Chapter 65: Raiding the Zhang Family Yields Treasures

At this moment, Zhao Mang led three hundred cavalrymen in a fierce pursuit until they were within a single li of the Zhang family's forces.

Only then did he order the men to slow their pace and proceed with caution.

He also dispatched a single soldier ahead to scout the situation.

For this operation, Zhao Mang had no desire to make a massive display of force; saving effort was naturally the best approach.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite.

He certainly did not want any of his own men to sustain injuries simply over the confiscation of the Zhang family's estate.

Thus, Zhao Mang and his men trailed slowly behind the Zhang family's procession, in no particular hurry.

He used this time to let his troops rest and recuperate, gradually restoring them to their peak condition.

About five li to the north of their current location, Li世武 (Li Shiwu) and a detachment of men stood upon a high vantage point, gazing toward the scene from afar.

Everything concerning Zhao Mang and the Zhang family was entirely within his view.

The main force of the Zhang family numbered around a hundred people in total.

Upon receiving the report from his servant Mangsong Rangjie, Zhang Shirong had immediately ordered his baggage trains to be packed, setting out once more.

At the very beginning, the members of the Zhang family had been brimming with confidence, completely unconcerned.

The estate guards and retainers trailing behind kept up a constant stream of mockery.

"I thought he was some almighty general, but turns out he's just a coward too afraid to kill at will."

"Exactly! He even dared to take on the mission of ransacking an estate, yet look at them trailing behind us for so long without making a single move. Are they scared of us or what?"

"Who knows? As long as we stick with the master, we're guaranteed food and drink."

"This Shacheng will sooner or later become the territory of the Tibetan raiders."

"That's right. There are only those two frontier garrisons anyway—a bunch of heartless vultures who only know how to take money."

"It's been years, and we've yet to see them launch an active campaign against the enemy."

"Look at this now, though—they act lightning-fast when it comes to plundering their own people."

"All they know is how to bully their own kind. What kind of nonsense is this? I'm starting to lose all respect for them."

Seeing this, Zhang Shirong did not stop their private conversations.

As long as their morale remained unbroken, these retainers still possessed some combat effectiveness.

From time to time, Zhang Shirong would also tell those around him, "As long as you hold out until we reach the Wuci Kingdom in the Western Regions, every single one of you will receive five taels of silver!"

Hearing Zhang Shirong's guarantee, the crowd of men broke into loud cheers, and their morale soared even higher.

Meanwhile, the Zhang family steward, having heard these words and observing how leisurely Zhao Mang's pursuit was, hatched a cunning plan.

He took the initiative to spread rumors within the ranks.

"Have you heard? The general who came to confiscate the Zhang family's estate this time is none other than Zhao Mang of Dunzi Peak."

"I heard he slaughtered over three thousand Tibetan soldiers in a single battle!"

"He's practically a god of slaughter!"

"Word has it that the Tibetans nowadays turn tail and run in sheer terror the moment they hear his name."

As soon as the steward finished speaking, he turned and walked away, quickly melting back into the crowd.

Hearing the steward's words, the crowd immediately took them for truth.

The guards and retainers, who had still possessed a shred of confidence moments before, felt their arrogance drain away considerably, their faces turning ashen with worry.

Right at this moment, Zhao Mang had already rested his troops and slowly caught up.

Zhao Mang rode at the very front, gripping a newly forged steel spear while his cloak fluttered gracefully in the nocturnal breeze.

From a distance, his silhouette looked nothing short of a god of war.

The guards and retainers, some of whom had still doubted the rumors, caught sight of that imposing shadow and recalled the steward's words. A spontaneous wave of terror gripped their hearts.

Beads of sweat began to seep from many a brow.

When Zhao Mang rode to within less than fifty paces of the Zhang family's main force, his resonant voice rang out clearly:

"All of you present here, following the Zhang family leads to a dead end. Since the decree to confiscate the estate has been issued from above, I think the meaning is clear to everyone—the Zhang family is finished."

