Talan's mind-boggling retreat north across the Yellow River swiftly invigorated Zhao Jiu, who had previously been steeped in a somber mood. Even lacking military acumen, he understood that this abrupt withdrawal by the Jurchen Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Right had fundamentally altered the situation in Henan.

The issue wasn't the number of troops still under Wanyan Talan's command, nor his battle-readiness or willingness to fight. The problem was his departure from Henan itself.

Talan was, in name, the supreme commander of the Eastern Route Army's 120,000-strong main force, and the de facto leader of the central group of the three main Jurchen forces in the Henan region.

His presence, even with a diminished force, ensured that all the Jurchen main forces in Henan remained a cohesive unit. Whether it was Wanyan Wushu's group, separated by the Five Rivers area, or the so-called Huaizhou and Nanjing groups on the easternmost front, all had a common point of coordination.

But with his departure, Wanyan Wushu's group was completely isolated, not to mention the distant control of Nianhan in Daming Prefecture on the east front!

The Song army, wary of the Jurchens' formidable combat power and mobility, couldn't yet claim victory, but they had, at the very least, seized the initiative.

Over the next three days, Han Shizhong, based on evolving military intelligence, repeatedly sent memorials to Zhao, the Emperor, in Tokyo, not only sharing his views but also continuously refining his plans.

By the twentieth day of the first month, with the arrival of new information – namely, that Ulin Datai Yu, under Wanyan Wushu’s command, who was supposed to be besieging Fangcheng, had appeared with several thousand cavalry near the Five Rivers defense zone under Yue Fei's responsibility – news of which was swiftly delivered by Yue Fei to Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, Han Shizhong's plan was immediately adjusted. It now involved a layered delaying action, luring the enemy deep, and then ambushing Wanyan Wushu at the junction of Zhengzhou, Yingchang Prefecture, and Kaifeng City, inflicting a heavy blow.

The plan bore the clear mark of personal vendetta. It was essentially a reversal of Wanyan Wushu's ambush at Zhujiaqu Town, where he had routed Han Shizhong, only with the roles of hunter and prey completely reversed.

Naturally, Zhao, the Emperor, immediately issued an edict of approval. Firstly, the plan seemed feasible. Secondly, Yue Fei was relaying the news; the event itself, Ulin Datai Yu's appearance in the Five Rivers area, had occurred a day and a half ago. Given the urgency, any plan was better than none!

Leaving aside the growing boldness of Han Shizhong and Zhao Jiu, on the other side, after Ulin Datai Yu's appearance in the Five Rivers area, Wanyan Wushu genuinely chose to withdraw his entire force, heading towards the Five Rivers region.

He had no choice.

Or rather, he had no reason to disbelieve it.

Initially, when Wanyan Wushu heard about the defeat at Changshe and Han Shizhong's escape, he was angry and shocked but not particularly doubtful or hesitant. Defeats were common in war, and Han Shizhong, the Song's premier general known for his constant 'miracles', coupled with the substantial forces of the Tokyo Garrison Command, made the defeat seem reasonable.

In fact, when the first wave of routed soldiers and messengers reached Nanyang, the Fourth Prince of the Jurchens only conferred briefly with Han Chang and Bali Basu before gritting his teeth and deciding on a strategy of returning to rescue the area and attempt to retake the Five Rivers region, or if that failed, to bypass Ruzhou and return north via Xijing.

After all, Wushu was already wrestling with the decision of whether to detach troops to Xiangyang. Talan's defeat, in a perverse way, made the decision for him.

However, as more and more stragglers arrived, Wanyan Wushu became increasingly suspicious and panicked because he flatly refused to believe their accounts of the Song Emperor personally appearing on the battlefield and driving the battle.

It was absurd!

Just days before, everyone, including Wushu himself, knew that Zhao Jiu had used 10,000 Song armored soldiers as bait to successfully trick everyone, including both Jurchen and Song forces, and then escaped to the fortified city of Xiangyang, protected by the Han River. That alone was enough to infuriate him.

Now, the fleeing soldiers were telling him that Zhao Jiu hadn't gone to Xiangyang, that the Song Emperor had tricked the Jurchen Fourth Prince twice... a double-layered trick!

How could he possibly believe that?

Thus, on the tenth day of the first month, at dawn, in that desperate situation, the southern side of Nanyang broke out that battle of lure and block, the Jurchen army won a great victory, Zhao Jiu escaped from Nanyang;

On the twelfth day of the first month, Zhao Jiu went straight into Yanling, killed Du Chong and seized military power;

On the thirteenth day of the first month, the Battle of Yanling-Changshe broke out. Within a short hour, the Jurchen army, being careless and underestimating the enemy, suffered a devastating blow.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, the Lantern Festival, Zhao Jiu arrived in Tokyo and peacefully took over the Tokyo Garrison Command from Zong Ze, who passed away that night. But that same afternoon, Wanyan Wushu also met Talan's defeated soldiers, quickly escorted to Nanyang City under the escort of Ulin Datai Yu.

