Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded. Although he felt it would have been better to confirm Yue Hongyi's death, as things stood, any further discussion was pointless.

Five Innate Martial Artists from the Star Moon Sect, three dead, one captured, only Yue Hongyi's fate remains unknown.

The captured one was Nan Haiyan, who was taken by Lu Jin and Liang Shengze.

As for the casualties and enemy fatalities of this battle, the tally has not been completed yet.

Over two hours after the great battle ended, Bai Yuanxi arrived slowly with the Jiujiang Central Guard.

Hmm, it's not that they didn't join the fight. On their way here, they encountered some fleeing pirates and caught a few small fish and shrimp, so at least the trip wasn't for nothing.

But Bai Yuanxi was quite downcast.

In this battle, they had the least involvement.

"This subordinate pays respects to the Marquis!"

Yang Zhenshan nodded to him, "You've arrived just in time. You take care of Full Moon Island. We have many wounded needing shelter on the island. You are to immediately lead your soldiers to take over Full Moon Island!"

"Marquis Li, please be troubled to make a trip too!"

Yang Zhenshan said.

The Marquis Li he referred to was Marquis Hai Ning, Li Chao. In this battle, Li Chao was truly just going through the motions. Yanggu Granny Zhou Qing followed the Tenglong Advanced Guard, at least joined the fight, but Li Chao followed Bai Yuanxi and didn't have a chance to make a move.

The small fishes and shrimps were not even enough to keep Bai Yuanxi's soldiers busy, let alone require his involvement.

But Li Chao was happy to take it easy, since he didn't rely on killing enemies to establish his achievements.

"A minor matter!" Li Chao smiled and spoke.

Upon hearing he still had work to do, Bai Yuanxi's mood suddenly lifted quite a bit.

"This general obeys the command!"

The Star Moon Sect was defeated, the pirate forces were disintegrated, and both the Full Moon Army and the Lower Lunar Army were likewise in disarray.

As Bai Yuanxi led the Jiujiang Central Guard towards Full Moon Island, many deserters of the Full Moon Flag Army had also returned to Full Moon Island.

Suddenly, the entire Full Moon Island was thrown into panic; many soldiers from the flag army started fleeing the island with their families.

By the time Bai Yuanxi arrived at Full Moon Island, only the common people with no boats to escape remained.

That night, Bai Yuanxi occupied Full Moon Island, and the next day Yang Zhenshan arrived first.

A great battle, countless deaths and injuries, merely cleaning up the battlefield would take several days. Yang Zhenshan couldn't always be adrift at sea, he came to Full Moon Island first to prepare Spiritual Spring Water for the wounded.

Bai Yuanxi took over the barracks and wharf originally belonging to the Full Moon Flag Army, and Yang Zhenshan then arranged for the wounded to be placed in the barracks.

The barracks here were better than the Zhao Wu Guard's; at the very least, they were housed in wooden buildings and not the Zhao Wu Guard's temporary tents.

"Marquis, the barracks have been cleared." Bai Yuanxi came to report.

Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded, "You take charge of treating the wounded first."

"What about the people on the island?" Bai Yuanxi asked.

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment, then said, "If they are common people, then give them a way to live. If they are Star Moon Sect disciples, execute them without mercy!"

"Yes!" Bai Yuanxi responded.

After a flurry of activity, Yang Zhenshan finally had time to learn about the results of the battle.

Xue Chang'an was in charge of tallying the battle results. Yang Zhenshan set up a temporary office on the wharf of Full Moon Island, and in front of him, Xue Chang'an stood to report, "Marquis, we killed over thirty thousand enemies, and captured ten thousand and eighty-three people!"

"Over thirty thousand?" Yang Zhenshan raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this number a bit too vague? Even if there was no need to report the exact number, it should be more accurate to the thousands!

Xue Chang'an knew what the issue was and hurriedly explained, "The main reason is that the enemy was too complex, most of them were pirates, and these pirates were divided into over a dozen groups, each with different numbers. Also, during the fight, some of the pirates ran away early, while others sank into the sea. It is very difficult for us to tally an exact number now!"

Yang Zhenshan waved his hand, "Forget it, don't bother with those pirates! Talk about the situation with the Star Moon Sect!"

