Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 235: Chapter 226 Habit Becomes Second Nature

“Master, Master, we found them!”

Yang Mingzhen returned to the garrison camp, unable to conceal the excitement on his face.

Yang Zhenshan, who was looking at the map in his tent, raised his eyebrows upon hearing the voice and said to Han Cheng beside him, “It looks like we don’t have to keep staying here sleeping!”

They had been out of the territory for eight days, and besides marching during the first four days, they had been resting here for the latter four.

It wasn’t that Yang Zhenshan wanted to rest, but that they couldn’t find their target.

Initially, the soldiers set out full of passion and morale, but after setting out, they stayed idle in the camp. To be honest, Yang Zhenshan felt quite helpless these days.

Yang Mingzhen hurried into the tent, “Master, we’ve found traces of Northern barbarian cavalry twenty li to the northwest, with more than ten of them active in that area!”

“Oh!” Yang Zhenshan’s eyes lit up, “Do we have any specific details?”

The excitement in Yang Mingzhen’s voice paused for a moment, and he awkwardly said, “We didn’t have time to investigate further; they spotted us just as we found them.”

“What are we waiting for, then? Take some men and search immediately!” Yang Zhenshan didn’t blame Yang Mingzhen.

Yang Mingzhen chuckled, quickly responded, “Master, I’ll go right away.”

Having said that, he dashed out of the tent and then led hundreds of cavalry hastily out of the camp.

Han Cheng watched their speeding figures with a smile, “Young Master Yang seems quite excited!”

“Heh, he just hasn’t seen the horrors of the battlefield; he doesn’t know what fear is!” Yang Zhenshan shook his head and laughed.

It’s often said that newborn calves aren’t afraid of tigers; similarly, these new soldiers who’ve never been on the battlefield have no awe of battle.

The more battle-hardened a person is, the clearer they understand the cruelty of the battlefield and the more respect they have for it.

“This is probably where the Master needs to guide them,” Han Cheng said.

Yang Zhenshan shook his head again, “Some things cannot be taught by others; they have to comprehend and experience it themselves!”

He looked out at the soldiers outside the tent, feeling somewhat worried in his heart.

The strength of the current garrison was undoubtedly formidable.

With warriors making up seventy percent and years of strict training, their combat power far exceeded that of most units stationed in Chongshan Town.

But they had one shortcoming; they hadn’t actually experienced battle.

They needed the tempering of blood and fire on the battlefield, an experience in life-and-death struggle to truly grow.

Yang Zhenshan felt they needed a gratifying victory to boost morale and mental fortitude.

…

While Yang Mingzhen was leading a large number of scouts in search upstream of the Songyuan River, over thirty li west of the garrison camp, in an unnamed valley, hundreds of Northern barbarian cavalry rapidly emerged from the valley.

The valley was filled with tents and countless cattle and sheep, with many Northern barbarians dressed in split robes busily moving about.

In the central area was a distinguished tent, and sitting inside was a rugged man nearing fifty, clad in gold-plated armor.

Zha Yan, the leader of the Tumoge Clan of the East Sea Hu Clan, commanded over 1,800 stout warriors, ranking as a middle-sized clan among the East Sea Hu Clans.

Since the establishment of the Da Rong Dynasty, the chiefs of all Hu Clan tribes had been granted titles, among which Tumoge Clan leader Zha Yan was appointed as Gu Shan.

However, although Zha Yan had been granted a title, the current Da Rong Dynasty was dominated by several large clans like Gorcin, Emu Bu, and Chahar, with Gorcin being the Royal Family.

Clans such as Tumoge that were medium-sized were excluded from the power center of the King City, yet Zha Yan remained a staunch supporter of the Gorcin Royal Family.

Starting from the twenty-third year of peace, he had followed the Gorcin Royal Family several times in raiding Da Rong’s borders, and they had been fortunate, with each foray bringing significant spoils.

Even after the Battle at Chongshan Pass, when the Gorcin Royal Family suffered heavy losses, Zha Yan remained a firm supporter of them, opposing the coveting of the throne by the large clans Emu Bu and Chahar.

Now that Da Rong intended to launch a punitive expedition on the Royal Capital, Zha Yan still felt somewhat heavy-hearted. Although he had repeatedly raided Da Rong’s borders, the might of Da Rong had long since been engraved in the hearts of the people, and he still held a great respect for Da Rong.

Nevertheless, upon learning that Da Rong had sent out tens of garrison camps to search for the tribal clans in the North, the heaviness in Zha Yan’s heart turned into bloodlust and greed.

Garrison camps, haha, what’s that all about?

Daring to carelessly venture into the Northern lands, aren’t they just delivering themselves to us?

For several days, Zha Yan had arranged for people to search around for the traces of the Da Rong garrison camps that entered the North, and just now, he received news that traces of Da Rong people were spotted along the Songyuan River.

Therefore, he was in a good mood.

With Da Rong people coming to their doorstep, he was ready to capitalize on the opportunity.

Indeed, in his eyes, those garrison camps were just fat sheep, ready for the slaughter.

He was quite familiar with the military structure of Chongshan Town, down to the main camps under the General’s command, the Assistant General’s Rescue Camps, the soldiers in the garrisons, the garrison camps in each city, and so on.

Naturally, the main camps under the General’s command were the strongest, followed by the Rescue Camps. The soldiers in the garrisons were more or less like farmers, while most of the garrison camps were full of cowards with low combat ability.

If not for the protection of the tall city walls, these cowards would be his to slaughter at will.

Now that these cowards had left their cities and come to the North, Zha Yan pictured flock after flock of fat sheep walking towards him.