In fact, so much happened on that day, Talan likely also escaped across the Yellow River that same day.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, Han Shizhong's pursuit forces encountered Yelu Ma Wu's troops, caught off guard in Zhengzhou, and won a great victory.

On the eighteenth day of the first month, Ulin Datai Yu's troops, finally receiving orders, appeared in the Five Rivers area and that night entered Wuyang, joining forces with the Jurchen remnants who had abandoned Xiangcheng, Yancheng, and Xiping, definitively confirming all previous reports.

However, considering that Ulin Datai Yu had previously been at Fangcheng, the center point between Nanyang and the Five Rivers area, only a hundred *li* from Wuyang, Wanyan Wushu likely hesitated for a day and a half before accepting the reality, then making a decision and issuing military orders.

Even more interestingly, within three days of Ulin Datai Yu's appearance in the Five Rivers area, Wanyan Wushu and his 30,000 Jurchen cavalry main force arrived in Wuyang with menacing momentum, joining forces with Ulin Datai Yu.

In other words, after all the news from Changshe was completely confirmed, Wanyan Wushu didn't leave a single soldier in Nanyang, instead leading the entire army at top speed toward the Five Rivers area… and then plunging headfirst into the defenses hurriedly set up by Yue Fei.

The disparity in numbers was vast, the disparity in combat power even greater. Added to that was the fact that the Song army had cities to defend. Yue Fei couldn't possibly inflict any substantial damage on Wanyan Wushu… but war wasn't just about open-field battles and city defense.

"What do you mean, you can't cross the river?"

On the twenty-second day of the first month, in the morning, on the banks of the Li River, Wushu, who had been sitting on his horse for a long time, finally received news, but couldn't help but stare coldly at the *mouke* in front of him.

"Fourth Prince, our scouts have confirmed that on the night General Ulin arrived in Wuyang, the Song army had dismantled and burned all the bridges over the Li River overnight, not just this one…" The *mouke*, who had just returned from a hard ride, was equally mounted and looked distressed. "Furthermore, the ice has melted, and the water has risen, making the few fords difficult to cross. It's barely possible to ford with horses, but extremely difficult to transport the subsequent supplies."

Wushu opened his mouth but managed to restrain himself.

"When an army marches, it clears mountains and builds bridges when encountering water." At that moment, Wanyan Bali Basu suddenly spoke coldly. "If there are no pontoon bridges, find a place where the water is calm and build one… Is this the Huai River or the Han River? Can't it be done?"

The *mouke* was startled and immediately obeyed the order, sending men to fell trees and prepare to build a pontoon bridge in front of the old bridge ruins.

Seeing the *mouke* depart to issue the order, Bali Basu turned to Wushu and earnestly advised, "Fourth Prince, forgive my frankness, since the Song army has already begun to deploy defenses here, it means that the Five Rivers area is already fully controlled by them. The more it is like this, the more we must carefully wait for the supplies behind us and not easily abandon our rear support to advance."

Wushu nodded repeatedly, unsure whether he was being perfunctory or genuinely listening.

Han Chang, standing by, wanted to interject and suggest whether they should be wary of Wang De in Nanyang behind them, but seeing Wushu's hand gripping the whip trembling slightly, he said nothing. He understood the Fourth Prince's current sense of indignation, anger, and absurdity, and even more so, the desire he was forcibly suppressing.

Clearly, if Wanyan Wushu urgently wanted to do anything at this moment, it was to rush over, find that Song Emperor who had gone north instead of south, and devour him alive!

In fact, if not for knowing that the Song Emperor was on this side, given the current situation, Wushu should have prioritized stability, heading north directly from Ruzhou in the west, first clarifying the military situation in Xijing (Luoyang) and stabilizing the situation.

Felling trees and building bridges were slow, not only because the Song army was prepared, having collected all possible ferries in advance, or because the Li River, neither large nor small, didn't require boats to build a pontoon bridge, but more importantly, Wanyan Wushu and his men now realized the detrimental consequences of abandoning the artisan corps to lure the enemy in Nanyang and then discarding the civilian laborers to concentrate the main cavalry force for a rapid advance.

In short, bridges could always be built, but when lacking the necessary number of Han Chinese laborers and accompanying artisans, it was bound to be clumsy and slow.

Moreover, even more frustrating things were yet to come. The Jurchen army finally managed to float a bridge roughly and sent a small group of elite soldiers across the river at a shallow spot from afar to anchor it on the other side… However, instead of the small group, they were greeted by fire ships drifting downstream.

Following the fire ships, the remnants of the small group scrambled back. Puli Yan, leading them, knelt before them with injuries. They had just taken off their armor and crossed the river on horseback in the cold water, but were ambushed on the opposite bank. About three or four hundred Song soldiers equipped with leather armor, bows and arrows, and short weapons were waiting in the increasingly dense reeds across the shallow.

After a brief battle, the fifty-man unit quickly lost more than half its members, forced to jump into the river with their horses and swim back in disarray.

The Jurchen high command on the southern bank of the Li River looked at each other in dismay, not bothering to deal with the returning Puli Yan, nor looking at the burning river, but only at the Fourth Prince.

