Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 385: Chapter 370: The Royal Army Has Arrived, Slay the Rebels, Establish New Merits!

In the forests on the eastern side of Chongshan Pass.

Yang Mingzhi led his soldiers hidden among the trees, having entered the forest last night; the dark night and dense woods provided the best cover for them.

”Master Yang, the General has ordered you to launch an attack immediately!”

The messenger hurried over, and upon hearing this, Yang Mingzhi sharply inhaled, ”Understood!”

After speaking, he gestured to the soldiers beside him to get ready for action.

They then stealthily approached the foot of the city wall.

At this moment, there was still distance between them and the wall; to get closer, they would need to climb up the steep hillsides and circle around.

Of course, they could choose to follow the base of the wall, where the path was easy to walk, but in doing so, they would quickly be exposed.

The fierce battle at the South City Wall continued unabated, while the East City Wall was shrouded in silence, with nothing heard but the wind rustling through the leaves.

Soon they arrived under the wall, fortunate that no one on the wall had noticed them.

Throwing ropes over the wall, Yang Mingzhi was the first to climb up.

Carefully, he peeked his head over the top of the wall and was momentarily taken aback by the scene before him.

There were guards on the wall—quite the opposite of none; a row of soldiers crouched behind the crenelations.

One soldier was crouching directly opposite Yang Mingzhi, and as Yang Mingzhi peeked over, their eyes met.

Both were momentarily startled, but just as Yang Mingzhi prepared to leap onto the wall and begin the slaughter, the man yelled out in surprise, ”The Royal Army has arrived!”

”The Royal Army! Where?”

Suddenly, the previously quiet wall was abuzz with commotion.

Yang Mingzhi was somewhat bewildered, but he quickly grasped the situation—regardless of what was happening, he would take the wall first.

With a flip, he jumped onto the wall and pulled out two Short Spears strapped to his back.

His appearance once again threw the soldiers on the wall into chaos, but instead of attacking him, they backed away.

More and more soldiers climbed onto the wall, all somewhat confused by the situation.

Yang Mingzhi furrowed his brows as he observed these soldiers, also puzzled.

”May I ask who you are, sir?”

At this point, a man who looked like a Military Officer came forward to ask.

”I am Yang Mingzhi, Commander of Tenglong Guard!” Yang Mingzhi said coldly.

”Tenglong Guard, surnamed Yang?”

”Could it be General Yang’s son?”

”It seems so, I’ve heard General Yang’s son once served at Jianning Guard, but I don’t know his name!”

A group of soldiers began discussing Yang Mingzhi’s identity.

Yang Mingzhi looked at them with furrowed brows, ”What is the meaning of this?”

”I am Bazong Lin Anguo from the rear company of Left Camp; Master Yang, we are not rebels, we had no choice but to defend the city under the oppression of the traitor Ji Feiyu!”

”Master Yang, we wish to defect to General Yang, and we wonder if you could put in a good word for us!”

Lin Anguo looked at Yang Mingzhi tentatively.

He was a Bazong, with over three hundred soldiers under his command, a mid-level Military Officer at the Left Camp!

A mid-level officer like him would naturally not be a confidant of Ji Feiyu.

Yang Mingzhi’s thoughts turned, and he began to understand what was happening!

He was both shocked and delighted; they had just taken the wall, and already people were defecting to them, which could be considered lucky.

”Fine, I’m in charge here, follow us in taking the city; not only will you be without guilt, but you will also be credited for your merits!”

Yang Mingzhi did not hesitate to respond.

Since they were defecting, he naturally had no reason to refuse. Three hundred soldiers were a significant force.

Upon hearing this, Lin Anguo was overjoyed, ”Yes, from now on, I shall follow Master Yang’s commands!”

While the two were talking, several hundred soldiers from the Five Army Camps had already ascended the wall.

And at that moment, a group of people rushed over from the south.

”What are you doing!”

”Don’t huddle together like that, stay alert!”

A Military Officer clad in Iron Armor chided the gathering soldiers.

”That’s our thousand commander, he’s a trusted aide of Ji Feiyu!” Lin Anguo quickly explained to Yang Mingzhi.

A cold glint flickered in Yang Mingzhi’s eyes, ”Then what are we waiting for, kill them!”

Upon hearing this, Lin Anguo hesitated not a moment, drawing his long sword and shouting, ”The Royal Army is here, brothers, follow me and kill the traitors to earn new merits!”

Before Yang Mingzhi even rushed forward, Lin Anguo led his soldiers in the charge.

The city wall was only a dozen meters wide, and Lin Anguo was only responsible for a hundred or so meters of it.

With Lin Anguo’s shout, the East City Wall immediately plunged into confusion.

The thousand commander who had just arrived hadn’t even realized what was happening before he was tackled down by a few soldiers in front of him.

”The Royal Army is here, kill the traitors, earn new merits!”

”The Royal Army is here, kill the traitors, earn new merits!”

”The Royal Army is here, kill the traitors, earn new merits!”

The shouts rang out, echoing and spreading quickly along the entire East City Wall.

It was followed by a chaotic battle.

The soldiers, already wavering in their loyalties, heard the rallying cry and saw their comrades fighting ahead of them; they joined the fray without hesitation.

Witnessing the scene, Yang Mingzhi was truly filled with both shock and joy!

”Dad’s strategy worked!”

Although everyone was aware of Yang Zhenshan’s strategy, to be honest, no one had placed their hopes on those pieces of paper.

Even Yang Mingzhi previously thought those papers might be of some use, but their utility wouldn’t be significant.

”Master Yang, we simply can’t intervene!”

