When Chen Yulong brought back the news that Han Zhaoxing was still unknown, they had already concluded that this man was a dangerous person. Now he is back, which is unexpected and everyone has mixed feelings.

It seemed that even his subordinate Chen Yulong was not obviously happy.

The reason why Han Zhaoxing was able to come back to life was most likely because he was captured and then released, which makes people think a lot.

Han Zhaoxing rode back to the city alone. The horse under his crotch was still his own, but the horse was as distraught as the man himself. The soldiers died in the battle, but the commander survived. What a shame it was.

"Sir Yuan, shall we open the city gate?" the gate guard asked respectfully.

Yuan Mao stood on the top of the city wall, watching the horse trampling back and forth in the snow anxiously and Han Zhaoxing, who looked like a wolf, with a trace of hesitation in his heart. He recognized the horse. It was not a Liaodong horse, nor a Qin horse, but a pure-blooded Jurchen horse that had been offered as tribute. There was no better horse in Liaodong, so it was naturally accepted by the general. A good horse also needs a good general to ride it. Now this horse still has a trace of the heroic spirit of a Jurchen horse, and like Han Zhaoxing, it is full of the decadence of a defeated general.

At that time, he was the garrison commander of Guangning. Han Zhaoxing rode back to the city alone, which was suspected of collaborating with the enemy. It was reasonable for him not to open the city gate. However, if he did not open it, Han Zhaoxing would have no way out, and everyone around him was watching him.

Yuan Sikong followed in the chaos, anxiously shouting in his heart: "Don't open it, don't open it."

Yuan Mao closed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Open the city gate."

"Dad!" Yuan Shaoxu was anxious.

As soon as Han Zhaoxing returned to the city, the military power of Guangning was no longer in Yuan Mao's hands.

"My Lord, this is..."

Yuan Mao waved his hand to stop those who tried to dissuade him: "I served as a general with General Han in the same dynasty, and we defended Liaodong together. Although he was defeated this time, closing the door and refusing to defeat a general will frustrate other soldiers. Moreover, General Han must know the enemy's situation better than the scouts. Open the door."

"Dad, what if he collaborates with the enemy?"

Yuan Mao's eyes flashed coldly: "If he collaborates with the enemy, I will kill him myself. After this battle is over, I will apologize to the court." Yuan Mao's resolute and upright voice blended in with the biting cold wind, adding a bit of majesty, making people dare not say anything.

The city gate guard shouted reluctantly: "Open the gate and welcome General Han back to the city."

Yuan Mao walked towards the stairs. When he passed by Yuan Shaoxu, he patted his shoulder seriously and said, "You have joined the army. Outside of home, there are only masters and servants, not fathers and sons."

"...Yes." Yuan Shaoxu bowed with an extremely unwilling expression.

Yuan Sikong was a lowly person with little influence, and he didn't even have the qualifications to express his dissatisfaction like Yuan Shaoxu did. He just clenched his fists and glared at Han Zhaoxing fiercely.

Yuan Mao was a very talented man, honest and upright, and had good military management skills, otherwise he would not have become a thousand households at the age of thirty. The only reason why he did not get promoted was that he did not fight in wars and had no opportunities. On the other hand, Han Zhaoxing, although he was the general of Liaodong, suffered repeated defeats, first losing Qingzhou and then Huangshui. Half of Liaodong was ruined by him. If he were allowed to take charge of the battle to defend Guangning, I am afraid that Guangning would not be able to be preserved!

If the lord hadn't told me, Yuan Sikong wouldn't have known what Han Zhaoxing's background was, but appointing such an incompetent person to an important position was simply spreading poison to the Central Plains.

Yuan Mao went personally to meet Han Zhaoxing.

After Han Zhaoxing entered the city, he burst into tears, with a look of remorse and self-blame on his face. Yuan Mao did not comfort him, but waited for him to calm down, and then asked him about what happened in the battle that day and how he was able to return to the city.

Han Zhaoxing then confessed that Zhuoletai had captured him and more than 4,000 soldiers alive, and let him return to the city alone in order to persuade them to surrender.

