The snow had melted in Lublin, but tension had not.
The vote had passed — a narrow but decisive majority had chosen to join the Iron Crown as a Kingdom in Union. Yet, the dream of peace was brief. Just two nights after the coronation of King Eryk Nowak, gunfire echoed through the southern forests of Kraków.
A new faction emerged from the ruins of the old Polish Republic — The Sovereign Flame, a coalition of ultranationalist militias and ex-senators. Declaring the vote illegitimate and "engineered by foreign monarchists," they refused to recognize the new kingdom.
Their flag — red with a white eagle engulfed in flame — flew from captured towns and government buildings. They claimed to be the "true custodians of the Polish soul." Within a week, they seized control of Kraków, Rzeszów, and Tarnów.
King Eryk's forces were undermanned. His military relied heavily on Iron Crown officers and artillery support. His cabinet pleaded with Hans to intervene directly.
Council of War – Rzeszów Front, Polish Highlands
A field table was erected beneath a heavy command tent as wind battered the canvas. Hans stood at the center, clad in a darkened officer's uniform bearing the Iron Crown's insignia. To his left stood Colonel Engelhardt. Opposite them was King Eryk, now dressed in a command coat of his own.
"We must strike fast," said General Smialek, a former underground resistance leader now elevated to Field Marshal of the new kingdom. "The Sovereign Flame is mobilizing recruits. If we don't take back Kraków in the next week, they'll control half the south."
Hans studied the battle map. "Have we received confirmation on the foreign backers?"
Eryk nodded grimly. "Unofficial support from rogue Coalition elements. Old arms caches have been unlocked. And… intelligence suspects a Japanese guild has sent 'advisors.'"
Hans's face went cold. "So the east and west now fight each other using Polish blood."
He turned to Engelhardt. "Send the 2nd and 6th Divisions. Lock down the mountain passes. Cut off their retreat. No fire on civilian zones. We win with precision."
Smialek interjected. "And Kraków?"
"We take it personally," Hans said. "With a delegation."
The Secret Summit – Underneath Tarnów
In a wine cellar beneath a bombed-out town hall, Hans met with three key leaders of moderate Polish resistance factions — commanders who had not yet pledged allegiance to Eryk's kingdom or the Sovereign Flame.
One of them, Jakub Mierzwa, was a quiet man with an iron prosthetic arm and a deep scar running down his neck.
"You expect us to join another Empire?" he asked, voice bitter. "We bled for this soil."
Hans leaned forward across the candle-lit table.
"You bled, and I honored that. That's why I gave Poland a king,a parliament and not a crown prince. I didn't come to rule you."
"But you do rule us," another man hissed.
"No," Hans snapped. "I fight for you. While the Coalition holds meetings and sips wine, I am here. While the Sovereign Flame burns your villages, I send my sons to stop it. And when I leave, I will leave behind a united, sovereign Poland — not a subject, but a shield."
Jakub stared at him.
"If you truly mean that… prove it in Kraków."
The Battle of Kraków – Three Days of Smoke and Fire
It began before dawn.
Iron Crown special forces parachuted into the industrial district while loyalist Polish forces advanced from the north.
Hans himself entered the city with a small elite unit — no pomp, no banners — just boots and grit. Block by block, they fought through barricades.
Civilians were evacuated through underground sewer routes coordinated by Hans's summoned sub-commanders.
The final confrontation came at the steps of the Wawel Castle, where the leader of the Sovereign Flame — Senator Pawel Rozek — broadcast his final speech on radio: "This is the death of freedom. This is foreign steel, not Polish spirit."
Then Hans stormed the radio tower.
His words, broadcast to every device in Kraków, were short:
"Rozek calls this steel foreign. But who gave you aid when you were dying?
Who came when your allies ignored you?
If I am your invader, then may your true friends forgive you for never arriving."
Rozek was captured, not killed. He would be tried in Warsaw under a unified court.
The Aftermath – Ashes and Oaths
The Sovereign Flame scattered. Some fled east. Others went underground. Most surrendered.
Hans stood before the battered remnants of the Polish Parliament in Warsaw — now restored — and addressed its members.
"I did not come to forge a puppet. I came to build a partner.
The Kingdom of Poland, in Union with the Iron Crown, shall be a monarchic parliamentary democracy, with its own laws, tongue, and military.
You will never kneel before me. But together, we will stand taller than ever before."
A new oath was sworn.
The flag of the Iron Crown was folded beside the Polish white-and-red — not above it.
And in that frozen city, amid dust and ruin, Poland was born again.