Liang Huiyong eventually returned to Guangning with more than 200 soldiers, but Hu Baicheng and his 300 warriors were completely wiped out. Scouts reported that more than half of the Jin army's food and grass were burned, and the cattle and sheep were scattered in panic, with hundreds of them frozen to death or injured.

The Jin army was badly damaged and had no more strength to attack the city, so they retreated soon. Almost on the same day, 20,000 Dasheng reinforcements from Shuntian Prefecture arrived in Guangning and without stopping, they rushed to pursue Zhuoletai.

The danger in Guangning was finally averted, and the whole city was filled with joy at having survived the disaster. The enthusiasm in their hearts even melted the bitter cold of midwinter.

Yuan Mao led his soldiers to patrol the streets and celebrate with the people of the city.

"Master Yuan, it's Master Yuan who is here!"

"Master Yuan, it was you who saved Guangning, it was you who saved the people of the entire city."

"Master Yuan——"

The people were extremely excited. Seeing Yuan Mao was like seeing a savior. I didn't know who was the first to kneel down and kowtow to thank him, but the people who were blocking the streets knelt down in groups with Yuan Mao as the center. The scene was spectacular.

"Thank you, Lord Yuan, for saving my life."

"Thank you, Lord Yuan, for saving my life." The voices echoed in every corner of Guangning City.

"Please stand up quickly." Yuan Mao helped the old man beside him up, and he said loudly, "The Battle of Guangning was not my achievement, but the result of the cooperation of the soldiers and villagers in the whole city. We Liaodong men... no, we Liaodong women are proud and brave. Facing the Jin army that is twenty times larger than ours, we still fight to the death and never retreat. We guard the gates of Liaodong and defend our Dasheng. I am so grateful that I have the honor to fight with you in this life. I should thank you!" After speaking, he bent down and half-knelt on the ground, clasping his fists tightly, "Yuan thanks everyone!"

"Master Yuan! Master Yuan, hero!"

"Master Yuan, hero—" The shouting shook the heaven and earth and lasted for a long time.

Yuan Nanyu, who was standing in the corner, clapped his hands excitedly: "Second brother, they call Dad a hero!"

Yuan Sikong's heart trembled wildly with the shout, and he said happily from the bottom of his heart: "Dad is a hero!"

"Second brother is also a hero." Yuan Nanyu nudged Yuan Sikong with his elbow and blinked, "It was second brother who came up with the plan to repel the enemy. Second brother has made a great contribution, but it's a pity that they don't know it."

"No, Guangning is able to survive because of my father." Yuan Sikong stared intently at the heroic man who seemed to be glowing in the crowd, with an unconcealable glory on his face.

It was Yuan Mao who had been upright and honest over the years and had good military management, and had established prestige in Guangning and was respected and trusted by the people; it was Yuan Mao who led the troops from the front, fearless of life and death, and always stood with the soldiers in the most dangerous place to command the battle, no matter how many sharp arrows and huge rocks flew over the city walls, and never retreated even when hit by stray arrows; it was Yuan Mao who shouldered heavy pressure, was not afraid of the powerful, did not hand over the military command to incompetent people, and insisted on defending to the death; it was Yuan Mao who took a risk and trusted the strategy of a little boy with gray hair who had never fought in a war.

Apart from Yuan Mao, no one could rally the morale of the soldiers and the hearts of the people. There would not be Li Boyun, Hu Baicheng and so many unknown heroes who died for the country. All these people were able to risk their lives to do all this because they had faith in Yuan Mao. They believed in Yuan Mao's faith!

Sun Tzu's Art of War can be said to be the most thorough military book on warfare, but this book does not teach how to defeat the enemy with any clever strategies or intrigues. Quite the contrary, Sun Tzu believes that only when we have the conditions for victory first can we seek the possibility of victory based on these conditions.

