Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 247: Chapter 238: The Convergence of Two Armies

Wang Bin paid no mind to everyone’s shock and instead opened the letter in his hands.

He had enough trust in Yang Zhenshan, and although he was somewhat curious about how Yang Zhenshan had done it, he never doubted that Yang Zhenshan would falsify his military achievements.

When he finished reading the letter, his eyes suddenly brightened.

“Have you found the settlement of the Kolcha Clan?”

“Yes!” Song Dashan confirmed succinctly.

“Kolcha Clan!”

Wang Bin sprang to his feet.

He knew far more about the East Sea Hu Clan than Yang Zhenshan and was very clear about what a large tribe represented.

There were a total of seven tribes within the East Sea Hu Clan, the same seven that had originally established Fushan City.

Among them, the strongest was the Gorcin Clan, which had become the Royal Family, while the Kolcha Clan was relatively weaker among the seven major tribes, but still had a population of over fifty thousand and possessed over ten thousand cavalry.

Given the current situation, the Kolcha represented military achievements; if he could crush the Kolcha, he dared not say for sure, but at the very least he could advance another step.

This step was a crucial one; if he took it, he would have an opportunity in the future to become a General of a town, otherwise, he would probably have to stop at Assistant General for his entire life, and at most get promoted to Vice General when he was older.

Wang Bin paced back and forth in his tent, his mind recalling the intelligence on the Kolcha Clan, weighing the difference in combat strength between the two sides.

Can we fight?

Can we win if we fight?

Winning would allow further advancement, but what if we lose?

If we lose, we might face the danger of the entire army being wiped out!

At that time, let alone advancing further, he feared he wouldn’t even be able to save his own life.

His heart wavered a bit, but as his gaze fell upon Song Dashan, he stood tall and laughed heartily.

“Screw it!”

When he was in Jia City, he had scorned those garrisons who were fearful and hesitant to face the enemy, but now, when it came to the crunch, he was hesitating too.

Looking again at Yang Zhenshan and the garrison of An Yuan City, especially seeing the indomitable killing intent on Song Dashan, he suddenly felt an impulsive surge.

Afraid of what?

Win or lose; let’s fight first and talk later.

If we don’t fight, we’ll never win!

Besides, he still had Yang Zhenshan!

Since Yang Zhenshan wanted him to go, then why not just go?

Having thought this through, Wang Bin’s eyes became resolute, “Pass the order, the whole army prepare to set out!”

…

Luo Chenhu didn’t stay long in the garrison camp, only staying for one night before leaving with his men the next day.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t take Luo Chenhu’s arrival to heart; in his view, Luo Chenhu was just there to confirm the battle achievements, and since his achievements weren’t fabricated, he wasn’t worried about Luo Chenhu’s verification.

However, Yang Zhenshan overlooked one thing, the Secret Martial Guards were the Emperor’s blade, and everything they did served the old Emperor.

After Luo Chenhu left, he returned to Chongshan Pass immediately and after reporting the situation to Lu Chongde, he promptly reported Yang Zhenshan’s achievements to Lv Hua who was in Beiyuan Town.

Lv Hua was also surprised when he saw such a report, but after all, he was not a military officer and didn’t care about the conflict between Chongshan Town and the East Sea Hu Clan, so he just made a comment.

“This Master Yang is really bloodthirsty!”

Then Lv Hua directly presented the report to Emperor Chengping’s imperial case.

Although the Secret Martial Guards were not responsible for delivering battle reports, they were responsible for surveillance of everything, including the war between Chongshan Town and the East Sea Hu Clan.

Having such a report, he didn’t mind giving Yang Zhenshan a hand.

A report from the Secret Martial Guards arrived at the Capital City sooner than the memorial from Chongshan Pass.

In the Imperial Study Room of the Taiji Palace in the Imperial City.

Emperor Chengping reclined on a soft couch, flipping through memorials one by one.

May in the Capital City was filled with a riot of colors, and the garden outside the study’s window was vibrant with all kinds of exotic flowers and plants, while the gentle fragrance of flowers wafted on the mild breeze into the room, creating an exhilarating sensation.

However, Emperor Chengping was frowning at the moment, without a trace of exhilaration.

“Has the Secret Martial Guards delivered any memorials from Jiangnan?” he raised his head and asked Chen who was attending to him.

Chen glanced at a pile of memorials in front of him and hurriedly said: “Your Majesty, there’s nothing from Jiangnan, but there is one from Chongshan Town!”

“No news from Jiangnan!” Emperor Chengping’s brows relaxed slightly.

Since the start of spring this year, Jiangnan had been experiencing continuous heavy rainfall, and some areas were already suffering from minor flooding. Emperor Chengping was concerned about the possibility of widespread flooding in Jiangnan.

Jiangnan was Da Rong’s granary. If a wide range of flooding occurred in Jiangnan, affecting this year’s harvest, then the whole of Da Rong would be impacted.

Although he was worried, since the Secret Martial Guards had not sent any memorials from Jiangnan, it meant that there were no significant floods occurring in Jiangnan.

Putting his concerns aside for the moment, Emperor Chengping asked again, “Bring me the memorial from Chongshan Town to take a look!”

Chen hurriedly handed over the memorial.

Looking at the content on the memorial, Emperor Chengping involuntarily sat up straight.

“In just over ten days, eight Northern barbarian tribes have been conquered, tens of thousands of enemies killed, with more than ten thousand heads taken!”

“Yang Zhenshan, Yang Zhenshan!”

Emperor Chengping muttered this name gently, his mind recalling the memories associated with it.

