Gao Yin was the last to read through the battle report.

As the most outstanding young member of the Gao clan, unlike his father General Gao Yun’s fierce temperament, he was actually modest and steady, rarely showing joy or anger in public.

But at this moment, a flash of undisguised amazement passed through his eyes.

He hesitated briefly, then looked toward Gao Qiao.

“Uncle, should these troops be deployed or not?”

Gao Qiao’s expression had already returned to its original state.

“In your opinion, what should be done?”

“Zi’an will follow the arrangements of you two lords.”

Gao Qiao shook his head: “I want to hear your thoughts.”

Without this news, the Gao clan’s decision to reinforce Ba Prefecture to aid Li Mu would have been—setting aside how the Emperor might react—an act of timely assistance to Li Mu.

But now the situation had taken a sharp turn.

No one had expected that Li Mu, with merely six thousand ragtag soldiers, could defeat Yuan Xu’s thirty thousand troops and boldly capture Yuan City, fighting such a brilliant opening battle.

To send reinforcing troops now, even if the Gao family’s original intentions were beyond reproach, would inevitably appear to outsiders as attempting to share in the glory.

Moreover, even setting aside what others might think, having missed the optimal moment for assistance, Li Mu himself might not necessarily appreciate reinforcements now.

Gao Yin knew his uncle was testing him.

He pondered for a moment, then said: “Then I’ll venture to share my humble opinion. Yuan Jie’s defeat came from underestimating his enemy. Having suffered such a great loss, he definitely won’t let this matter rest. Li Mu’s objective on this expedition is to take Ba Prefecture. I expect Yuan Jie will personally take the field and intercept Li Mu east of the Fu River. This battle won’t be like the first—he will certainly give his all. Though Li Mu is a natural military talent, the disparity in troop strength remains vast, and whether he can achieve victory again is truly hard to predict. Since you intend to help him, why fear what people might say? I might as well proceed with leading troops there, and convey to Li Mu that if he needs my assistance, I’ll deploy forces; otherwise, I’ll observe and wait. What do you two lords think?”

His response seemed to align with his uncle’s thinking, as he saw him nod slightly: “Proceed as you suggest. Go.”

“I accept the order!”

Gao Yin paid his respects to Gao Qiao and Gao Yun, then turned and quickly departed.

…

Several days later, Xu Mi received news of Li Mu’s great victory in the first battle at his residence.

His informants placed in the palace also secretly reported that yesterday, upon receiving the battle report, Emperor Xingping was so excited that he leaped up from behind his imperial desk, ignoring that one shoe had fallen from his foot, clenched his fists, and actually walked barefoot back and forth on the cold winter floor, unable to sleep even late into the night.

“Elder Brother, Li Mu is not only fierce and brave, but his military tactics are also so exceptional! When he was in my military office before, I failed to secure his services for our Xu family. Now he’s established his own power base, maneuvering between His Majesty and Gao Qiao. This campaign was a heaven-sent opportunity to eliminate him. Who would have thought he’d turn things around! If he achieves victory, it could prove very disadvantageous to our Xu family in the future!”

His cousin Xu Yue appeared somewhat worried.

Xu Mi finally calmed down gradually from his initial disbelief, his gaze darkening as he snorted: “It’s too early to speak of turning things around! Yuan Jie is no ordinary person. Having been caught off guard and suffered a great loss, he won’t let this matter rest. With the troops Li Mu commands, no matter how heaven-defying his abilities, wanting to completely defeat Yuan Jie is wishful thinking!”

Xu Yue frowned with worry: “I’ve also received word that Gao Qiao sent Gao Yin north several days ago, apparently to mobilize twenty thousand troops from Lujiang to reinforce Ba Prefecture! Li Mu alone might not be cause for concern, but adding Gao Yin makes things difficult to predict. Gao Yin is skilled in warfare with many troops and generals under his command. If the two unite, even if their forces don’t match Yuan Jie’s, the outcome would be anyone’s guess!”

Xu Mi was surprised, then sneered coldly: “The world praises Gao Qiao’s demeanor, but only I know he’s a fame-seeking, cunning old fox! If he truly intended to provide aid, why did he only send three thousand troops initially? Now he’s merely seeing the increased odds of victory and taking the opportunity to win people’s hearts for himself and restore the face lost from marrying off his daughter! Even if the Emperor is displeased, what can he do about it?”

