The March to War!

Year 190, Spring

Winter has passed, and spring has finally come. All the States have taken most of the food stocks from every village to supply their armies for the war ahead. Now with enough supplies for their troops, The State of Chu, The State of Shu, and The State of Yu have finally made their preparations and are ready to strike the borders of Zhou! Meanwhile, The State of Zhou has been doing it's best to increase their defenses on the border but have decided to neglect the border facing the Dragston Empire due to shortages in supplies and men. Commander Yue was the only one who said that the State of Zhou needs to have some defenses on the border facing Dragston Empire, but everyone disagreed.

During the winter, Charles and his army hadn't been slacking on their training. Charles had been learning from Luo Cheng about strategies in battle through military chess. He had also been doing his best in aiding the town with the population's problems. Whether it be helping the local blacksmith out in forging some weapons for the army, helping to patrol the area to get rid of any more bandits that may have stayed, and doing the daily exercises with the troops so that Charles could get to know them better. The relationship Charles had with his men were going great, and the town liked that Charles was taking care of them.

Charles was in his room inside the mansion as he wore the new Chest armor that Er Hong left behind. Luckily there was a blacksmith in town that was willing to help fix the Chest piece to make it fit on Charles. Charles wore the Lamellar chest armor over his new white cloth clothes which were given to him by Uncle Xuan after the old man saw his cloth clothes that were dyed red! "Commander you look great!" Chen Lei shouted as he entered the room. "Thank you, Chen Lei. How is everyone else doing?" Charles asked as he picked up his katana and his Chang Dao sword and strapped the katana to his waist and the Chang Dao sword on his back so it wouldn't swing around too much. "Everyone is eager! Especially, Andreas, he has been shouting all morning. He says it's his morning training." Chen Lei sighed. "Well, at least it's good to hear that he's excited about the fights ahead," Charles said as he pushed the door open and walked out to the courtyard of the mansion.

"What about the rest? How is everyone doing?" Charles asked. "Everyone is ready! Luo Cheng has been playing military chess saying that it's warm-up for his mind. Dong Jian was sharpening his glaive the last time I saw him, and Zhou Huang was sparring with other soldiers. Ah, and a messenger came by and told us that we are to report at Lian Pass that is facing the border of The State of Chu in the north. " Chen Lei replied. "So our battle is in the north, tell everyone to gather at the square. I should give a speech before we march." Charles replied, and they both pass the entrance of the mansion. Chen Lei nodded as he ran to ring the bells for everyone to report to the square.

Charles rechecked his gear, his lamellar chest piece was strapped on properly, his katana on the left side of his waist was secure, and the Chang Dao sword he received from Lord Zhou was tightly strapped on his back "Hopefully we survive the fight." Charles said to himself. "Don't dream about it too much, you'll end up having nightmares," Janko commented. "I understand Janko; I won't try to risk my life," Charles said. "And when the time comes to run you will instead try to save everyone you can right? Just don't die, for the both of us." Janko replied and went silent. Charles sighed as cleared his throat. Everyone had gathered at the square eager to hear Charles speak.

Who would have known that a 10-year old foreign kid that had only spent two days in the camp had managed to kill most of the bandits in the town, kill Er Hong, and take his place of becoming a 100-man commander? But instead of being angry that a child was leading them they had grown to like him. The boy was oozing confidence and power, unlike Er Hong who had never bothered with them. The boy even joined them in their regular exercises which made them like the kid more. Charles walked up the stage as everyone gazed at him with anticipation. They had a feeling that Charles would be able to lead them to greater heights!

Charles got up the stage and looked at the sea of a hundred people who were all looking at him. From where he was he could see the people he had spent the winter with, but as Janko had told him, they would most likely not live. Charles then noticed the people in front, Andreas was there folding his arms and staring at him impatiently as though wondering why his time was being wasted, Orson the guard leader that followed them here was just right beside Andreas trying to calm him down. While Dong Jian, Chen Lei, Luo Cheng, and Zhou Huang were also standing at the front looking at him. 'Hopefully, they would survive...no, I shouldn't think of such negative things. Focus on the present.' Charles thought as he begun his speech.

"Soldiers! Today is the day we have been training for! The day we had told ourselves that we would fight for our families and friends! The people of Zhou need us more than ever! The bastards on our borders with their spears in hand are waiting to strike our lands, to pillage and loot our cities, towns, and villages like common bandits! We are the only defense against these bandits! Who are they to try and take our lands!? Who are they to attack our people!? We must push them back! Away from our borders and back into the holes, they came from! So my soldiers! Are you ready to stand with me!? Are you ready to fight for your families and friends?! Are you ready to fight for your people!? Follow me into battle! Let us show these bandits our might and will! Let us show them that we will protect our people with all our strength! With me my men! We march to defend our borders against The State of Chu!" Charles declared as he drew his katana and raised it into the air.

Everyone's spirits were raised from Charles speech and roared in unison as they raised their weapons up with great vigor! Charles then got down from the stage as he drank some water as Luo Cheng told everyone to gather the supplies and get ready to head out to Lian Pass. Chen Lei walked up to Charles and handed him the rabbit necklace that Uncle Xuan had given him before. "Commander, a maid ran out here saying that you had forgotten to wear this!" Chen Lei explained. Charles took the necklace and wore it around his neck. I should thank the maid when we come back if Uncle Xuan knew I had almost forgotten to wear his gift he would be furious!" Charles said as he laughed.

'Hopefully, this necklace would give me good luck' Charles thought as he fiddled around with it. After a few seconds of looking at the necklace, he looked at Chen Lei. "I think it's time we set off right?" Charles asked as he started walking to the entrance. "Yes! The supplies we have are enough to last ten days, though we could always send soldiers out to hunt for meat during the march. That way we could get some meat in the meals!" Chen Lei replied. "And how long is the journey from here to Lian Pass?" Charles asked "It's six days from here, we will be walking road just right beside the border to reach Lian City, and after that, we will head off to Lian Pass. The messenger was kind enough to hand me a spare map!" Chen Lei replied.

"Good work Chen Lei, your resourcefulness will help us greatly," Charles said as he complimented how good Chen Lei was at dealing with people. "If I could help then that's great!" Chen Lei said as he showed his signature smile that made every soldier around them want to hug him. "Took you long enough! Your speech was too damn long for me!" Andreas shouted as Charles approached the front of the army. "Hey, Andreas be a little more respectful! That speech was fairly good you know!" Orson shouted. "How would you have said it then, Andreas?" Charles asked "Hmph, just "WE MARCH!" would do! Your's was filled with too much stuff." Andreas replied. "Maybe you should shout that to the troops now, to signal the march!" Charles commented.

"So you're pushing that job to me now?! Fine! I'll show you how a true man orders his men!" Andreas said as he cleared his throat. "MEN! WE MARCH!" Andreas shouted, and the troops shouted back in response, it's clear that their morale at this point was very high. "Looks like that worked." Luo Cheng commented. "Quite the voice he has!" Dong Jian said. "Looks like we are ready!" Chen Lei said, and Zhou Huang nodded. "Then let us march. To Lian Pass!" Charles declared and finally Charles leads his troops in his first march towards his first battle!

On the Fifth day of Spring in the year 190, Charles's leads his 100-man army to Lian Pass to defend against the forces from The State of Chu. The storm is brewing, and countless amounts of blood will flow, but which side shall bleed more?