Herald of Steel



The time taken to draw up a peace treaty was relatively quick, the two sides having completed it within one day.

And even as it was being signed and the prisoners exchanged, Alexander could already see from atop his walls how the walls of the Tibian camp were being dismantled and soldiers being arranged in marching formation.

It seemed that Perseus was ready to march the second the deal was completed and he got his men.

'It is too bad we cannot finish them off,' And seeing so Alexander could not help but lampoon a bit at this lost opportunity.

No one was under any kind of illusion that the peace treaty they signed was a flimsy, tenuous one and that the attacks would resume the second it expired.

So if Alexander had the ability, he would have certainly tried to cut off the snake's head then and there.

And perhaps Perseus had sensed this, thus prudently deciding to make his retreat while he still could.

Mithriditus and Philips had spent some time trying to make him see their current weakness.

"*Sigh*" And as the warrior king oversaw the packing of his camp, and then turned his head to look back at the city he had come so close to capturing, he released a mournful sigh, his face looking visibly aged, his weak body no longer radiating that same aura of charisma and gallantry.

He had lost so much in this campaign, so many high-level officers, many friends, and even his best friend.

But perhaps what stung even more was the fact how close they had come.

In fact, paradoxically, perhaps Perseus would have been able to better swallow this bitter pill of defeat if he had not gotten so close to claiming the city.

To have gotten so close to something he wanted more than anything in his life and then fail at the last moment burned Perseus's heart that much more, much more than if he had just simply failed the siege.

But it was what it was, there was no pill for regret.

Lady luck had swung both ways in this conflict, for him and also for Zanzan.

For him, lady luck first helped him win the battle when his elephants managed to spook the enemy cavalry, thus enabling him to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

And then the goddess of luck had again helped him by providing him with a new route up the hills to attack the city, gave him a clear night even in the middle of winter to aid in their travels, and lastly presented him with Leosydas's miraculous flanking maneuver that ultimately enabled him to capture the manor.

While for Zanzan, the same goddess of fortune had enabled Laykash to almost kill Leosydas which caused Perseus's left flank to disintegrate, allowing Zanzan to cause massive damage to the king by killing a lot of his veteran commanders and nobles.

And during Perseus's sneak attack, she had alerted them of Perseus's approach by setting the iron foundry on fire, the manor was then somewhat set on fire, and lastly, she enabled them to carry out a miraculous flanking maneuver of their own which Perseus failed to foresee due to the then circumstances.

Hence, going by the count of favors, the lady of destiny had not really discriminated against either.

But Perseus had simply failed to utilize them as effectively as Cambyses.

Deep down Perseus of course recognized this, but currently, he was not in the mind of self-reflection.

Instead he was much more worried about how he would explain his campaign to the nobles and who to replace Leosydas with.

And it was with such headaches that Perseus made his way, his and the men's hearts heavy with the defeat.

"*Sigh*, it's finally over," And as they slowly left, seeing the enemy finally recede over the horizon, being followed by a small contingent of Zanan cavalry who were there to make sure Tibias really left their lands, Cambyses, standing next to Alexander atop the wall at last let out a sigh of immense relief, feeling a surge of surrealness at having survived this encounter.

There were many times in the last few months that Cambyses did not think she would make it.

"Mmmmm," And hearing his wife speak, Alexander also let out a low nodding hum, showing his support for her, though he then immediately rained on her parade "But they will be back! We need to prepare."

"....." Cambyses was not entertained by this. which she showed by pursing her lips.

Of course, she knew they would be back, that it was just an interlude, that both sides had things that were left unfinished.

But couldn't she be allowed to enjoy this hard-won peace for at least even a little bit?

Was there really a need to remind her of the huge amount of work that lay in trying to rebuild the city immediately?

She had just finished completing one such task!

So with pressed lips and a dry tone Cambyses shot back, "Who's we? I'm not doing any more work. I worked enough in the last few months. Now it's your turn!" as she then turned around and exited the walls, the winds there were not feeling pleasent to the body.

It seemed that the girl was planning on taking a break from her work.

And Cambyses really did, dumping all the work onto Alexander, who found the next few months very hectic.

The very first thing he had to deal with was the casualty report and damage estimates.

The damages they incurred were as expected, the foundry, the brick plant, the manor, and the workshops all were heavily affected.

The foundry and the brick plant would need to be almost built from scratch, while the workshops would need major repairs, with many sheds requiring reconstruction and the wooden walls mending.

As for the casualties, well the combined dead, captured, and wounded of the two battles amounted to around 20,000 men and women, out of which he had managed to get 3,000 back and take an additional 12,000 prisoners.

And as Alexander read this report, he could not help but thank his lucky stars that he had somehow managed to keep his losses to only a net of 5,000.

Because if the entire 20,000 had really disappeared from the labor force, he would have been crippled for years, with many of his industries being forced to shut down or at least slow down.

And it was also because of this that Alexander was adamant about not trading the men for a ransom, even when Mithriditus offered larger and larger prices.

After all, Alexander did not lack money as much as he lacked men.

"Lord Alexander, it is the natural custom of war to exchange prisoners for money! How could you!" And hearing so Mithriditus had decried the attempt, to which Alexander had only sneered,

"Heh! I already paid tens of millions of ropals for them. So of course I can!"

And then swiftly added,

"We need those men to rebuild our city. You can wait till they have done so and then buy them back. Or exchange them with slaves of equal value."

Alexander made it clear he wanted men for men.

With this proposition, plus given the fact that Mithriditus had rescued every one of value with the 3,000 he was allowed to exchange, the nobleman did not see any reason to haggle with Alexander with great ferocity.

The rest of the captives were mainly peasants, and so he only half-heartedly proposed to rescue them a year later, though the man was skeptical about how many of them would be able to live through their captivity.

After all, prisoners of war used as forced labor had famously high casualty rates.

And he was right to worry about that, as Alexander planned to use these men in places like the mines, which famously had a low survival chance given the environment, or in various infrastructure projects, such as roads, aqueducts, and buildings.

Which though not as brutal as the mines also had their fair share of accidents, such as injuries from using tools, falling from scaffoldings, out-of-control animals, and the challenges of working in the scalding hot summers or in the bleak, freezing winters.

Hence perhaps the lucky few who got to work the field tolling away would be the really lucky ones, able to preserve their lives even if they had to subject themselves to back-breaking labor.

Alexander would have several meetings with his council members regarding the allocation of these men, choosing to send most of them to help rebuild the foundry, while others were required to build a wall along the western side whose plans Alexander had already drawn up.

Alexander planned to plug that hole in his defense as soon as possible.

With the care package for the city determined, Alexander then moved to placate the citizenry.

First and foremost he lifted the food rationing that had been instituted and started to subsidize various foods such as wheat, salt, beans, seasonal vegetables olive oil, etc., until summer to take the burden of many households who had run through their saving during the siege when they could not work or trade.

Furthermore, Alexander initiated a stimulus package of 50 million for the people, which came to about six months of pay for each family, as well as giving 10,000 ropals to all families who had lost anyone in the attack.

This show of generosity helped Alexander win much of the wavering hearts and in this way, a new chapter dawned for Zaznan.