Be assured of victory？

"With young Bernard coming to fight, my chances of winning increased by 30%," Damian took a deep breath, unsure if he was feeling relieved or emotional. His diplomatic tactics had yielded some results.

If it were the experienced old Bernard, who had fought countless battles alongside Emperor Otto and faced any battlefield's successes and failures.

Face him, Damian would have been at a loss.

An experienced veteran is often insurmountable, and only overwhelming military strength and numbers can crush them.

Old Bernard was utterly defeated at the Battle of the Elbe River, almost losing his elite corps. Despite such significant losses, he did not collapse but quickly reflected and sought opportunities to block the Elbe River.

In front of the still quite inexperienced Damian, old Bernard didn't need to resort to any tricks. Even if he played and won, he couldn't completely crush old Bernard's will. He would always come back.

But if it were the young lion, things would be different.

"Are you stupid? Why do you insist on suffering here with Conosa? Don't you know that Andreas has barely been able to eat since he heard that the Duchy of Saxony was about to invade? He's even started planning to give up his position as abbot. Can't you see how dangerous this invasion is?" Lady Shayla shook her head slightly, her tone full of urgency.

She genuinely wanted to take Damian away. After all, nobles like Damian, who could fight, read, and help manage a territory, were extremely rare.

And Andreas's anxious attitude was also a reason prompting Lady Shayla to draw Damian in. If even the Church wasn't confident they could resist the Bernard family, it indicated that the Bernard family was really planning to use their full strength.

But after the Saxon army had fought the Duchy of Frisia, could they still continue with the same rapid pace to tear through Gothingen County and conquer its strong castles?

Damian was skeptical.

Soldiers and knights are humans, not iron. Continuous large-scale battles would dull their spirits and gradually erode their initial sharpness.

"I'm not stupid."

After figuring this out, Damian laughed and retorted to Lady Shayla, "I have organized a formidable army, enough to defend Gothingen in the cold winter. More importantly, Bernard's side is simply not prepared for a siege in Gothingen County. This is precisely the state I've been striving to create. Unexpectedly, I succeeded."

Lady Shayla was infuriated. She pinched Damian's arm and asked irritably, "Do you have to take risks with Conosa?"

"No, this is not a risk, this is a decisive battle." Damian pointed to his novice knights in the distance and said, "I spent a fortune organizing and hiring these knights, not to celebrate the Duke of Saxony's birthday. Throughout history, many generals have won with fewer troops. I never think I'm excellent, but if young Bernard is not prepared for a bloody battle in winter with me, his army will surely be defeated."

After a period of recuperation, Damian once again spent a fortune to enhance his army.

Firstly, he painfully expanded his novice knights to 40, more than Conosa's internal knights. Conosa couldn't help but complain to Damian about the slow replenishment of her knight corps.

Next, Damian reorganized and expanded the Crusader longbowmen and forest hunters to 160 excellent professional archers each.

The peasant archers were expanded from a team of 40 to a team of 80, also reaching 160, to supplement the longbowmen and forest hunters.

320 professional archers were enough to pose a significant threat to the Saxon army.

In terms of close combat, due to the castle's limitations, Damian chose two squads of castle guards, a new unit unlocked with the novice knights. But they were only suitable for defending the castle, not for field battles.

Additionally, he paired two squads of peasant spear militia and two squads of peasant infantry, forming a close-combat team of over 200 men.

This nearly 600-strong army defending the castle wouldn't be easily overrun, even by old Bernard.

Lady Shayla looked at the confident Damian and shook her head regretfully.

She whispered, "If you lose, find a way to escape to Nancy."

"Thank you for your concern."

Watching Lady Shayla leave, Damian sighed deeply.

He almost enjoyed the same treatment as Bishop Madi.

…

November, winter.

The Duchy of Frisia had been invaded by the Duchy of Saxony for more than a month.

To be honest, the invasion was not well-organized.

Although the Duchy of Frisia was weak, it had two powerful rival counts vying for power. Lacking a legitimate reason for the attack, young Bernard, who used Emperor's orders as a pretext for the Duke of Saxony to restore order in the north, faced constant resistance after invading and occupying several towns.

Especially after the wealthy two counts reconciled and pooled money to hire Danish Viking raiders to attack young Bernard's rear, causing him significant trouble.

From the beginning to the middle, young Bernard almost experienced every common and uncommon mistake.

But he had a good father helped.

Old Bernard secretly resolved various dangers behind the scenes. His intention was to let young Bernard suffer some minor losses and gain experience.

With his father's support, young Bernard eventually, through peaceful negotiations, only captured five border towns. Compared to the grand promises made at the outset, this meager gain was far from enough.

In the impoverished Black Forest region of Saxony, one main trade was the slave trade. The Saxon nobles yearned for more slaves.

At this point, they finally turned their attention to Gothingen County.

Although Christians shouldn't enslave other Christians, the Bible is the Bible, and reality is reality.

The Bible had strict rules, but at that time, most Christians had flexible double standards.

With a mindset of harvesting a wheat field, the weary Saxon army marched south.

However, after penetrating several miles into Gothingen, the Saxon army was shocked.

Emptying the House and Clearing Up the Field.

Damian made every farmer rigorously enforced this policy, to the extent that even the rural houses were incomplete, almost each one dilapidated and wind-battered.