Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 106: Chapter 103 Reporting Merits, Hu Clan’s Camp Attacked

”Who is that person?”

On the walls of Chongshan Pass City, Liang Chu peered at the figure disappearing into the forest, unable to restrain himself from asking.

Meanwhile, many soldiers around him were also gazing in the direction where Yang Zhenshan had just battled.

”Linguan Castle is now under the jurisdiction of Yinghe Castle, and the garrison commander is a young Martial Artist named Yang Chengze. That person obviously is not Yang Chengze, so he must be Yang Zhenshan, the defense officer of Yinghe Castle!”

Tang Feihu, quite familiar with Zhou Lan, suddenly spoke up.

Tang Feihu was originally the Guerrilla General of the Right Camp of the Five Camps, and like Zhou Lan, was a trusted confidant of Zhang Shouwang. After Zhang Shouwang was dismissed, he specifically wrote a letter of recommendation for Tang Feihu to Liang Chu.

Unlike Zhou Lan, who had the backing of Duke Ning Mansion, even after Zhang Shouwang left Chongshan Pass, she could still live comfortably and securely.

Tang Feihu, on the other hand, was promoted entirely through Zhang Shouwang and came from a very ordinary background.

It was precisely for this reason that Liang Chu did not reassign Tang Feihu and kept him by his side, knowing that without Zhang Shouwang, Tang Feihu could only rely on him, and he could completely control Tang Feihu.

”Yang Zhenshan? What is his background?!” Liang Chu inquired.

Tang Feihu responded, ”Yang Zhenshan joined Camp twenty years ago and participated in the great battle at Black Cloud Mountain, but he retired due to severe injuries at that time.”

”Last February, the Northern barbarian cavalry invaded ...”

He detailed Yang Zhenshan’s history and interactions with Zhou Lan to Liang Chu.

Initially, Zhou Lan brought Yang Zhenshan to Chongshan Pass to train soldiers, a fact also known by Zhang Shouwang. However, the training was later abandoned due to a campaign against the East Sea Hu Clan.

As a confidant of Zhang Shouwang and having known Zhou Lan for many years, Tang Feihu was very familiar with Zhou Lan’s style and movements.

Thus, he was also very familiar with Yang Zhenshan’s background.

After listening to the narration, Liang Chu had a general impression of Yang Zhenshan.

A former border town soldier, participated in the Black Cloud Mountain battle, possessed the ability to train troops, daring in combat. Although older, he was undeniably talented.

This was his initial impression of Yang Zhenshan.

Only the age was a bit too much!

Liang Chu felt somewhat regretful, believing that Yang Zhenshan could have had boundless prospects if he were ten years younger.

If Yang Zhenshan knew of his thoughts, he would definitely have a few sarcastic remarks in his heart.

What’s wrong with being forty?

Isn’t forty the prime of life?

You are older than me, yet you have the nerve to call me old!

”What is his cultivation level?” Liang Chu asked.

Tang Feihu hesitated a bit, ”He definitely possesses Postnatal cultivation, but as to which specific layer, I am not sure.”

”However, seeing him chasing the Hu Zei’s cavalry just now, he’s probably at the Postnatal Fourth or Fifth Layer!”

Liang Chu slightly nodded, ”His cultivation isn’t bad!”

A cultivation of Postnatal Fourth or Fifth Layer at Chongshan Pass wasn’t considered masterful but was still quite impressive.

Many guards, Commander, Deputy Commander, and Deputy Magistrate had similar cultivation levels.

He had some thoughts, but didn’t discuss them much with Tang Feihu.

Meanwhile, when Yang Zhenshan returned to Linguan Castle, Yang Mingwu and Song Dashan were already cleaning up the battlefield.

As they were unsure whether the Hu Clan’s main camp would send more troops, they only conducted a brief cleanup.

Carrying wounded comrades and severed heads of the enemy, they collected the armors.

”Sir, we have decapitated eight hundred forty-two men, and captured one hundred twenty-three!”

Yang Zhenshan had just returned to the garrison when Yang Chengze rushed to report their achievements.

It was no wonder he was so eager; it was a significant accomplishment.

