Unknown Knight

The evil wolves surrounding the Territory of Aix did not wait for any problems to occur in the territory, but the Sarand Emirate, which rarely participated in the disputes among the five countries, welcomed an uninvited guest.

Through the reconnaissance of the sampan sent out earlier, Aix had a general understanding of the situation of this route. After 25 days of sailing on the sea, the fleet he led finally decided to land in a small bay more than 20 miles south of the city of Shariz.

Because Aix improved the Kirk ship by adding masts and triangular sails, the fleet's speed increased a lot. In addition, the fleet was led by the previous reconnaissance ship, so the fleet made almost no additional stay except for two days of rest in the relay town of Modi, so it only took a total of 25 days along the way.

The bay where they landed was quite remote, with a small fishing village inside. In order not to alert the enemy, the fleet chose to send three sampans to the gentle beach in the second half of the night, and unknowingly controlled the entire village. When it was bright in the morning, the fleet safely sailed into the bay to land.

After the entire army landed, Aix ordered the blockade of nearby land and water areas. After resting here for a day and replenishing fresh water, he suddenly appeared at the foot of Sharez the next day and surrounded the city.

There were only 500 soldiers on duty in Shariz City. The sudden appearance of 3,500 soldiers was like a force dropped from the sky, causing panic throughout the city.

Aix only had a dozen letters of persuasion shot into the city. The letters said that their side was the troops of His Highness the Seventh Prince Niza, and that at the request of the old Sultan Hakim, he led an army of 5,000 to succeed the throne of Sultan. Those who were wise should immediately open the city gates and surrender, and those who dared to resist would be killed without mercy.

Aix did not hold out much hope for this letter, as he knew that no one would easily give up the power in their hands. However, as long as the enemy's will to resist could be slightly reduced, the purpose of this letter would be achieved.

This was Niza's idea. Originally, Aix was worried about the mother of this trusted subordinate in the city, but Niza told him not to worry. The fight for the throne of the Sarand Chieftaindom was a fight of the kind where brothers and fathers killed each other. It was normal for brothers and fathers to kill each other. If his old father, Sultan Hakim, wanted to make peace, he would protect his mother. The more he cared about his mother's safety, the more dangerous she would be.

After receiving the letter, Sultan Hakim quickly sent someone out to negotiate. The person who came was a chief named Mondhari. Niza said that he was the lord of Karaf Fort near Sharez and the vizier (similar to prime minister) of the kingdom at that time.

As Niza said, the Mondhari chieftain did not talk about his mother at all. He just conveyed Hakim Sultan's conditions to Niza, who was sitting in the main seat in a pretentious manner:

Sultan Hakim believed that Prince Niza had been abroad for too long and was not very familiar with state affairs. For the sake of the country, Sultan Hakim was willing to first appoint Prince Niza as the crown prince. After Prince Niza became familiar with state affairs, he would abdicate with peace of mind.

Obviously, this was a complete lie. Niza did not need to discuss it with Aix. He rejected it directly on the spot and asked Chief Mondhari to tell the old Sultan Hakim that he was determined to get the position of Sultan. If the old Sultan did not agree, he would take it himself.

The negotiations were fruitless and Chief Mondhari had to go back to report. However, the chief was aware of the situation and told Niza when he returned that he strongly supported the Seventh Prince to inherit the throne of the Sultan and would definitely persuade Sultan Hakim. If Sultan Hakim disagreed, he would find a way to return to Karaf Castle and lead his army to support Prince Niza.

Aix and Niza were noncommittal about his surrender. The reason they received the envoys sent by the city was mainly because it took time to assemble the siege equipment. They took this opportunity to meet with Chief Mondhari, mainly to feel out Sultan Hakim's thoughts and also to paralyze Sultan Hakim and let him relax his vigilance, so as to reduce some resistance when attacking the city.

Sure enough, there was no further news from Chief Mondhari after he returned to the city. The gates of Shariz were closed and people were hurrying on the city walls. It was obvious that they were preparing to defend the city. Sultan Hakim did not intend to hand over power.

Aix and Niza didn't take it seriously. After the siege equipment was assembled, they immediately gave the order to start the siege.

Aix had experienced the same siege many times and was very familiar with it. With the powerful help of flaming oil, Aix's army quickly cleared a space on the top of the city and climbed to the top of Shariz almost unscathed.

Just as they were about to capture the city wall and attack Sultan Hakim's palace, the city gate suddenly opened. Chief Mondhari led a group of nobles in the city out of the city to welcome their new Sultan, saying that Sultan Hakim had agreed to abdicate. The old Sultan really didn't cry until he saw the coffin.

Just when Sharez opened the city to surrender, two teams led by Mamluk cavalry rushed out from the other two gates. They fought desperately to break out of the siege and fled to the northeast of Sharez city.

After investigation, Aix found out that they were the teams of the eldest prince Nubia and the third prince Azzam.

It is understood that the Grand Prince Nubia should go to Chief Ukes, whose fiefdom is the city of Dukuba. Chief Ukes has always been a staunch supporter of the Grand Prince Nubia.

The third prince Azzam should have gone to Chief Hamozen, the lord of the city of Amerad. After all, his biological mother is Chief Hamozen's biological daughter, so when the nephew is in trouble, he will naturally look for his grandfather.

But it didn't matter anymore. Soon, with the support of Aix, the seventh prince Niza ascended the throne of the Sultan of the Sarand Emirate, and sent edicts to the chiefs of various fiefdoms, asking them to come to the emperor for an audience.

However, not many chiefs responded to his edict, mainly because his mother was just a singer who was presented as a gift. She was a rootless tree in the Sarand Emirate and would not be recognized by the local aristocratic circle which was already entangled and impenetrable.

Except for Chief Mondhari of Khalaf Fort and several chiefs whose territories were near the city of Shariz, who were forced to recognize Niza's throne as Sultan and came to the court respectfully with gifts, about four-fifths of the chiefs in the country expressed opposition to his ascension to the throne, and some even directly raised the "flag of rebellion."

These rebels first acted independently, but soon gathered together under the name of justice. They mainly gathered under three forces:

The first was the great prince Nubia who had gone over to Chief Ukes, who controlled the city of Dukuba and the surrounding area;

The second one is Azzam, the third prince who surrendered to his grandfather, Chief Hamozain, who controls the city of Amerad and the surrounding areas;

The third one is Niza's good brother who grew up with him, the fifth prince Sharif. He controlled the area near the city of Barieh, and the new city lord Chief Muhai, who killed his father Chief Atis, chose to support him.