"Why must you throw away your lives for the sake of the Zhang family?!"

"I, Zhao Mang, as the direct executor of this confiscation, have the authority to spare your lives."

"If you do not wish to throw your lives away for nothing, I will give you half an hour to disperse on your own."

"I shall spare your lives. Otherwise, once my troops charge forward a moment from now, not a single piece of armor will remain intact."

With that, Zhao Mang reined in his horse, turned it around, and rode back to rejoin his own unit, continuing to trail slowly behind the Zhang family's procession.

This was Zhao Mang's strategy. Ancient times had the tactic of song from all sides to break an enemy's morale, and he was faithfully imitating it now.

He did not order his troops to charge forward blindly and hack down every member of the Zhang family.

Instead, he wanted to slaughter the guards and retainers psychologically, driving a wedge between them and destroying their unity.

In warfare, attacking the heart is paramount.

Sure enough, after marching for about a quarter of an hour, certain individuals among the Zhang family's ranks could no longer hold their nerve and quietly slipped away.

This terrifying atmosphere continued to spread through the procession.

Seeing this, Zhang Shirong did not sit passively waiting for his doom.

Instead, he took action, prying open the treasure chests atop the wagons loaded with gold and silver and distributing the gold and silver right on the spot.

Along the journey, he even abandoned a baggage wagon at regular intervals, purely to buy time.

Naturally, every time a baggage wagon was abandoned, several retainers would quietly slip away, circling back along the route in an attempt to pilfer some treasure from it.

Alas, these greedy souls were all intercepted and slaughtered by the men Zhao Mang had left behind.

Ever since observing this trend, Zhao Mang had made preparations well in advance; these guards, already frightened out of their wits, were simply no match for his subordinates.

Seeing that a vast number of people had fled from the Zhang family's ranks in less than half an hour, Zhao Mang ceased to wait.

He immediately shouted to his men: "Brothers, grab your weapons and scatter them!"

Zhao Mang's command sounded like the horn for a charge, instantly igniting the blood in everyone's veins.

The remaining cavalry followed closely behind Zhao Mang as they charged toward the Zhang family's formation.

The thunderous hooves of the cavalry struck like hammer blows upon the hearts of the Zhang family's guards and retainers.

The previous rout of the greedy hirelings had already severely shaken the remaining guards, and the sheer momentum of Zhao Mang's forces terrified them into scattering wildly in all directions.

A few greedy ones who were still trying to salvage treasures from the wagons were beheaded by the advancing Zhao Mang, sending blood spraying everywhere.

These guards offered not the slightest resistance.

As for the retainers who remained loyal to the end, they offered little more resistance before having their heads struck off by Zhao Mang and his men.

Within the span of a mere quarter of an hour, Zhao Mang and his troops had completely exterminated every remaining member of the Zhang family's party.

Finally, Zhao Mang rode his horse up to Zhang Shirong, looking down at him from aloft, and slowly said, "Did Master Zhang ever imagine this day would come?"

Zhang Shirong was unfazed by the grim scene, merely regretting that he had not crushed Zhao Mang to death underfoot at the very beginning.

He stared at Zhao Mang with utter disdain and retorted, "You merely gained some petty advantages; in the end, you are nothing more than a dirt-grubbing peasant who can never mount the stage."

"After I die, someone will avenge me sooner or later."

"I shall wait for you on the road to the netherworld."

With that, he spoke no more.

Seeing this, Zhao Mang did not hesitate; with a single sweep of his blade, he severed Zhang Shirong's head.

He then ordered his men to clean the battlefield, bury all the corpses on the spot, and gather up all the baggage train.

They then marched back in triumph to the city.

Meanwhile, five li away, Li Shiwu had taken in every detail of the spectacle.

Seeing the Zhang family's forces routed and utterly decimated, he turned his horse around and, leading his entourage, abandoned the route toward the Western Regions.

Instead, he reined back and hastened in the direction of Guazhou.