Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 240: Chapter 231: Madness and Cruelty

The charge had ended and the narrow terrain limited the Cavalry’s ability to turn around. Yang Zhenshan had no choice but to lead the Cavalry to circle back on the gentle slope.

It’s not that Cavalry couldn’t come to a stop and then turn around, but doing so would cause their formation to become chaotic, and reorganizing the formation could take as much time as circling around to change direction.

Moreover, on the battlefield, this chaos could easily give the enemy an opportunity to exploit.

Therefore, after a Cavalry charge, if they’ve charged out of the battlefield, they generally circle around to change direction. Not only does this action maintain their speed, but it also retains a certain level of maneuverability, ready to charge again or withdraw at any moment.

At this time, Yang Zhenshan was only leading three hundred Cavalrymen. With fewer numbers, their flexibility was higher, and it didn’t take much space to circle around and change direction.

However, it still took them a few minutes to turn around, and by the time they returned to the ravine, they found that the remaining enemy Cavalry had already scattered in all directions, leaving a mess behind.

This outcome surprised Yang Zhenshan somewhat.

That was it! They broke!

Although the previous combat had a crushing effect, the actual number of Northern barbarian they killed wasn’t that many.

Despite the mountain road being narrow, the slopes on either side weren’t too steep. Many Northern barbarian, realizing something was wrong, had already ridden their horses up the slopes to evade.

About half of the Northern barbarian left their corpses behind. The other half still retained a certain combat effectiveness.

”They can’t take much of a beating!” Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help feeling a bit helpless as he reined in his warhorse.

”Sir, shall we not pursue?” Yang Mingzhen seemed eager to try.

Yang Zhenshan glanced at the scattering figures and shook his head, ”No need, our target is not these Northern barbarian!”

”Clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded!”

He immediately gave the orders.

Yang Mingzhen then directed the Cavalry to both be on guard and to clean up the battlefield.

Due to pressing time and having other targets, cleaning up the battlefield was just a matter of collecting heads.

As for anything else, they didn’t have the time to tidy up.

In less than half an hour, all the Cavalrymen had collected all the war trophies.

Heads were hung on the saddles, crimson blood dripping onto the ground. As the Cavalry galloped by, it left behind a dark red trail of blood.

Such a scene was somewhat terrifying, but for the soldiers, it represented tangible military exploits.

By the time Yang Zhenshan and his men returned to the eastern hill of Tumuge, Tumuge was still busily preparing for war.

”Any situation?” Yang Zhenshan asked Song Dashan, who had stayed behind.

Song Dashan shook his head, ”Nothing much, just earlier a dozen or so Northern barbarian went back!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly. Those Northern barbarian who returned were probably the ones who had gone to seek reinforcements.

But now, their reinforcements had been scattered.

Thinking of the reinforcements, Yang Zhenshan’s expression shifted slightly as he looked towards the west.

Another tribe ten miles away?

The tribe in front of them had been preparing for war for a long time, and an attack now seemed a bit difficult.

But the other tribe must be completely unprepared.

With this in mind, Yang Zhenshan made a decision, ”Change the target, we go to the tribe in the west!”

After two consecutive battles, he felt he should be more daring.

Honestly, the combat strength of the garrison Cavalry had also exceeded his expectations.

He felt the garrison he had trained was strong, but without having experienced real combat, he didn’t have a concrete concept of the garrison’s strength.

After two battles, however, the three hundred Cavalrymen displayed a level of combat strength far beyond his expectations.

Especially the casualty numbers, which were much lower than he anticipated.

The recent battle resulted in more than three hundred enemy deaths, with only three of their own wounded.

Compared to the Cavalry at Yinghe Castle, the garrison’s Cavalry was undeniably much stronger.

This was normal. He had trained the Cavalry at Yinghe Castle for just over a year, whereas he had trained the soldiers of the garrison for three years.

When he was at Yinghe Castle, he had to be careful with how he used the Spiritual Spring Water. But after coming to An Yuan City, he had so much Spiritual Spring Water that he didn’t know what to do with it all.

If it weren’t for his need to hide the existence of the Spiritual Spring Water, if he could use it without worries, the soldiers of the garrison would not just be half Postnatal Martial Artists, but mostly Postnatal Martial Artists.

With enough nourishment from the Spiritual Spring Water, three years is enough time for an average person to become a Postnatal Martial Artist.

This had already been proven by the Yang family. Among the Yang family guards, house servants, and servants, some had already broken through to the Postnatal Realm.

Now, Yang Zhenshan reevaluated the strength of the garrison’s soldiers and felt that they could take bigger steps in attacking.

They shifted their target and prepared to make a surprise attack on the unprepared Zhaerzi.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan didn’t know that he had already killed the leader of the Zhaerzi Tribe, Abatai, otherwise he would have made the decision even more swiftly.

Soon, Yang Zhenshan led three hundred Cavalrymen close to Zhaerzi.

Looking at the chaotic scene in the Zhaerzi Tribe, Yang Zhenshan didn’t hesitate one bit as he led the Cavalry charging into their midst.

The Zhaerzi Tribe had nearly twice the population of Tumuge, and the large tribe had an estimated population nearing ten thousand.

