"Ha."

Furinjiara asked in surprise, "Lord, why are you laughing?"

"I'm laughing because Rauf is foolish. If he intended to create a diversion, he shouldn't have intercepted all the scouts. Even a fool could see something's amiss."

"If I were him, I'd intercept some scouts and let some pass, preferably spreading the news that Jeanne and the Winged Cavalry are surrounded and urgently need support."

Prajna slightly frowned, "Surrounding Jeanne and the Winged Cavalry is no easy task."

"Indeed..."

Losa paused for a moment, then asked, "Hans, how many militia have we recruited now?"

Hans replied, "We have trained over two hundred soldiers with simple queue trainings, and over eight hundred others volunteered to help us defend the city."

Losa nodded slightly.

Out of the population of over ten thousand in Eira Port, recruiting a thousand militia from the converts to defend is quite a normal proportion.

Even in the wars of Europe, everyone is brother in Christ, but when a city falls, plundering and massacre are inevitable.

Someone like Losa, who occupied Eira Port and barely disturbed the civilians, is incredibly rare in the world.

"It seems, Rauf's notorious cruelty has helped us greatly."

Hans whispered, "Lord, surely you don't believe your own reputation is good?"

Losa possesses nicknames like the Generous, the Holy Land Guardian, the Brave, and others with positive connotations.

But these are within the Christendom.

In the Zoroastrian World, any chief with substantial wealth and status fears his cruelty and ferocity.

If their land is occupied by other Crusader Princes, they might still maintain control through tributes.

With Losa occupying lands, they would either be exiled or certainly cleared out.

Losa sighed lightly, "I know, which is why I haven't planned further external expansion for the short term."

Hans whispered, "But Lord, the timing is perfect now. Losing this opportunity would be a shame."

Losa acknowledged, "Indeed, if in this battle we annihilate the majority of enemies, Rauf's territory in the southern Sinai Peninsula is nearly ours for the taking."

"Although this isn't a big reward, even unifying the Sinai Peninsula wouldn't rival Transjordan, it is still challenging to conquer entirely."

Losa's current power, spread across various territories, remains somewhat thin.

He needs a period of stable development.

Sitting quietly like a ghost, Kurs suddenly spoke, "Perhaps you could consider inviting the other nobles of Transjordan to join the feast."

"Those who like to eat alone aren't very popular."

Losa uttered an "Hmm," nodding, "You make a valid point."

"Actually, I already have a brief plan. Once we defeat this army, I'll call upon the Transjordan vassals to attack the Sinai Peninsula."

"Moreover, I'm considering recruiting the noble children of Transjordan, like the second sons of families, to swear loyalty and become Imperial Knights."

"The newly captured territories will be granted to them to cover the cost of their military support."

Kurs was slightly stunned.

Listening to this, the full scope of Losa's plan became clear.

If lands are granted to knights without roots, they will struggle to manage their fiefs, unable to subdue the fierce Bedouin nomads alone.

This makes them reliant on Losa's power.

This aids Losa's centralization, but he chose to grant lands because he lacks excess power to divide among newly occupied territories.

Granting lands to knights with roots—their families will surely help them secure new territories.

Even if family legacy belongs to the eldest son, they won't mind seeking lands for the second sons.

For a family, the more titles they have, the better.

Werner may arrange a marriage with the Duke of Lorraine's family for Otto, partly due to Losa's prestige in the Holy Land.

Thus, Losa not only avoids consuming administrative resources on new territories, he can call upon knights and their attendants when needed.

It's a true scheme of using others' resources.

And, there's no need to worry about loyalty.

The system doesn't allow me to convert soldiers into vassals, but it can't prevent me from elevating ordinary knights to vassals, right?

...

Below the city walls, the enemy army has begun constructing encampments.

The craftsmen traveling with the army unloaded disassembled siege weapons from transport carts and began assembling them, while recruited farmer soldiers laid down their weapons and started chopping nearby trees with axes.

At this time,

inside the enemy camp, dozens of Mamluk Cavalry escorted a man adorned in exquisite scale armor and wearing a bright red flame cloak out of the camp.

An armored Mamluk Cavalry rode swiftly to the city walls and shouted, "Let your leader come forth and pay homage to the great Lord Rauf."

Losa snorted, furrowing his brows, "Hans, ask if the tower's catapult can hit Rauf from this distance."

He had no wish to waste words with Rauf.

This isn't a European noble war, where pre-battle duels occur and civilians killing nobles might face repercussions.

This is a holy war.

Hans soon returned, "The distance isn't enough, but the Mamluk Cavalry can easily be hit."

Losa gazed at the figure surrounded by Mamluks in the distance, sneering, "Then forget it, there's no need to reveal the precision of our catapults and crossbow cannons for just one person."

He gripped his sword at his waist, muttering quietly, "Rauf, my people who were tortured by your cruel punishments, still await reunion with you."

...

In the wilderness,

Jeanne watched the distant sky, where three massive scorpion-tailed lion beasts gradually appeared and smirked contemptuously, "Just three creatures won't be able to defeat us, the enemy will be upon us soon."

"Pass down the command, everyone, prepare to meet the enemy."

Rauf isn't a fool, he obviously prepared troops to deal with the Winged Cavalry.

Only by defeating the famed Winged Cavalry could Rauf fully focus on attacking Eira Port.

Otherwise, if this lightly armored heavy cavalry were to ravage their supply lines, before long, they'd be forced to retreat due to starvation before the city even falls.

At this moment,

A billowing cloud of dust appeared in the distance.

Several hundred black scaled lightly heavy cavalry emerged on the hillside.

In the rear of the route Jeanne and the Winged Cavalry took, numerous Bedouin nomads, mounted on dromedaries and wearing loose desert robes, slowly approached, holding spears and round shields.

Flags fluttered on both sides simultaneously.

Rauf dispatched lightly heavy cavalry to encircle Jeanne, combining to nearly a thousand, including a significant portion of Bedouin nomads.

Jeanne's hearty laughter echoed, "Ha, these heretics think they can surround us!"

The Winged Cavalry looked on with disdain.

To surround means to stretch the battle lines.

The defense line against the powerful impact of the Winged Cavalry will thin.

"Pierce through them!"

The Winged Cavalry shouted in fervor.

The vassal army, initially tense, couldn't help but relax slightly, seeing the Winged Cavalry's vigorous morale.

Jeanne raised the Holy Spear high, shouting, "Winged Cavalry, heed my command, in the name of Heavenly Father and our Lord Losa, charge!"

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