Homesteading in a fantasy world

The next morning, everyone who needed to leave using the portals did so and as soon as they got back to their homes, it didn't take long for them to be in front of the soldiers, giving a speech. This was happening in Bravenhold, Frontier's Collective, United Freehold.

The same scene was even happening in Aetherhold, a nation so overtaken by religion that none of the civilians or soldiers questioned even for a moment if attacking three nations at the same time was a bad idea. It was because they trusted their leader, who was directly connected to their god.

None of the armies marched simultaneously, at least not at the start, because there was simply too much equipment and men. The line of soldiers slowly stretched out, and for the bigger armies, it took half a day before the entire army was marching. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers walking in different directions, yet the end result was the same: they would fight for what they believed in.

The most disciplined soldiers marched on the United Freehold's land. A large portion of them looked like they were all the same person. On their left side was a large square curved shield, perfect for formations fighting.

On their right shoulder were multiple sticks. Three of them were short-throwing spears, one was a battle spear, and the last held a bag at one end that contained rations and other supplies. On their waist was a purpose-built belt that held a short sword on the left side, a mace or an axe on the right side, depending on the unit the soldier was in, and in the back, a general-purpose knife.

All of them were wearing at least a gambeson and chain mail, but some also had, on top of that, more solid armour like a plate or leather half breastplate. On top of that armour, all wore an overcoat that was dark red, and over their heart, all had a symbol of the legion, the unit they were in and what clan they belonged to. Every unit could also be distinguished by the banners that were held above them, all with different designs, but the base color for all of them was dark red.

In between the legions were many carts pulled by horses, and one particularly strong bull named Francis. Behind him were quite a few carts, as he was pulling basically a train of them all by himself.

Inside those carts were weapons of war that would help close the gap in the number difference between them and their enemies. After that were a few special units of legionaries whose equipment was a bit different, as they were archers. Between them were a lot of carts, all full of arrows.

Bringing up the rear were the Vikings, who weren’t uniform in their looks, but most of them had armour made from more than just basic metal. Yet, one thing was similar for all of them: on their back was a large round shield, so they could also combine together for defence or attack. Amongst them were also a few more specialised soldiers like mages, and the borrowed elites from Frontier's Collective and Bravenhold.

Yet, between all those soldiers, there were also a lot of people who were not going to fight directly but helped manage the resources and take care of the more mundane parts to keep the army functioning.

Back in the capital, the portal constantly flashed as the cavalry unit went through the portal into Aldermarch, so they could join up with the mercenary cavalry and Frontier's Collective cavalry already waiting there. When proper command was established between them, they would be moving east to meet up with the Bravenhold cavalry and their army.

They were all quite well equipped, but most of them could be classified towards the heavy side of armour. Almost all of them have a shield, a long spear, and a one-handed weapon, mostly swords that are curved a little bit.

Both Frontier's Collective's and Bravenhold's main armies more resemble adventurers with their leather armour and myriad of different weapons, yet both of them have more elite units, some who are even fully armoured in plate mail. Their training varies quite a lot, from almost farmers to actual soldier-type class holders who have trained their whole lives to be a soldier in the army.

Aetherhold had a vast army split into three parts. Their training was decent at least for half the army, and while they had spent quite a lot of time training and levelling up, only very few had true combat experience.

Only a few commanders wore anything better than leather armour. Yet, all of the soldiers of the Aetherholds army wore an overcoat that was half white and half blue, with the symbol of their god front and centre, covering their entire torso.

What they lacked in combat experience, they made up in fervour. Their sheer belief that they were doing the right thing was better than any morale-boosting ability. Their weaponry consisted of a spear and a wooden shield, and very rarely did they have a backup weapon.

In mass combat, however, a spear is a weapon that has brought victory to many and will continue to do so. It's cheap to make, yet so dangerous, and a perfect counter to the leather-type armour most common in this world.

All of the armies had a long journey, the longest being that of the United Freeholds. Fortunately for them, they had Rich Dirt, who used his unit boost ability to give a general speed boost to the whole army, making them move a lot faster than the other armies.

The first armies that were going to meet were the eastern army of Aetherhold and the Bravenhold army, as they had the shortest distance between them. Fortunately, the cavalry that was moving to support them could move faster than the infantry and would make it there with plenty of time to spare.

The Frontier's Collective army was already half gathered at Aldermarch, and while a large contingent started the long march from the capital, multiple different parts of the army also began to march from other locations inside their nation. The soldiers that were already there had started to prepare and build fortifications near a narrow piece of land between a river and a thick forest.

Time went by fast for the soldiers, as most of their day consisted of marching, setting up camp, or taking camp apart, and then, of course, sleeping. It was an exhausting time for any soldier, yet they were all grateful that they hadn't even once had to do a quick march, where they would need to cover twice the distance in one day than normal. While all of the soldiers were beyond superhuman, pushing themselves day after day like that would still take a toll.

Days turned into weeks, and a month had passed since all of the armies started to march. The soldiers of every army had seen every kind of weather, and if it wasn't for the healers, there would already be lots of casualties from infections or other accidents.

It was at this point that Rich was able to confirm that the Aetherholds army did indeed split up as they had predicted. Another two weeks passed, and the eastern army of Aetherhold stopped for a moment because they were at the border of Bravenhold's nation.

Even though there weren't any villages or towns for another 100 kilometres, they couldn’t cross the border yet because they hadn't officially declared war, and to not do so would be political suicide with the other nations of this world.

The message was sent to the leader of Aetherhold, who had hoped that something would change, and he could wait a bit longer before declaring war. However, he was also glad to see that they could still predict the future correctly.

He composed four letters: three for the nations they were about to invade and one to the World Council to make the war legitimate in their eyes. Fortunately for him, in this world, the only justification needed for war was a desire to expand his nation. Yet, he also added that the Triple Alliance already threatened his country, and this attack would serve as a preemptive defense of his nation.

This was to be expected, yet almost all of the leaders of the Triple Alliance had hoped that Aetherholds would give up its plans to invade. The one person who was glad about this declaration of war was Rich as he had feared they will delay for longer. He immediately sent word to the Bravenhold army and the cavalry to execute Plan A.

The Bravenhold army would wait until the eastern army was seen on the horizon and then start marching towards Aldermarch, leaving the way into their nation open. Not far behind the Bravenhold army, the cavalry would stand ready to start harassing the eastern army and cut off their supply lines if they didn't follow the Bravenhold's main army.