Elk War

Two years later.

One day in June.

Glan Territory Castle, training ground, at the entrance of the Weapon Depot.

A group of ragged farmers lined up, receiving the weapons distributed to them.

There were many weapons in the depot: rusty maces, damaged short iron swords, short axes with chipped edges, worm-eaten pointed wooden shields...

The most numerous were long spears made of birch poles with a small iron spearhead at the top.

"Hey! This is your weapon."

A knight's squire handed a spear with a shaft bent like a shrimp's back to Zhou Ming.

Taking the spear, Zhou Ming shook his head, bowed, and said, "Respected sir, this spear is too bent. Could you please give me a straighter one?"

"Go pick one yourself inside. Anyway, you farmers aren't of much use." The knight's squire said lazily. There were hundreds of spears in the weapon warehouse, and he was too lazy to pick one for Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming thanked him and walked into the Weapon Depot, preparing to choose a very handy weapon from the dazzling array of armaments.

Swords, spears, halberds, bows, axes, shields, javelins, throwing spears—all eighteen types of weapons were available.

But...

In this warehouse specifically used to collect various scrapped and damaged weapons, not a single weapon was good or even usable—except for the hundreds of spears with a bit of iron spearhead.

After looking around, Zhou Ming finally chose a relatively straight and sturdy spear, and also a damaged short sword—he planned to polish it back home and make it into a small dagger.

After all, it was his first time on the battlefield, and Zhou Ming didn't want to leave his sister Alice alone in this dangerous world.

He had to be fully prepared.

The reason for the outbreak of this war was very simple: when Baron Connor was hunting in the forest west of his territory, he unexpectedly discovered a herd of elk. Just as he and his knights were about to hunt the elk, Baron Garcia from the Bodo Territory to the west also brought a group of people, brazenly crossed the border, and snatched several fat elk right in front of Baron Connor.

"Baron Garcia, you damned thief! Either return the elk you stole from me tenfold, or we'll fight a battle at the border. My knights and I will definitely bash open the head of you old thief!"

After this challenge letter was sent out, he quickly received a reply from the other side: Happy to oblige.

"Set off!"

In front of the castle, after a simple review of this "army" consisting of 11 knights and 200 farmers, Baron Connor had his guard knight raise a black banner painted with a rose flower. According to the agreed time, he set off spiritedly towards the territory of Baron Garcia in the west.

On the march, Zhou Ming couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Baron Garcia also had more than a dozen knights. If these knights charged at him, he would be finished.

Although he had never given up training in the past few years, this was his first time fighting with real weapons and ammunition.

"Little fellow, don't be nervous. I've followed the lord into battle hundreds of times. You'll only be afraid the first two times... Let me tell you, as long as you don't stand at the very front and don't charge the fastest, I guarantee you'll go home alive."

In the crowd, a white-haired, shifty old man with half a mouth of black and yellow teeth said to Zhou Ming.

"Old Joey, are you teaching your escape experience to the rookies again?"

"Ryan, don't listen to the coward Joey. This old fellow disappears without a trace every time there's a battle. Among us who fight, he's the best at running away."

"Ryan, stay next to Uncle me later. Don't run around, and don't be afraid. Nothing usually happens in this kind of battle. It's much easier than fighting those bandits." The kind-hearted Uncle O'Neil pulled Zhou Ming to his side and said.

"Thank you, Uncle O'Neil."

Zhou Ming nodded, but his attention remained fixed on the shifty old man nicknamed "Cowardly Joey."

Perhaps sensing Zhou Ming's gaze, Old Joey turned and grinned at him, revealing his half-rotten yellow front teeth again.

After walking twenty li, during a rest stop, Zhou Ming quietly shifted his butt and sat down next to Old Joey, who was lying on a slope, looking lazy and constantly dozing off.

Gently nudging him with his elbow, Zhou Ming lowered his head and whispered, "Old Joey, can you teach me a couple of moves? Teach me how to survive on the battlefield intact."

Old Joey opened his eyes into a narrow slit, and a sharp glint inadvertently shot out from the gap. He yawned lengthily and said, "Little fellow, looking at your build, you've been training for six or seven years, haven't you? Your build is good. As long as you can use one-tenth of the skills you usually practice, you'll be able to come back alive."

What?

Zhou Ming's face was filled with shock, and a huge wave surged in his heart.

How did Old Joey see that?

He usually practiced secretly at night, trying not to make any noise. Even his neighbors didn't know. This Old Joey...

"But, little fellow, with your little bit of skill, don't even think about going up against those knights. When you see a knight coming, run as far as you can. You're still no match for them."

Old Joey's tired voice came again.

Zhou Ming turned his head to look, and the other party had already tilted his neck, closed his eyes, and was snoring softly.

This one was the real actor.

Territory border.

On a grassy area overgrown with bushes and open terrain.

Two "armies," each numbering around two hundred people, were lined up for battle, separated by over two hundred meters.

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

With a command, the two armies, which had been preparing for a long time, collided fiercely after a brief sprint.

Zhou Ming, who had charged into the battlefield with Uncle O'Neil, then realized that this so-called war was nothing more than the farmers from both sides, armed with wooden sticks, spears, pitchforks, and other weapons, wildly beating each other over the head along a thin battle line.

There was no neat and orderly strategy, no unwavering killing intent, only shouts born of fear and excitement.

As long as you made a slight blocking posture and paid attention to dodging the spear tips thrusting from the front, nothing serious would happen.

At this moment, a slight tremor came from the ground, and shouts of killing came from the cavalry behind.

"It's bad! The knight lords are charging over!"

"Run! Run quickly!"

"Ryan, quickly throw away your weapon and run towards the woods with me!"

"Help! I'm being chased by the knight lord! Someone save me... Ah!" With a tragic cry, this person's head flew into the air.

After the two cavalry teams launched their charge, the entangled farmers quickly threw away the weapons in their hands and scattered like startled birds and beasts, scurrying into the woods nearby.

Except for a few unlucky ones who were caught by the knights and cut in half because they ran too slowly, the casualty rate on both sides was close to zero.

The outcome of this great battle was still decided by the one-on-one duels between the knights from both sides. Baron Connor ultimately won the victory with a score of 6:4 and received 200 gold coins in compensation from Baron Garcia