The minor emotions of an individual in war seem insignificant, especially when that individual's position in the army is so humble.

In reality, whatever emotions and thoughts one might have quickly became irrelevant, because just a day later, the stillness of the Huai River battlefield, or rather, the flashy and seemingly intense back-and-forth of psychological warfare that preceded it, came to a complete end. What followed was military action in the truest sense: the Jin army began to construct pontoon bridges, attempting to cross the Huai!

It should be said that almost everyone knew that for more than a decade, the Jin people had risen to their current position by relying on this tactic... They were barbaric and crude, they weren't as clever as their opponents, they didn't have as many men, they didn't understand what Sun Tzu's Art of War was, they only knew how to use the methods of hunting wild beasts, and even then, they would resort to brute force when necessary!

Yet, they were always the victors!

All honor and morality, psychological calculations, strategies, equipment, and even civilization and the system itself, were swept away in the final showdown with real swords and spears!

In fact, Zhao Jiu's performances on both sides of the Huai River were insignificant compared to those of his predecessors. The key still lay in the military action itself.

This time, if the Jin people were truly blocked at the Huai River line, no matter how badly the Song army was beaten, Zhao Guan Jia's actions would still have a chance to become the prelude to a great era. But if Wuzhu of Jin made a fool of himself but ultimately succeeded in crossing the river and managed to cut off Zhao Jiu's head... then Zhao Guan Jia's previous performances would only become a joke.

"This must be because Guan Jia issued a decree a few days ago, and the envoys going to Huaibei were robbed on both wings." On the city wall of Xiacaicheng, Tian Shizhong, in full armor, blurted out, looking at the starting point of the pontoon bridge being built less than two miles east of the city. "Wuzhu of Jin is indeed capable in warfare. He endured Lord Grand Tutor's provocation earlier; then, realizing that there might be righteous armies coming to help, he immediately crossed the river, showing decisive decision-making!"

However, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, also in full armor, remained silent and did not respond to his son-in-law.

"Grand Commandant," Liu Bao, another general under Zhang Jun, couldn't help but grit his teeth and speak up. "The morale in the city is still strong, and there are no obstacles along the Huai River embankment. Should we take the initiative to attack, even destroying the base of that pontoon bridge would be a great achievement!"

"Absolutely not!" Zhang Jun shook his head expressionlessly. "The Jin army is deliberately this close, deliberately opening up this path... It seems like only two miles, but even if we send all twenty to thirty thousand people in the city, we might not get through."

"What about a night attack?" Tian Shizhong thought for a moment, then asked again. "At dusk, we could launch a feigned attack here, and then send a hundred or so daredevils out from the water gate with ropes, sneaking along the river embankment..."

"The plan might work," Zhang Jun shook his head. "But I'm afraid there won't be enough time..."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Ding, who had been nodding in agreement, was shocked to hear this. "Could this pontoon bridge be completed in a day?"

"It won't be completed in a day," Zhang Jun turned his head and replied seriously. "But I'm afraid it can be completed in half a day, and by dusk, thousands of elite armored soldiers can cross over!"

Zhao Ding was stunned.

"Zhao Da Mu doesn't know, this Huai River is both wide and narrow. The Jin people temporarily fell trees, and the wood, without being polished or dried, cannot be made into boats, but after being dried, it can be made into stable things like wooden boxes and cabins, placed on wooden rafts, and connected with ropes. So, without any obstruction, this pontoon bridge can be built almost instantly!" Tian Shizhong quickly explained. "Moreover, the Jin army's bravery is extraordinary. When I fought in Hebei, I personally witnessed tens of thousands of Jin troops, led by the Second Prince of Jin, Wolibu, openly removing their armor in winter and floating horses across the river, not caring about livestock, soldiers, or even the lives of their Jin nobles..."

At this point, Tian Shizhong couldn't help but pause slightly, before adding a sentence in Zhao Ding's astonished expression, "At that time, Liang Shicheng, one of the Six Traitors, was the commander. He originally thought he could resist the Jin people across the river, but when he saw Wolibu, a prominent figure in the Jin country, actually taking the lead in floating horses across the river, he was so frightened that he fled without a fight, and hundreds of thousands of troops collapsed at the first touch! And today, Wuzhu, the Fourth Prince of Jin outside this city, was also a general under Wolibu that day. I don't think that in just one year, this person has lost that spirit of personally floating horses across the river. I'm afraid that once the pontoon bridge is completed, he will order the entire army to cross the river at any cost."

Zhao Ding's face turned pale as he listened, and he had no words to respond.

Thinking about it, what could Zhao Yuanzhen, Zhao Da Mu, say at this time? He certainly knew that the foundation of this battle was with Guan Jia at Mount Bagong in Henan, and he also knew that the success or failure of this battle depended on whether the Jin army could successfully cross the Huai. He also understood that even if the defense of Xiacaicheng was the only consideration, he should try to prevent the Jin army from crossing the Huai... But the problem was, did Zhang Jun, Tian Shizhong, and Liu Bao not know this?

