Herald of Steel

Pasha Farzah had originally become very concerned about Alexander’s line of question, thus although he answered the man about all he had asked, he ended the report with a warning cum threat,

“Brat, if you do anything stupid in the capital right now… in the time of the Jtaama, I assure you, the whole country will rip you to shred. Even Inayah and her daughters will not spare you.” The old man even very animatedly lifted his chin towards the two waiting ladies, thus reminding Alexander to watch his words.

“Hahaha, no, no, Lord Pasha, I would never do something so crude!” The Lord of Zanzan however breezily brushed aside the serious accusation, suddenly giving a wild, unrestrained girn,

“I was just simply thinking of attacking any of the province while everyone was distracted with the Jtaama and wedding. We cannot attack those attending the pilgrimage… true. But what about building up a secret reserve of men while then launching a sneak attack on Ankoot- the seat of Ameneheraft’s powers! There is nothing wrong with that right?”

“…????” Pasha Farzah suddenly felt like someone had slapped his ears with all they had as it began to buzz with a terrible ring.

And for a second, his mind went totally blank.

But then, when he gave it a second more to think and ponder upon it… he found that there was indeed no true obstacle in the way. The foundational theory was there… such a surprise attack, if it could be pulled off would indeed produce immense results.

The only real hurdle was getting the men and logistics in order quickly enough so as to pull the wool over the attending dignitaries before anyone wised up.

“You… we still have a treaty with Amenheraft. What are you going to do about that?” Then thinking about it for a while, the old man finally pointed this out.

And Alexander was actually delighted to hear it.

Yes, delighted.

Because given how Pasha Farzah had phrased the question, it was clear he was very interested. Hence he was willing to discuss the details of how to actually carry this out.

“There is only one year left of that treaty. The ceasefire is basically over. So I believe if we do not break it, they will.” Alexander very nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, reminding Pasha Farzah of the imminent deadline, before turning his voice more firm and bellicose,

“Not to mention, we can find a dozen excuses for doing so. Let us not forget, Djoser openly attacked me…. mere months after we signed the treaty. And Amenheraft has also repeatedly aided Tibias against me. Both are blatantly against the terms of the agreement. So we would be not doing any sneak attack, it would be a fully justified war- blessed by the gods.”

“….” Pasha Farzah would have to admit, he was unable to poke any real flaws in the narrative. Whatever shade the enemy might throw at them for doing this, they would have a shield to defend themselves with.

“….. You really can talk brat,” Hence he clenched out the following with both grievances and admiration, before slanting his eyes and judgingly posing, “Have you really thought about how you are going to do this?”

“The basic outline.. Yes!” Alexander decided to put on a very confident facade, even if he was not that sure himself. After all, he had come up with his plan just a few hours ago as he was looking at the Life Sea and thinking.

However right now was not the time to doubt himself, as that would spook the old man even more.

Thus straightening his back like a rod, the Lord of Zanzan was determined to get this Pasha on board,

“I was thinking of doing something like. We will send orders to various small nobles in Adhan, asking to raise small levies of about a thousand to two thousand men each. But we will not tell for what this is for or maybe we can tell them a convenient excuse.”

“This is to prevent Amenheraft from seeing our ploy… even if he gets news of a few lords raising a few thousand soldiers… so what? Such low numbers are not enough to alarm even a Jamider (Earl), much less a supposed king him.”

“However then, as the legion I have then marches towards Ankoot, we will have these parties slowly join us, one by one… swelling in numbers… so that by the time we cross the border, we will at least fifty thousand men. Combine this surprise attack with my terrifying catapaults and… taking Ankoot city is actually quite possible.”

Alexander could feel Pasha Farzah visibly shiver with excitement at the idea,

And this was not only because it sounded so brilliant.

It was also because he had never once thought about it like that.

The usual levy system in Adhan worked like this- each noble would gather his men and the required supplies, before marching to a meet up point. There, once everyone had gathered, all the supplies would be checked, a final tally of men taken, the basic strategy for the battle hashed out, before finally making for the roads.

It was a long, drawn out process- but there was also a reason why it was done this way.

It was relatively simple to plan and organise, the nobles knew exactly what to do and perhaps most crucially you got the full list of inventory for your men and supplies.

A lot of the nobles would say they brought a certain amount of men and supplies, but upon checking, they would be found to be quite lacking. It was even not that uncommon to miss their quote by perhaps multiple magnitudes. So a thousand men could suddenly turn to three hundred or even two hundred.

All these needed checking out.

However Pasha Farzah’s eyes still twinkled, and his lips subconsciously curled up at the thought of Alexander’s new strategy because if it could be pulled off correctly, they would really hit the jackpot right then and there.

“Hahaha, Tibias did not fall because of nothing, brat!” The old man thus praised with a frank girn, although afterwards a bit of his frown returned,

“But we will need to be very careful. Or else Assazd will detect this. And he would rather see us fail than see Amenheraft defeated. Tsk… reptile!”

“It is also winter… those campaigns are always tough. Where will we get the supplies from? The men will also need warm clothes. And how you will direct the army? These levies, they will be more loyal to the local lords than you. So to convince them to follow you… *Tap, tap ,tap* …there are a quite a few very large problems to solve.”

Pasha Farzah still did not deny Alexander’s plan but quickly tapping on the table, went on to pick out the potential hurdles they needed to solve. And in his mind, although these were difficult, given they had a four to five months time window, it seemed kind of doable.

But Alexander felt this was cutting too close.

So with a flicker of his eyes, he slouched back and began to think of a new strategy.

‘That Assazd, he has much influence in Adhan. Not to mention there are already so many nobles here… would they really not notice this build up? Even if these soldiers are scattered, surely there has to be one or two men clever enough to notice this. Plus a lot of them are here in the palace… ready to attend the wedding. Any order I give would take a while for them to complete. Hmmmpp…. this does not seem to fit. The timeline is too different.’

When Alexander analysed his own plan like this, from a critical angle, he unfortunately found it to be full of flaws.

‘Should I change the response?’ Thus he mused to himself, before turning to pose to the older lord, “Pasha Farzah, can we perhaps bring some charges against Lord Assazd? Surely a man with such a storied career as him has a few skeletons in his closet right?”

“Snort! Of course he has! I can give us a list numbering in the hundreds… from framing other nobles, to killing maids to blatantly stealing lands. But what does it matter? That brat will look past it all!” The Matrak lord was understandably peeved as he spat this, his chest heaving with indignation as he imagined how easily the man managed to get away with it all.

‘Lord Assazd has done immense services for us. What you are saying is simply untrue!’ Knowing Ptolomy long enough, Pasha Farzah could guess even the exact he would hear.

“….. ” Thus Alexander found himself back at square one, curving his lips with a rueful smile, “We cannot remove him even for a few years? Or even a few months?”

Pasha Farzah silently shook his head. He was so stuck to Ptolomy… there was really no separate the grain from the wheat.

“Then what about killing him? Assasination or poison?” Alexander’s eyes turned sharp and devious.

And Pasha Farzah did not actually rebuke him.

Rather, deepening his frown, snorted,

“You think I did not try! But he always has two bodyguards with him. They stay with him even when he sleeps in his own room. And they taste everything before Assazd even looks at it. And in spite of this, that reptile still carries a sword with him at all times….just in case. I even heard he is one of the best swordsman in the country….He is no fool!”

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