Han Zhaoxing said with tears in his eyes: "If it weren't for the fact that 4,000 soldiers were still in the hands of the gold thieves, how could I have the dignity to live in this world."

Yuan Mao asked, "General, how should we respond now?"

"Where is Lord Li?"

"Lord Li went to the capital to ask for help."

"What is the situation of food, grass, and weapons in the city?"

Yuan Mao reported the situation truthfully. There were still 4,000 soldiers in the city, but 600 of them were wounded, and several hundred were personnel in charge of food, fodder, carriages, weapons, armor, clothing and other supplies. He even reorganized the guards in the generals' mansions, but there were no more than 3,000 people. The only good thing was that there was enough food and grass to support the city for a year.

Han Zhaoxing was silent for a while after listening to this. He said, "Zhuoletai leads 70,000 soldiers. If there are 10 of them, we will surround it. If there are 5, we will attack it. The number of the gold bandits is 20 times ours. It is cold and icy. It is not conducive to a long siege. We must attack it."

"The weather is so unfavorable for fighting, and attacking the city is the worst option. I think Zhuoletai wants peace, and letting you return is a signal."

"He let me go to persuade me to surrender." Han Zhaoxing touched his forehead, "If I don't surrender, the four thousand soldiers will not live long. It's better to think of a plan to trick him."

Chen Yulong said: "If we surrender immediately, Zhuoletai will certainly be suspicious. It is better to let him release one or two thousand soldiers first to show his sincerity."

The implication is that the rest should be discarded.

Yuan Mao immediately objected: "No. If Zhuoletai has planted spies among them, it will cause great disaster." Let alone one or two thousand people, even if one is released, he may be bribed by Zhuoletai with a large sum of money.

"Is there any other good idea?" Han Zhaoxing looked around at everyone.

There was silence.

Han Zhaoxing raised his voice: "Are you going to let our soldiers live and die on their own?"

Yuan Mao bowed and said, "General, I think they all died in Maoer Valley."

Yuan Sikong nodded in appreciation. There was no solution to this problem. If Guangning was to be saved, they had to be abandoned.

Han Zhaoxing slammed the table hard, his beard trembling with anger. He stared at Yuan Mao but could not say a word. After all, what he said sounded extremely ironic and he found it difficult to refute it.

The room fell silent again, and everyone obviously agreed with Yuan Mao's words. After all, except for Han Zhaoxing and Chen Yulong, everyone here was a general of Guangning Guard, and they did not obey Han Zhaoxing at all.

Han Zhaoxing also pondered for a moment before saying, "What if I pretend to surrender and lure Zhuoletai into the city, and then I set up an ambush and capture him?"

"This is one plan," Yuan Mao said, "but, as Lord Chen said, this surrender is not a good one. Zhuoletai will never believe it. If we want to make a false surrender, we need to wait for the right time."

“When is the right time?”

"After a battle, both sides will suffer losses, and then it will be natural to surrender."

Han Zhaoxing's cheeks puffed up, and he lowered his head and thought for a long time: "In the final analysis, we still have to defend."

"yes."

"Okay!" Han Zhaoxing stood up, "We swear to live and die with Guangning!"

All the soldiers shouted in unison: "We swear to live and die with Guangning!"

"Yuan Mao."

"I will be here in the end."

"Follow me to inspect the city's defenses."

"yes."

Han Zhaoxing left the meeting room first, and Yuan Mao followed.

When he reached the door, Han Zhaoxing discovered Yuan Sikong hiding in the corner: "Where did this kid come from?"

"This is my son, here to deliver food."

Han Zhaoxing then remembered that he had seen him at the training ground that day, but he didn't pay much attention and left in a hurry.

Yuan Mao said, "Kong'er, you can go back now."

"Dad, Mom is worried about you and Big Brother, meal..."

"Put it somewhere." Yuan Mao was in no mood to eat and walked away without looking back.