They knew, and they had also made efforts in the past few days, and they still had ideas now, but the Jin people had ignored them before, and now they weren't giving them a chance... Or rather, Zhao Ding himself was very clear that with Xiacaicheng separated from the Huainan camp, the pressure should be borne by the Huainan camp, since the Jin army had chosen to cross the Huai instead of attacking the city. Xiacaicheng couldn't manage much.

After watching for a while, Zhang Jun turned around with an unchanged expression and asked about another matter, "How is the inner fortification going?"

"Still very slow!" Tian Shizhong quickly replied. "The key is that there is too much debris deposited in the water, and it is extremely difficult to salvage, and there is a shortage of staff..."

"Send more people, day and night... The trebuchets can be slowed down a bit; in addition, the entire army should be careful to defend, and no one is allowed to go into battle without my personal order!" After giving these instructions as best he could, Zhang Jun immediately turned and left the city.

And Zhao Ding sighed, although he did not leave the city with Zhang Jun, he could only stand on the city wall and watch in vain, occasionally looking at the dragon banner that could be seen faintly on the other side of the river.

As Zhao Ding's gaze turned to the south bank of the Huai River, above the steep cliffs of the northern Luan of Mount Bagong, under the golden Wu banner, as perhaps the place with the widest view of the entire battlefield, the atmosphere here was also perhaps the worst on the entire battlefield... The reason was simple: this place probably gathered all the military idiots on the entire battlefield!

"Guan Jia!" Zhang Jun, the Imperial Censor, watched for half a day. Seeing a large banner also erected on the opposite bank, and countless armored cavalrymen surrounding several people on the embankment, he couldn't help but ask, "Should we send someone down to urge Wang Yacha to quickly send troops to stop the pontoon bridge?"

"No!" Zhao Guan Jia, sitting motionless, gritted his teeth and replied.

"Guan Jia!" After a while, seeing that the Jin army's pontoon bridge had one base erected and then began to extend continuously, Wang Boyan couldn't help but open his mouth. "If we don't go to Wang De, should we take the opportunity to issue a decree to Xiacai?"

Zhao Jiu finally roared, "The ships, large and small, are all in our hands, while the Jin army is abandoning the advantages of warhorses and armor to cross the natural barrier. Zhang Jun and Wang De are both veteran generals. Wasn't the discussion before very appropriate? What are you panicking about?!"

Silence fell under the dragon banner and lasted for a while.

However, as the sun gradually rose higher, and the Huai River pontoon bridge was almost half completed, someone could no longer bear it.

"Guan Jia," Lu Haowen said cautiously, with a slight sweat on his forehead. "The Jin army is building the bridge so quickly, and the bridge is stable, with no signs of being washed away by the current... Let's not mention this for now... The key is that our army still hasn't moved. Could it be that the generals in the mountains are not convinced by Wang De, resulting in some friction? Should we send an envoy with a gold medal to ask?"

Seeing that it was Lu Haowen, Zhao Jiu gave the first important official of the Xingzai some face, but he turned his head to look at Lan Gui, the trembling Grand Eunuch of the Inner Servant Province, "Go add a chair for each of Lord Lu and Lord Wang, and then have some tea made. I want to drink tea with the two lords!"

Lan Gui took the order in a flustered manner... It should be said that Mount Bagong was located on the important road of Huainan, and had long been connected to the Southeast offerings, so naturally it lacked nothing. In a short time, desks, tall stools were set up, and tea was served... Honestly speaking, if it wasn't for the little eunuch who came to pour tea, startled by the Jin army's pontoon bridge on the opposite bank, dropping the teapot, this place would have had a similar style to the Battle of Feishui!

After another while, almost at noon, when the Jin army's pontoon bridge progressed to three-quarters, seeing the water village of the western passage of the Bagong Mountain camp wide open, and a dense mass of no less than a hundred large and small boats pouring out, turning into the upstream of the pontoon bridge and lining up, most people breathed a sigh of relief.

"Guan Jia!"

At this moment, someone couldn't help but speak again. Everyone turned around to look, but it was actually Hu Yin, Hu Mingzhong, the number one radical angry youth of the Xingzai, which made them puzzled.

"Guan Jia," Hu Mingzhong said with a flushed face, standing tall. "Since our army is about to fight, why not move the imperial carriage to the Dongdao ferry below the mountain, and then Guan Jia personally beat the drums to cheer, to boost morale?"

"I help you..."

After listening, Zhao Jiu was stunned for a long time before realizing what the other party meant, and he almost cursed.

"Scholar Hu is confused!" Yang Yizhong, who shouldn't have interrupted, really couldn't stand it, so he interrupted despite the risk of offending everyone. "It's not impossible to beat the drums to cheer at the Dongdao ferry, but if that's the case, this should have been decided earlier. If we move the carriage now, the soldiers in the river might think Guan Jia has fled when they see the movement from afar!"

Hu Yin paused for a moment, then honestly shut his mouth.

At this time, the breeze stirred the dragon banner, and it was actually a southeastern wind. Zhao Jiu's heart moved slightly, and he actually gained a bit more confidence, and then he wanted to take this opportunity to say a few ceremonial words and perform.

