With Iron Bones, I Guard the Realm

In the seventh year of the Tianxing era under the Southern Liang, a million Northern Dynasty cavalrymen invaded south. All of Jiangbei fell, and the capital was in peril.

Xiao Chen was a refugee who had fled Jiangbei. His parents and siblings had all been killed by Zhao troops.

Swept into the army by retreating soldiers, he became the lowest-ranking auxiliary, not even qualified to fight on the front lines. All he could do was carry soldiers' baggage, transport provisions, and collect the dead.

Everyone thought the Southern Liang was doomed.

Then, on the night the Zhao army crossed the river, Xiao Chen and seventeen auxiliaries took fishing boats and sank three of the Zhao army's main warships.

For the first time, every court official remembered his name.

From the naval battle on the Yangtze to the northern campaign, he led a ragtag army of refugees, routed soldiers, and surrendered troops. After ten years of bloody fighting, he reclaimed sixteen prefectures in Jiangbei, marched on the Zhao capital, and forced the Northern Dynasty to cede territory and submit.

Starting as an auxiliary, he rose to become Grand Marshal of All Armies, was granted the title Duke of Dingguo, and entered the court as chancellor.

On his deathbed, the emperor entrusted the young ruler to his care and honored him as the regent father. Once the young ruler took the throne, he grew wary of Xiao Chen's overwhelming power and chipped away at his authority at every turn. Then the Zhao army broke the treaty and invaded south again, leaving the entire court at a loss.

Xiao Chen donned his armor, mounted his horse, and decided the fate of the realm in a single battle.

On the day he returned to the capital, he handed over all his military power in front of the entire court and disbanded his ironclad army.

That night, the young emperor came in person to the Duke of Dingguo's residence and bowed respectfully.

Amid the chaos of a warring age, this is the story of a god of war who began as an auxiliary, and the unwavering loyalty between him and an emperor of his time.