The reason why his strategy was successful was that Yuan Mao created the conditions for victory. Without Yuan Mao, Guangning would have been a ruin under the iron cavalry of the Jin people today.

The eyes of the Yuan brothers looking at Yuan Mao were full of pride.

——

At the celebration banquet that day, Yuan Mao left early on the pretext of something and hurried home to personally apologize to his wife.

It had been 49 days since the Jin people crossed the Huangshui River, and this was the first time he stepped into his home.

Yue Qingshuang, however, was a woman who understood the greater good. In front of the whole family, she neither blamed him nor pitied his obvious weight loss. Instead, she poured him a glass of wine to toast him for saving Guangning from danger.

Yuan Mao looked at her with relief and said, "Madam, you have worked hard these days. Shaoxu and I have not been home all day, and we have made you worry."

"You are the one who has worked really hard. I wish I could go and help you in person." Yue Qingshuang held up the wine glass. Although her demeanor was gentle, her eyes were firm. "My husband is a minister of Dasheng. He should put the national crisis first. You really didn't disappoint the people of Liaodong. Let that gold thief see that there are more mediocre people like Han Zhaoxing in Liaodong than in Liaodong. There are also..."

Yuan Mao interrupted her: "Madam, who told you this?"

Yue Qingshuang was puzzled and said, "The whole city is saying that Han Zhaoxing wants to surrender to the Jin Dynasty, so Lord Li gave the military token to you."

Yuan Mao frowned slightly: "General Han did not want to surrender to Jin, at least he never said so. You must never mention these words again in the future. The same goes for you. You must keep your mouth shut."

The Yuan family's children nodded obediently.

"Okay, let's eat."

Yuan Nanyu said happily: "Dad, during the day, the whole city was calling you a hero. You were so awesome at that time."

Yuan Mao smiled faintly: "I'm not a hero, I'm the garrison commander of Guangning, just doing my duty." He picked up a piece of braised pork with sauce and put it into Yue Qingshuang's bowl.

Yuan Shaoxu said: "No, Dad's achievements have long surpassed those of a garrison commander, especially when compared with Han Zhaoxing..."

Yuan Mao frowned in warning.

Yuan Shaoxu coughed lightly and said, "In short, it is a miracle that my father led us to defend Guangning. Zhuoletai brought a full 70,000 troops, while we only had 3,000 soldiers available."

"Yes, Dad is really amazing!" Yuan Nanyu glanced at Yuan Sikong, "Of course, second brother's strategy is also amazing."

Yuan Mao smiled and said, "Kong'er has indeed made great contributions."

Yuan Shaoxu put down his chopsticks and pursed his lips slightly.

Yuan Sikong said hurriedly: "Kong'er only contributed a little, Dad is the most worthy hero in this battle."

Yuan Mao picked up the wine pot, poured two glasses of wine, and handed them to Yuan Shaoxu and Yuan Sikong respectively: "Shaoxu, Kong'er, you two have made great contributions in this battle. You are so young, but you are brave and fearless. You are not only good sons of your father, but also good sons of Dasheng."

Yuan Shaoxu's expression softened. He raised his wine glass and said, "Dad, I want to be like you, sacrifice my life for my country, and defend Dasheng until my death."

"Okay!" Yuan Mao drank the wine in the cup, and his two sons followed him.

It was Yuan Sikong’s first time drinking alcohol and it was so spicy that he stuck out his tongue and his delicate little face wrinkled into a frown.

Yuan Mao poured another glass of wine and smiled at Yuan Weiling and Yuan Nanyu: "You two siblings, one is a daughter and the other just recovered from a leg injury, have contributed a lot. Very good, you are both my good sons and daughters! Daddy toasts you a glass."

"Since you are good sons and daughters, I want to drink a glass too!" Yuan Nanyu said as he reached for the wine glass.

Yuan Mao knocked his chopsticks on his hand: "Forget it."

Yuan Nanyu pouted, causing everyone to laugh.