A Bazong from the Five Army Camps approached Yang Mingzhi with a somewhat odd expression and said.

They had all been prepared for a fierce battle, but now they couldn’t get involved at all.

The narrow city walls simply didn’t allow all the soldiers to fully deploy themselves, and with many of the soldiers from the Camp’s rear flanks having already turned their coats, the two sides were mixed in chaotic combat; they couldn’t even distinguish friend from foe.

Yang Mingzhi looked up towards the south. To avoid being discovered, they had climbed up the wall from the middle of the East City Wall, and they were at least three hundred zhang away from the South City Wall at the moment.

Such a distance was not easy to cover.

Yang Mingzhi’s mind quickly shifted, ”Lin Anguo!”

”Master Yang!”

”Leave this area to you. Gather your men and attack southward, while we capture the city gate!” shouted Yang Mingzhi.

”Master Yang, we will follow you!” Lin Anguo hurried back to say.

Yang Mingzhi knew what he was worried about and patted his shoulder saying, ”Don’t worry, when the battle is over, I will definitely commend you for your bravery!”

”Now you’re in command of the brothers from Camp’s rear flank! Understand?”

What Lin Anguo feared was being settled with after the autumn harvest or being killed after being used.

He felt that by sticking with Yang Mingzhi and exerting extra effort, he might be able to prevent Yang Mingzhi from settling scores later.

However, Yang Mingzhi actually felt it was better to leave him here. Although there were many soldiers from the Camp’s rear flank who had defected, without a complete command structure, they were just a scattered crowd.

Leaving Lin Anguo behind, he might not be able to deter everyone, but he could act as a leader.

Lin Anguo immediately grasped Yang Mingzhi’s intention and responded at once, ”Your subordinate obeys!”

Yang Mingzhi nodded, said no more, and immediately led his men down the city wall, rushing in the direction of the South City Gate.

By contrast, Yang Mingzhen was not having such an easy time. He was unlucky, for as soon as he climbed the city wall, he encountered one of Ji Feiyu’s trusted thousand commanders, and a battle for the wall ensued.

However, the Left Camp at the West City Wall was in a situation similar to the rear flank of the Camp.

The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour, and after Yang Mingzhen killed that thousand commander, the soldiers of the Left Camp also began to defect.

”Report, many soldiers on the East City Wall have defected. General Fei Chi is suppressing them!”

At the top of the South City Gate tower, Ji Feiyu received the report from the East City Wall, and his eyes narrowed slightly, his expression unchanged.

Fei Chi was his trusted aid who had followed him for over a decade and was deeply trusted by him. Now that Fei Chi was commanding the Camp’s rear flank and held the title of Guerrilla General, Ji Feiyu had absolute trust in him.

However, he could not trust the soldiers under Fei Chi’s command because the soldiers in the rear and both left and right flanks of the Camp were the old foundations of the Camp when Liang Chu was the General.

The front flank and Middle Camp were adjusted over by him from Chongshan Town’s West Road.

Ji Feiyu had anticipated possible defections.

”Hou Yao, go—”

Just as Ji Feiyu was about to send Hou Yao to help Fei Chi suppress the defecting soldiers, another soldier ran over to report: ”Report, enemies have mounted the West City Wall!”

Hearing this, Ji Feiyu gave orders to Hou Yao instead, ”Send your Rescue Camp forward!”

”Hmm!” Hou Yao nodded and responded.

...

Inside the city, in the dungeons of the General Mansion.

The gaunt-faced Lu Chongde suddenly raised his head, ”Is there shouting and killing outside?”

”Is there?” Ji He from the neighboring cell responded blankly.

Ji He listened carefully, and indeed he could faintly hear shouts and the clamor of battle.

”It seems there is!”

He said uncertainly.

Lu Chongde’s eyes lit up, ”The Royal Army has arrived!”

Ji He listened again, ”There really are shouts of killing!”

He was overjoyed.

”Who did you say is coming?” asked Lu Chongde.

Ji He was taken aback, thought for a moment, and said, ”Perhaps General Niu and General Tang, they are not here!”

Lu Chongde shook his head, ”Even if they aren’t captured by Ji Feiyu, they wouldn’t have the strength to attack Chongshan Pass!”

”Then who could it be?” Ji He asked.

Lu Chongde pondered, ”Perhaps it’s Yang Zhenshan! No one in Chongshan Town could attack Chongshan Pass, only Yang Zhenshan in Liaodong would likely have such capabilities!”

Lu Chongde was not an incompetent person; on the contrary, he was quite capable.

He simply had not expected Ji Feiyu to be Prince Qing’s man, nor had he anticipated the rebellion, and without any preparation, he was directly imprisoned by Ji Feiyu.

Such a result could not be blamed on him.

By comparison, Ji He’s mind was simpler; you could ask him to lead troops into battle and he might do well, but analyzing the situation was too much to expect from him.

”The Tenglong Guard? I’ve heard before that General Yang manages the Tenglong Guard very well, but I wonder how powerful the Tenglong Guard is now!” Ji He mused about the Tenglong Guard.

Leaning against the wall, Lu Chongde listened to the shouts of killing coming from outside, he also didn’t know the strength of the Tenglong Guard, but that did not stop him from hoping Yang Zhenshan could conquer Chongshan Pass.

But was Chongshan Pass so easily taken?

Thinking of the high walls and deep moats of Chongshan Pass, Lu Chongde sighed slightly in his heart.

Taking down Chongshan Pass was too difficult!

If he were facing Chongshan Pass, the only method he could think of would be to besiege it with a large army.