Yuan Sikong watched everyone in the room busy with their own things, and he felt bad as he watched over his lunch box. If he were three years older, he would have joined the army, but now he had a lot of enthusiasm and military skills, but no place to use them.

Looking at Han Zhaoxing's receding back, Yuan Sikong's eyes became more and more profound. This man was indecisive and mediocre in talent. If he died in the hands of the gold thieves, it would be all over. He even suspected that Zhuoletai let Han Zhaoxing back because he saw his incompetence and hoped that he would not let Guangning repeat the fate of Qingzhou.

Yuan Sikong gritted his teeth, worried, picked up his lunch box and chased after him.

Under the city wall, Yuan Shaoxu spotted him first, took him aside, and frowned, saying, "Didn't Dad tell you to go back? Why do you always like to go to important places?"

Yuan Sikong said with a bitter face: "Brother, you and father have not been home for several days. Mother has been worried about you day and night and has been unable to sleep or eat. She told me to make sure you eat your meal."

Yuan Shaoxu looked a little ashamed: "Then don't come here, go back to the meeting room and wait."

Yuan Sikong was just about to make more excuses when he heard a noise coming from the city wall. The sentry blew the horn, two short and one long, which was the signal that the enemy was attacking.

Yuan Shaoxu dropped him and rushed up the city wall.

Yuan Sikong put his lunch box aside and followed a few soldiers upstairs in the chaos. Everyone knew that he was Yuan Mao's son, and they didn't know whether he should go up, so no one went up.

Yuan Sikong hid in the most secluded place. When he looked out, he saw a group of Jurchen light cavalry coming on the snow. The horses were not running fast. Looking closely, he saw that behind each horse was a Sheng army soldier tied, running along with the horse.

When they were out of the reach of arrows, the cavalry stopped and the leading general shouted with full force: "I am the vanguard general Mang Huaer, Han Zhaoxing, do you surrender or not?"

Han Zhaoxing's face turned pale and he said nothing.

Mang Huaer asked three times, each time louder than the last.

Seeing no one answering, he laughed wildly: "My Jin Kingdom has 100,000 troops, and we can destroy your little Egg City in no time. I am leading the eldest prince Hong En to tell you that if you surrender, you will not be killed!"

Han Zhaoxing gave Chen Yulong a look.

Chen Yulong shouted back, "You little barbarian, you are so audacious that you dare not dismount and kneel before the majesty of the Great Sheng Emperor."

"How dare you talk about bravery when you have defeated your generals? Hahahahaha——"

Chen Yulong was so angry that his face was distorted.

Manghuaer made a gesture to his subordinates.

The men dismounted one after another, used their swords to cut the ropes that bound the dozen or so Sheng soldiers, drove them into a ball, and then began to pour lamp oil on them.

Then, the fire engulfed them instantly.

A dozen captured Sheng soldiers let out miserable screams and cries, which were blown away into the air by the cold wind and chilled them to the bone.

The faces of the people on the city wall were filled with anger and pity, their eyes were about to bulge out, and many soldiers showed fear on their faces.

Yuan Sikong stared blankly at the soldiers who were corroded by the fire and rolling on the ground helplessly and despair, his body shaking uncontrollably.

The people who were alive just a moment ago turned into fireballs in the blink of an eye. When they were alive, they were fathers, husbands, and sons of others, with their own laughter and tears, memories and stories, but now they have all turned into a pile of horrible burnt things.

How cruel and brutal this is!

Mang Huaer rode his horse, jokingly circling around the soldiers who were burnt beyond recognition, and shouted arrogantly: "If you surrender, I will not kill you! Otherwise, I will use the corpses of your 4,000 soldiers to build ladders, climb up your city walls, kill all your men, and take away your women. Hahahahaha——"

The group of Jurchen cavalrymen followed up with a roar: "If you surrender, we won't kill you! If you surrender, we won't kill you! If you surrender, we won't kill you!"

Yuan Sikong's legs went limp and he sat on the ground, holding onto the city wall. His eyes were bloodshot and, in addition to trembling and fear, there was also burning rage.