Since the Hu Zei invaded the territory in February of the previous year, Chongshan Town had clashed with the East Sea Hu Clan multiple times, never achieving such a high number of decapitated enemies before.

Decapitation and defeating an enemy differed, a battlefield only yielding severed heads when absolute dominance was asserted, otherwise, the enemy wouldn’t grant the opportunity to harvest heads.

”What about the casualties?” Yang Zhenshan asked calmly, showing no joy.

Yang Chengze looked slightly somber, ”More than half casualties! Two hundred forty-eight dead in battle, seventy-three severely wounded, out of two hundred cavalry, only eighty-two were unscathed!”

Yang Zhenshan fell silent.

Three hundred cavalry, trained only for half a year, and what was the result?

Only eighty-two remained unscathed!

The rest were either killed or injured.

This was the cruel reality of the battlefield; even if Yang Zhenshan charged to the forefront, he could not prevent casualties among his soldiers.

After a moment of silence, he ordered, ”First arrange for someone to take care of the wounded, and also have Yang Mingwu send someone to Jianning Guard to report our achievements.”

It had been just a few days, and they had already decapitated over a thousand and captured a hundred, with such significant military achievements, they must ensure the Assistant General Mansion acknowledges them promptly.

If these honors were claimed by others, wouldn’t the soldiers’ sacrifices be in vain?

”Understood!”

Yang Chengze acknowledged and then withdrew.

...

In the following days, the atmosphere inside Linguan Castle was heavy, the casualties of several hundred soldiers plunged everyone into sorrow.

Fortunately, the Hu Clan’s main camp did not send more troops to attack, perhaps they found Linguan Castle too tough a nut to crack, unwilling to waste too much manpower.

Relieved, Yang Zhenshan sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, the personnel sent to Jianning Guard to report their achievements had returned, but Zhou Lan wasn’t in the Guard City; she had already led troops to suppress the invading Northern barbarian cavalry.

Of course, the person to confirm the military achievements still arrived, and it was none other than Zhao Yuan.

”Brother Zhengshan, you really surprised me!”

Inside Linguan Castle, just after Yang Zhenshan welcomed Zhao Yuan into the government office, Zhao Yuan couldn’t help but express his excitement.

”It’s just luck, nothing much!” Yang Zhenshan modestly claimed, albeit very insincerely.

Well, truly very insincere.

He couldn’t express just how delighted he was inside!

Despite the losses, nothing could suppress the joy in his heart.

He just couldn’t show it.

After all, the soldiers suffered such heavy casualties; if he, as a defense officer, appeared too pleased, it would inevitably be considered heartless.

Grieving is the reasonable response, and being happy is a natural human emotion.

Why did he come to Chongshan Town, if not to earn military merits and promotion?

If not for this, wouldn’t it be better for him to have stayed honestly in Yang Family Village?

”Modesty, modesty!”

Zhao Yuan laughed out loud.

The two entered the study, chatting over tea.

As for confirming military achievements, naturally, Zhao Yuan didn’t need to check personally; he brought many soldiers and civil servants from the Assistant General Mansion, and having them confirm the achievements was sufficient.

Yang Zhenshan inquired about the state of Jianning Guard, and Zhao Yuan was naturally forthcoming with information.

During this period, many Northern barbarian riders entered from Jianning Guard’s jurisdiction, causing complete chaos.

For this reason, Zhou Lan lost her temper several times, helplessly, not all garrisons could block the invading Northern barbarian riders, nor were all officials willing to leave the garrison to confront the invaders.

Faced with such cowardly officials, Zhou Lan was bitterly frustrated, yet somewhat helpless.

There’s no need to elaborate on what Chongshan Town was like before, and since Zhou Lan took office as Jianning Guard General, much of her focus had been on training troops at the five households, leaving her no time to attend to the various city defenses and defense officers’ affairs.

Mainly because Zhou Lan had been in office for such a short time; given two years, she could definitely sort out the affairs along the central route of Chongshan Town, but unfortunately, there were no ifs.

With a large influx of Northern barbarian riders, and with various cities and castles’ defense officers failing to act, Zhou Lan had to overexert herself leading troops personally to suppress the invading Northern barbarian riders.

