Tahar Knight and Finn were actually somewhat alike. Both were quite capable, yet not skilled at flattery, so they were the type of men who weren’t given much importance in Count Henry’s faction.

The difference between Tahar and Finn was that Tahar was younger—only thirty-three years old, with a head of red hair. He had a medium build but was as sturdy as a young bull, and his temperament was more straightforward. He hadn’t learned life’s hard lessons like Finn had, so he was still the brutally honest type.

The reason Tahar approached Fang Zhen was, on one hand, because he was courageous and fierce—a suitable candidate for a position like Vanguard Officer. On the other hand, he had a strong desire for advancement and felt that, through his interactions with Fang Zhen, he could better utilize his strengths under his command.

In short, Tahar believed Fang Zhen had a bright future and the magnanimity to tolerate a forthright subordinate.

Fang Zhen looked at Tahar.

Tahar continued, "My lord, I have heard of your martial prowess and do not doubt it. But our army has just experienced a change of command. You replacing Count Henry is a good thing, but the troops’ morale is surely not yet stable."

"If you ordered these soldiers to wipe out bandits, stand guard, maintain peace in the city, or carry out some general defensive maneuvers, they would execute those orders without a problem."

"However, if we’re asking them to face Duke Tarrenno, and an enemy force more than twice our size at that, the soldiers’ combat effectiveness and morale would be deeply concerning."

"In a real battle, I’m afraid that after losing anywhere from a tenth to a seventh of our men, the army’s morale will collapse, and we’ll face a total rout."

In saying this, Tahar was actually voicing what was on Agatha’s and Finn’s minds, and the two of them nodded in agreement.

It was just that Agatha and Finn were both more worldly-wise and wouldn’t have been so direct, even though they knew it to be true.

Fang Zhen’s expression was placid.

"It’s fine. The army isn’t the source of my confidence in facing Duke Tarrenno," Fang Zhen said. "The army is merely one of my bargaining chips."

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Tahar and Finn were both baffled.

Agatha, however, watched Fang Zhen for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

Fang Zhen didn’t elaborate.

He had no intention of leading his troops to attack Duke Tarrenno.

Even if Duke Tarrenno was possibly a demon in disguise, he was still, after all, a Duke of the Kingdom until his identity was exposed.

Fang Zhen was still cultivating his reputation as an heir of the Augustus Clan. By that measure, he was considered to be out of power. Without a proper justification, leading troops to attack Duke Tarrenno, the Lord of this Duchy, would mean he lacked a righteous cause.

The Xia Country People all understood this principle. A military campaign must be "justified and honorable." Even if you were staging a rebellion, you had to invoke gods and spirits, raising a great banner to "act on Heaven’s behalf and enforce justice."

Fang Zhen currently lacked such a righteous cause. A direct military confrontation would be an unwise move, and besides, he did not hold a military advantage.

And he had no intention of engaging in a direct military conflict to begin with.

Fang Zhen’s greatest advantage was his own incomparably formidable personal combat prowess.

His true plan was to use the army as a bargaining chip and manipulate the situation with words or circumstances to create a trap, forcing Duke Tarrenno into a one-on-one duel before their assembled armies!

Fang Zhen knew his army of seventeen hundred couldn’t defeat the Duke’s legion, but he was betting that Tarrenno didn’t want to fight this war either.

Let’s not even talk about besieging a city, which would require a five- or even ten-to-one advantage in numbers. Even in a pitched battle in the field, a clash between seventeen hundred soldiers and four thousand would still inflict at least several hundred casualties on the enemy.

According to the available intelligence, Tarrenno’s finances were also in bad shape. He might not be able to bear the cost of pensions for several hundred casualties and recruiting replacements.

Fang Zhen was betting on Tarrenno’s reluctance to fight, and using it to manufacture a situation where a duel could take place.

According to intelligence obtained from Matthew and Agatha, there was a reason Tarrenno was known as the greatest warrior of the Zambein Kingdom. In his younger days as a noble, he had participated in numerous personal duels, killing several other nobles.

Tarrenno had a fiery temper. He was a powder keg waiting for a spark—very easy to provoke.

To minimize his losses, and because of his personality, Tarrenno would likely act on impulse and duel Fang Zhen, provided he was provoked correctly.

