Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 698 Second Master is still as generous as ever!

Meanwhile, Yang Mingzhi also arrived in Chongshan Town.

Yang Mingzhi brought two thousand soldiers with him. They traveled to Tenglongwei on warships of the Shenmu Island navy, and then transferred to medium-sized warships in Tenglongwei, traveling directly along the Yinghe River to Chongshan Pass.

Two thousand soldiers may not seem like many, but they are elite troops from Shenmu Island.

Among them were a thousand strong archers and a thousand swordsmen and shieldmen, meaning that Yang Mingzhi brought all the strong archers from Shenmu Island.

At the northern dock of Chongshan Pass, two thousand soldiers clad in leather armor disembarked from the ships one after another. Han Fei stood on the dock, watching the soldiers one by one, his eyes gleaming.

A moment later, he saw Yang Mingzhi and immediately strode forward to greet him.

"Meet the Second Master!"

Yang Mingzhi, dressed in a gilded mountain-patterned armor, strode off the ship and burst into laughter upon seeing Han Fei.

"Haha, Brother Han, it's been a long time!"

Han Fei was about the same age as him, only about two years younger.

The two were naturally acquainted. Back when Yang Zhengshan was in Anyuan City, Han Fei often followed Yang Zhengshan around running errands. In fact, at that time, Han Fei, like Li Chang and Wang Lei, was one of Yang Zhengshan's close followers.

Although they hadn't seen each other for many years, Yang Mingzhi didn't feel unfamiliar at all when he saw Han Fei again; on the contrary, he felt very warm and kinship.

"Second Master is still as generous as ever!" Han Fei laughed.

"Haha, there are quite a few familiar faces here!" Yang Mingzhi looked at the crowd behind Han Fei.

Although most of the soldiers in Chongshan Town had been transferred away, there were still many acquaintances of Yang Mingzhi here, including many Yang family members who had just begun to make a name for themselves in recent years.

"Greetings, Second Master!" the crowd bowed in unison.

"Haha, good, good~~" Yang Mingzhi laughed loudly.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group headed towards Chongshan Pass.

Yang Mingzhi didn't need to worry about the two thousand Shenmu soldiers; Han Fei had already made arrangements. Their camp was near the dock, and it had everything they needed, so they lacked nothing.

For Yang Mingzhi, coming to Chongshan Pass was almost like coming home. Looking at the familiar city walls and military camps, Yang Mingzhi couldn't help but show a nostalgic expression.

A short while later, they arrived at the General's Mansion, where Han Fei had prepared wine and dishes to welcome Yang Mingzhi.

After a round of drinks, Yang Mingzhi took a nap before getting down to business with Han Fei.

In Han Fei's study, Yang Mingzhi held a bowl of tea, casually looking around at the room's furnishings as he asked, "Tell me about our battle plan this time!"

Han Fei, however, said with a serious expression, "General Zhou's orders to us are to advance westward from Daningwei, first attack the Tatar tribe, and then head north to attack the Chici tribe!"

The Tatar tribe is located south of the Monkh Mountains, roughly west of the western route of Chongshan Town.

Last time, Yang Zhengshan bypassed the Menghe Mountains from the snowy plains to the north. This time, they will attack from the south of the Menghe Mountains, starting with the Tatar tribe.

As for Menghe Mountain Pass, only a fool would attempt to attack it.

"Just the Tatar and Chila tribes?" Yang Mingzhi chuckled.

"Of course not. General Zhou's orders to us are to act according to circumstances, but the prerequisite is that we must destroy the Tatar tribe and approach the Chila tribe!" Han Fei explained.

In this campaign against the Uriyang royal court, Da'an will deploy three armies. Chongshan Town will launch an attack from the east, targeting the Tatar and Chici tribes.

Beiyuan Town attacked from the south, attacked the Wanggu tribe, and after destroying the Wanggu tribe, it marched westward and approached Bayandelehe City, the banner territory of the Kereit tribe.

Meanwhile, the Uriyang royal court was gathering a large army north of Longbei Town, and the army was stationed southwest of Bayandelehe City.

Zhou Lanhui led the newly formed Imperial Guard to support Longbei Town, where they blocked and contained the army of the Uriyang King's court.

Even with Zhou Lan stationed there, it would be difficult to stop the army of the Uriyang Kingdom in Longbei Town. Therefore, the strategic goal of Chongshan Town and Beiyuan Town is to force the Chici, Tatar, Wanggu, and Kereit tribes to retreat, thereby relieving the crisis in Longbei Town.

