Herald of Steel



Faruq's declaration made all the commanders wake up to the facts.

And Lord Nibraz was the first to speak up in support of it.

"Lord Faruq is right. Even if the harbor is defended by a herd of pigs, it does not matter. We should not give Alexander any chance to correct his mistake. For if he goes back to his city, with forty-one thousand (41,000) men to defend the walls, the resulting siege will be impossible for us to win any time soon."

That would be their worst-case scenario.

And so all the nobles quickly bought into Faruq's head-on offensive.

"That's right. The idiot has made such a huge mistake. We should capitalize on it. And besides, we have 15,000 cavalry with us! What are we afraid of facing, hahaha?" They all pumped themselves up.

In Adhania, it was considered that the side with more cavalry would win most of the time, and hence the nobles felt pretty good about themselves.

Thus the military order that they would march tomorrow at dawn and meet the enemy in the morning was spread throughout the ranks of the nobles' army, and everyone got down to preparing themselves.

Particularly, the officers were barred from sleeping with women tonight.

While the enemy was making the very last of their preparations, simultaneously, Alexander was having his soldier put up the last finishing touches around their camp.

They had dug ditches, and planted stakes, and the battlefield was set for the showdown tomorrow.

While the pasha himself was enjoying some last-minute quality time with his newly-wed wife inside Zanzan itself..

"How many do you think there are?" Cambyses asked her husband with worry and fear wrapping around the question as she gazed at the enemy.

But she was not actually not asking about the number of the soldiers.

No, she was asking about the ships as the pair stood on the southern walls, gazing into the harbor.

From there, as Cambyses laid her eyes upon the sea, her heart slightly trembled as she noticed the once blue, shimmering water of the port become blanketed by the huge, unfurled, white sails of Kuleef's fleet, their numbers appearing to drown the very sun itself and cast an ominous shadow on the now deserted port.

The fleet seemed endless of many of the citizenry and their appearance had caused everyone who worked in the dock, the dockworkers, fishermen, and the various small and big merchants had retreated to behind the safety of the walls, giving the once most bustling part of the city a forlorn feeling, one which made Cambyses's heart ache.

"The scouts presumably counted up to three hundred before losing track. But I would say maybe five hundred," Alexander gave his estimate.

This was based on the calculation that as an average ship could carry 100 men and their supplies, so 50,000 people would need around 500 ships.

"Will they attack the harbor?" Cambyses then posed turning her head to her husband.

Such a large force would not be easy to repulse.

"Unlikely. They would have done so already if they wanted to," Alexander answered confidently to reassure his wife.

This was based on both the interrogated reports he had received and also from his reconnaissance scouts who confirmed that the bulk of the army was still camped 15km from Zanzan.

"We should build a navy. Being blockaded does not feel good. Feels like I'm a rat," Cambyses then sourly said, looking at the ship with hatred and tasking her husband with his next project.

A navy would not only be able to prevent a blockade but also protect the trade routes that Alexander no doubt wanted to build.

To which Alexander surprisingly answered negatively, "Maintaining a navy costs too much. And it needs a lot of good sailors. So maybe in a few years."

Alexander had no immediate plans for a navy.

For the navy he did have, the few ships he had gotten from Pasha Muazz's legacy had all been set alight and burned under his order to prevent them from falling into the enemy's hand.

Hence Alexander's ports had no friendly vessels.

And given his manpower and budget shortage, he intended to let it stay that way, and use his large southern walls to defend this weak point, while in the meantime he planned to just let the merchants protect their own merchandise.

Cambyses knew Alexander's condition, and so could only flatten her lips together at the reply, and change the topic to a more encouraging subject.

"Alex, you go fight without worry. I have 20,000 garrisoned men and a million arrows. The walls will not fall. I swear," She reassured him, her eyes blazing with determination.

Though she really did not need to put on such a martyr-like look as the extra month had allowed Alexander to greatly bolster his defenses, training a surplus of troops and even drawing a surplus of arrows from a predicted deficit.