"We can only send more men across the river on horseback to clear the northern bank thoroughly." Wanyan Wushu activated his military common sense and logical reasoning abilities, uttering a platitude.

"How many men should we send across the river?" Ulin Datai Yu finally frowned and spoke. "Fourth Prince, the Song army is prepared. If we send too few, they will be sent to their deaths in that shallow water. But if we send too many, how many is appropriate? And how much more time will it take?"

"Then tell me, what should I do, what can I do?" Wushu suddenly flushed, the veins on his hands gripping the reins standing out.

Ulin Datai Yu was startled and could only look at Han Chang and Bali Basu.

"You three *moukes*, go upstream and downstream to find shallow spots and cross the river together… send as many as possible, control the situation first." Helplessly, Bali Basu turned and gave the order.

Upon receiving the order, three cavalry brigades, which in the past would have been enough to raze cities and break armies, galloped off together, causing the ground by the river to tremble slightly. The momentum was extraordinary, but the Jurchen high command, from Wushu down, couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity, realizing that these majestic iron horses were about to risk their lives wading through the river, only for the construction of a pontoon bridge.

However, this time, it finally worked… After suffering asymmetrical losses and enduring a long period of torment, the pontoon bridge was finally erected by evening.

With one pontoon bridge established, as long as it was secured, countless more could easily be erected the next day.

Ulin Datai Yu, probably still angry from Wushu's unwarranted scolding, crossed the river alone and joined the three *moukes* as the vanguard.

However, that night, the Song army suddenly launched a surprise attack.

Instantly, gongs and drums sounded in unison, torches waved, and no one knew how many Song soldiers were attacking. The Jurchen soldiers, already exhausted from wading across the river during the day, were caught off guard and rushed to fight, while even the Jurchen troops on the southern bank were alarmed and rose to respond.

Even more devastating was that as the Jurchen army on the southern bank stabilized the situation and sent reinforcements in a hurry, the once-safe pontoon bridge was exposed in the night, allowing the Song army to take advantage… A well-equipped Song army rushed along the riverbank, throwing oiled firewood and torches, setting the pitiful pontoon bridge ablaze once again.

All that aside...

What truly drove Wushu to despair was that after a night of chaos, the Jurchen army counted their numbers at dawn after the Song army retreated and found that not many had died the night before. It was evident that the gongs, drums, and torches were merely a feint to exhaust the troops. Only the group of Song soldiers who had stormed the pontoon bridge and burned it down had shown some skill.

But that Song army had only left behind a vulgar remark, 'Your Grandpa Niu from Ruzhou,' after successfully burning the bridge.

Who the hell was Grandpa Niu from Ruzhou?

Regardless, with the main Jurchen force present and with people on both banks, the Jurchen army rebuilt the pontoon bridge, this time safely and steadily, busying themselves until noon, when multiple pontoon bridges were linked together, and the main Jurchen force began to cross the river. By evening, seventeen or eighteen thousand had already crossed.

However, the Jurchen high command carefully calculated on the riverbank and discovered a huge problem.

The Jurchen army consisted of 35,000 cavalry, and after merging with the remnants of Talan's army, had returned to its initial strength of 40,000.

With such a large force, those in front had already crossed the Li River, while those in the rear had yet to completely leave Wuyang City. Even more frightening was that the supplies they had brought from Nanyang were slowly making their way towards Wuyang. Under such circumstances, to guard against the Song army, as a safety measure, and as Bali Basu suggested, the entire army should wait safely on the Li River, waiting for everyone to cross before advancing to the next river.

Bali Basu's plan was certainly reasonable, because after Talan's defeat, the Five Rivers area ahead was a chaotic mess for the Jurchen army. At worst, the area could be entirely occupied by the Song army. In such a situation, if the Song army controlled every river with this intensity, then they could only know the situation behind that river after crossing it… Otherwise, who could guarantee that the next time, the Song army wouldn't send their main force to launch a night attack or ambush? They should know that the current Song army, from the Tokyo Garrison Command to the remnants of Han Shizhong, plus the original garrisons of the few cities, should be able to muster an army of 100,000!

However, if they proceeded so cautiously, a huge problem would arise… Just crossing the Li River alone would probably take three or four days. Five rivers, how many days would it take to cross them all?

Would there be no battles in between?

Could they dare to abandon those troublesome cities?

And if so, would the supplies be enough? Could they still sweep through the country as they had done before, allowing the Song cities that opened their gates to provide them with grain? Where was the supply line?

And if supplies couldn't be provided… what if 40,000 cavalry were trapped here? In fact, these problems were precisely what the Song army intended when they set up the Five Rivers defense system in this area. It was just that no one had expected that the Jurchen army hadn't felt its power when marching south, but would be heartbroken by it when heading north.

"Talan has misled me!" By the campfire, Wanyan Wushu, his eyes bloodshot, seethed with resentment. "I don't hate him for losing, I only hate him for not contacting me quickly. If I had only known where he was, why would I have been so disoriented?"