Of course, if Chongshan Town completes its assigned tasks, it can also seize the opportunity to build up more military achievements.

Yang Mingzhi had no objection to Zhou Lan's plan, but he was certainly not content with just taking down the Tatar and Chila tribes.

Having finally led his troops into battle again, he naturally wanted to fight a few exhilarating battles. Moreover, he had two thousand elite soldiers under his command from Shenmu Island, and he wanted to let these two thousand elite soldiers display their prowess and verify the results of his training over the past two years.

In Han Fei's study, there was a map of the Uriyang Kingdom. Yang Mingzhi walked over and quickly glanced at it.

In fact, he knew a lot about the situation of the Uriyangkhai Kingdom, but his understanding of the Uriyangkhai Kingdom was still based on what it was twenty years ago, and some aspects were different from what they were twenty years ago.

"What about the Ula tribe? Shouldn't we wipe them out first?"

The Ula tribe was still on the west bank of Lake Sari, facing the territory of present-day Chongshan Town across the lake.

Logically speaking, attacking the Ula tribe should be the easiest, simplest, quickest, and most arduous task, without any detours.

Han Fei's expression was somewhat strange. "I just received news a couple of days ago that the Ula tribe has already migrated north!"

Yang Mingzhi was taken aback. "They're going to run away again?"

"It seems so!" Han Fei said with a hint of helplessness.

The Ula tribe's ability to escape is truly unmatched. They first fled from the Hu tribes of the East Sea to seek refuge with the Wuliang royal court. Later, when Yang Zhengshan led a large army to Menghe Mountain Pass, they fled to the snowy plains. Now, they actually want to hide in the snowy plains again.

"We can't let them get away again. Keep an eye on them!" Yang Mingzhi said softly, looking at the map.

"What does Second Master want?" Han Fei asked.

Yang Mingzhi pondered for a moment and said, "The problem of the Uriyang Kingdom should also be resolved. We couldn't resolve it before, but this time we still have a chance to completely eliminate the Uriyang Kingdom!"

"Even if we can't completely eliminate the Uriyang royal court, we must take over all the areas east of the Menghe Mountains and control the Menghe Mountain Pass!" "Of course, it would be even better if we could completely eliminate the Uriyang royal court! We will expand the territory of Da'an all the way to the Milu Ridge and occupy Yemi City!"

He reached out and drew a line on the map, from the Menghe Mountains to the Milu Ridge.

Judging from Zhou Lan's orders, it is clear that Zhou Lan wanted to block the attack of the Uriyang royal court, defeat the Uriyang army, and prevent the Uriyang royal court and Chen Hengchang of Jiangnan from launching a joint attack on Da'an.

Zhou Lan's idea was correct; given the current situation of the new Da'an Dynasty, this was the most appropriate course of action.

However, Yang Mingzhi had a different opinion. Longbei Town was too far from Chongshan Town, so it was not convenient for them to go directly to support it. Moreover, it would be better to attack Yemi City than to go to Longbei Town to provide support.

That's right, Yang Mingzhi has his eye on Ye Micheng. Since Yang Zhengshan was able to travel four thousand miles to attack Ye Micheng back then, why can't he do the same?

However, his goal was not to attack Yemi City, but to completely occupy Yemi City and drive the Wulianghu tribe west of Milu Ridge.

Once Da'an occupies the area east of Miluling, it will bring many benefits to Da'an.

First, there are no more barbarian raids in the north of Da'an, and its territory extends to the edge of the snowfield. Although there are many forces in the snowfield, they prefer to live in the snowfield and will not raid southward.

In this way, the border defense pressure on Da'an in the north will be much lighter, and it will only be necessary to deploy tens of thousands of border troops to prepare for any eventuality.

Secondly, Da'an will acquire large tracts of fertile land and grasslands. In the future, Da'an can migrate north to cultivate more fields or build many ranches to raise horses, cattle, and sheep.

Just like the territory that originally belonged to the Hu people of the East Sea, it was transformed into a prosperous land.

Leaving aside other places, just take Lake Sari, the two sides of the Menghe Mountains, the banner territory of the Wanggu tribe, the banner territory of the Kereit tribe in Bayandelehe City, and the area around Milu Ridge where Yemi City is located. These places all have a lot of fertile land, abundant water resources, and fertile grasslands.

