The battle was over, and the four-gate encirclement formation was immediately dismantled to begin cleaning up the battlefield.

The soldiers were overjoyed. Two days earlier, they had set fire to the Jin army in Lingzhou, killing more than 10,000 men.

Upon arriving in Panzhou, they used the Four Gates Encirclement Formation to eliminate more than 10,000 Jin soldiers. In addition, they eliminated smaller groups of Jin soldiers along the way, bringing the total to about 30,000.

It seems that the Jin soldiers are not so scary. At this rate, after a few more battles, the 100,000 Jin soldiers will be almost wiped out.

At this moment, three thousand sailors from Panzhou Lake also came over and helped clean up the battlefield.

The battle just now was truly breathtaking. They witnessed the entire process, and more than 10,000 Jin soldiers were wiped out, and their commander, Hanmo Da, was captured.

The sailors were filled with emotion. The 50,000 sailors on Panzhou Lake had lost more than half of their strength in the recent battles with the Jin army. If they hadn't encountered reinforcements today, they would have been wiped out.

The captain of the naval force walked up to Li Guang and bowed deeply.

"My name is Gao Yang, and I serve under Admiral Ding. We suffered a defeat in this battle against the Jin army, but fortunately General Li came to our rescue, otherwise we would have been wiped out."

Li Guang glanced at Gao Yang, a middle-aged general who appeared exhausted, perhaps from his constant battles with the Jin army.

"General Gao, there's no need for such formalities. You are a navy, and you fight on the water. Even more Jin soldiers are no match for you."

You have done your utmost to protect the people of Panzhou from the oppression of the Jin army, fighting against them and making enormous sacrifices.

Li Guang's words deeply moved Gao Yang, and he nodded with tears in his eyes.

"General Gao, lead the way. The army is heading to Panzhou Lake. I would like to see Admiral Ding of the Navy."

"Yes, General Li, let's set off now for Panzhou Lake."

In front of the water fortress camp on Panzhou Lake, Commander Ding led his naval soldiers to line up and welcome them.

He had just received news that Li Guang's army had not only rescued 3,000 naval soldiers, but also annihilated more than 10,000 Jin soldiers and captured Hanmo Da alive.

Before long, Ding Tong saw a large group of people heading towards the water camp and quickly went to greet them.

Li Guang and Yue Heng dismounted, and Gao Yang immediately introduced them to each other.

After the introductions were finished, Commander Ding led everyone into the military tent at the water fortress.

After the group was seated, Ding Tong inquired about the war situation at the border and in the capital.

Ding Tong was overjoyed to learn that the border was stable and the capital had been recovered.

"This admiral was ordered to guard Panzhou Lake and command the navy of the Northern Dynasty. He can be said to be in charge of a region."

This time, the foreign states, in alliance with the Jin and Luo states, have invaded our Great Northern Dynasty. The border is in grave danger, and the capital has fallen. I, the Governor-General, am extremely anxious.

The fact that the imperial court has dispatched troops to relieve the siege of Panzhou Lake indicates that the capital is no longer in danger. It is estimated that it will not be long before the soldiers of the Great Northern Dynasty will be able to eliminate the invading enemies from the three northern kingdoms.

The reason why Li Guang and Yue Heng led troops to relieve the siege of Panzhou Lake was not arranged by the imperial court. This matter cannot be discussed here, otherwise it would affect the morale of the army.

Li Guang smiled and said:

"Our Great Northern Dynasty's army and people are of one mind, and these invaders will soon be driven away. The enemy troops that invaded the Panzhou area this time are the elite troops of the Jin Dynasty."

Sailors are only skilled in naval warfare; you have no chance of winning against the Jin army on land.”

Ding Tong sighed and said, "I know this principle all too well. In order to preserve the strength of the navy, I strictly followed the court's regulations and did not land to fight the Jin army, but this has caused considerable public resentment."

The sailors were only good at naval warfare; most of them couldn't even ride horses, so how could they fight against the Jin army? Going there would only be suicide.

There was no other way; I had to bear the blame. So, for a period of time, I didn't send troops.

"Then how did the sailors get ashore and fight the Jin soldiers?" Li Guang asked, puzzled.

"The emperor's command is difficult to disobey."

Li Guang was taken aback, not understanding what he meant.

"General Li, you may not know this, but some time ago, the Emperor sent a letter ordering me to lead troops to fight against the Jin army and rescue the people of Panzhou."

The Emperor was worried that I would not send troops, so he made the messenger wear an imperial robe. Seeing the imperial robe was as if the Emperor himself were there. Under these circumstances, I had to send troops, even if all the sailors of Panzhou Lake were killed in battle.

Upon hearing this, Li Guang found it unbelievable. If what Ding Tong said was true, then the emperor must have written this letter during his escape.

Based on the timeline, this letter should have been written half a month ago, which would allow us to deduce where the emperor was at that time.

Thinking of this, Li Guang spoke:

"Admiral Ding, are you sure that letter was written by the Emperor?"

"It is certain that after writing this letter, the emperor also stamped it with the imperial seal he carried with him."

"Where is the person who delivered the letter from?"

"This man's name is Xia Yun. I don't know where he's from. After delivering the Emperor's letter, he didn't leave but asked to join the army, so I arranged for him to become a sailor."

"Could we invite him over? I'd like to ask him some questions."

"Of course, General Li, please wait a moment while I have someone invite him over."

A short while later, Xia Yun was brought to the scene.

"Greetings, Admiral Ding. Is there something you need from me?"

"Xia Yun, this is General Li. He wants to ask you some questions."

"Greetings, General Li. What would you like to ask?"

"No need for formalities, I just want to know a few things."

Next, Li Guang inquired about matters concerning the emperor's writing of letters, and Xia Yun answered in detail.

According to Xia Yun's description, Li Guang basically knew some things about the emperor at that time. The emperor and Lord Yao disguised themselves as fortune tellers and went to Narcissus Village.

The Fourth Prince has recaptured the capital. If the Emperor receives this news, he will surely return to the capital.

Next, Li Guang began to learn about the distribution of Jin soldiers in Panzhou.

Ding Tong told Li Guang that after the Jin army of 100,000 invaded the Panzhou area, they first captured Panzhou Prefecture. They burned, killed, looted and committed all sorts of atrocities in the Panzhou area.

Within a few days, almost all the people of Panzhou had fled.

Later, the Jin army left 50,000 troops in Panzhou Prefecture and divided the remaining troops into three armies to attack Lingzhou, Shitai and Meilin Prefectures respectively.

“Two days ago, we encountered more than 10,000 troops of Lü Chuang near Lingzhou. I devised a plan to annihilate this Jin army,” Li Guang said.

Ding Tong was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that Li Guang would wipe out the Jin army heading to Lingzhou on his way to Panzhou. Li Guang's army was truly formidable.

"That's great. Now that the Jin army that invaded Lingzhou has been destroyed, and with today's battle, Somailon should only have 70,000 troops left. His strength is not what it used to be, and it's only a matter of time before we eliminate them."

"According to Admiral Ding's analysis, there should still be more than 30,000 Jin soldiers remaining in Panzhou City," Li Guang said.