Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

This battle, Da Rong was defeated, defeated miserably!

Even if Yang Zhenshan captured Yemi City, even if Yang Mingzhen and Yang Chengze slaughtered dozens of clan settlements in the hinterland of the Wuliang Royal Court and killed countless people, it could not cover up the fact that Da Rong was defeated.

Because Da Rong suffered greater losses, its people sustained more deaths and injuries, and it lost a greater amount of silver, money, and various other resources.

Why was Da Rong defeated?

Yang Zhenshan closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, falling into silence.

Tang Feihu, Niu Zhuang, Yang Mingzhi, and other generals stood inside the tent, also enveloped in silence.

Why was Da Rong defeated?

A myriad of thoughts raced through Yang Zhenshan's mind.

Beiyuan Town was not living up to its name, having always been considered the strongest among the nine border towns, and the court had always given the most support to Beiyuan Town, but what was the result?

Beiyuan Town, under the great army of the Wuliang Hu Clan, managed to hold out for less than three months.

This was probably a result that no one had anticipated.

Corruption in various garrisons, this was a longstanding malady of Da Rong, an incurable ailment that had never been resolved.

If the garrison soldiers of Longyuan had not been corrupt, if they had retained some combat strength, then the Northern barbarians wouldn't have been able to raid Longyuan at will.

Even if the garrison soldiers could not stop the Northern barbarians, they should have been able to delay them by relying on the strong cities.

But what happened?

Once the Northern barbarians entered the land of Longyuan, it was as if they were in no man's land, capturing four prefecture cities and twelve county towns in less than a month.

The thought alone made Yang Zhenshan feel ridiculous!

Are the Northern barbarians that powerful?

Most of the Northern barbarian riders were just nomads, not much different from the ordinary young and strong in Da Rong.

Yet the Longyuan garrison soldiers had no power to resist!

And then there were the local governments and the court.

They were too slow to react, their deployment capability was too poor.

The local governments in Longyuan were as if non-existent, failing to organize soldiers and young adults to defend the cities in time, with many officials even abandoning the cities to flee.

And the court did not mobilize troops to support them in a timely manner, dawdling for a month, allowing the Northern barbarians to retreat at their leisure.

Previously, Yang Zhenshan had scoffed at the disorganized state of the Wuliang Tribe, but now looking at the Da Rong Court and the local governments.

"Alas, they are all the same worthless stuff! It's just a contest of who is worse!"

Yang Zhenshan opened his eyes with a heavy heart and an expression of helplessness.

Perhaps he was also mistaken; he shouldn't have thought about encircling Wei to save Zhao, but should have directly supported Beiyuan Town.

But if he really had done so, this war might have lasted even longer, and Chongshan Town would have suffered greater casualties.

Even if Chongshan Town was strong, it couldn't possibly wipe out two or three hundred thousand Northern barbarians within three months.

And once a head-on battle with the barbarians ensued, Chongshan Town's soldiers would surely suffer massive casualties.

By then, it wouldn't be just the souls of seven or eight thousand heroes, but tens of thousands of heroes.

It could even potentially cause Chongshan Town to sacrifice the foundation it had built up over ten years.

This is not to say that Chongshan Town wasn't strong enough, on the contrary, if Chongshan Town could defeat two or three hundred thousand Northern barbarians head-on, that would sufficiently prove Chongshan Town's strength.

Indeed, Chongshan Town had developed rapidly over the years, and the strength of its soldiers was formidable, but let's not forget that Chongshan Town was originally one of the lower-ranked among the nine border towns of Da Rong.

And over the years, the court had not allotted Chongshan Town a single silver or a grain of rice.

What about Beiyuan Town?

Every year, the court poured millions of silvers and tens of thousands of bushels of grain into it.

Yet even so, the strength of Chongshan Town still surpassed that of Beiyuan Town, which was enough to prove the strength of Chongshan Town.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan's emotions were complex; he felt sorrow for the plight of the common people of Beiyuan Town and Longyuan, anger towards the officials of Beiyuan Town, and dissatisfaction with the court and the inaction of the officials at all levels.

He hadn't felt such complex emotions in a long time.

"Let's retreat as well!"

Yang Zhenshan announced his decision.

"Marquis, aren't we going to occupy Sari Lake?" Tang Feihu asked somewhat unwillingly.

He hadn't been idle recently either; after arranging tasks in the camp, he had been roaming around Sari Lake.

The bending Sari Lake, thirty miles long from north to south, with the widest point in the east-west direction reaching seven miles. Come spring and summer, after the snow melts from Menghe Mountain, a dozen or so rivers and streams flow into Sari Lake.

On the western side of Sari Lake, over a hundred thousand acres of grassland could be irrigated by constructing a few large reservoirs and some canals, and the eastern side of Sari Lake could also draw water from the lake for irrigation.

With just three years' time, and the power of Chongshan Town, it was possible to cultivate three hundred thousand acres of fertile land around Sari Lake.

A few days ago, Tang Feihu even made some plans in his heart; if he were in charge of cultivating around Sari Lake, he had considered where to begin.

Moreover, he had calculated that if they settled the land here, they could entirely station an army of twenty thousand.

With such a treasure land, Yang Zhenshan actually wanted to give it up, how could he bear it?

Yang Zhenshan smiled helplessly, "How to occupy?"

"The strength of the Chi Ci Tribe is unharmed, and the power of the Tatar Tribe has hardly suffered any losses. If we continue to stay here, not only will we be unable to occupy Sari Lake, but we might also face being attacked from both sides!"

"Moreover, don't forget, there's also the Wula Tribe nearby. If we set up camp and establish a settlement here, the Wula Tribe dare not show their faces, but if we start cultivating the land and stationing troops here, the Wula Tribe will surely fight us desperately!"

"Let's retreat!"

Yang Zhenshan shook his head slightly, stood up, and walked out of the tent, somewhat forlorn.