“Brother, if that’s the case, what should we do? If Gao Yin’s reinforcements achieve victory…”

Xu Mi pondered for a moment, then said coldly: “Then we’ll intercept Gao Yin’s forces midway and prevent Li Mu from waiting for his arrival in Ba Prefecture!”

Xu Yue’s eyes lit up, his face showing joy as he nodded: “I understand! I’ll arrange this immediately!”

Xu Yue hurried away. Xu Mi stroked the few yellow whiskers under his chin, slowly paced several circles around the room, muttering to himself before snorting coldly.

“Li Mu, oh Li Mu, you were fortunate to win one battle, but let’s see how you fight the next one!”

…

On the flat, open field outside Yuan City, east of the Fu River, stretched an endless expanse of connected camps.

Patrolling soldiers carrying long spears walked back and forth through the military camp. When they encountered each other head-on, they would exchange the day’s password to prevent spies from infiltrating.

Outside the camp gates stretched a winding queue so long its end was nearly invisible.

Since capturing Yuan City half a month ago, Ba people had continuously arrived daily to join the army for national restoration. Today was no different. While waiting to be assigned, these people listened to the earth-shaking training chants of soldiers drifting from within the gates on the wind, seemingly infected by the sound, their faces showing the excited fervor of righteous courage.

This army paid triple the usual soldier’s rations, promised promotions based on enemy heads taken, and had Li Mu as commander leading from the front in battle and sharing meals and training with common soldiers afterward. The Battle of Danqu had shaken all directions and quickly earned the respect and awe of superiors and subordinates alike.

But this army also had merciless iron discipline. The crossbow units, heavy armor units, assault units, and infantry units formed ranks and formations, advancing and retreating from dawn to dusk under officers’ shouted commands, wielding spears for thrusting and killing. The slightest inattention brought merciless military clubs and whips. In such weather, everyone trained until drenched in sweat, yet no one dared slack off.

To be both loved and feared—this was embodied to perfection in Li Mu.

…

In the central command tent, Li Mu sat in the center, with Guo Zhan, Sun Fangzhi, Dai Yuan, original Palace Guard commander Li Xie, Guangling Army commander Fan Dun, and over ten deputy generals seated to his left and right.

Everyone’s faces were solemn, and the atmosphere in the tent was exceptionally grave.

When news of Yuan Xu’s crushing defeat reached Liang Province, Yuan Jie flew into a rage. Leaving forces to garrison Liang Province, he personally donned armor and led troops to Ba Prefecture for revenge.

Several days ago, Yuan Jie’s massive army had arrived. Yuan’s forces were west of the Fu River, Li Mu’s east of the Fu River. Across the winter’s dried shallow fords, both sides probed each other and engaged in several small battles.

Last night scouts reported that Yuan’s army had been arranging positions and deploying formations over the past two days, apparently choosing the right moment to cross the shallows and launch a full assault on Yuan City.

Li Mu’s gaze swept over every face in the tent.

“Yuan Jie still claims one hundred thousand troops, but excluding the actual numbers annihilated in the first battle plus those left to guard Liang Province, I estimate he brought at most fifty thousand this time. No need to be overly fearful.”

Sun Fangzhi stroked his full beard and laughed heartily, his laughter deep and resonant, nearly shaking the tent roof: “Exactly! We now have nearly twenty thousand troops too! Let’s fight them! Let one come, I’ll kill one!”

But Dai Yuan’s expression remained grave as he shook his head.

“I don’t mean to dampen our spirits, but these newly joined Ba recruits, while having courage, mostly have never fought in battle. Though we’ve intensified training these days, they can only follow behind and are better than nothing, but likely can’t handle fierce combat.”

Li Mu nodded: “Correct. Therefore we cannot allow Yuan’s army to cross the shallows and assault our positions after full preparation. Fighting many with few, strong with weak—once we lose our defensive position, morale will certainly scatter. Rather than passive defense, better to take the initiative, disrupt Yuan’s army’s deployment, and perhaps achieve victory through desperate measures.”

The tent fell silent.

“May I ask, Governor, could you clarify the deployment?”

