Yuan Mao fished Hu Baicheng up from the
ground and said calmly, "Speak."
"The Jin ..." Hu Baicheng's face and
cheeks trembled, "Huangshui has frozen. The Jin took advantage of the fog
to strike!"
Yuan Sikong's eyes darkened, and his scalp exploded immediately*
.
Yuan Mao still gripped Hu Baicheng's arm with
such force that it sank deep into his flesh, and Hu Baicheng did not dare to
speak. The Adam’s apple in his throat slid up and down, and his eyes became
deep and sunken, "Shaoxu, pass the order for Guangning's soldiers to stand
by all night, and Baicheng, follow me to see Lord Li."
"Yes!"
Yuan Mao pulled Hu Baicheng along and headed out.
"My Lord ..." Yue Qingshuang called out
in a low voice.
Yuan Mao was oblivious until the carriage of his
prospective in-laws stopped in front of the Yuan residence. Only then did Yuan
Mao remember. He turned his head to look at Yuan Sikong: "Kong'er,
entertain them well."
"Yes."
Yuan Mao took Hu Baicheng and hurried off. The
parents of the Lin family got off just in time to see their in-laws walking
away without looking back. They were puzzled.
Yuan Sikong nudged Yue Qingshuang behind her
back, "Mother, don't be afraid."
Yue Qingshuang took Yuan Sikong's hand,
straightened her slender body, and walked forward to welcome the guests.
Yuan Sikong explained on Yuan Mao’s behalf the
reason for his sudden departure, and the Lin family became very worried.
Although they were still a day's travel away from Guangning, Guangning was now
the gateway to Liaodong and was intimately interdependent.
The meal was unpleasant for everyone, but the
business had to be done. Since Yuan Mao wasn’t around, Yue Qingshuang became in
charge and the two families fixed the marriage.
In the absence of his father and elder brother,
Yuan Sikong had to take charge of entertaining the guests. He settled the Lin
family at the inn and did not return home, but instead hurried to Yuan Mao's
government office.
He was in a state of uneasiness all night. He
only forced himself to cheer up and entertain his guests. The greatest fear
that had haunted him like a nightmare for four years had finally arrived. At
this time last year, the Jin had tried and failed to attack Han Zhaoxing's camp
with two thousand light calvaries.
This time, the military situation must have been
so serious that Hu Baicheng was in such a panic.
When he arrived at the government office, he
indeed saw Yuan Mao discussing official business with the internal generals, and
Qian Anrong was also present. He dared not to go in, so he could only hide
outside the door. He could not hear what was being said inside, but he saw that
everyone looked solemn.
Since the Sheng army had abandoned the seven
states of Liaobei, Han Zhaoxing had led 30,000 troops and set up camp in front
of Huangshui for four years. It was rumored that the court had discussed
whether to build another city on the edge of Huangshui, but nothing had been
done. The Jin did not have a navy and had to wait for winter to cross the
river. Considering that Huangshui stretched for hundreds of miles, it would be
better for the city to set up camp sentries. The sentries moved around using the
camp as the center point, so they could detect the enemy's movements in time.
In this way, Han Zhaoxing’s army and Guangning
Wei would be near each other, and the Jin would not dare to invade easily.
But Yuan Sikong never trusted Han Zhaoxing. He
knew that he could not judge a hero by his success or failure in a battle, but
Han Zhaoxing had failed miserably. Qingzhou was a strong city with plenty of
food. If he had defended tenaciously, he would have been able to drag the Jin
people down, yet he ventured out to fight abruptly. In defeat, he lost Liaobei,
which was controlled by the Chinese Plains for over 300 years, and he lost the
kingdom the first emperor of the dynasty had worked so hard to build. He was
defeated in a way that his bad name would live in infamy.
What Yuan Sikong spurned the most was that Han
Zhaoxing did not receive the punishment he deserved. Forfeiting his salary
didn’t affect him at all. Han Zhaoxing was still the Chief Soldier of Liaodong
and the actual leader of Liaodong’s military power.
In this battle between Han Zhaoxing and the Jins,
Yuan Sikong had a hunch that Han Zhaoxing would be defeated, or had already
been defeated.
Yuan Mao deliberated until late at night. Yuan
Sikong sat at the door and accidentally fell asleep until Yuan Mao found him.
"Kong'er, Kong'er."
Yuan Sikong slowly opened his eyes, "Father
..."
"Why are you here? It's so cold at night. You
would have caught a cold." Yuan Mao helped him up from the ground.
"I was waiting for you." When Yuan
Sikong saw Yuan Shaoxu, he called out, "Big brother.”
Yuan Shaoxu nodded and said expressionlessly,
"This is a place for discussing important military matters. What are you
doing here? Quickly go back and sleep.”
"Shaoxu, you will be on night duty today. If
there is any situation, report back immediately."
"Yes." Yuan Shaoxu arched his hands
respectfully.
"Kong'er, have you made all the arrangements
for the parents of the Lin family?"
"Don't worry, Father. I have also explained
on your behalf too."
Yuan Mao pulled up Yuan Sikong, "That's good.
Let’s go home."
Yuan Sikong asked hurriedly, "Father, how is
the military situation in Huangshui?"
But Yuan Mao was in no hurry to answer. He took
him on the horse, and as the horse jogged, he said softly, "Do you
remember four years ago, when I held you like this and rode together on a
horse? You were much smaller than you are now, so thin that you were only left with
bones."
"Kong'er will never dare to forget."
Yuan Sikong could even recall how cold the rain had been that night, which made
Yuan Mao's body heat seemed extraordinarily hot.
"It's been four years in a flash." Yuan
Mao lamented, "In the past four years, there has not been a day that I
haven't been on tenterhooks. I didn’t know when the Jin would cross Huangshui
and meet the troops in Guangning City."
