At last, the 6 months of preparation had ended and now it was time for the many groups to battle it out to see which one of them would be able to become a fully-fledged faction. To win this tournament was the dream of many, but only a few with skill would be able to truly win this competition. For the first few days, none of the groups fought with each other. This was a rather common theme in these competitions as everyone wanted to see what the others were up to before they committed to anything. Which was a smart decision but that was not why they were using this tactic now.

A few months prior, Baron got word from Ding Lai Hang’s underling, general Han, of a coalition of other groups to take him down. Baron had thought that with Lu Mu and Jaxon Long by his side, he would be able to win without much trouble. However, that was assuming that everyone played fairly. This was definitely not the case and if they had to face an alliance that had at least 120 times the amount of resources that they had, this would surely be a tough battle ahead of him. Nevertheless, this was the reality that they were up against, and if they failed this time, then it would be another 200 years before the next faction selection tournament. They had no choice but to win.

Baron’s group, Under 1 Banner, had been preparing double-time ever since they got the intel from general Han regarding the coalition against them. Now, they knew that they couldn’t trust this news completely, one major reason being that plans change and so does interests over time. The reports that Baron received from his spy network lined up almost perfectly with the news from General Han so that part was believable. However, the part where general Han told them about the coalition’s plan might have been the truth, but any general worth their meal must change their plan especially when there were multiple months between the plan being conceived and when it was time to execute it.

Although this plan might’ve been what it was back when general Han told them, it was now almost certainly changed after getting so many strategists together. There was only one piece of information that general Han said other than all of this that really piqued Baron’s interest. It was that Wang Yi and his men would have no place in this coalition as these guys wanted the 50,000 coin reward split up amongst them. It was possible that Wang Yi and his team would swoop in and take out Under 1 Banner if Baron’s team somehow managed to divert this monstrous calamity coming their way.

By the start of the 5th day, many groups that were closest to U1B (Under 1 Banner), led by Baron, had begun to mobilize their forces. During the start, before everyone went to conquer land and take resources was when most groups were equal in power. Perhaps not equal in strategic prowess, but certainly in terms of resources and land. U1B noted all of the patterns their enemies were taking and prepared accordingly. One advantage that U1B had was definitely that they had the most diverse set of military aircraft out of most factions in the Chinese community, thanks to Jaxon being a legend at this stuff. Another was that they had a missile defense system that was fairly good at doing its job. Something that Baron had not seen any other group use so far.

They had to keep one thing in mind though, whether or not there would be a second or potentially even third wave coming to storm their capital base. One step at a time though. One step at a time, and right now, they had to focus on the first wave of fighter squadrons coming to take over their bases. Everyone knew that if even one of the 5 members of U1B were to meet this storm, it would end in disaster no matter how skilled they were. That was why everyone in U1B stayed at the capital base waiting for their enemies to strike. This was also the logic of the first wave of enemies as they largely ignored the other bases that Guan Yu had set up. It was just as well since Yue Fei moved the majority of these forces and machines of war to the main base where the big battle would be.

Just as general Han had told them months ago, the first wave consisted of a total of 40 groups. Which was to say, one giant coalition in and of itself who had 40 times as many resources as Baron’s group had. This was merely just the first test. If anything, a prelude to the calamities that were to come. One step at a time.

For this first group of enemies that they were facing, Guan Yu and Yue Fei were sent to disrupt them for as long as they could. This was more of a test to see just how powerful their enemies were. These two were sent to intercept them at a location just a few kilometers outside of the capital base so that if they needed reinforcements they would arrive fairly quickly. That being said, 2 strategists going up against a group of hundreds did not bode well for them.

Guan Yu and Yue Fei knew that all they had to do was to hold out for as long as they could. If they could manage to do that, then they were certain that Baron, Jaxon, and Lu Mu would figure out a way for them to get out of this mess. They trusted their allies, as their allies trusted them. For without a working understanding of each other, how were they supposed to work together in the pursuit of one common goal? Outmatched, outgunned, but certainly not out of ideas. This was the thrill of the battlefield, and Guan Yu and Yue Fei did not mind being in the midst of a bloody battle once again, in fact, it was their saving grace from an eternity of boredom.