Palace Guard commander Li Xie now regarded Li Mu with complete admiration.

But to actively attack the enemy’s fifty thousand soldiers with twenty thousand troops of uneven fighting capability—even Li Xie was full of doubts.

His doubts were shared by everyone in the tent.

Over ten gazes focused simultaneously on Li Mu seated in the commander’s position.

“Yuan Jie’s army relies on fire-stone crossbow formations. In battle, they invariably lead with fire-stone crossbow formations. After enemy vanguards suffer heavy casualties and morale wavers, they commit all forces, usually winning every battle. I’ve already formulated a battle plan, but the key to this fight is first breaking their fire-stone crossbow formation. Break the formation, and we break Yuan’s army’s morale. Our forces can then counterattack, achieving twice the result with half the effort and greatly increasing our chances of victory.”

Everyone nodded. The previously grave atmosphere finally relaxed somewhat.

Sun Fangzhi pounded his chest with loud thumps, eagerly volunteering: “Governor Li, I’m willing to lead a suicide squad and take my brothers to spearhead the attack. I must occupy the ford and break their crossbow formation!”

Guo Zhan and others also responded enthusiastically.

Li Mu said: “In this battle, I will personally lead troops into combat!”

As his words fell, the tent suddenly fell quiet.

Even Fan Dun, who had remained silent throughout, looked at him with surprise, seeming to want to speak but holding back.

He had heard of the ferocity of Yuan’s army’s fire-stone crossbow formations before. The several small battles over recent days had made this even more evident.

Those were merely probing engagements, yet fire stones filled the sky and arrows concentrated like rain, forcing the vanguard to be unable to advance a single step. The power was so fierce it was terrifying. Charging soldiers suffered over fifty percent casualties, and those fortunate enough to retreat bore fire poison wounds too horrible to look at—some still lay unable to move today, and all who spoke of it turned pale.

“Absolutely not!”

Dai Yuan immediately shook his head.

“The Governor must oversee the overall situation—how can you personally risk danger? I’m willing to lead the suicide vanguard, storm the ford and break their formation, opening the way for our main force!”

Guo Zhan and Sun Fangzhi also volunteered to lead the vanguard.

Li Mu smiled slightly: “I’ll take Brother Fangzhi with me. You and Brother Guo, I have other uses for. I need you to lead troops and, after I break their formation, attack the enemy camp from the left and right flanks, cutting them apart so head and tail cannot aid each other. This mission is arduous—I don’t trust others with it, only you two!”

The two still wanted to argue, but Li Mu’s expression suddenly became stern, stopping the debate. His gaze swept over everyone as he stood: “This matter is thus decided and will not be changed! With battle imminent, follow my orders and act accordingly. Anyone who disobeys will face military law without mercy!”

No one dared argue further.

“Blades and spears have no eyes. Should I die, Fan Dun will hold my governor’s seal and lead the army in retreat to defend Yuan City, awaiting instructions from Lord Gao’s reinforcements!”

Li Mu added calmly.

Everyone exchanged glances. Fan Dun hesitated briefly, then fell silent.

With business concluded, everyone filed out of the tent.

“General Fan, you stay!”

Fan Dun had reached the tent entrance when he heard himself called and turned back.

Li Mu rose from the commander’s seat, staring at him.

Under his two stern gazes, Fan Dun gradually showed unease, forcing himself to say: “I don’t know what the Governor wishes of me?”

“General Fan, I know you harbor some dissatisfaction with me. But there’s one thing you need to understand. Regardless of how the Guangling Army has distinguished itself, regardless of your past military achievements, having come here under my command, you have no way back. Only by following my orders and fighting with your back to the water. Success means everyone shares glory; defeat means corpses sink in the Fu River. You have no third path!”

Sweat gradually beaded on Fan Dun’s forehead.

“I am determined to win this battle! Anyone who harbors second thoughts and ruins my plans, I will kill them as a sacrifice to the battle flags!”

“I order you to lead troops and, after I break their formation, charge the enemy lines. Do you accept this order?”

The Governor Li Mu before him was much younger than himself.

But at this moment, awed by the sharp killing aura emanating from him like one who had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Fan Dun involuntarily knelt on one knee before him.

“This subordinate accepts the order!”