6 Chapter 6: Start of War (Please Add to Collection)

The war with the Upper Green Forest came very suddenly.

During the Green Rong Newborn Moon, Aaron was training his squad of cannon fodder when Terna Shourienne, a knight of his father's, rode up on a warhorse, shouting, "The Davis family has launched an attack! Lord commands you to immediately go to the Black Crow Sand Dunes!"

"Yes, Sir!"

Aaron pounded his chest with his fist and looked at his bewildered subordinates, yelling, "What are you waiting for? Get yourselves equipped; we're going to war!"

Those words didn't sit well with the cannon fodder soldiers.

However, the days of training and obedience had taught them who to listen to, and with Sanchez, Green, and other small team leaders urging them on, they quickly stabilized.

"Sir!"

Ba Zhi came to Aaron's side at this time, wearing a battered iron helmet he'd found somewhere and no other armor on his body, his bearded face seemingly bitter, "Can we... win?"

"We must win!"

Aaron replied solemnly. As a member of the Sotos family, the consequences of defeat were unimaginable.

At this thought, he couldn't help but curse his useless golden finger even more.

During this period, after entering dreams and increasing energy daily, he had strengthened the power of his dream-consciousness.

At least, it could move faster and perceive more.

But... In the real world, Aaron didn't even feel a bit mentally energized...

As expected, it was indeed very difficult to bring the power of dreams to this world.

Suppressing the thoughts in his heart, Aaron led his troops to the Black Crow Sand Dunes.

The sand dunes were located at the border between the Upper Green Forest and the Lower Green Forest, surrounded by worthless sand dunes and wasteland, making them a perfectly expendable battlefield.

'However, the timing is quite strange!'

Aaron looked at the farmland on both sides of the road, pondering to himself.

The Green Forest people's sense of time is still quite primitive, dividing the year into about a dozen months according to the vague growth stages of plants.

The reason they say about a dozen is... because it's all very vague.

According to Aaron's understanding, this was probably due to errors in keeping track of time, with even the correction of leap years and months being insufficient, so they simply let the number of months vary yearly, all following nature, especially according to the state of the [Green Banyan Tree Grandmother].

In Sotos Domain, there is a Green Rong Tree regarded as a 'Divine Tree', and the months are determined according to the state of the tree.

Of course, since the banyan tree is an evergreen plant with no falling leaves, the concept of autumn in Sotos Domain is very vague...

And now, it is the season of growth and spring!

In ancient times, it was farming time!

Both lords only had 100 regular troops, and they had to recruit militias to wage war. This would disrupt production, and famine would inevitably occur next year!

'The Davis family couldn't be this foolish, could they? Or... have they stockpiled a large amount of food in advance, so they want to provoke the Sotos family into starting a war in the spring, delaying the planting? As long as they drag it out until next year, the Sotos family will collapse without fighting?'

'This could also explain why they were the ones to provoke the war first...'

Aaron had a thought, and his heart grew cold, knowing that the Davis family had the same longing and scheming for the complete Green Forest.

...

Black Crow Sand Dunes.

Now divided into the south and north, the barracks were stationed.

According to Aaron's estimates, about 1,800 soldiers were deployed by the Sotos family this time, while the Davis family had nearly 2,000!

"This is indeed no longer a village fight for wild boars; it's at least a countryside battle!"

Aaron, wearing his well-made leather armor, walked through the campgrounds and entered the command tent.

Theodore and Colin were both wearing refined armor, with several knights behind them. At the sight of Aaron entering, they all showed a faint smile.

"Father!"

Aaron stood up straight, his face resolute, as he pounded his fist against his chest.

"This is your first time in battle. Follow Knight Alfred, and he will teach you well."

Fortunately, Theodore did not send his son to certain death and pointed to a slightly graying knight with a massive meteor hammer in his hand.

"I shall follow your orders."

Aaron knew that this old knight had been through many battles and had rich experience. Although it was not as safe as being by Colin's side under Theodore, it was still relatively safe.

...

Whoo!

In the desolate sound of the horn, Aaron followed Knight Alfred to a slightly high sand dune.

Almost four thousand men formed two different military formations, surrounding the sand dunes and creating a huge battlefield. Dark green and blue flags seemed to divide the earth into two camps.

Among them, the Sotos family's flag was dark green with a branching banyan tree emblem.

The Davis family's emblem, on the other hand, was a single vertical eye.

"Remember, don't panic on your first time on the battlefield. Always keep your family's motto in mind," Alfred glanced at Aaron and instructed.

"Unyielding!"

Aaron recited his family's motto, reminding himself of the Davis family motto - 'Perceive everything.'

"Very well, it begins!"

Alfred said calmly.

At this point, Aaron saw the enemy's formation slowly moving.

In the front were ragged farmer soldiers with worn weapons. Their faces were frightened, and they were driven by regular soldiers and knights from behind, launching an attack against the Sotos family!

"Hear my command, archers, fire!"

Mark, in charge of the archers, roared and waved his hand.

A volley of arrows fell, striking many unlucky souls. They fell to the ground, some not fatally pierced, wailing in pain.

But it was of no use! Their comrades behind them were forced to trample directly over them, and their cries were soon silenced.

Boom!

With only a few volleys of arrows, the two armies clashed like torrents converging.

"Charge!"

Alfred roared, mounting his warhorse, looking like a moving metal fortress with his armor on.

Aaron's position was on the right wing of the Sotos family, ordering, "Charge formation, forward! Forward!"

Ba Zhi and other small team leaders were scared but still executed the order well, making this team of dozens of men a part of the war.

Boom!

Aaron charged a short distance, and suddenly his vision darkened as a shade of blue appeared in front of him.

The enemy appeared!

"Kill!"

He swung his longsword without hesitation and struck down.

The opposing militia were originally farmers, and even after a few days of training, they had the courage to kill. Their eyes were fierce, but their equipment was too poor. Their makeshift spear was directly broken by the longsword, and their upper body was also diagonally cut down, with their intestines and organs spilling on the ground.

'A bit of a miscalculation!'

Aaron retracted his longsword, took a defensive stance, and vigilantly watched for enemies from all sides. He frowned slightly: 'To deal with these unprotected militia, I don't need to use a longsword. A rapier would suffice. I must conserve my strength...whether it's for retreat or pursuit later!'