CHAPTER 309: CHAPTER 13: I AM DIRTIER THAN YOU_1

As the saying goes, "A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years."

However, Zheng Fan was unwilling to wait ten years, as this would severely degrade his quality of life during that decade.

Therefore, when Liang Cheng ordered the charge, Zheng Fan bit his lower lip and raised his saber. He cherished this feeling—the feeling of turning around to utterly crush an enemy who had just wounded him.

In fact, the fury of the Huo Family scions burned no less fiercely than Zheng Fan’s. After all, Zheng Fan had lost his assets, while they had lost their kin.

The barbarian soldiers had accompanied Zheng Fan into the city once before and had expected this time to be just as easy, but they were unexpectedly driven out.

The barbarian soldiers naturally dared not vent their anger on the Yan people or Zheng Fan. However, they had their own hierarchy of disdain. For example, the barbarian soldiers of Green Willow Fortress, having witnessed the Qian army’s weakness, had begun to look down on the Qian people.

Thus, the earlier humiliation was unbearable for them!

Hooves thundered across the earth, the most potent rhythm in this world. The Wolf Land Soldiers had already crumbled, exposing their backs to the flashing sabers closing in from behind.

Warhorses ruthlessly trampled them, and sabers coldly cut them down. Their lives, their very bodies, seemed so fragile before the charging torrent of cavalry.

SPLAT!

Zheng Fan cut down a land soldier with a single stroke. The man’s blood splashed onto him, but Zheng Fan had no inclination to savor it this time; he pressed the charge.

The Wolf Land Soldiers were like wheat in a field, mercilessly reaped, falling in swathes.

Some land soldiers knew they couldn’t just flee—to die so wretchedly was unthinkable. Yet, against such an overwhelming tide, the resistance of these few seemed utterly futile.

Any flicker of resistance was instantly crushed. There was no room, no possibility, for them to organize.

It was a massacre, a one-sided slaughter.

Every man hunted and closed in on his prey, swinging his saber with all his might, venting the tension and shock caused by the Wolf Land Soldiers’ sudden onslaught from the city.

Debts incurred in the martial world must always be repaid!

The best way to wash away humiliation is to kill those who inflicted it.

The Wolf Land Soldiers couldn’t understand why the Yan people, whom they had just repelled, had suddenly transformed into such terrifying demons.

Lady Daxi was beginning to understand, but there was no time left for reflection or regret.

She finally understood why the Qian State, powerful enough to quell the rebellions of the Southwestern chieftains, still feared the Yan people. These Yan people were truly terrifying, especially on the plains! Their warhorses were far taller than any she had ever seen; they almost seemed like a different species altogether. Their horsemanship, coordination, and discipline far surpassed any Qian army she had witnessed. Equally terrifying were their arrows, loosed with such precision even from galloping steeds. It was those volleys of arrows that had shattered the courage and confidence of her men.

This was because Zheng Fan’s contingent included over four hundred barbarian cavalry, for whom mounted archery was a speciality.

Furthermore, the scions of noble families Zheng Fan had taken in were of high caliber, their horsemanship not lacking. Had the Yan Emperor not suppressed the great Yan clans, Zheng Fan would never have acquired so many elite soldiers.

In the Han Dynasty familiar to Zheng Fan, the preferred recruits were often from so-called "good families," such as the horsemen of the three rivers—an area that, strictly speaking, constituted the capital city region.

Only those with wealth and property could afford to eat well, grow strong, learn martial arts, and free themselves from arduous manual labor to pursue self-improvement and ambition. Such men were the prime source of soldiers for the ancient dynasties of the Central Plains.

Thanks to the Yan Emperor, the men Zheng Fan had taken under his command came from backgrounds far exceeding modest means. Furthermore, Hui Wenzu had pulled some strings, ensuring all the Huo Family scions were assigned to Zheng Fan.

Their mounted archery skills naturally couldn’t match those of the barbarian cavalry from the penal tribes of Green Willow Fortress, but they weren’t far behind. Although the Yan people had begun to adopt some customs of the Qian people, their core martial ethos still prized horsemanship and archery.

Most importantly, their caliber was evident. Thus, they were far quicker than the barbarian soldiers at obeying orders, coordinating, adapting, and comprehending instructions.

This was also why Blind Bei, even after the barracks and dwellings in the fortress were completed, had insisted on waiting for the convicts from noble families rather than hastily bolstering his forces. As the saying goes, a good meal is always worth the wait.

Zheng Fan even perceived a deeper implication in Blind Bei’s strategy: once this group of men had proven their caliber and loyalty, their outstanding qualities would allow them to be promoted to officers, capable of leading new recruits in the future.

This mirrored the German approach after World War I. Defeated and with their army’s numbers restricted by the Treaty of Versailles, the Germans focused on training this limited force as a cadre of future officers.

Earlier, when the Wolf Land Soldiers had attacked within the city, Zheng Fan’s men had been caught off guard and severely constrained. Now, however, this was a true clash of elites!

Lady Daxi was conspicuous amidst her routed army. Mounted, a woman, and strikingly attired, she was like a brilliant firework in the night sky.

Contrast this with Zheng Fan, who hadn’t even worn a cloak, precisely to avoid becoming such a conspicuous target himself.