Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 255: Chapter 246 The Two Armies Join Forces, Meeting Zhou Lan Again

Zhou Lan still maintained her heroic and impressive demeanor, even though she was covered in blood, it couldn’t hide her energetic, vigorous spirit.

At this moment, Zhou Lan was carefully taking care of her warhorse, for a cavalry, the warhorse was undoubtedly the most important partner on the battlefield.

Zhou Lan’s warhorse had also been carefully raised by her for many years, their bond was incredibly deep.

Recently, they had faced life and death together, fought desperately among mountains of corpses and seas of blood, making their already deep relationship even more intense.

Yang Mingzhi came to Zhou Lan, gave a salute with fist and palm together, ”General!”

Zhou Lan, while wiping the blood off the horse’s back, turned to look at Yang Mingzhi and smiled, ”I just received a military order from the main camp, the Marquis ordered us to advance east, to meet up with the Eastern Army, prepare yourself, tomorrow morning, we depart!”

Despite just having been through a battle, Zhou Lan had no intention of stopping to rest.

It’s not that she didn’t sympathize with the hardships of her soldiers, but the Jianning Guard’s logistic support could provide the best conditions for the soldiers.

Unlike Yang Zhenshan who abandoned logistics to support battle with battle, Zhou Lan, although somewhat aggressive, always maintained the maximum logistic support.

Eight thousand Rescue Camp soldiers were followed by over ten thousand civilian workers, among which many were from the garrison and reserve soldiers.

The soldiers from the garrison possessed certain combat abilities, and the reserves belonged to the reserve forces.

A military household should have one active and one reserve soldier, if the active one dies in battle, the reserve must immediately replace him.

Zhou Lan had been preparing for years at Jianning Guard, not only training the eight thousand Rescue Camp but also revamped the entire Jianning Guard, and the troop quota had reached full capacity.

Thus, the troops and manpower Zhou Lan could dispatch far exceeded Wang Bin’s.

With tens of thousands of civilian workers as logistical support, the soldiers of the Rescue Camp need not worry about other matters; they just need to focus on fighting, which could maximally ensure their combat effectiveness.

Yang Mingzhi did not comprehend right away, ”Eastern Army! Why do we need to meet up with the Eastern Army?”

Zhou Lan smiled, did not explain, and simply said, ”Just go prepare, you’ll understand once we’ve arrived!”

”Oh, then I will go prepare!” Yang Mingzhi turned to go, but he had just taken a step when he suddenly stopped.

”Eastern Army, General Wang!”

He turned around astonished, looking at Zhou Lan with a gaze filled with surprise and joy.

”Hahaha~~” Zhou Lan was amused by his reaction, ”Yes, hurry on now!”

Yang Mingzhi took a deep breath, a bright smile emerging on his face.

”Understood, I’ll go right now!”

His emotions were somewhat excited.

Wasn’t the Eastern Army affiliated with Yang Zhenshan?

By his calculations, it had been nearly two years since he last saw Yang Zhenshan!

It seemed that ever since Yang Zhenshan got married to Yu Qingyi, he hadn’t returned.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to return, but he simply couldn’t get away.

Although Jianning Guard wasn’t too far from An Yuan City, going back and forth would still take at least six or seven days; if staying for a few days more, it definitely wouldn’t work without taking ten days to half a month.

As the commander of Jianning Guard and Zhou Lan’s aide, there were indeed too many responsibilities he couldn’t get away from.

Now that he was about to see Yang Zhenshan, his heart was thumping wildly.

Towards Yang Zhenshan, Yang Mingzhi also missed him deeply.

Only a child away from home knows the warmth of home and can appreciate how important parents’ protection is.

At some point, Yang Zhenshan had become his support, his role model, the person he wanted to see the most.

...

Five days swiftly passed by, Wang Bin and Yang Zhenshan, leading their trusted aides, rode out from the camp, heading west for over ten miles.

Only when a huge and mighty army appeared to their west did they halt.

The banners flapped, armaments rubbed against each other, a chilling might facing them directly, the icy edge piercing their hearts.

Wang Bin on horseback felt a mix of emotions.

Both Assistant Generals, both guarding a territory, but the gap between him and Zhou Lan was enormous.

This gap was not in status or background, but in the combat strength of the troops under their command.

Originally, he thought his Rescue Camp was already elite, but seeing the army under Zhou Lan’s command made him realize he had been too narrow-minded.

As for the garrison under Yang Zhenshan, those were not just elite troops, but a group of god of wars; he no longer compared his soldiers with these fierce gods.

Turning to look at Yang Zhenshan, whose expression remained unchanged, Wang Bin couldn’t help but sigh internally.

If only he had known earlier, he would have let Yang Zhenshan join the Rescue Camp, to properly train the soldiers.

Unfortunately, though he knew Yang Zhenshan was good at training troops, he had never thought about asking Yang Zhenshan for help in training, nor had he thought about training strictly according to the methods from ”Training Records.”

This wasn’t really his fault; most Military Officers in Chongshan Town had read ”Training Records,” but how many could train elite troops from it?

Firstly, because most officers had their own ideas, although they thought ”Training Records” was very good, they didn’t regard ”Training Records” as holy scripture.

Secondly, thinking is one thing, doing is another; ”Training Records” is just a book after all, training elite troops requires not just a book, but also a lot of time, energy, and resources.

Why could Zhou Lan train an elite force?

Yang Zhenshan’s tips were one of the important factors, but more so because Zhou Lan was determined and patient, willing to spend time and energy on training troops, after all, Zhou Lan asked Yang Zhenshan to come to Chongshan Town specifically for training troops.

