Spring had arrived, and all of nature was stirring back to life. It should have been the breeding season for the creatures of the Moonlight Forest, but the thundering march of the Elf Corps and the rumbling wheels of wagons laden with Magic Equipment sent countless creatures scattering in terror. The few Magical Beasts foolish enough to stand in their path were swiftly eliminated by dispatched Elf squads. Anything that obstructed the Elf Corps’ advance—be it Magical Beasts or other Elf Tribes—was immediately discovered and cleared away.

During the winter, Director of Intelligence Stuck had gathered intelligence and drawn up a map, which had long been lying on Elf Corps Commander Feiyana’s desk. After conferring, the great God of Nature and Elf Corps Commander Feiyana reached a complete agreement. They would dispatch their troops the moment the winter snows began to melt in spring, striking first to gain the advantage.

The Moon Elves could call upon the forces of five Elf Cities in total, including their own Main City. After all, even the Elves who had voluntarily left, unwilling to live under Moon Elf jurisdiction, had managed to build a Neutral Elf City in the south of the Moonlight Forest, in an area previously beyond the Moon Elves’ control. They openly advertised a City Defense Army of ten thousand, though in reality, they only had three thousand full-time Elf Soldiers. But calculating based on this ratio, if the Moon Elves chose to mobilize, their five Elf Cities combined could field a full fifteen thousand full-time Elf Soldiers.

And that wasn’t even counting the fifty-thousand-strong Elf Corps stationed on the border between the Elves and the Beastmen. Although many of the units within this massive force could not be moved a single step, what if the Moon Elf rulers, on a whim, decided to recall the border garrisons? That would be disastrous.

Lin Aoxue had promised she could ensure the cooperation of the Elf Corps stationed along the entire border, guaranteeing they wouldn’t move, but what if?

What if something unexpected happened?!

Therefore, Zhang Yi’s first step was to sever the connection between the Moon Elves and the Elf Corps garrisoning the border. Only by cutting this line of communication could he ensure Lin Aoxue’s role would be one hundred percent effective. That way, even if a problem arose, Zhang Yi would receive advance warning and be able to prepare accordingly. On the battlefield, intelligence is a lifeline.

...

"GULP, GULP, GULP!"

Covered in dust and grime, Elf Corps Commander Feiyana’s adjutant returned, grabbed a bowl of water, and began swallowing it hastily. After gulping it all down, he finally noticed Zhang Yi (possessing the body of Elf High Priest Shamiel) and Elf Corps Commander Feiyana.

"Reporting to the Elf High Priest and the Elf Corps Commander! We estimate we will reach Moonlight Valley, east of the Moon Elf Main City, in half a day," he announced. "There, we will establish the first battlefront! Furthermore, the Elf Auxiliary Army has ample supplies of Magic Equipment, wartime rations, and medicinal herbs, all of which are being continuously transported from the rear. Thankfully, the great God of Nature developed Magic Cement. It allows us to create a hard surface directly over the muddy ground, allowing the following forces to pass through quickly. This Magic Cement is easy to produce and requires no Magic Power to use. This allows us to bolster our logistics and conserve the strength of our Elf Mages!"

Hearing this, both Elf Corps Commander Feiyana and Zhang Yi nodded. For this great war, after discussions between them, they decided to open two fronts: one in the east and one in the south. The eastern front would be the primary battlefield, featuring the main force, while the southern front would be the secondary battlefield, for a feint attack.

Opening two fronts and striking proactively wasn’t a rash decision made by Zhang Yi and Elf Corps Commander Feiyana in the heat of the moment; it was a choice made only after careful deliberation.

The five cities under Moon Elf control had abundant troops. Zhang Yi and Elf Corps Commander Feiyana estimated that the enemy could muster an army of at least fifteen thousand. Without disrupting their normal operations, they could stretch that to a limit of thirty thousand. Anything more would be quantity over quality; while it might affect low-end skirmishes, it would have little impact on high-level battles.

To counter the Moon Elves’ ample forces, a preemptive strike became the best option. First, it would catch the Moon Elves off guard. According to intelligence from Director of Intelligence Stuck, the Moon Elves in the Main City were still divided. However, the voices of the war-hawks were already drowning out those who favored a more cautious approach. Even if the Elf Alliance’s Elf Corps didn’t attack first, the Moon Elf corps would launch their own offensive now that spring had truly arrived. Therefore, it was better to strike first, which would also pin the Moon Elf corps inside their cities and reduce the pressure of the war.

Defending a city was indeed easier than attacking one. Generally, an assault was considered impossible without a force three times larger than the defenders’. That, however, was in the past. After the great God of Nature developed new types of Magic Equipment, an attacking force equipped with these new devices could conquer an Elf City even if their numbers only matched the defenders, assuming their overall Power was equal.

This being the case, the feint attack by the Elf Corps in the south—bolstered by the new Magic Equipment and tasked with tying down two Moon Elf cities—could firmly lock the forces of those two Moon Elf-controlled cities within their walls. Meanwhile, the path to Moonlight Valley on the eastern front was longer. Once the southern battlefront stabilized, the feinting Elf Corps could act as a supply line, continuously transporting provisions to the main force in the east. Even if the battle turned against them, they could stall for time initially. Afterward, they could fall back to the Neutral City. With Rethof and the Guard Army, they could hold the city against any force not five times their own strength.

What’s more, after a long period of development within the Divine Realm, with a continuous supply of Magic Power from the Wood Elf Ancient Tree—the Celestial Rong Ancient Tree—and Zhang Yi’s constant use of his Divine Exclusive Talent to enlighten them, he had finally amassed a legion of three hundred Celestial Rong Tree-men of top-tier combat strength.

These Celestial Rong Tree-men, enlightened from the branches of the Celestial Rong Ancient Tree, were all at the Sixth Level of Power, representing the peak of mid-tier forces. On the battlefield, they were sufficient to tie down the entire Elf Corps of a Moon Elf-controlled city. Zhang Yi assigned one hundred of these Celestial Rong Tree-men to the southern front. Even if the southern front were to fail, Rethof’s Talent, combined with these one hundred Sixth-Level Celestial Rong Tree-men, would be more than enough to hold the Neutral City without yielding an inch.

The southern front just had to hold firm. This would allow the eastern front—where Zhang Yi had gathered the elite forces from his entire Divine Realm—to focus its power. With the southern front tying down one-third of the enemy, the eastern army would absolutely be able to eliminate the two eastern Elf Cities within three days. On the third or fourth day, the grand army would bear down on the Moon Elf Main City and begin the decisive final battle.

...

While Zhang Yi initiated his decisive battle, other examinees were also making their moves elsewhere in the Small Magic Plane.

As for the followers of the Beast God and the God of the Sea, who were still organized into primitive tribes, most of the examinees chose to disguise their own Clans as these primitive tribes and blend in. After all, neither the Beast God nor the God of the Sea usually bothered to check on the tribes under their rule. As long as the tribes submitted sufficient tribute on time in the autumn, all was well. Unless a tribe provided an exceptionally large amount of tribute or offered particularly fervent faith, the high-and-mighty Beast God and God of the Sea wouldn’t even deign to cast a glance their way.

This gave many of the weaker examinees a chance to blend in and complete their missions.