And though these men were not yet fit to fight with the army, they were adequate to hold the walls.

"Mmm, I will be counting on you," Alexander lightly nodded.

As the city lord's wife, and more importantly, as the city guard chief, Cambyses was put in charge of the city defenses with Bartholomew as her deputy.

And they would be the ones responsible for guarding the walls.

And with 20,000 defenders, Alexander was confident that no matter the strategic genius of the opposing side, they would not be able to overcome that number any time soon.

At least not before he would be able to return to assist.

This way, Alexander could fight without the worry of getting his city sniped from right under his nose.

"The guest ladies have also moved to the Temple of Ramuh. The Queen mother even urged me to seek refuge there if things get too bad," Cambyses then informed her husband of another development.

"Hmm, scheming bitch." To which Alexander only snubbed, disdaining at this 'act' of compassion.

Because it was an act as Alexander explained to Cambyses, "She did this because in this way, if I win, she can just say she was always looking out for us. And if I lose…well dead men tell no tales. And her promises need not matter, hmph!"

Alexander made his disdain very vocally known.

And Cambyses was a bit surprised by this amount of acridness.

It was not like the Queen mother had not tried to convince Alexander.

And given she was so adamantly rejected, the attitude she displayed was quite normal.

"Is this only because of her attitude? Or because of something else?" Cambyses suspected that Alexander was likely vexed by something else and hence asked.

And Alexander did not hide the real reason from his main wife.

"Over the past two months, I repeatedly asked for some kind of reinforcement from Ptolomy. Anything! But was always given the same excuse, 'No time and no spare men. 'We have lost too many men in the drought and rebellion,' Ptolomy wrote the same line six times in one letter. I counted," Alexander first vented.

And then gave the actual reason behind his sourness, "But Camius's contact in Adhan tells him that the king is arranging levies for a winter offensive. Says it's a direct command from Ptolomy and is being overseen by Farzah."

This information was given by Goruk, who was a kingpin in Adhan's underworld and Camius's lackey.

When Alexander read this information, he clearly understood what was going on which he now explained to Cambyses,

"They don't have men to help me, but have the time to raise an army? Motherfuc*ers are using this attack as an excuse to annex their nearby noble territories. F*ck!"

Alexander seemed unusually crass and crude today, launching himself into a tirade at the slightest provocation.

'Seems like the pressure of the last two months has gotten to him. He's cranky,' Understanding this, like a faithful wife, Cambyses smiled and nodded at her husband's complaint, showing her support for him.

And occasionally she would join with a hum and a yes.

Though internally she actually understood Ptolomy's actions and even approved of it.

He was just taking advantage of the situation that had arisen, nothing more, nothing less.

Just like Alexander would have if their positions were switched.

"Alex, why don't you stay the night tonight here? Get some rest?" After Alexander finished his diatribe, Cambyses politely asked.

For the past few days, Alexander had been going to sleep in the camp at night among the soldiers to boost morale.

And Alexdner made the same excuse, "No, the enemy might attack any day. I need to be with the men."

The morale in the camp would drop too greatly if Alexander was not present.

But Cambyses felt Alexander was pushing himself too hard and knew he was not getting his needed sleep at the camp.

So she got up to first wrap her hands around her man's broad shoulders, and said, "If they wanted to attack, they would have done so already today. So just stay the night. You leave even before dawn breaks. Come."

That last word was so soft and inviting, that Alexander felt his bones turn soft and putty.

He could not even remember the last time he had slept with his wife after this ordeal started amd sorely wanted that warmth.

But still he was hesitant.

"But if I'm not there when they attack…," He tried to find an excuse.

But Cambyses softly whispered, "The camp is just 5 kilometers away. You can reach it in 10 minutes on the horse. Nobody will even know."

Under Cambyses's urging, Alexander was soon lulled to a fantastic sleep and only woke up at dawn when a messenger came to inform him that the opposing forces were seen marching towards Zanzan.

War had finally come.