"In this battle, the main forces of the Star Moon Sect were the Full Moon Flag Army and the Lower Lunar Flag Army, as well as many general hall disciples, with a total count of around twelve thousand people. We captured roughly three thousand of them, the rest have either sunk to the sea or fled!"

"In addition, two military leaders of the Star Moon Sect were also captured alive, not Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian, but Cheng Wuji and Han Changshun! They were taken by Luo Jingsong and Deng Yuehe!"

Yang Zhenshan suddenly remembered Luo Jingsong; during the rush, he had completely forgotten about him.

"Go summon Luo Jingsong and Deng Yuehe!"

"Yes!" A Personal Follower by his side responded and went to find Luo Jingsong.

Yang Zhenshan continued to ask Xue Chang'an, "What about our casualties?"

"The casualties are not small either. The reports from the military guards show more than 23,000 people, but the actual number should be over 10,000!" Xue Chang'an said.

Yang Zhenshan glanced at him, "What do you mean?"

Xue Chang'an gave an awkward smile, "After all, there were many vacancies in the guards beforehand, and this time the Marquis isn't holding them accountable, but it's inevitable that they might be investigated by the court in the future! So they reported a bit more."

Yang Zhenshan glared at him, "What are you trying to say?"

People should not have such courage, not to mention others, even Yu Tonghai should not have such audacity.

But Xue Chang'an does, because the Xue family and the Yang family are related by marriage.

"It wasn't my suggestion; it was Bai Yuanxi's proposal, but I think it's good this way, to avoid trouble!" said Xue Chang'an.

Yang Zhenshan fell silent for a moment, "Fine, considering they fought bravely this time, I will not haggle with them over it!"

Exaggerating the casualties didn't really affect him.

Of course, he was not lying either; primarily, it was because they fought bravely that he was considering this.

"How severe are the casualties in the Tenglong Advanced Guard?"

Actually, Yang Zhenshan was only concerned about the Tenglong Advanced Guard; he didn't really care about the casualties of the other guards.

There was a distinction between the intimate and the distant. The Tenglong Guard was his direct-force unit, while the other guards were only temporarily under his command.

"Uh, the Tenglong Advanced Guard has 368 injured and 22 dead!" Xue Chang'an felt so jealous in his heart.

Look at these casualties, there was no comparison.

They fought a winning battle, taking every advantage, and the ratio of casualties was close to one to three, but compared to the Tenglong Advanced Guard, theirs were negligible.

This was partly due to Yang Zhenshan's special care; the Tenglong Advanced Guard joined the fight later and missed the initial clash between the two armies, which was why their casualties were so low.

"Let it be. Go tally the actual casualties. Compensation will be distributed based on the actual number of casualties," Yang Zhenshan said.

Yang Zhenshan could help to replenish the deficit of soldiers this time, but he wouldn't compensate for the soldiers that were in deficit.

"Yes, I will arrange it now!" said Xue Chang'an.

Shortly after Xue Chang'an left, Luo Jingsong arrived with Deng Yuehe, accompanied by Cheng Wuji and Han Changshun, to the temporary office.

"Greetings, Marquis!"

Deng Yuehe followed Luo Jingsong deferentially.

Cheng Wuji and Han Changshun, who were tied up behind them with their hands bound tightly, including their mouths being gagged, struggled to speak upon seeing Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan looked at them, frowning slightly, "What are we keeping these two scoundrels for? Drag them out and kill them!"

Luo Jingsong was startled, "Uh, I thought they might be useful to the Marquis!"

"With Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang still in our hands, those two are enough." Yang Zhenshan said indifferently.

The Four Flag Army, all four army leaders, were captured.

Yang Zhenshan didn't think they were of much use.

Previously, he kept Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang because the great battle had not yet started, and they might have been of assistance.

But now that the great battle was over, there was no need to keep so many people.

Of course, Yang Zhenshan would also not go back on his word to Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang; having already promised them an opportunity, he would surely grant it.

As for taking them into his service, Yang Zhenshan needed to recruit these people?

Martial Artists of the Postnatal Ninth Layer didn't count for much to Yang Zhenshan now.

With Wu Zhan and Wu Zheng successively breaking through to Half-step Innate, the Yang Family Guards emerged with quite a few Martial Artists of the Postnatal Ninth Layer.