Compared to Tumuge that was hidden in a valley, the Zhaerzi Tribe was nearly exposed, with no prior defensive arrangements in place. This was probably a sign of confidence in their own strength.

Yet such confidence was, in Yang Zhenshan’s eyes, nothing short of sheep waiting for slaughter.

Charging into a ten-thousand-strong tribe with just three hundred Cavalrymen was likely the craziest decision Yang Zhenshan had made since arriving in Chongshan Town.

Yet he only considered for a few seconds before making this decision.

Was it reckless?

No!

It was seizing the moment.

The enemy had just suffered a defeat, they were at their most panicked and chaotic.

Despite the enemy’s numbers being close to ten thousand, the majority of them were the old, the weak, and women; the actual number of combatants was probably only two to three thousand.

”Kill!”

With resolve, Yang Zhenshan led the three hundred Cavalrymen into the mêlée within the Zhaerzi Tribe.

His face was somber, his eyes cold, and in his hand, the Gold-plated Flying Fish Spear reaped lives like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

”Spare no one!”

He shouted the most brutal, the most fear-inducing command.

”Kill without mercy!”

Three hundred cavalry plunged into frenzy.

A madness that seeped up from the depths of their hearts.

With consecutive victories boosting their morale, the soldiers had reached a state of inflated invincibility.

Even Yang Zhenshan felt that it was time to be bold, to say nothing of these soldiers.

After experiencing bloodshed and victory, their desire for triumph and blood had intensified.

The opposite of madness is endless fear.

The Hu Clan of the Zhaerzi Tribe had just heard the news of their leader’s death and before they could respond, they discovered a group of blood-soaked cavalry, with human heads hanging from their saddles, charging into the tribe.

In their eyes, Yang Zhenshan and the garrison’s cavalry appeared like demons that had crawled out of hell.

Crimson blood, terrifying severed heads, and the glaring spear tips.

If they had known at that moment that the enemy only numbered three hundred cavalry, perhaps they could have mounted a counterattack.

But they didn’t know, and most of them didn’t know anything at all.

They only saw a bloody band of cavalry marauding into their settlement.

Faced with such a scene, their first response was to flee.

Fear spread, and in very little time, nearly ten thousand people in the Zhaerzi Tribe were routed.

It wasn’t Yang Zhenshan and his men who routed them, but an unknown terror and panic.

Screams filled the air, further accelerating the spread of panic.

When Song Dashan arrived with the ironclad infantry at the Zhaerzi Tribe, the settlement was already in complete chaos, a tangled mess.

After Yang Zhenshan led the three hundred cavalry out of the settlement, they charged back in again.

The Hu Clan of the Zhaerzi scattered, fleeing in all directions, amidst a multitude of livestock running wildly.

Seeing such a scene, Song Dashan was stunned for a moment, especially when he saw Yang Zhenshan and a group of cavalry indulging in the massacre within the settlement, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.

But he quickly regained his composure!

”Form up, kill!”

Without any hesitation, he immediately led the ironclad infantry into the fray.

The ironclad infantry, unlike the cavalry, couldn’t charge, but they advanced steadily, step by step, pushing towards the interior of the settlement.

”Run!”

”Hold them back!”

”Wuu wuu~~”

The chaos caused by the panic completely shrouded the skies above the Zhaerzi.

In the sky, the sun was shining brightly, the sky clear of any clouds.

On the ground, blood flowed into rivers, bodies littered by the thousands.

The battle lasted for a long while, so long that Yang Zhenshan began to feel numb.

Once he had lifted his blade, he couldn’t stop his hands, as if only struggle and blood remained before his eyes.

As the bright sun hung high, Yang Zhenshan finally stopped.

Not because he lacked the strength to continue fighting, but because he no longer found an enemy in sight.

Except for corpses, just corpses, bodies dyed red by fresh blood.

Whinny whinny~~

Red Cloud lowered its head, blowing through the pools of blood on the ground.

Yang Zhenshan raised his head to look around, at one body after another.

Men, women, elderly, able-bodied, children~~

When he saw the body of a small child, his mind slightly stirred.

Not only the Hu Clan was in chaos, but he himself had fallen into disarray.

He had killed many people.

He did not know if he had killed any children.

Sigh~~

He took a deep breath, but his mouth was filled with the taste of blood.

”Let’s go!”

Yang Zhenshan called out in a low voice.

Red Cloud raised its head and stepped forward.

Cruel?

Cruel!

Mad?

Mad!

But that’s war.

Talking about human rights here?

That’s nonsense!

Talking about honoring the elderly and caring for the young here?

It seems possible!

But think of when the Hu Clan invaded Da Rong’s borders, have they ever respected the elderly or loved the young?

Yang Zhenshan still remembered the dire situation of the Jiang family’s village, still remembered meeting Lin Zhan and Wang Yunqiao when they fled from Xiao Lin Village, they were only eight years old, and Wang Mingzhe was still in swaddling clothes.

This is war, a war between races!

Yang Zhenshan kept recalling the smoke that blanketed the Jiang family’s village, recalling his first sight of Lin Zhan and Wang Yunqiao.

He was constructing his own psychological defenses, trying to erase the guilt in his heart.

His mind was touched, his thoughts struggled.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan was confused, but he was not one to dwell on his troubles.