The army was not Fang Zhen’s trump card for achieving victory, but simply the bargaining chip to force Tarrenno into his trap.

"Are there any high mountains near Nottingham City? Or any tall buildings within the city?"

Fang Zhen asked suddenly.

His seemingly random question made both Finn and Tahar pause in surprise.

"The terrain around Nottingham City is all plains, with no high mountains," Finn said. "And because Count Henry was afraid of being assassinated with a powerful bow from a high place within the city, he forbade any overly tall buildings. The tallest building is the church, but its upper levels are sealed. It’s only three stories, and you can’t get in."

Fang Zhen listened and shook his head slightly. ’A pity,’ he thought to himself.

’If there were high mountains or tall buildings, I wouldn’t have to go to all this trouble. The safest plan would be to find a high perch and take Tarrenno out with an AWP.’

’But that plan was no longer an option.’

’Count Henry was surprisingly self-aware. He knew how much people loathed him and how many enemies he’d made. He was so afraid of assassination that he probably had all the city’s tall buildings demolished or sealed off.’

’Using the AWP amidst the army formations wasn’t a good idea. It would make people connect it to the cause of Count Henry’s death.’

’Right now, my influence and authority haven’t reached the point where I have great scholars who can twist logic to defend my every action. It would be bad to let people associate me with Count Henry’s death. It would also reveal a trump card, putting others on guard.’

’I should stick to the original plan and go for a duel before the battle lines.’

’And if the situation is right, unloading a burst of HK416 rounds into Tarrenno during the duel would work just as well.’

"The army has rested enough. Pass down the order: continue the advance toward Nottingham City."

...

That afternoon, Fang Zhen’s army arrived at Nottingham City.

Without much effort, Fang Zhen took control of Nottingham City.

At least in the eyes of outsiders, Fang Zhen hadn’t killed Count Henry. Henry had simply been unfortunate enough to be killed by a meteor, and Fang Zhen was merely taking advantage of the opportunity to fill the power vacuum.

Under these circumstances, the forces that had originally belonged to Henry had little will to resist.

Fang Zhen also had the "banner" of being a descendant of the Augustus Clan to rally support. Many people, seeing that Kingdom law allowed a descendant of Augustus to inherit the title of Duke, decided to invest in Fang Zhen ahead of time.

There was no resistance, and Fang Zhen’s power was snowballing. Acquiring his initial power base had been risky and required effort, but once it started growing, the process became progressively smoother.

Seeing that so many of their comrades had pledged allegiance to Fang Zhen, the Nottingham garrison also gave up resisting and surrendered quite willingly.

Fang Zhen had the army make camp outside Nottingham City while he quickly consolidated his forces.

He left a necessary garrison of two hundred men in the surrounding towns. The soldiers he brought with him, combined with the Nottingham garrison, now totaled seventeen hundred men.

Nottingham City was a major city, not one that Redstone Town or Ashton could compare to.

The city was more than six times larger than the one surrounding Ashton Castle. It was also protected by city walls, unlike the Ashton Territory, where only the core castle had walls because there weren’t enough resources to build them for the surrounding areas.

Looking at this city, Fang Zhen finally felt like he was seeing both a military fortress and a true city.

For Henry to have inherited such a fine city and a large sphere of influence, yet still manage it so poorly, one could only say he was utterly incompetent.

After he swiftly consolidated his forces and arranged them for defense, dusk was already falling.

The sun had been behind the clouds all day.

But at dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun stained the entire sky red. It stretched out for an unknowable distance, a vast expanse of crimson, like blood flowing from the heavens.

At this moment, Fang Zhen had half his army positioned on the city walls for defense, while the other half was arrayed in formation before Nottingham City.

Fang Zhen, mounted on his Red Hare Horse, looked up at the sky.

"Fiery sunset clouds," Fang Zhen said, gazing at the blood-red sky.

He suddenly had a premonition.

’A lot of blood is going to be spilled today.’

’But it won’t be my blood.’

Just then, beneath the blood-like afterglow of the sunset, an army appeared on the plains in the distance, advancing on Nottingham City.

Grand Duke Tarrenno’s legion had arrived!