“Your Majesty, it’s the youngest daughter of Yang Zhenshan who is engaged to the third son of the Changping Marquis Mansion!” eunuch Chen reminded.

Emperor Chengping nodded slightly. He was already familiar with the information concerning Yang Zhenshan.

“This man is quite the killer general!”

Eunuch Chen stealthily observed Emperor Chengping’s expression and, seeing him relaxed, felt slightly moved and said, “Your Majesty, not only is Master Yang extremely fierce on the battlefield, but he’s also highly adept in military tactics and training troops. The ’Thirty-Six Stratagems’ he authored is now widely circulated in all major border towns, and many generals revere it as the holy canon of military guile! Additionally, his ’Real Record of Military Training’ is also widely disseminated.”

As someone close to Emperor Chengping, eunuch Chen understood the Emperor’s thoughts all too well.

Just now, Emperor Chengping’s expression clearly showed his interest in this Yang Zhenshan.

Eunuch Chen also felt that Emperor Chengping was somewhat overly worried about the situation in Jiangnan, consuming his energy, so it was a good opportunity to distract the Emperor with Yang Zhenshan’s matter.

Indeed, Emperor Chengping was truly interested in Yang Zhenshan.

“Thirty-Six Stratagems. Real Record of Military Training! Hmm, go find them for me to see!”

Eunuch Chen responded and arranged for a young eunuch to find the Thirty-Six Stratagems and Real Record of Military Training.

After two years of dissemination, finding these two books in the Capital City was not difficult.

Speaking of the spread of ’Thirty-Six Stratagems’ and ’Real Record of Military Training,’ it should be mentioned that it was the Princely Heir of Duke Ning, Zhou Xu, who brought these two books to the Capital City.

Zhou Xu highly commended Yang Zhenshan’s two books, and over the past two years, he printed many copies and gave them to many friends.

It was also because of his commendation that Yang Zhenshan’s two books were widely circulated in the Capital City.

…

In the twenty-ninth year of Chengping, on May 12th.

Wang Bin led six thousand troops from the Rescue Camp to the upper reaches of the Songyuan River.

Yang Zhenshan led the garrison troops to join forces with them.

The Rescue Camp did not go to the garrison’s camp because the area around the garrison’s campsite was covered with rolling hills, which was fine for finding a hilltop for the garrison camp, but it would be troublesome to accommodate the more than six thousand troops of the Rescue Camp.

Therefore, Wang Bin chose to set up camp on a relatively flat prairie eighty miles northwest of the garrison’s campsite.

On the lush prairie, the soldiers of the garrison rode two horses each, sweeping in like a torrential current.

Wang Bin, leading his group of military officers, stood outside the camp under construction, feeling the imposing aura and pressure that swept towards them.

The thunder of hooves was incessant, and the thick aura of killing intent enveloped everyone’s heart like a tangible force, causing even the soldiers who were setting up the camp to look up.

As the garrison approached, Yang Zhenshan pulled the reins to stop Red Cloud, and the thousand soldiers behind him also halted.

The sound of hooves ceased abruptly, and the once-trembling world became quiet in an instant.

Yang Zhenshan dismounted and approached Wang Bin. He first glanced over the people behind Wang Bin, spotting Luo Feiyu, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, before he clasped his fists and bowed: “Subordinate greets General!”

Wang Bin stared at the still garrison behind him, shocked for quite a while.

“Master Yang, you’ve truly brought me quite the surprise!”

He said with some emotion.

Although he had not yet seen the garrison in combat, the mere aura and momentum before his eyes gave him an unprecedented pressure.

“The General jests!” Yang Zhenshan said lightly with a smile.

It was then that Wang Bin turned his gaze onto him, “Hahaha, this time we can fight side by side!”

He extended his hand and thumped Yang Zhenshan’s shoulder, but did not shake him in the slightest.

Seeing this, his smile grew even brighter.

“Wang Zhan, arrange a campsite for the brothers from the garrison. Master Yang, let’s talk inside!”

He instructed a military officer by his side, then pulled Yang Zhenshan into the camp.

Yang Zhenshan gave a look to Han Cheng behind him, who immediately understood and started chatting with the thousand commander named Wang Zhan.

Everyone arrived at the main tent in the center of the camp. The thousand commanders and Bazong of the Rescue Camp couldn’t help casting unusual glances towards Yang Zhenshan.

It’s this guy!

He slaughtered tens of thousands from the Hu Clan!

How ruthless!

Their curious and astonished looks were unabashed.

“Brother-in-law!” Luo Feiyu sneaked up to Yang Zhenshan, grinning and calling out.

Yang Zhenshan sized him up and down, nodding slightly, “Not bad, you seem more presentable than before!”

Luo Feiyu had joined the Rescue Camp for over two years now, and he did well, though not outstanding, he was stable and solid.

“Ha ha, this kid has some guts.” Wang Bin also praised.

Luo Feiyu was recommended by Yang Zhenshan, and toward this, Wang Bin did not have much concern.

Then there were the pleasantries.

Yang Zhenshan was not familiar with these officers from the Rescue Camp. Perhaps they had met before, but there was little interaction.

After the pleasantries, Wang Bin pulled Yang Zhenshan along for a meal.

The two sides had just joined forces and were not in a hurry to discuss serious matters; it was first essential to understand each other’s situations.

After all, they needed to cooperate in the upcoming battles. If they didn’t even know the specific circumstances of the other party, there was no way to synergize well.

If it were any other garrison, Wang Bin wouldn’t need to understand them – he would just let them follow behind the Rescue Camp and do the groundwork.

However, Yang Zhenshan and An Yuan City’s garrison were different; the combat strength of the garrison might not be weaker than the two Rescue Camps under his command.