Chapter 64: Great War

The Royal Capital, Kajashi.

Anthony II is a charismatic king who loves oil paintings and poetry; he often hosts various cultural salons within the royal palace and is skilled at the accordion, earning him the title of "the bard-like king."

At this moment, holding the latest news brought by a raven, the poet king's face was filled with fury: "Those damned Green Forest barbarians have once again ignited the Green Disaster!"

Prime Minister Mason is a Court Count without a fief, with graying hair and wisdom in his eyes.

Looking at the chaotic royal council, he knew the inside story and coughed: "There is no point in assigning blame now; the key is how to respond. What does the Military Minister think should be done?"

The Military Minister is the kingdom's only Duke with a fief, the Purple Bauhinia Grand Duke, who is also a relative of the king.

He stood up, cleared his throat, and said: "There are about five thousand Green Forest people this time, but they are far from being a match for the kingdom. Each lord will pledge loyalty to the king, and we can assemble a great army of thirty thousand. The key is the fall of Arnold Castle and the series of castles behind it, which is full of fallacies and strange circumstances..."

"Lord Caston..."

Anthony II could not help but cast his gaze toward the Information Minister, a chubby, middle-aged man with a wealthy appearance and no beard on his face.

"My apologies, Your Majesty..."

Caston performed a salute first, a wry smile appearing on his face: "Our arrangements in the Green Forest have been uprooted, and we rarely receive news. According to reports from the various lords of the North... I have heard some very strange rumors. First, it is certain that the original Green Forest Earl—Theodore—has abdicated, and his successor is his second son—Aaron Sotos!"

"And this second-son Earl, who previously lacked fame, has suddenly revealed extraordinary talent... and recently it is even rumored that he has obtained the favor of the Green Forest people's guardian deity, can manifest miracles, can summon giant banyan trees, and can use the Thunder of the heavens... Hmm, it is said that Arnold Marquis's castle was blasted open by him summoning heavenly thunder-fire."

"Nonsense!" The Purple Bauhinia Grand Duke sneered: "We have all seen the magic of bards and the tricks of those so-called Diviners; they are fine as entertainment at a banquet, but they are a joke when it comes to real marching and fighting! Does the kingdom really need to rely on us to conscript those so-called Wizards and Prophets for Protection? Only iron and blood can protect our territory!"

The elderly yet still healthy Grand Duke looked at the king: "Your Majesty, please allow me to fight on your behalf!"

"Everything is left to you."

Anthony II said with great relief.

In this era, the private army a king possesses is not large; ten thousand is the limit.

And to build a great army, the help of various lords is still needed.

Among them, the Duke with the most extensive territory will naturally provide the bulk of it, and the combined forces of all the houses can reach twenty thousand!

Adding these together makes thirty thousand, the manifestation of a kingdom's peak power!

Meanwhile, inside Twin River Castle.

Aaron was casually cutting a steak.

This castle belongs to an Earl's family and guards the gateway between the kingdom's north and central borders.

After taking this place, the army can charge directly into the heart of the kingdom.

Because of its important Geography, it was guarded by an Earl, but the gates were still easily blasted open by explosives.

In this, there was also the reason that he used divination to plan, finding the weakness of the Earl's army.

"So annoying..."

Because there were many things to do after the city fell, Aaron had to handle affairs while dining.

This even encroached upon the time he spent entering his dreams every day.

Fortunately, the development of the Light of Redemption in Diat City was going quite well, and he had not encountered any major enemies.

It was just that yesterday, Lin and Olivia reported a matter: the Black Sun Cult had risen from the ashes again, and several Darkness beasts had even been born in succession, with their actions becoming increasingly extreme and crazy.

It could be seen that future conflicts would become even more intense.

"Lord Earl, how should the original Earl of this castle and his family be dealt with?"

Not long after, Sanchez walked over and asked in a low voice.

"Take the Earl as a hostage, order the remaining vassals to send troops to follow us as a servant army; do I really need to teach you this?"

Aaron looked at his subordinate in surprise: "Our people are still too few. Although we don't suffer many losses in each battle, it adds up over time, and eventually, there will be no one left. Therefore, to attack a populous country with a small nation, one must absorb those who surrender and build a servant army!"

Watching Sanchez leave, Aaron felt a bit weary: "The Green Forest people are still a bit too barbaric; it is too hard to find a few suitable officials for governance..."

Originally, he had thought about whether to completely occupy the Kajashi Kingdom, but now Aaron understood that he had overthought it.

The bottom-level Green Forest people are just a bunch of robbers; once they have killed enough and looted enough, they will think about going home.

Perhaps those lords have some different ideas, but their methods of governance are still too crude, and they may not be able to digest new territories well.

And the estrangement and hatred between the Green Forest people and the Kajashi people are also too great; it is very difficult to integrate them.

"Of course, if I were determined to completely occupy this place, it wouldn't be impossible, but I always feel like it would consume a lot of energy..."

Aaron rubbed his brow.

"Such troublesome matters, let's leave them to the next generation to do."

His desire for territorial expansion is indeed not great; this time, launching the war was mainly due to Theodore's request and to carry out revenge.

Half a month later, the center of the kingdom, Wind Bell Plain.

The Green Forest army under Aaron had suffered some losses, but with the replenishment of the servant army, it actually reached seven or eight thousand, confronting the thirty-thousand-strong kingdom army led by the Purple Bauhinia Grand Duke.

"The Purple Bauhinia Grand Duke as commander, another Marquis as deputy... a bunch of Knights underneath; is this the kingdom's main force?"

Inside the tent, Aaron looked at the map, a joyful expression appearing on his face: "Crushing this army will allow us to go straight to the Royal Capital and complete the final revenge. Finally, I can finish the war and go home to continue studying Occultism..."

"Pass down the order to summon the various lords for a meeting!"

Not long after, the various Green Forest lords gathered together, their expressions all somewhat heavy.

"The army of thirty thousand sheep-men is very well-equipped; it's a bit hard to fight..."

Knight Yiman gave a pertinent suggestion.

Don't look at the fact that they have eight thousand people now; in reality, the Green Forest army has less than four thousand left, and the rest are wounded or left in the rear.

The servant army is fine for fighting a winning battle or being used as auxiliary troops, but in this kind of battle, they will inevitably slack off or even turn against us.

"My view is just the opposite; the more enemies there are, the happier I am."

Aaron laughed.

All the lords could not help but look at him, quietly waiting for Aaron to speak.

Over this period of time, not only the religious faith bonuses but also a series of victories had caused Aaron's prestige as a commander to rise day by day, as if he were being deified.

He even suspected that if he were to say the sun was square, these people would still give it serious thought.

"An army of thirty thousand, with men to feed and horses to fodder, faces even greater logistical pressure than we do... and in the Taoism of warfare, water and fire are merciless, and the next most critical factor is cutting off their supplies..."

Aaron spoke eloquently: "I will lead men along a side path to raid the enemy's logistics; Viscount Boli will have unified command here. As long as you hold the line, that is enough. If necessary, you may retreat and fall back to Twin River Castle. Wait a few days, and the enemy army will collapse on its own!"

Viscount Boli was originally a Knight of the Lower Green Forest who had earned the deep trust of Theodore and was later enfeoffed as a Viscount.

As for his talent in warfare, one could only say he was the tallest among the short.

In reality, Aaron favored Knight Yiman more, but the other's status was somewhat awkward; at the very least, those lords of the Lower Green Forest would not be convinced.

Aaron looked around the circle and continued: "Knight Yiman will serve as deputy. I reiterate: I need you to hold the line and delay them! Wait for news of my success!"