The flickering lights, the delicious food and wine, and the laughter of loved ones made the warmth in the house surpass the extreme cold of Liaoning and penetrated into everyone's heart.

——

The reinforcements returned to Guangning a few days later. It is said that they pursued Zhuoletai for a hundred miles and killed 4,000 enemies. The general who led the troops was named Zhao Fuyi, who admired Yuanmao very much and promised to report to the emperor and reward him generously. However, they did not stay in Guangning for long and returned to the capital immediately.

The battle of defending Guangning created a miracle of defeating a larger force with a smaller one, and his steadfast and unyielding spirit has become famous throughout the world. Yuanmao must be rewarded for his contribution, but he did not dare to take all the credit alone. He had already listed all the events that happened before and after, and all the people who sacrificed in this battle, in a list and reported it to the emperor. In the following days, he rebuilt Guangning while waiting for the emperor's reward.

The walls of Guangning City were badly damaged and repairing them is a huge project. Yuan Mao has already requested permission to rebuild them. After all, the victory in the Battle of Guangning was only the beginning. Zhuoletai is in his prime and still has evil intentions. He will definitely make a comeback. By then, he will see a stronger Guangning Guard.

——

After experiencing that thrilling war, Yuan Sikong's life returned to normal. He studied and practiced martial arts as usual every day, and went to the horse farm to work in his spare time. However, the scenes of the war kept lingering in his mind, and he could not forget them for a long time.

"Second brother!" Yuan Nanyu shouted into Yuan Sikong's ear.

Yuan Sikong shuddered with fear and punched Yuan Nanyu: "You want to scare me to death!"

"I've been calling you for a long time, okay?" Yuan Nanyu asked in confusion, "Why are you always in a daze recently? Are you still scared?"

"What am I afraid of?"

"Don't pretend. You were trembling with fear on top of the city wall that day."

Yuan Sikong was not convinced: "Aren't you afraid?"

"I'm afraid." Yuan Nanyu said carelessly, "But I admit it, unlike you, who are afraid but dare not admit it."

Yuan Sikong pretended to be angry and said, "You are really annoying."

Yuan Nanyu said with a smile: "I won't laugh at you. You may be afraid this time, but you won't be afraid next time. You may be afraid when you are young, but you won't be afraid when you grow up."

Yuan Sikong nodded. It was more like he was shocked than afraid. Moreover, even if he was afraid, he would never retreat.

"Second brother..." Yuan Nanyu's eyes moved downwards, "Not only have you been daydreaming recently, you've also been holding that dagger all the time."

Yuan Sikong looked at the dagger on his waist and said, "When did I hold it? I was just... just holding it."

"This dagger is so beautiful." Yuan Nanyu stretched out his hand.

Yuan Sikong took off the dagger and handed it to him.

Yuan Nanyu carefully stroked the delicate and beautiful carvings on the scabbard, as well as the gem that looked very valuable. "If I sell this gem, I'm sure it will fetch a lot of money."

"Why would I sell it?"

"Well... Your Highness is really willing to give you such a valuable gift."

"This is a keepsake. If we meet again in a few years, even if we don't remember each other's appearance, we can still recognize each other with this." Yuan Sikong said with a smile, "I don't know if we will meet again in this life."

Yuan Nan shrugged his shoulders and said perfunctorily: "Who knows? The world is so big, it's difficult."

"You said, has the news of the Battle of Guangning also spread to Datong Prefecture?" Yuan Sikong nodded to himself, "Of course it is. Guangning became famous after the battle and has long been famous all over the world. I heard that there is also a war in Datong Prefecture now. I hope they can successfully repel the enemy like us."

"Prince Jingyuan has a large army under his command and is also a famous general of the dynasty. He will definitely not be as ruthless as us. Don't worry." Yuan Nanyu threw the dagger to Yuan Sikong, "Second brother, it's time to go to sleep."

"oh……"