Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 783 - 66 The Struggle

Chapter 783: Chapter 66: The Struggle Chapter 783: Chapter 66: The Struggle “`

The war was not only raging through Vernge County and Central Iron Peak County, but also a far more brutal conflict was unfolding in Lower Iron Peak County.

This war had no shining armor, no fluttering banners, and it was devoid of magnificent and dramatic stories; even less so any etiquette, rules, or mercy.

There were only a group of ordinary people struggling desperately for survival and their homeland.

The Terdon Tribe saw them as prey and livestock, taking their properties, freedom, and even their lives at will.

They were forced to abandon their homes and hide in the mountains and forests, seeking a way to live. Yet, even so, the Terdon Tribe would not let them go.

They had no reinforcements, no rear guard, and many of them didn’t even have a real weapon.

Nor were they warriors; they were just farmers, craftsmen, and traders who toiled to fill their stomachs.

...

For them, this war had no honor, dignity, or glory.

Only survival mattered, for survival was victory.

As Bard said when he released Ronald and the others, “There are no soldiers, no army here, only farmers. You, me, all of us must fight—and can only fight—in the way farmers do.”

…

Iron Peak County, the town of Wolfton, the wilderness forest on the northern foothills of the Golden Summit Mountain range.

With his mouth tightly closed and eyes vigilantly scanning, a Terdon warrior named “Stone Arrow” was leading a horse with a bow in hand, carefully treading on a forest path.

There were originally no paths in the forest, but where living creatures often traveled, a path was trampled into existence.

Unfortunately, this path was not safe, which is why Stone Arrow had a young slave walk ahead.

The young slave held a long stick, first using it to check for pits before daring to step forward.

Following behind Stone Arrow were some thirty vassals and slaves, all leading their horses by the reins to minimize noise.

The terrain of the northern foothills of the Golden Summit Mountain range was undulating and covered with towering trees, greatly obscuring visibility, which made the Terdon people, accustomed to “seeing cattle and sheep beyond the low windswept grass”, quite uncomfortable.

About “one calf” distance from Stone Arrow, a warrior named Green Horse and his men were also advancing deeper into the forest, yet neither party could see the other.

[Note: Since a calf cannot walk far, it is often used metaphorically for distances near tents, approximately one kilometer.]

After the death of Ganquan, the properties originally belonging to Ganquan—herds of horses, vassals, slaves, and spoils of war—were divided between Stone Arrow and Green Horse.

Although Ganquan had a two-year-old son, in the wilderness where the law of survival of the fittest prevailed, a man who couldn’t draw a bow had no rights to inheritance.

Between the left and right wings led by Stone Arrow and Green Horse was a central army nearly two hundred strong, commanded by Turu Koda “Bald Dog”.

The left and right wings and the central army were quietly advancing in a fan-shaped formation, closing in on their prey.

This was a hunt with Bald Dog in charge of the arrows, and all the spoils of war were also Bald Dog’s.

Stone Arrow and Green Horse did not want to come; they were of low status and weak strength, without the privilege to refuse.

Reluctance in their hearts slowed their steps. Stone Arrow dragged his feet, making sure each step landed in the footprints of the slave ahead—he was genuinely afraid.

Ganquan died rather quickly; he was felled by a neat ambush, so he didn’t have the chance to understand what “the way of the farmers” meant.

But Stone Arrow and Green Horse had already “tasted” the bone-deep hatred.

Those who ate in the morning from a “carelessly hidden” cellar would show symptoms of poisoning in the afternoon.

The mild cases would vomit and suffer from diarrhea, while the severe ones would turn red in the face, struggling to breathe until death.

More terrifying than humans being poisoned was the poisoning of horses.

Apparently ordinary bits of hay mixed with deadly yew leaves and twigs; just one bite, and the horses would rapidly spasms and die.

Many horses died without understanding, still chewing their last meal.

Poisoning, traps, ambushes… The members of the Terdon Tribe gradually became like terrified birds, not daring to feed their horses dry grass anymore, and even their own food had to be tested by captured women first.

However, these tactics were unlikely to significantly hurt the Terdon Tribe in the short term.

War dogs ravaged the land uncontrolled; the Terdon people burned villages, trampled fields, violated women, and killed every Paratu man they could find, with the billowing smoke clearly visible even from Central Iron Peak County.

The people of Lower Iron Peak County also killed, no, tortured, every Terdon person they managed to capture as retaliation.

Those ambushed by legitimate officers like Bard and Ronald could even be considered fortunate, because Terdon people who fell into the hands of the militia would literally be gutted and beheaded, their corpses discarded.

Even with orders reiterated thrice by Bard and Ronald, they couldn’t stop the spread of such actions.

Therefore, as Stone Arrow led the group through the treacherous forest path, with every step he felt as though he was getting closer to another mutilated corpse.

Just when you fear something, it often happens; a series of flapping sounds and neighs suddenly came from behind Stone Arrow.

Stone Arrow felt a chill down his spine and instinctively wanted to mount his horse and flee.

He stiffly waited for a moment, not hearing the terrifying screams of slaughter.

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.

Looking back, he saw a sorrel horse with a short tail lying on the ground, snorting as it exhaled hot breath.

The sorrel struggled to rise, but its right foreleg was caught deep in the earth, up to its knee.

“Pull it out! Get the horse’s leg out!”

“Stand back! Watch out for its kicks!”

The sorrel, agitated from the fright and pain, made the Terdon people around it helpless as they circled the thrashing animal.

At that moment, another disturbance occurred.

A middle-aged slave cried out in agony, seeming to have suddenly shrunk—as with the sorrel, one of his legs had sunk into a pit.