As the story goes, Han Shizhong's arrival on the mountain immediately caused a stir within the army. Leaving aside how Zhao, the Emperor, spoke with Han Shizhong, Lü Haowen's group, being a gathering of important officials, mostly intelligent men, were discussing the battle amongst themselves. Remarkably, they were able to piece together almost the entire plan of Zhao Gou and Han Shizhong...

Firstly, the Emperor's high regard for Han Shizhong was undeniable, a fact known to all officials. Those fleeing officials might not have known it before, but once they reached Sizhou and Chuzhou, and saw the jade belt worn by Han Shizhong, they certainly would have.

So, the question arises: given Zhao Gou's esteem for Han Shizhong, how could he possibly cast aside Han Shizhong, whom he had personally appointed as his backbone, as a mere auxiliary force in this battle that practically risked his own life as Emperor (though it had the air of "nothing to lose")?

Therefore, Han Shizhong had to be the main force, or at least be propped up as the main force! So, Han Shizhong's arrival today should have been part of the plan.

In fact, upon closer reflection, Han Shizhong's words and judgments seemed to be the real basis for Zhao Gou's choices all along... For example, Liu Guangshi's death seemed to be directly related to Han Shizhong's military report – it was Huyan Tong who delivered the military intelligence scouted by Han Shizhong, which clearly stated that the Jin army numbered only twenty to thirty thousand, and it was based on this report, combined with the internal uprising at Xiacai, that Zhao Gou personally and decisively executed Liu Guangshi.

As for the giant ships brought by Han Shizhong, they were not a pleasant surprise either. On the contrary, these people knew the origins of this fleet of sailing vessels better than anyone else, because this fleet was pieced together from the coastal prefectures of the Jingdong Two Routes!

It turned out that, not long after Han Shizhong transferred from Hebei to Jingdong Two Routes to quell the rebellion, which was shortly after the Emperor ascended the throne, before the Mingdao Palace incident, Han Shizhong received an order from the central government due to a memorial... At that time, the prefects along the coast of Jingdong East Route were worried that the Jin people would attack by sea, so they submitted a memorial to the Nanjing (Shangqiu) provisional court, requesting protection. Han Shizhong was then given the task of collecting the naval vessels from the various military prefectures along the river in Jingdong Two Routes while quelling the rebellion!

Later, as the provisional court moved south, Han Shizhong also moved south to quell the rebellion. Following the unwritten rules of the time, he stubbornly brought these ships along with him as if they were his private property, all the way to the southern part of the Shandong Peninsula... According to these people's corroboration, when Zhao Gou discussed this battle with Han Shizhong in Shunchang Prefecture, this fleet was anchored at LianShui military camp near Huai River!

In other words, this fleet was originally intended for Han Shizhong's major use, but before Huang Qianshan came to power and the Emperor was still powerful, the purpose of this fleet seemed suspicious. Later, when the Emperor decided to resist the Jin, this fleet was allowed to enter the Huai River.

Therefore, the logic of the matter is probably the opposite of what it seems. It is likely that it was because of this fleet that Han Shizhong boldly advised the Emperor to launch this battle!

You know what, these officials, though acting with hindsight, basically guessed the matter correctly about 70% or 80%... That's basically how things were.

The reason it was only 70% or 80% was that these officials could not possibly know what information gave Zhao Gou the courage to fight for his life, and they completely misunderstood the relative importance of Han Shizhong and Zhao Gou in planning this battle.

In fact, before asking that question on the Ying River embankment, Zhao Gou had already learned about the fleet from Han Shizhong. And as a time-traveler, he almost immediately used his informational advantage to instinctively think of the famous battle that was tied to Han Shizhong... That's right, it was the famous Battle of Huangtiandang, which has been featured in history books and countless novels!

As a time-traveler, Zhao Gou immediately realized why Han Shizhong later magically conjured up such a sailing navy under those circumstances and fought such a classic battle!

The reason is simple: General Han Wu initially had sailing ships and had experience commanding sailing fleets very early on! He may have been the first general in Chinese history to command a large-scale sailing fleet, and he actually played a key role at a critical historical juncture.

Of course, the sea ships under Han Shizhong's command in the Battle of Huangtiandang were definitely not limited to the scale of the Shandong Peninsula, that is, the so-called Jingdong Two Routes, but must have included the combined efforts of the coastal military prefectures at the mouth of the Yangtze River, which had richer sea ship resources.

