"He really came?"

Han Shizhong reined in his horse and stood on the riverbank on the east side of the battlefield. He looked back and saw Liu Bao, Zhang Jun's trusted general, leading the force that was like Zhang Taiwei's lifeline, hurrying along the riverbank. He was momentarily incredulous.

Yang Yizhong, who was beside him, also turned his gaze away from the chaotic 金 (Jin) army's main camp and showed a look of surprise... The reason was simple. As both Zhang Jun's former subordinate and Zhao Guan Jia's (the Emperor's) close attendant, Yang Dalang (Young Master Yang) knew very well that Zhang Jun, a military rascal from the old Western Army, would grit his teeth and send Liu Bao's main force when only three thousand armored soldiers remained on the front lines. This must have been a decision made by Zhao Guan Jia (the Emperor) himself. Otherwise, Zhang Taiwei would use the supreme tiger skin of 'protecting the safety of the Emperor' as a shield, and no one could refute him.

This was just like when the 御前班直 (Imperial Guards) were dispatched earlier. Without Zhao Guan Jia's personal order, no one would dare to dispatch this force to provide support.

And Yang Yizhong's surprise lay in this - half of it was naturally surprise that Zhang Jun had been properly arranged by Zhao Guan Jia again; the other half was shock at Zhao Guan Jia's determination in this battle today.

Speaking of which, Yang Zhengfu had been following Zhao Jiu for so long, so he naturally knew about the changes before and after the Emperor fell into the well, and he also knew about the various rumors circulating outside. However, whether it was because of his inherently cautious nature or because he had access to too much firsthand information, unlike those foreign ministers who were more concerned about topics such as resisting the 金 (Jin) or Yangzhou, Yang Dalang himself had always harbored some doubts in his heart, which he held back without revealing.

Moreover, this kind of doubt was multifaceted and non-directional.

Among them, there was both fear of Zhao Guan Jia's identity and gratitude for Zhao Guan Jia's consistent attention, but there was also a natural wariness of a subject towards the Emperor's identity... For example, Yang Yizhong had always felt that no matter whether Zhao Guan Jia had changed the basic national policy or whether Zhao Guan Jia's temperament had changed drastically, the Emperor's inherently selfish nature as the Emperor of the Zhao family had never changed. When it came to the crunch, it was hard to say whether the Emperor could go all out!

Therefore, today, facing the battle, Zhao Guan Jia's determination dispelled a lot of Yang Yizhong's wariness.

To reiterate, no matter how things changed, from Yang Yizhong's perspective, the current Emperor still had a bit of imposing aura that made people admire him.

"Commander Han!"

Returning to the present, Liu Bao led over a thousand armored soldiers from his unit, detouring along the riverbank, and laboriously arrived at the easternmost end of the battlefield from the westernmost end. He himself was riding a horse and galloped to Han Shizhong's side first, facing him hurriedly. "My Taiwei sent me here to listen to orders, and also said it was an imperial edict personally dispatched by Zhao Guan Jia... Now that things have come to this, whatever arrangements you have, Commander, just say it!"

"I do indeed have a major task for Commander Liu." Han Shizhong then turned his gaze away from the 金 (Jin) army camp, shaking his head and speaking clearly, issuing a very precise military order. "At this time, the 金 (Jin) army's main camp is directly in front of the Xiacai city wall to the west. Our troop strength is insufficient, and the safety of Zhao Guan Jia is the top priority. Please have Commander Liu lead his troops to provide support and reinforce that area, just in case..."

Hearing this, Yang Yizhong and Liu Bao were both stunned.

Immediately afterward, the latter couldn't help but take off his helmet on horseback, staring intently at the person in front of him with wide eyes, his face showing a ferocious expression... In all fairness, this Commander Liu was a recognized fierce general of the Western Army, and he was famous for his violent temperament. If it weren't for the fact that the person in front of him happened to be of a higher rank, had a longer history, seemed to be better at martial arts, and seemed to be even more of a hooligan, he would have risked his life to cut this guy down first!

