Herald of Steel

With all the nobles dealt with, Lapitus had little trouble getting the more neutral soldiers to his side.

These men made up the bulk of the remaining forces and once they saw that everyone else they might have relied on was already taken care of, no one saw any point in resisting.

Besides, many did not want to resist in the first place, as they were quite in favor of taking Alexander's offer and only followed Petrino out of sheer fear.

So when it was revealed what Lapitus had done, many rejoiced, with only a staunch few being enraged.

But these men were then either killed or chose to swallow their anger and accept they had lost.

So with this new reality cemented, the men guarding the gates swiftly followed Lapitus's order asking them to open it, as they at last welcomed their new lord.

Back on Alexander's side, upon receiving Lapitus's scouts, the higher ups were quickly woken up from their slumber and informed of the situation, with Alexander even personally meeting the messenger soon afterward.

And there, he was updated on a very succinct version of the event that had occurred inside the city just a few hours prior.

"Good! Lapitus has a great job. Tell him that I sent my congratulations!" 

Once finished hearing, Alexander first and foremost let out his low but very happy cheer.

No matter what his thoughts on Lapitus were, he was certainly glad at what the man had managed to do for him.

Opening the gates three weeks early really would help Alexander with his subsequent annexation plans.

Once the messenger finished his report, Alexander then gave his own set of instructions.

"Go back and tell Lapitus that he is to move all the soldiers and their families inside the Lord's Mansion."

"That way they will be safe."

"Because once my army moves to the city, they will sack it for three days, only those inside the mansion will be spared!" Alexander repeated the last part to emphasize the point.

But hearing what Alexander was planning to do, made the messenger let out a cry of incredulation.

"Wha…t! But my lord you promised they would be safe if we surrender? So why?"

That was not the deal in his mind.

He thought the people would be left alone if he surrendered.

So though he did not outright say it, in his eyes, Alexander was clearly reneging on his promise. 

In response to this outcry of seeming indignation, Alexander's eyes flashed a chilly cold light, as he then icily commented, 

"I said it would not slaughter them all if they surrendered. Not let them go scot free."

He sounded very offended at a mere messenger questioning his integrity, adding, 

"I gave you the chance to surrender five months ago. Why didn't you do so then? Why did my men have to shed blood, sweat, and tears needlessly on those walls for so long?"

Then flashing his palms, he declared, 

"Since you made my men suffer, since you chose to resist, it is time you paid the price. The three days are my man's reward for all their hard work!"

Alexander's loud rant left the other side speechless.

Now, although this move sounded harsh, it should have come as a surprise to anyone.

Ancient sieges usually followed this pattern.

Either the city could obediently surrender and everyone would be mostly spared. 

Either the defenders could resist the enemy and win, keeping everything.

Or the enemy could break through and make the populace pay for struggling, be it looting, plunder, or even outright massacres.

So this should not have been news to the man.

Thus it could be inferred that the only reason he was protesting was because he figured Alexander was soft and he might be able to extract more concessions.

Something which made Alexander particularly mad, hence the loud reply.

Hearing Alexander say his piece, the messenger had no reply, so he was dismissed as such, 

"Go! Tell Lapitus this. Tell him that he has till morning to prepare. My men will enter the city at the crack of dawn," 

"Oh! And tell him to keep the heads of all the nobles and military he killed in a cool place. I have use for them."

Alexander added the last bit as a side note.

He needed to collect those trophies for propaganda

Following the messenger's silent departure with only a salute, Alexander then left it largely up to Melodias to organize the army and have it ready to storm the city.

So the sleeping soldiers were quickly booted awake from their slumber and told to immediately get ready and report to their unit

Something which many were initially irritated by, but hearing the war was about to end and they were imminently about to get their prize, each man followed this sudden order like their sergeant was breathing down their neck.

Hence soon, about an hour before daybreak, Alexander's forty thousand men were lined up right in front of the walls, ready and eager.

Lapitus had opened all four of the large gates, so Alexander surrounded each with ten thousand men. 

'Finally, this will be over!' And as the men waited with bated breath for the promised time, they all sighed in relief, beyond glad they would not have to dig any more earth. 

Some of the lucky ones standing at just the right angle even got to see the prize dangling defensively in front of them, for the houses and streets of the city were nearly visible through the open gates of the second wall.

All four of the thick, heavy oak doors there were once closed tighter than a nun's legs now laid fully ajar- devoid of any guards, making the entire thing completely deserted.

It seemed that after Alexander's instructions, these men had swiftly left their posts and fled to the safety of the mansion, leaving the city defenseless.

Thesalie was completely up for the taking.

*Trumpet*

And it was with the advent of the first white thread of light on the horizon that Alexander personally blew the trumpet, signaling the men to storm the city and claim their reward.

He had informed them that other than the mansion, everywhere was fair game.

And the moment Alexander's trumpet rang, it was like a dam had burst.

What moments ago were men arranged into neat little formations all broke like crumbling sand dunes, as they then maddeningly rushed towards the city.

In fact, if Meloidas had not set up which legion and even which cohorts would enter the city in which order, just this mad dash might have taken a few hundred lives.

After all, these city gates were intentionally made as small as possible, measuring only a few feet in width, in order to limit how many enemy soldiers would be able to push through if a breach occurred.

So shoulder to shoulder, these gates could at best let in four or five men at a time.

Hence the prudent decision by the careful general.

As the soldiers started to slowly flood into the city from all directions, the people there, who were only waking up for their day, suddenly found themselves right inside a living nightmare!

Lapitus and the other men neither had the time nor the will to alert the populace of the impending disaster, being only too busy saving them and their families.

So while the few thousand men and their families sought refuge inside the mansion, the rest of the city was left to fend for themselves.

For these people the sun today brought them no hope unlike every other day, but only pain and despair, as Alexander's men jumped on them like ravenous hyenas.

And following the forty thousand soldiers, many of the nearby camp followers too joined in this macabre feast.

Alexander had promised them this in exchange for their labor.

Now if Alexander could, he would rather not do this.

Because once a city was sacked, its people violated and their belongings taken by the marauding soldier, it made the subsequent ruling of the place very hard.

Alexander knew that with this order, he would be hated by the people here, and thoughts of revenge and rebellion would foment in their hearts for years to come.

But even if he wished otherwise, sometimes it was very hard to stop these atrocities even if the commanders wanted to.

Sometimes, after breaking through a city, the soldiers would scatter to all parts of the city, like now. making keeping order impossible,

And because sieges were very physiologically demanding, by the time the soldiers would win, things like military orders and discipline would go out the window and the men would have only one thing in their mind, to take the prize they were promised, be it riches or pleasure.

And it was also the same prize Alexander promised his levies. 

So the sack of Thesalie had to happen.

Even if Alexander ordered against it, it would happen.

And the only way to perhaps prevent it would have been to have a full-standing professional army that had discipline drilled into them every single day.

It would not work with a levied army like Alexander was using.

So until Alexander could have a large standing army in the tens of thousands, he would have to deal with such issues.

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