Alexander's command to have another four hundred n join him in his expedition was at first received with quite a bit of difficult skepticism, due to reasons already iterated earlier- i.e.- there was a serious manpower shortage.
Siphoning off so many would seriously weaken the defenses of the manor here, to the point, so officers grimly added that it could even lead to a revolt from within the family, as the opportunistic n sought to take advantage of this brief lull in security.
Of course, they were overblowing things here, as Alexander had made sure to make the Margraves entirely toothless here, but their general alarm was still justified.
If things did not pan out exactly as expected, and Alexander and Remus were sohow captured or worse, well the entire campaign would be lost then and there.
And perhaps even that would be the least of their problems.
Hence, there were many voices, hushed and muted as they were, urging Alexander to reconsider, with so even proposing the alternative, "My lord, let us call the n off the island! Let them join the Gerneal Remus's reinforcing contingent. And after they rescue him, they can return to camp."
And credit where credit is due, this was quite a sound idea, devoid of much risk.
If seven ships and a thousand n were to join in the rescue, it would likely succeed without any real chance of failure.
But here, the usually prudent and even sowhat cold Alexander found himself suddenly acting out of instinct, as he overruled all these concerns by boldly claiming,
"No! We are already far too behind the enemy to be so conservative. The odds are too stacked against us. We cannot win this without taking risks! So the n at Phyrros Island stay. And we are also going to be attacking the island! No matter what."
Such a callous, almost throwing all caution to the wind statent was not at all like Alexander or a man of his status.
And normally, upon facing such an encounter, he would have likely tried to gauge the cost and benefit of all his actions, trying to determine whether it was even worth it to go rescue Remus and all his n, or try and take over the island, but not both.
However, although this was most likely on paper, this was not what happened, as at the news of Remus's trouble, Alexander found his heart suddenly trembling.
Sowhere deep inside him, the thought of losing Remus seed almost equivalent to the thought of losing Cambyses or one of his children.
The brotherly bond was so primal.
Hence, in what could be said to be among the very firsts for him, Alexander let his emotions do the talking and decided to try and do both things at the sa ti.
So towards the still reticent officers, who were still trying to convince him by making dark predictions of the lines breaking, Alexander coldly shot back with the words,
"If the n fail the lines are breached, then they will be breached! And we will have lost. Then all of you will be humiliated alongside ."
These words cut deep into the hearts of the officers, as Alexander implicitly charged them with incompetence.
And by bringing his na as well, he very clearly signaled that such a thing would also bring sha to him, their lord.
And being veterans of many years, if there was anything that could produce a fire in their hearts, it was this, the insinuation that they were incompetent.
Thus their eyes began to blaze with competitive zeal, and all of them quickly swore to hold any attack on their position to their last dying breath.
With this decided, Alexander soon had his n and ships ready, and they set sail at once.
While all these were going on, things back on Phyrros Island were relatively quiet.
The camp servants had by now finished toiling away to create nice, good fortifications, consisting of rampart and palisade and even a small ditch, behind which were stationed most of the legionnaires, all patiently and eagerly waiting for the signal from Alexander to cross the line and launch their furious attack.
And due to the general chaos of the surroundings, as well as being behind wooden walls, most of the n here remained oblivious to Remus's plight.
While on the opposite of the fence, the Heeat family soldiers also stayed behind their makeshift walls, hoping for the reinforcents to arrive sooner.
Thus for now, on that imminent battlefield, peace reined.
Which was really lucky for that ssenger from Alexander, as he had little trouble getting an audience with Kazid, and finding the man still in his designated station.
The ssenger, who had managed to cover the short distance within a relatively quick ti, simply had to flash the letter bearing Alexander's seal, and all the guards posted at the various checkpoints simply dissolved away, parting themselves instantly to let the man through.
Until finally the man stood in front of the commander's cabin, who like Alexander had also decided to take a little shut eye after the successful night operation.
Hence he was predictably a bit irritated at this unwelcod guest, but that acrimony of being yanked away from his sleep almost instantly dissolved away into nothingness as soon as he got Alexander's letter accompanied by the hasty words, "The Pasha wants you to sail out to attack the ships there. General Remus is with them. Rescue him. No matter what!"
The ssage was naturally accompanied by the pointing of the finger towards the west, thus finally drawing Kazid's attention to the ongoing naval fight in the distance.
And the commander of course knew of Alexander's plan to conduct a pincer attack, and thus spotting their four ships get caught in this sudden, completely unexpected attack, made his heart lurch.
How could this have happened?
How did they know?
And how does the enemy even have workable battleships?
Such and many more questions flooded the officer's mind, but most of all, he quickly let out this incredulous yelp,
"Dammit! Why did none of these wastes wake up? I would have sailed out on my own then if I knew Remus was in trouble!"
It was unknown whether the man really ant it, or was just saying it for Alexander's ears, to show his sincerity and earn so favors.
But whichever the case, the man did act with great haste, quickly recalling forty percent of his force, i.e.- 200 n, and having them board the ships, as well as placing three hundred rowers for the four ships.
This was much more than what was usually required to power the ship, but Kazid rightly assud that he was going to need as much muscle as he could get, in order to be able to make his ship as fast and nimble as it could possibly get.
It was only this way that he could save himself from getting ramd while being able to ram himself.
These preparations did not take much ti, as the soldiers were still mostly in their formation, patiently waiting for Alexander's order.
So they simply marched onto the ships when the command ca to board them.
While the rowers were also barely resting, thus only a few good shouts were all that was needed to get them aboard.
This was one of the main reasons why Alexander had his ssenger travel to another island requesting for aid, instead of mobilizing his n from the camp itself and leading the battle himself.
Because everything was already ready there.
And it was a very fortunate thing that everything was already ready there, because Remus did not look like he had a lot of ti left on his hand.
For Lord Kite had by now managed to mostly scythe his way through even the doggedly defending legionaries and seed on the verge of claiming this flagship as his own.
It was a confirmation that greatly pleased, who chuckled to himself in half delight, half relief, "Finally! I can't believe it has taken them so long. Who were we fighting? So elite royal bodyguard?"
He made this statent as a testant of how difficult the fight had been.
It was not sothing the man had been at all expecting.
Upon initially seeing the enemy, Lord Kite had already assud the four ships were his, and all that now remained was rely the formalities.
But that assumption was quickly put to rest, with the very first ti being when Remus ramd his vessel.
The collision had produced a dreadfully ear splitting noise, as the solid steel tal spiked 'club' bore through the large ship's hardwood hull like a drilling bit, lodging itself deep into the belly, and making the entire vessel shake like it was experiencing a magnitude nine earthquake.
The violent jerking had even thrown two unlucky sailors overboard, and even threatened to do the sa to Lord Kite, who was only saved by him quickly grasping the rails like his dear life depended on it.
"Wha… what happened! Did we get ramd!" And then shouted as such in alarm, the incredulity in his voice palpable.
Following that, unfolded a series of brutal hand to hand lee, until, finally the outnumbered legionaries seed to be on the brink of collapsing.
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