Besides, Zhou Lan could secure resources, warhorses, armaments, Silver Coin, provisions, etc., training troops required plenty of resources, and Zhou Lan had the backing for it.

Just as Wang Bin was feeling regretful, from the opposite army, more than a dozen riders raced from the ranks.

Seeing Zhou Lan again, Yang Zhenshan’s heart was also unstable.

Here comes my strong support!

Ah, my strong support is still so handsome!

Tsk tsk, looking even more commanding than before, aside from the heroic and impressive demeanor, there’s also an undeniable aura of dominion.

Mighty in stature!

”Ha ha ha, General Zhou, long time no see!”

Zhou Lan approached, and Wang Bin laughed heartily.

He had a good relationship with Zhou Lan. When Yang Zhenshan first arrived in An Yuan City, Zhou Lan had entrusted him to take care of Yang Zhenshan, and indeed, Wang Bin had taken good care of Yang Zhenshan for Zhou Lan’s sake.

”General Wang!”

Zhou Lan dismounted, gave a fist and palm salute, then her gaze fell on Yang Zhenshan.

Seeing Yang Zhenshan again, she actually felt dazzled.

Yes, dazzled!

The last time she saw Yang Zhenshan was three years ago. At that time, under the nourishment of Spiritual Spring Water, Yang Zhenshan had restored his normal age appearance, but now Yang Zhenshan looked like he was just over thirty, showing no signs of aging.

Moreover, with the improvement of his cultivation, and the recent combat on the battlefield, Yang Zhenshan emanated a mighty aura.

With his tall figure, rosy complexion, commanding presence, and complemented by his foot-long beard, he truly looked majestic and awe-inspiring.

Recalling the first time she met Yang Zhenshan, and looking at Yang Zhenshan now, Zhou Lan felt an unreal sensation.

”Master Yang!”

She looked at Yang Zhenshan with shining eyes.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his long beard, his face wearing a gentle smile, ”General Zhou is still as heroic and spirited, ha ha ha...”

”Dad!” Yang Mingzhi couldn’t hold back, stepped forward, and called out.

Yang Zhenshan looked at this adopted son.

Speaking of which, among his three brothers, Yang Zhenshan was most proud of Yang Mingzhi, but he had spent the least time with him.

”Not bad, looking good!”

Yang Zhenshan patted his shoulder, laughing.

Yang Mingzhi almost cried, his eyes watery as he looked at Yang Zhenshan, making Yang Zhenshan somewhat uncomfortable.

To say he missed Yang Mingzhi, in reality, there wasn’t much missing.

”General Zhou, let’s talk inside the camp!”

Beside them, Wang Bin had already led Zhou Lan toward the camp, allowing some time and space for this father and son to catch up.

Yang Zhenshan looked at Yang Mingzhi, unsure what to say for a moment.

Fatherly love is like a mountain!

His paternal love was like a silent mountain.

”Cough cough, everything at home is fine, don’t worry!” Yang Zhenshan could only make small talk.

Yang Mingzhi grinned, ”Dad, I know, I believe mother will take good care of our home!”

Hearing this, Yang Zhenshan revealed a relieved smile.

In his words, the ’mother’ he referred to was Yu Qingyi, which indicated his acknowledgement of her.

”Let’s head back for now, we still have battles ahead!”

Saying so, the two walked towards the camp, one in front and one behind.

They didn’t ride horses, but walked while occasionally chatting.

Father-son emotions were clearly not something they could easily express in words, with most of the conversation being Yang Zhenshan inquiring about the Jianning Guard and the status of the Yang family’s descendants.

Suddenly, Yang Mingzhi brought up a grave topic.

”Chengnian has died in battle!”

Yang Zhenshan paused, but he didn’t show any emotion, quickly regaining his composure and continued walking.

Yang Chengnian was one of the second batch of Yang family descendants recommended to him by Yang Zhengxiang, just eighteen years old at that time, and now only twenty-two.

This was the first of the Yang family descendants to have died in battle.

”What about his body?”

”I’ve already arranged for someone to transport it back,” Yang Mingzhi said somberly.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, ”No need to be disheartened, this is something we should have anticipated!”

”He is the first, but he won’t be the last!”

”After the war, I’ll write to your elder brother to return and look after his family. The clan will take good care of his parents and wife.”

Perhaps accustomed to life and death, Yang Zhenshan didn’t show much emotional fluctuation at this moment.

Soon the two returned to the camp. The camp buzzed with activity, and the presence of Zhou Lan added a special flair to the bustling camp.

Alcohol was forbidden in the military, yet Wang Bin still prepared a rich meal to host Zhou Lan and the others.

After eating their fill, they started discussing official matters.

Inside the tent, Yang Zhenshan reiterated his strategy to everyone.

After listening, Zhou Lan nodded slightly and said, ”This plan is good, I have no objections.”

Yang Zhenshan said, ”This time as we enter the north of Fushan City, we should primarily use Cavalry and follow the strategy of sustaining the war through warfare, leaving all logistical teams behind.”

As they would be penetrating deep into enemy territory, naturally they couldn’t bring along a large number of civilian workers, even foot soldiers couldn’t be taken as they would slow down their march, not conducive to rapidly clearing out Hu Clan settlements.

Zhou Lan thought for a moment and said, ”I still have five thousand Cavalry under my command!”

Wang Bin felt a bit disheartened hearing this; he only had a thousand Cavalry, and even with Yang Zhenshan’s garrison, it didn’t total two thousand.

”That’s enough!” Yang Zhenshan satisfiedly nodded.

Thereafter, the three discussed a few more details and then each went about their own duties.