Chapter 67: Defeat Like a Collapsing Mountain
“What happened?” Yang Zhengshan rode up, asking loudly.
The soldiers suddenly saw Yang Zhengshan and were all scared stiff.
At this time, Yang Zhengshan was wearing a cloth-faced armor, although not as good as Zhou Lan’s gold-painted armor, but he came riding on horseback, with over a dozen horsemen following him, clearly a high-ranking official.
“Don’t, don’t, we’re not deserters!” one of the soldiers stammered.
“What happened in the camp?” Yang Zhengshan asked again in a heavy tone.
He didn’t care if these were deserters or not; he just wanted to know what had happened in the camp.
“We don’t know, suddenly there were many Hu cavalry charging into the camp, and then… and then we…”
Although the soldier didn’t explain clearly, Yang Zhengshan could guess roughly.
The camp had been ambushed, caught off guard, and then the camp was in disarray, causing these soldiers to flee.
Defeat like a collapsing mountain!
Over the past half month, the army had been attacking the city without success, and with military provisions running low, the morale of the soldiers had already hit rock bottom.
The entire camp was like a tightly drawn bowstring, tense and heavy. Now that the bowstring had been cut, it had completely collapsed.
But Yang Zhengshan still found it hard to believe.
He didn’t know the decision of the high-ranking officials, nor did he understand their considerations, but he knew that General Zhang’s army, the elite of Chong Shan Zhen, had the Five Camps of the Prefectural Banner, and shouldn’t have lost so quickly.
The Five Camps of the Prefectural Banner!
No!
The Left and Right Vanguard were not in the camp.
Now Zhou Lan was leading the Left Vanguard to clear out the Hu cavalry that was raiding the grain route.
However, the Hu cavalry had turned to attack the camp!
Was this a case of luring the tiger away from the mountain?
No, no, even without the Left and Right Vanguard, the camp shouldn’t have been defeated so quickly.
The military power of the East Sea Hu Tribe was not strong, with a total of around 70,000 to 80,000 Hu cavalry, which was already dispersed among various tribes. If only counting the Hu cavalry around the city, there were only around 10,000 to 20,000.
How could there be so many Hu cavalry now?
Yang Zhengshan’s mind was racing fast.
Had the East Sea Hu Tribe gathered all their cavalry ahead of time?
What was the West Route Army led by Vice Commander Zhi doing? Weren’t they supposed to be clearing out those tribes?
Yang Zhengshan felt his brain was not able to keep up.
He had many things he couldn’t understand.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t clever, but he lacked too much information.
He was just a grain officer and couldn’t access high-level information.
How the high-ranking officials made decisions, what moves they made, he wasn’t very clear about. He only knew the army lacked provisions and he was responsible for transporting grain.
Besides, he had no accurate information.
Looking at the soldiers fleeing in twos and threes, Yang Zhengshan’s eyes flashed with a gloomy light.
Whatever the reason, it was clear that the camp had been defeated!
With one glance, there were at least over a thousand fleeing soldiers, and even more behind.
“Go back!”
Yang Zhengshan didn’t care about anything else.
He didn’t have the authority to gather these fleeing soldiers; his official rank was too low, and he was only a Deputy Commander of the Left Vanguard.
Besides, even if he gathered these fleeing soldiers, what use would it be?
Could he lead these fleeing soldiers to defeat the Hu cavalry?
Don’t make him laugh!
He would probably be overturned by these fleeing soldiers before he even encountered the Hu cavalry.
Among these fleeing soldiers, there were definitely those with higher ranks than him.
He had to get the grain team in order first, but before finding Zhou Lan, he had to take care of the grain team.
Now they definitely couldn’t continue moving forward, but retreating didn’t seem possible either.
“Wait!” Yang Zhengshan stopped Zhao Desheng, who came crying to his face.
“Wait!” Yang Zhengshan said, then turned to Yang Mingwu and Yang Mingzhi and said, “You two, take people to cross the river!”
The river had become very shallow now, and some places could even be crossed on foot.
On the west bank, they would definitely encounter more fleeing soldiers, and on the east bank, they could avoid a lot of trouble.
“Yes!”
Yang Mingwu and Yang Mingzhi responded, then led people to find a shallow spot to cross the river.
Their crossing speed was fast, but the fleeing soldiers were coming even faster.
They had just crossed the river when thousands of fleeing soldiers poured in.
This result once again proved that the camp had been thoroughly defeated; otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many fleeing soldiers.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t pay attention to the fleeing soldiers, only instructing Yang Chengze and Yang Qingwu to “go downstream to find Zhou Lan, she should be nearby!”
“And the rest of you, follow me to guard the grain team!”
Yang Zhengshan instructed one by one.
Right now, they first had to ensure the grain was safe, then figure out the situation.
If the Hu cavalry pursued, they might abandon the grain and flee for their lives, but if the Hu cavalry didn’t pursue, he would have to wait for Zhou Lan to come.
Yang Chengze and the others rode away, and Yang Zhengshan immediately had the grain team set up camp, placing the carts on the outside, but this time, he didn’t let them unload the carts, preparing to depart at any moment.
However, just as Yang Zhengshan had arranged the circular formation, a cavalry unit came riding towards them.
The horses’ hooves trampled the shallow river water, stopping abruptly in front of the grain team’s circular formation.
The leader was a bearded man wearing a tight-fitting armor, sitting upright on his horse, looking straight at Yang Zhengshan and asking loudly, “Which camp do you belong to?”
Yang Zhengshan, who was comforting Zhao Desheng, looked up, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
It’s finally come!
“I’m Yang Zhengshan, Deputy Commander of the Left Vanguard’s logistics team. May I ask which camp you are from, sir?”
Looking at his attire, he was definitely not a small soldier, and with over a hundred horsemen behind him, he was a well-equipped cavalry unit.
Able to equip such a hundred-man cavalry unit, he must be at least a Battalion Commander in Chong Shan Zhen.
“I’m Cao Han, the Guard Commander of An Yuan State Castle. From now on, I’ll give you orders!” Cao Han’s eyes were cold as he looked at Yang Zhengshan.
Yang Zhengshan’s heart jumped.
An Yuan State Castle was a key fortress in Chong Shan Zhen’s East Route, under the jurisdiction of the East Route Governor.
The Guard Commander was a fifth-rank military official, responsible for managing military affairs, military rations, and military provisions, essentially the military commander of a certain fortress or region.
His official rank was naturally above Yang Zhengshan’s, but as the Guard Commander of An Yuan State Castle, he had no authority over the Left Vanguard.
“I see, Commander Cao!”
“Please excuse me, Commander Cao, but I’m currently executing a task and cannot follow your orders!”
Yang Zhengshan directly refused without thinking.
He had anticipated this would happen, as they were transporting grain, and these fleeing soldiers would naturally eye them.
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