However, wasn't the Jin army at that time the main force of the East Route Army, numbering nearly 100,000? Hadn't Wuzhu become a formal marshal? So, if Han Shizhong could use a large sea ship fleet to block the return route of Wuzhu's 100,000 main forces on the Yangtze River, why couldn't he use a smaller sailing fleet to block the advance of Wuzhu's 30,000 troops on the Huai River?

Moreover, Wuzhu had just taken office and was leading a large army for the first time, his military experience far inferior to that at Huangtiandang, while Han Shizhong, at the age of forty, was at the golden age of a top general!

In short, apart from the various accidents caused by the Liu Guangshi incident and the deviations from the plan that were inevitable during the war, this was the fundamental idea of this battle. It was Zhao Gou who actively proposed it, and Han Shizhong gave an affirmative answer. And this naval force was precisely the reason why Zhao Gou spared no effort to stabilize the situation here, and it was also the real foundation for him to have the courage to issue edicts indiscriminately, calling for national resistance, no retreat, and no peace at any cost.

It is said that on the fifth day of the eleventh lunar month last year, Zhao Gou and Han Shizhong finalized the plan on the Ying River embankment outside the city of Shunchang Prefecture. On the same day, Han Shizhong immediately set off, leading his infantry to march eastward along the Huai River, and sent messengers to summon the fleet to quickly enter the Huai River.

Before the end of the eleventh month, the two sides met and reorganized at Hongze Town (Hongze Lake did not exist at this time) at the junction of Chuzhou and Sizhou, and summoned the Chuzhou, Sizhou, and Lianshui soldiers and civilians, sailors, and supplies with the golden token secretly given by Zhao Gou.

By the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Gou's side was ready, and Han Shizhong was also fully prepared. He took the initiative to slowly approach the upstream, entering Sizhou.

Then, in the Liu Guangshi turmoil, Han Shizhong took the initiative to scout out the military situation, and then he no longer hesitated, sailing his warships with the wind and approaching the upstream again, passing Tushan in Haozhou after the New Year.

After the New Year, as Zhang Jun successfully used the "straw boats to borrow arrows" tactic, and Wuzhu still did not attack the city, determining that the Jin army was about to cross the river, Zhao Gou did not hesitate any longer and immediately summoned Han Shizhong to come here!

According to the agreement, Han Shizhong should have arrived earlier...

"We encountered the Jin army at the Juejian forty miles east last night," Liu Hongdao said frankly, with a hint of drunkenness. "The Emperor should have known this as soon as we landed... Otherwise, we would have arrived by noon today, and the Jin people wouldn't even have dared to build a pontoon bridge."

"How many Jin troops were there at Juejian? Where did they come from?" Lü Haowen, also with a hint of drunkenness, was immediately startled. "Did they stop you?"

"Only about a thousand, probably a detached force, how could they stop us?" Liu Hongdao said casually. "And it wasn't just stopping them, it was also Han Wu's good fortune... We temporarily waited behind, not knowing the truth. We only heard that as soon as the Jin army crossed the river at night, they were cut off by Han Shizhong's fleet against the wind. At that time, the sun had just risen, and the entire river surface was golden. The Jin army instantly lost many ships and had to abandon their ships and go to the small islands in the center of the river. Now they are trapped there to die by the few ships left by Han Wu! I took a special look when I passed by, and there were at least four or five hundred Jurchen soldiers among them. The thousand horses left behind on the Hebei side were also seized by Han Wu. This is truly a great achievement!"

"If that's the case, it is indeed good fortune!"

"Perhaps Han Commander will become Grand Commandant Han tomorrow morning."

Everyone couldn't help but sigh.

"In my opinion, this may not be good fortune," Only Scholar Lin, who had drunk too much, blurted out. "I'm afraid that Commander Han scouted out the military situation and did it on purpose, so he fought a good battle. But is he not afraid that if the Eight-Gong Mountain is defeated today, it will ruin a great matter?"