Such a large area could easily support 20 to 30 million people.

Furthermore, both the snowy plains and this vast grassland are rich in local specialties, such as herbs, furs, minerals, and jade. These represent a great deal of wealth and can provide a richer source of goods for the development of Da'an's maritime trade, as well as provide more goods for the Yang family's trading company.

Therefore, Yang Mingzhi wanted to help Da'an take over this territory and completely destroy the Wuliang royal court.

Han Fei wasn't surprised by Yang Mingzhi's idea. He pondered for a moment, "It's not impossible, but our troop strength is a bit strained!"

Yang Mingzhi waved his hand, "It's alright, I'll personally lead the team as the vanguard this time, you just need to follow behind us!"

"By the way, how is Uto's health?"

He was very confident about the upcoming battle, or more precisely, he was very confident in his two thousand elite soldiers.

"He should be very healthy. I haven't heard of any health problems with him!" Han Fei said.

Uto is not young anymore, he should be over sixty years old, and he is not a congenital martial artist, so he has now entered old age.

Yang Mingzhi nodded slightly. He was definitely not concerned about Uto's health when he asked about Uto's condition. He wished Uto would die sooner, because if Uto died, the Wulianghu tribe would be in chaos for a while longer.

Unfortunately, Uto's health should not be compromised in the short term.

"How many soldiers have you mobilized?" Yang Mingzhi continued to ask.

"Thirty thousand troops have already gathered at Daningwei, and another fifty thousand new troops are on their way! According to the plan, all troops will be gathered at Daningwei before August 28th!" Han Fei said.

Today is August 18th, and there are only ten days left until August 28th.

If Yang Mingzhi hadn't arrived yesterday, then Han Fei would have gone to Daningwei today.

Yang Mingzhi nodded, "Then we will head to Daningwei tomorrow. After arriving at Daningwei, we will rest for a day and then set off immediately!"

"So urgent?"

"Hehe, the sooner we set off, the less pressure General Zhou will be under!"

Han Fei hesitated, "I'm afraid the new army won't make it in time!"

The new army had only been formed for a short time. Although the soldiers of the new army were all from the garrison troops of Chongshan Town, they still needed time to integrate and train together.

"It's alright. You lead those 30,000 veterans with me on the expedition, and let the new army and laborers follow behind!" Yang Mingzhi said.

After considering it for a moment, Han Fei couldn't help but advise, "Second Master, shouldn't we be more cautious?"

Yang Mingzhi laughed heartily, "Don't worry, I'm not being arrogant. I've thought about this carefully on my way here."

He had really thought about it carefully; he had been thinking about it the whole time he was on the boat on the way here.

In fact, he could roughly guess Zhou Lan's orders and plans, because the troops from Chongshan Town did not have many options for attacking the Wuliang royal court.

We can either bypass the Monkh Mountains from the snowfields, take the small path through the Monkh Mountains again, or fight the Tatar tribe first.

Yang Zhengshan had taken the first two routes before, so he estimated that the Chici tribe was already prepared. The last route, however, was the one they had to take in this battle.

Because the strategic objectives are different this time. Last time, Yang Zhengshan's strategic objective was to force the Uriyang Kingdom to retreat, while this time Zhou Lan not only wants to force the Uriyang Kingdom to retreat again, but also wants to eliminate the Uriyang Kingdom's forces as much as possible to prevent the Uriyang Kingdom from harassing Da'an's northern border again.

As for his decision to lead two thousand soldiers as the vanguard, that was a result of careful consideration.

The strength of these two thousand soldiers goes without saying, but their fighting spirit is still much weaker, after all, they have not experienced too much brutal fighting.

They need the tempering of the battlefield, just like when Yang Zhengshan led more than a thousand soldiers to wipe out seven tribes in eight days.

This was their last training session, a training session based on real combat scenarios.

Only by passing this training can they become a true iron army.

After Yang Mingzhi and Han Fei made their decision, they immediately set to work. The next day, Yang Mingzhi led two thousand elite soldiers from Shenmu Island, while Han Fei led three thousand cavalrymen from the Zhenbiao Battalion, and they sped towards Daningwei.

Han Fei's Zhenbiao Battalion had already gone to Daningwei, and the three thousand cavalrymen around him now were his personal guard.

(End of this chapter)