However, weren't there so many coincidences?

So Liu Bao tried hard to catch his breath and finally endured it, only holding his helmet on horseback and asking urgently, "Commander Han, are you deliberately making fun of me? You asked me to come to support, but you want me to withdraw from the heat of battle, run back and forth along the riverbank and then return to my original position, losing ground for nothing?"

Yang Yizhong also felt it was absurd and seemed ready to offer advice.

"Hurry up and leave!" Han Shizhong was too lazy to say more and directly glared and scolded. "The outcome here will be decided soon. At this time, the safety of Zhao Guan Jia is even more important. Don't ask too much, quickly return to your post!"

Liu Bao was extremely speechless but could only smash the helmet in his hand hatefully on the ground and then turn around and gallop away.

"Yang Dalang!" Han Shizhong ignored Liu Bao and instead looked at Yang Yizhong, who was standing on the ground.

"Your subordinate is here!" Yang Yizhong did not dare to neglect and immediately put away all his doubts, bowing his head to receive orders.

"I already understand the 金 (Jin) people's deployment." Han Shizhong's tone was calm but showed some seriousness. "I am now going to prepare to move. Yang Dalang, you must keep a close watch on my flags and drums here and prepare to transmit orders... After I detour to the east and wait for position, and after I raise the flag to signal you from the east, you should then observe the movements of the 金 (Jin) camp. If cavalry comes out to fight Wang Sheng, raise the blue flag; if all the cavalry comes out and breaks through to behind Wang Sheng's formation, raise the yellow flag; when the 金 (Jin) army's cavalry is blocked and stagnates, raise the red flag... Remember that?"

Yang Yizhong nodded repeatedly but still gritted his teeth and asked one more question: "Is that all that's needed?"

However, Han Shizhong didn't even bother to pay attention to him, just glanced at Yang Yizhong condescendingly, and then went east along the riverbank on horseback. All his personal guards threw away the flags, drums, and other items, only carrying a Han-character general flag, but they also deliberately turned it upside down and dragged it on the ground as they followed.

At the same time, on the exposed riverbed along the inner edge of the riverbank, those two thousand Han Shizhong's personal troops, the 背嵬军 (Beiwei Army) and 摧偏军 (Cuipian Army), whom Zhang Taiwei had been thinking about for a long time, also followed suit, throwing away the flags and drums at will amidst Yang Yizhong's nervousness and unease, each carrying only a small flag, following Han Shizhong to the east.

"Those more than a thousand armored soldiers went back again?!"

Wuzhu, who had been hesitating whether to launch a frontal attack, climbed onto the wooden lookout platform at the edge of the general's platform and personally looked out at the troops on the southern riverbank, but he couldn't help but ask himself in amazement. "What does this mean?"

Shi Wenbin hesitated to speak.

"I know."

Of course, Wuzhu was by no means a useless person. He came down from the lookout platform and was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly understood. "The 宋 (Song) general outside has ulterior motives. He wants to test where my central army is through these true and false deployments!"

"Your student thinks so too." Shi Wenbin quickly nodded. "Moreover, the 宋 (Song) army has continuously withdrawn two main forces from the western battlefield, but the Fourth Prince has not taken the opportunity to increase troops to the west, trying to break through, for fear that the 宋 (Song) army's general has already suspected it; and at this time, if this unit of troops returns and still does not encounter the Fourth Prince's reinforcement, I am afraid that they will completely understand that the eastern progress is so rapid, there must be an ambush in the camp, and the Fourth Prince's central army must have supported it over there... So, Fourth Prince, do you want to recall the central army, or simply order General Puluhun in the east to change from attack to defense?"

ps: Thanks to the thirty-second Meng Kang Cheng Feibai, I am very grateful, and also an old book friend... Today my mother was still sighing on the treadmill, what exactly would make a person who reads books reward a book with a thousand yuan?