"It's not that serious," Zhang Jun thought for a moment and responded casually. "There must be greed for merit, but not to the point of ruining things. You must know that large sailing ships do not require manpower, they sail with the wind, day and night, much faster than by land. And that Juejian Town is only forty miles away from here, and today the southeast wind is just right, so they could have arrived in half a day... But Han Shizhong only arrived in the afternoon, apparently knowing that the Jin army was building a bridge to cross the river today, and deliberately suppressed his speed, preparing to perform well on the river this afternoon. But he didn't expect Zhang Yongzhen to revitalize the situation, causing the Jin army to lose their chance to advance early and withdraw directly."

Everyone thought about it carefully and realized, then felt relieved.

However, just as everyone was discussing this and preparing to have another round of drinks before leaving, suddenly, there was another commotion outside the wooden house... At first, everyone thought that Han Shizhong was about to leave, but after asking, they learned that Han Wu had already left and boarded the ship. And upon further questioning, they were told that Zhao Gou, the Emperor, had personally ordered the entire army to be reorganized and prepared to meet the enemy! Not only that, but just as these people were preparing to go to the imperial tent to ask the reason, they saw Yang Yizhong personally wearing armor, and in the bright light, leading hundreds of armored guards, rushing directly past them and heading west in a hurry.

At this moment, almost everyone from Lü Haowen downward turned pale and could hardly stand!

"I have three questions for the Fourth Prince!" At the same time, in the Jin army camp, at the highest military conference attended by only three people, Ali was facing Wuzhu with a dark face. "First, you also know the reputation of Han Wu, the Rogue from Zhao Prefecture, and you know that he is deploying defenses downstream. Then why, when Han Shizhong led such large ships here today, did none of the entire Meng'an we sent downstream report back?"

Wuzhu remained silent with a dark face. Elubu was about to speak, but Ali waved his hand to stop him: "Second, Fourth Prince, where is the plan that you said was more than this today? And third, why did Fourth Prince delay the military conference until now? What are you waiting for?"

Hearing this, Wuzhu finally raised his head and reluctantly responded: "As General Ali guessed, two Meng'an found boats on both sides... The one on the east side should have been originally intended for Liu Guangshi's troops to cross the river; the one on the west side was abandoned by a Song army general named Ding Jin after he was defeated in the Battle of Feikou. There were not many of them, only dozens of small boats, enough to carry a thousand people if we left the mounts behind. Therefore, after I received the report, I didn't let them come together, but instead let them cross the river from the left and right sides early this morning, and then attack Eight-Gong Mountain from the left and right. If we can fight until now, no matter how many losses there are on the water, a three-sided attack will arrive at night, and with the Song army's incompetence in land warfare, they will inevitably be defeated!"

"And now?" Ali asked coldly. "The reason why Fourth Prince delayed the military conference must be to wait for the two armies to give you a surprise, but have you received any news?"

"The one on the east side must have been destroyed by these giant ships," Wuzhu felt unstable as he was forced to answer. "As for that Meng'an under Shulie on the west side, I still don't know the news... Perhaps they retreated because they didn't see any fighting, or maybe they are still on the road, or maybe they simply seized a city from the Song people on the road and are waiting for my news! General Ali also knows that with the Song people's troops, a thousand-man night raid can probably capture a city in eight or nine out of ten times! They might even directly raid the camp and break the Song army's Huainan camp! I'm just afraid that they saw that there was no movement here and didn't dare to act rashly!"

Ali asked clearly and was too lazy to say more, so he simply walked away in anger.

"Where is General Ali going?" Elubu quickly asked. "The military conference has not yet produced a result."

"What result is there to talk about?" Ali replied remotely without turning his head. "No matter what, that thousand of Shulie's sons have already become an isolated army. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when the Song army finds out and is prepared, they will be useless! And whether you want to remind Shulie today or help Shulie, you must make a move now... Quickly call up the entire army and launch a feigned attack on Xiacai at night! Seeing this, Shulie will definitely make up his mind to directly launch a night raid on the Song army's Huainan camp!"

Wuzhu and Elubu suddenly realized and hurriedly got up and followed him out. When the three of them came out of the military tent together, before they could mobilize their troops, they heard the Song army's Huainan Eight-Gong Mountain camp roaring without restraint from across the river, and a fire broke out at the western water village!

Seeing this, Wuzhu turned his worry into joy and cheered up again: "Shulie is truly a good man, bringing glory to us Jurchens!"

Ali was speechless, but could only quickly urge Wuzhu to quickly beat the drums to raise troops and launch a night attack on Xiacai!