But before he could speak, Hu Yin frowned again and said, "If that's the case, why did none of the generals ask Guan Jia to come to the Huai River to supervise the battle when the several military meetings mentioned how to deal with the pontoon bridge a few days ago?"

Zhao Jiu was about to laugh and answer, but Scholar Lin suddenly spoke nervously, "Guan, Guan Jia, Wang De has just been promoted to commander. I'm afraid the other generals in the army are not convinced. Should we send someone to take a look, to prevent any friction between them that might delay military affairs?"

Zhao Jiu was first slightly stunned, then became exasperated, and without regard for the pontoon bridge in the river that had already reached the shallow water area on the south bank, and the war drums on the opposite bank urging the Jin army to charge forward, he directly pointed at Lin Jingmo and angrily said to Hu Yin:

"Scholar Hu now knows why the generals are unwilling for me to come to the ferry to supervise the battle? Because today, me sitting here under the dragon banner in the northern Luan is two great achievements... One is to boost the morale in the river, and the other is to tie down you armchair strategists!"

Before these words were finished, the group of civil officials under the dragon banner didn't even have time to feel insulted, when the drums on both sides of the river suddenly sounded loudly at the same time, and even Xiacaicheng on the diagonally opposite side directly beat drums to cheer. It turned out that the Jin army saw that the pontoon bridge was about to be completed, and the Song army's ships were about to move, so they simply urged their armored archers to forcibly cross the pontoon bridge, while the Song army's sailors no longer hesitated and, led by two veteran generals, Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing, rowed their boats eastward from upstream, heading straight for the pontoon bridge!

Zhao Jiu didn't have time to speak to the pale-faced civil officials behind him, so he quickly turned his head to look, but he saw that in just a moment, the vanguard of the Song army's sailors had already rushed to the front, but it was seven or eight small boats... However, wanting to take a closer look, he couldn't see clearly at all because of the distance.

He could only vaguely guess, combined with what he had heard in the previous military meetings, that these boats should be carrying fire-setting materials... However, although he couldn't see clearly, it was obvious that these boats immediately failed after a moment—the fire didn't start, the people on the boats couldn't be seen clearly, but they should have been either dead or injured, because these seven or eight small boats quickly lost control and were carried by the current to the pontoon bridge, becoming the Jin army's spoils of war.

In fact, this was indeed the case. In places beyond Zhao Jiu's sight, almost none of these boats reached the pontoon bridge, and they were defeated by the Jin army's hard bows and strong crossbows!

It should be said that on the pontoon bridge, there were mostly Jin and Han troops. The former used bows, and archery was originally their main field warfare tactic. Their range was not far, but they had the advantage of extremely long arrows and arrowheads that were actually five or six inches long, so-called powerful armor-piercing; while the latter mostly used strong crossbows seized from the Song army, so there was no need to say more!

The small force's attempt to use minimal consumption to set fire to the pontoon bridge failed, and the Song army did suffer a setback, but the morale of the army did not waver. Driven by the two generals, the second wave of the Song army's main offensive almost followed, with several larger ships in the front and dozens of smaller ships providing support in the rear, going with the flow from the center of the river and forcefully crashing into the pontoon bridge!

This time, it was impossible for the Jin army to stop the offensive by shooting arrows, and several large ships were hit head-on, and countless sections of the pontoon bridge were overturned, with countless Jin soldiers and crossbowmen falling directly into the water! And somewhere in the second half of the pontoon bridge, perhaps where the current was strongest, a large ship simply crashed it into two!

After this round of impact, the pontoon bridge, which had been connected to the shallow water area on the south bank of the Huai River, was directly reduced by a third! The Jin army on the bridge was instantly reduced by more than half!

Zhao Jiu and others saw clearly from the steep cliffs of the northern Luan of Mount Bagong, and almost everyone was relieved. Only then did they feel sweat pouring down their backs, and the soldiers in the left and right camps below the mountain, and the heads of Xiacaicheng on the opposite bank, cheered endlessly.

"The opportunity has come!"

However, Wuzhu of Jin, standing on the embankment on the north bank of the Huai River, was not angry but happy to see this. He raised the horse whip in his hand with a big laugh and waved it vigorously. "Where is Pulu Hun? Don't worry about anything else. Take this opportunity to lead your troops along the pontoon bridge to seize the ships with melee combat... If we can get these ships wrapped around the pontoon bridge, what do we need a pontoon bridge for?!"

"The Fourth Prince had already planned this?" As Pulu Hun's troops rushed out of the river embankment with hooks and ropes, Ali, a ten thousand-man commander riding a horse and standing beside Wuzhu of Jin, couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. "No wonder you repeatedly instructed the pontoon bridge to be as strong as possible, rather than quickly built? It seems that you also wrapped fishing nets around the west side of the pontoon bridge as much as possible?"

"That's right, but my plan today is not limited to this!" Wuzhu of Jin just glanced at him with disdain, and replied with great pride, "General Ali, just watch on this embankment as I achieve such a great feat as my Second Brother!"