three legs. Wellfare, Education and Internationalism" [/i][/quote] [sub] Cheng Wan "Socialist Party of Zengrav / Rally on the 12th anniversary of the Haidan University Massacre"[/sub]
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General Wang Wu - 3rd Republican Mobile Army 
Ruins of Kaifang - Palace of the Duke - Headquarter of the 3rd Republican Mobile Army 
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[b]"Nationalist forces have crossed the Laugan at multiple points, and established beachheads. Royalist lines are broken, their fifth and seventh army is in fully retreat south, most likely to form a defensive line in the Lauhan Hills."[/b] Sipping his tea, the young general looked at the map in front of him, as his officers moved figures and blocks over it. [b]"They wont be able to keep this up. The nationalist are exhausted and overstretched."[/b] Nodding to the words of his adviser, Wangs eyes moved slowly to the eastern part, and the looming red blocks, amassed at the royalist border. [b]"Any Intel from the east?"[/b] A servant entered, fresh tea and dumpling on a plate, soon to be placed on the crowded map in front of the general. [b]"Bloody reds still deny any planned offensive, while they bring more and more material to the border, sir. They know, that the royalist tigers neck has been broken by Yesui´s forces. Its all about the race to Zur-Han and who gets the emperor first."[/b] Turning his back from the map, Wang walked towards the grand wall of windows, that gave a view over what was left of Kaifang. Where once had been a city, now was a camp. Houses, burned out and shelled for weeks, now had been turned into barracks for the soldiers of the 3rd, while halls now harbored the tanks and trucks of the army. All in between, huddled and dirty, the last civilians of Kaifang endured. Children running errants or selling black market goods to the soldiers, while their mothers sold their bodies. The were hardly any father left. Most had been drafted by the royalists to defend the city, after Bede Sukh had retaken it from the weak leadership that had been Deputy Governors General Ma Auroit folly. He paid with the wire jacket for it, his dying extended for weeks. 

It had his first task, to reclaim the city from the royalists, just half a year ago. Hao Lin had taken the city during the first siege masterfully and with surprisingly little bloodshed, but Wangs conquest had not been so lucky. The iron Duke was not one to leave much to chance and had made him bleed deeply for every inch of ground. With the nationalist offensive in the north, Sukh had traded the lives of the civilian population for time. It was an irony, that he, one of the last to leave the city, would be heavily wounded by an artillery shell. With him wounded, the Royalists were easy prey, and for the second time, the blue banner of the republic flew high above the ducal palace. Still there was no order for the 3rd to advance, or do anything, besides holding its position. 

Wang knew why this was the case. The royalists were at an end, their manpower drained, their armies crushed and their industry spend. But this war, was far from other. To the east, the reds, allies of the republic, would soon move on-mass, pouncing onto the dry-bleed royalist territory, racing the nationalists to the imperial capital of ancient days. There, it would be, where the dreaded next phase of the war would begin. For neither nationalists nor the Socalists had any intention of negotiation. When the white and red tide would meet, blood would be spilled.