If not for having to look after the old, weak, women, and children of his tribe, he would have wanted to lead his warriors out to find and ruthlessly kill these fat sheep.

Thinking of the report he had just heard, Zha Yan grew impatient as he paced back and forth inside the tent.

“No, I can’t just wait here to die; I must make my move quickly, or someone else will snatch away this fat sheep!”

Not only does the Tumoge Clan reside in these surroundings, but other mid to small-sized clans do as well. If the plump sheep that come knocking end up discovered by other clans, wouldn’t it be a case of the Tumoge Clan drawing water with a bamboo basket—all for nothing?

Thinking of their detestable neighbor, the Zhaerzi Tribe, he grew even more restless.

“Someone, come here!”

In order to devour the plump sheep that had appeared and to avoid being surpassed by the neighbor Zhaerzi Tribe, Zha Yan decided to immediately lead the warriors of the Tumoge Clan to seek out the trail of the plump sheep.

As long as they could find this sheep, he would swallow it up without hesitation and not give the Zhaerzi any chance.

Very soon, he led over a thousand Cavalry bursting out of the valley, surging towards the southeast along the Songyuan River.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan was unaware that he had already been marked as the plump sheep and was still waiting for news from Yang Mingzhen.

The news from Yang Mingzhen came quickly and equally abruptly.

When he left, Yang Mingzhen was brimming with excitement, but upon his return, he couldn’t conceal his panic.

“Master, it’s bad news. A large number of Northern barbarian Cavalry are headed this way from the west!”

Originally, they were in search of Hu Clan settlements, but as soon as they reached the valley they had visited before, they encountered a group of Northern barbarian.

This time, he had brought hundreds of Cavalry, facing the same number of Northern barbarian. Since their numbers were not significantly different, Yang Mingzhen didn’t choose to flee but wanted to capture a few Hu Zei for interrogation.

But as the two sides poised for a brutal confrontation, the ground to the northwest suddenly shook violently as a tremendous wave of Cavalry approached.

Yang Mingzhen was once again forced to flee in panic.

He felt truly aggrieved.

Boo-hoo, I finally had the chance to fight and gain merits, finally found the trail of the Hu Clan, and yet before the battle even began, I’ve had to retreat in disgrace twice.

Just the thought made Yang Mingzhen feel stifled inside, and at the same time, he was alarmed by the impending Northern barbarian Cavalry.

After all, he was still a greenhorn who hadn’t seen battlefields; his prowess notwithstanding, his psychological fortitude was somewhat lacking.

The sudden sight of over a thousand Northern barbarian Cavalry pouring in left him with a chilling dread.

“How many are there in large numbers?” Yang Zhenshan, adorned in golden-lacquered mountain patterned armor and armed with the Gold-plated Flying Fish Spear, stepped out from the tent.

“Over a thousand Cavalry!” Yang Mingzhen replied hastily.

Yang Zhenshan glanced towards the west, but as there was a small hill in the west, he only saw the Scouts dispatched were rushing back and did not see the Northern barbarian.

Upon hearing this, Han Cheng’s expression tensed immediately, while Song Dashan remained relatively calm, having fought alongside Yang Zhenshan many times before.

“Cavalry, march out! Infantry, defend!”

Without hesitation, Yang Zhenshan immediately gave the command.

At the same time, with a leap, he mounted Red Cloud nearby.

“Cavalry, march out!”

He raised his long spear and shouted once more.

The next moment, the once quiet camp instantly became bustling.

Clip-clop, clip-clop~~

One by one, the Cavalry mounted their horses and rushed out of the camp following behind Yang Zhenshan.

When they just left the camp, these Cavalry were in disarray, but in a mere moment, their ranks became tidy.

By the time Yang Zhenshan ran to the small eastern hill of the camp, the three hundred Cavalry behind him had already lined up neatly.

This was the fruit of three years of training; from chaos to order, from urgency to calmness, from disarray to uniformity.

Order, calmness, and uniformity had become the habit of all within the garrison camp.

Without need for external commands or supervision, everything was done out of habit.

Meanwhile, inside the camp, Han Cheng was arranging defenses. Originally equipped with wagons on the perimeter, a vast number of infantry dispersed to their assigned defensive positions.

With shield-bearers at the front, using the wagons for cover, spear-bearers in the middle, resting their spear tips on top of the wagons ready to repel Cavalry, the archers positioned behind, crouching and waiting for the enemy’s approach.

The two hundred Iron Armored infantry gathered at the camp’s exit, with a forest of long spears, an atmosphere of stern killing intent instantly pervaded the air.

Song Dashan, clad in a black Iron Armor and wielding a long halberd, stood at the front of the Iron Armored infantry like a towering beast.

With his broad back straight and eyes fierce and electric, he focused intently on the small western hill.

In this moment, Song Dashan showed none of his usual slow-wittedness, instead exuding strength and might.

As Yang Zhenshan’s most valued, Song Dashan was truly a fearless warrior.

Though at times he seemed slow-witted, in critical moments his simplicity turned to resolve, to fearlessness—perhaps another expression of his foolishness.

From the time Yang Mingzhen entered the camp to when Yang Zhenshan led the Cavalry to the small hill east of the camp, merely three or four minutes had passed.

Yet, the thousand soldiers of the garrison camp readied themselves for battle completely—while chaotic to an observer, there was order within the chaos, each fulfilling their duty without a hint of fear or retreat.

And at this time, the thousand and more Cavalry of the Tumoge were finally arriving tardily!

Silhouettes appeared one after another over the hill to the west, quickly forming a vast and threatening mass.

Yang Zhenshan remained on horseback atop the eastern hill, overlooking the opposing force across the valley below.