Small Trick

Despite the fact that the County of Cassel had declared war on the County of Gothingen, all public and private noble marriages, commoner marriages, and commercial exchanges continued without interruption.

Even some nobles within the County of Cassel found the situation amusing and did not join Count Tepler's forces.

On one hand, the reason for this war was so bizarre that Tepler himself was embarrassed to enlist the lower-ranking nobles for military service.

On the other hand, the County of Cassel had just undergone a war against the Greenskins. The local nobles had already served over 40 days, with many even exceeding their service terms, missing the summer harvest, which significantly lowered Tepler's public support.

According to feudal contracts, nobles were required to serve their lords for about 40 days a year. After exceeding this service period, the lord had to compensate them with food and money, and the nobles would complain, reducing the lord's reputation.

Therefore, Tepler could only mobilize forces directly under his family's control. Fortunately, the Cassel family was populous and powerful in the area, and they quickly assembled a sizable army heading towards Gothingen.

However, Gothingen's situation was also dire. It had already fought two consecutive wars, causing significant casualties among the nobles, with many families forced to reorganize. Nobles here had also mostly served beyond their terms.

Moreover, the previous two wars were either internal conflicts to eliminate rebels or life-and-death battles, so the nobles were somewhat determined to fight.

But this time, it was a nonsensical war over a bishop's illegitimate son, making the nobles prefer to watch from the sidelines.

Many speculated that this inexplicable war was deliberately provoked by Damian to threaten the nobles in the capital, preventing them from being sent to Nancy to die.

Indeed, it was a near-transparent scheme. The only one truly disgraced was Bishop Matt, whose reputation plummeted.

The Archbishop of Metz, upon learning that the County of Cassel and the County of Gothingen were at war because of him, angrily convened a religious council and announced the deposition of Bishop Matt, confining him to a monastery as punishment. This did not require papal approval; the archbishop himself could decide.

Even more unfortunate was Bishop Maged of Weimar. With the outbreak of the illegitimate son scandal of Bishop Matt, he faced even stronger calls for reform and had to urgently write to Damian, asking him to quickly de-escalate to prevent this conflict from exacerbating the rift between reformists and conservatives within the church.

Even Damian did not expect the issue of an illegitimate son to escalate so dramatically, causing widespread repercussions.

...

At this moment, Damian was assembling his new vassals in a plain west of Gothingen Castle.

Jeffrey, the brigand knight who had become a castle agent, curiously asked Greb beside him, "Hey, where did these knights come from?"

It wasn't just Jeffrey; many of Damian's new vassals were looking behind him.

There, 20 young knights of similar stature were surrounding Damian Bovendon.

Damian enjoyed the admiring gazes of his servants but deliberately kept the origin of these knights a secret.

Novice knights, noble youths who grew up training alongside full knights, were not yet enfeoffed but already qualified to become full knights.

Thus, the 20 knights around Damian were all young and strong. They rode tall warhorses, fully armored, equipped with lances, shields, and swords at their waists.

According to the story, these knights came from the Frisian region in the northwest, the homeland of Grace.

That area was in turmoil, and these novice knights' lords had lost in the war, losing their estates and enterprises. The novice knights had to band together to seek fortune.

If not for Damian's shelter, they would have become brigand knights.

Damian encountered with these novice knights a few days ago. At that time, he was patrolling his forest along the Ditch River, then suddenly found these seemingly down-and-out knight candidates at a roadside camp.

After revealing his identity and a brief conversation, Damian successfully brought them back.

Publicly, Damian claimed that these young men volunteered to join after hearing about the Chivalrous Bandits' counterattack. The novice knights, not wanting to be seen as destitute, gratefully accepted this story.

But this war reeked of absurdity. The reason for fighting was outrageous, centered on Bishop Matt's private parts. And the chosen battlefield was correct, but the assembled forces were peculiar.

Damian gathered nearly 400 elite archers, but only 100 soldiers and militia, and around 60-70 knights, forming a strange army.

Most knights understood that without enough close combat soldiers, the archers and logistics would be overwhelmed quickly in intense battles.

But Damian always had some ingenious methods.

He had the farmers dig up soil and construct small earth towers on the plains at the border between the two counties. And he built not just one but a dozen towers, connecting them with breastworks to form a barely fortified small fortress.

Jeffrey didn't understand how these chest-high earth walls, which warhorses could easily leap over, could be effective. But since Damian ordered it, he complied.

By afternoon, the enemy had arrived. Damian continued to fortify his small fortification system, placing hundreds of archers in different towers to create multidimensional attack angles.

But there was a problem: how to provoke the enemy into attacking?

Damian chose a very cunning tactic to humiliate the enemy's messenger.

It was well-known that nobles would exchange messengers, deliver declarations of war, and agree on the time and place of battle before fighting.

However, When Damian saw Count Tepler's messenger, he silently turned and walked into the inner room. When he returned, he brought out a pre-prepared cuckoo.

The knights in the hall burst into laughter.

"What's so funny? This is a gift for Count Tepler," Damian sternly scolded the knights.

But by then, the messenger, trembling with anger, had already stormed out. He knew staying longer would only gain more humiliation.

But before leaving, he observed Damian's earthworks and noted that the breastworks wouldn't stop knights.

As the sun set, Damian suddenly mobilized a batch of peasant soldiers who could see clearly at night to dig behind the breastworks. They dug a trench, widened it, and eventually formed a moat about three meters deep and wide.

The enemy would never expect Damian to make such a modification behind the initially flat breastworks.

After witnessing Damian's entire operation, Jeffrey couldn't help but exclaim, "My lord, you seem more adept at using trick now."

"Of course," Damian said with a smile, " Nobody knows this stuff better than me."