For this, Yang Zhenshan could not help; he was now just a defense officer, and after two battles, he had no soldiers left to use; only managing to hold Linguan Castle because the Hu Clan was unwilling to waste too much military force on it.

”My lord, confirmation is complete, with eight hundred and forty-six heads chopped, one hundred and nineteen captured,”

While Yang Zhenshan and Zhao Yuan were talking, a civil servant from the General’s Mansion came to report.

The captured Hu Zei had lost four more lives in the past two days, so the number of chopped heads had increased by four.

”At Yinghe Castle, there are over three hundred heads!” said Yang Zhenshan.

Zhao Yuan waved his hand unconcernedly and said, ”Do I not trust Brother Zhengshan? Record it, and when we head back, we can just pick up the heads from Yinghe Castle on the way!”

Heads were needed to report military merits, and since they had to be preserved for a long period, they were covered with lime to prevent decomposition.

Concerning the handling of the heads, Yang Zhenshan naturally need not worry; every soldier in Chongshan Town knew the process, even if they hadn’t obtained a head before, it didn’t stop them from hoping to one day achieve such military merit.

That day, Zhao Yuan did not return to Jianning Guard immediately; they had to escort the heads and prisoners back, nearly a hundred miles was not easy to travel, so they needed to rest well before returning.

The night passed quietly, and the next day at dawn, Yang Zhenshan got up early to wash up.

However, before he had finished washing his face, Yang Mingwu rushed into his bedroom in a hurry.

”Lord, lord!”

”What is it?” Yang Zhenshan looked up, his mind slightly sinking.

Yang Mingwu was not an impulsive person; his urgency surely meant it was not a trivial matter.

Could the Hu Clan have come again?

”Lord, something big has happened!”

”The Hu Clan’s camp was raided!”

Yang Mingwu said.

Yang Zhenshan jerked upright in shock.

A raid on the Hu Clan’s camp?

He had thought of it but couldn’t achieve it.

He never expected that someone would actually raid the Hu Clan’s camp!

It must be the Five Camps inside Chongshan Pass.

”What’s the situation now?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

”It’s not clear yet; the battle isn’t over; the Hu Clan’s camp is already in flames!” Yang Mingwu replied.

Yang Zhenshan took a deep breath.

The specifics were unknown, but the fact that it was ablaze meant the raid was successful.

He had no idea how Chongshan Pass had managed it.

He couldn’t believe that today the Hu Clan’s camp wasn’t keeping an eye on Chongshan Pass.

”Let’s go, let’s see for ourselves!” Yang Zhenshan, unable to resist his curiosity, wanted to witness the scene personally.

Saying so, he strode out of the room, and at that moment, he happened to run into Zhao Yuan.

”Brother Zhengshan! I heard the Hu Clan’s camp was raided?”

Such a big event surely couldn’t be kept secret; the fiery red sky said it all.

”Let’s go see together!”

Yang Zhenshan didn’t waste words; in a moment, he and Zhao Yuan led a hundred cavalry out of the garrison.

As they rounded the hill, they immediately saw the flaming inferno of the Hu Clan’s camp.

The bright flames suppressed the eastern sky’s light, and the chaotic noises carried over several miles.

”It seems like the Hu Clan are fleeing!” Zhao Yuan said uncertainly.

He vaguely saw several figures breaking away from the camp from the north, but it was too far and too dark to see clearly.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his long beard, his eyes shining like stars.

”Brother Zhao, want to earn some military merits?”

”To earn merits!” Zhao Yuan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

”Then I thank Brother Zhengshan for looking out!”

He naturally wanted to earn merits; how else could he be promoted?

Previously, Zhou Lan could still promote him, but now without military achievements, Zhou Lan couldn’t promote him either.

Without military achievements, he couldn’t win people over, and Zhou Lan would have a hard time explaining it to others.

Now that there was an opportunity to make merits, he naturally didn’t want to miss it.

”What are we waiting for?”

Yang Zhenshan threw down the line and then spurred his horse towards the direction of the Hu Clan’s camp.

It was the perfect opportunity to beat the drowning dog; how could he miss it?