Yuan Sikong's heart trembled, "Father, was
Han Zhaoxing defeated?"
Yuan Mao said in a deep voice: "The Jin took
advantage of the fog to strike and broke the contact between the left army tent
and the main camp. The general on the left, Li Mi, and three thousand soldiers
died in battle. After Han Zhaoxing reorganized his army, the Jin retreated for
the time being."
Yuan Sikong clenched his fist and gritted his
teeth, "Han Zhaoxing is incompetent!"
Yuan Mao would normally not allow Yuan Sikong to
speak out in such a rude manner, fearing that he would become arrogant and
haughty, but this time he did not reprimand him, but only sighed, "The Jin
people and horses are fast, good at long range and distance attacks, and will
kill people by surprise. This time is the same as last year. The light calvaries
are in the frontline and scouting the camp's actual situation. I'm afraid their
main forces are behind."
"Father, what is Han Zhaoxing's strategy
now?"
"What do you think should be the
strategy?"
"Of course, it is to retreat to Guangning.
Winter is approaching, and the Jin are deep in our land. If they can't attack
the city, their troops will be exhausted, and they will naturally
retreat."
"I thought so too, but Chief Soldier Han has
no intention of retreating, and is still holding the camp at Huangshui,
seemingly wanting to fight the Jin, and is urging Guangning to transport
provisions and gears."
"That's stupid!" Yuan Sikong's was so
angry that his heart and lungs were shaking.
Yuan Mao's sword brows frowned. He was obviously
extremely worried: "If he can really hold off the Jin, that's fine, but if
he can't ... Kong'er, do you think Guangning can hold off?"
Yuan Sikong pursed his lips, not knowing how to
answer.
Guangning was a small city with walls that had a
hundred years of history. It was originally a small and insignificant city with
the seven states of Liaobei in front of it. Since it became a strategic
location four years ago, it had been fortified constantly, but still it was not
yet considered a fortified city.
Of course, there were advantages to a small city.
The division of troops for defense made it easy to mobilize, but whether it could
be defended was not a question that could be easily answered. He replied,
"In any case, if you have a city to defend, you have the upper hand."
"That's right, let's just hope that Chief
Soldier Han can fend off the Jin."
"Father, you don't usually talk to me about
these things, what's wrong today?" Yuan Mao's tone made Yuan Sikong quite
uneasy.
"You have waited for me until this hour,
isn't it because you are concerned about the military situation?" Yuan Mao
stroked Yuan Sikong's head, "I know that you have been unable to let go of
Liaobei and have always hated the Jin. Qingzhou is gone, and so is Taining. Father
will definitely defend Guangning."
Yuan Sikong hugged Yuan Mao's arm and said in a
trembling voice, "I believe in father!"
-----
That night, Yuan Sikong didn’t sleep at all. By the
time the first rays of the morning sun came, he could not lie down any longer,
so he got up and got out of bed, sat down in front of his desk, spread out a
piece of paper, and wrote a letter to Feng Ye.
Feng Ye, my friend.
It has been more than a month since I said
goodbye to you in Guangning.
It is cold in Liaodong. The wind is bitterly
cold. When Huangshui was frozen, the Jin ...
After writing two lines, Yuan Sikong's hand paused.
What was the intention of writing this letter to
Feng Ye? If they were just thinking about each other, then he should not
mention the military situation to an eight-year-old child. Otherwise, wouldn't
it let Feng Ye worry for nothing?
Yuan Sikong put down his pen and clutched his
head.
He was flustered and troubled. He just wanted to
talk to someone about his fears but didn't dare to talk to anyone around him.
The ferocity and brutality of the Jin were known
to all the people of Liaodong, even the adults used them to scare children as
young as three. He grew up with the horrors of the Jin too.
He had heard that the Jin burned, killed, and
looted without any humanity. If leaving his hometown and having his family
ruined were merely indirect ways of experiencing the horrors of the Jin, then
the Jin who crossed Huangshui and approached Guangning in a fast and
unstoppable manner let him truly feel the bone-chilling fear.
He dared not imagine what would happen to the
40,000 people in Guangning if the city wall were breached.
Yuan Sikong laid on his desk and was looking at Feng
Ye’s name that he had written down. He was imagining that if it were the Feng
family army that was guarding Liaodong, the people of Liaodong would not be
shivering in the late night like he was.
Yuan Sikong closed his eyes and rolled the brown
paper into a ball ...
-----
In the following days, Yuan Mao and Yuan Shaoxu
were not seen almost all day and night. The city's defenses were increased, the
soldiers were transporting things back and forth within the city, and the
people of Guangning Wei were jittery.
Yuan Mao organized all the people outside the
city to retreat inside, obviously wanting to fortify the defenses and raze the fields*
and be prepared for the enemy. It seemed that Yuan Mao, like
Yuan Sikong, was worried about Han Zhaoxing's defeat. Although there were no
changes on the front line, the battle was as critical as a tiger that was
sleeping, and no one knew when it would leap up and bite.
Yuan Sikong really wanted to understand the
military situation and give his opinion on the city's defense and the
resettlement of the people. He watched the busy adults going back and forth,
but there were mistakes everywhere. He always felt that he could do better than
them, but he knew that he was just being nosy and would be scolded by Yuan Mao
or Yuan Shaoxu. He was anxious for the whole day.
A month after the attack on Han Zhaoxing's main
camp, the enemy was finally not silent anymore.
----
scalp exploded immediately*[头皮顿时炸开]---a way to describe a person’s fear, anxiousness, and
almost on the verge of a breakdown.
fortify the defenses and raze the fields*[坚壁清野]--- to leave nothing for the invader.
Edited on 12 Apr. 21 (Emzie)
Edited on 3 Jul. 21 (Ari)
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