Volume 1 Chapter 78: Decisive Battle (Part 1)
"Is it really coming?"
Han Shizhong reined in his horse and stood on the section of the riverbank corresponding to the east side of the battlefield. Looking back, he saw Zhang Jun's trusted general Liu Bao leading the troops that were like the lifeblood of Zhang Taiwei hurriedly coming along the riverbank. He was actually a little bit incredulous for a moment.
Yang Yizhong on the side also withdrew his gaze from the chaos around the Jin army's camp, and then showed surprise... The reason was simple. As an old subordinate of Zhang Jun and a trusted aide of Emperor Zhao, Yang Dalang knew very well that Zhang Jun, a soldier from the old-fashioned Western Army, could grit his teeth and send Liu Bao's main force to the front battlefield when there were only more than 3,000 soldiers left. It must be a decision made by Emperor Zhao himself. Otherwise, Zhang Taiwei would use the supreme excuse of "protecting the emperor's safety" as an excuse, and no one could refute it.
This was just like the Imperial Guard that was sent here before. Without Emperor Zhao’s personal request, no one dared to dispatch this troop for support.
And this is where Yang Yi was surprised - half of him was naturally surprised that Zhang Jun had been arranged by Emperor Zhao; and the other half was shocked by Emperor Zhao's determination to fight today.
Yang Zhengfu had been with Zhao Jiu for so long that he naturally knew the changes before and after the emperor fell into the well, and also knew the various rumors in the outside world. However, whether it was because of his cautious nature or because he had been exposed to too much first-hand information, unlike those foreign officials who were more concerned about topics such as resisting the Jin or Yangzhou, Yang Dalang himself had always had some doubts in his heart, but he did not speak out.
Moreover, this doubt is multifaceted and not unidirectional.
Among them, there are doubts about Emperor Zhao's identity, as well as gratitude for Emperor Zhao's long-term respect for him, but there is also a certain natural wariness of the ministers towards the identity of the emperor... For example, Yang Yizhong has always felt that no matter whether Emperor Zhao has changed the basic national policy, no matter whether Emperor Zhao has changed his temperament, the selfish nature of this emperor as the emperor of the Zhao family has not changed. When the time comes, it is hard to say whether this emperor can go all out!
Therefore, before the battle today, Emperor Zhao's decisiveness made Yang Yizhong eliminate a lot of his vigilance.
Again, no matter how things change or how you put it, at least from Yang Yizhong's perspective, the current official still has some impressive courage.
"Commander Han!"
Back to the present, Liu Bao led more than a thousand soldiers of his own army, detoured from the river bank, and worked hard to rush from the westernmost part of the battlefield to the easternmost part. He himself rode a horse and rushed to Han Shizhong first, and hurriedly said to him, "My general sent me here to take orders, and said that it was the emperor's oral order to personally dispatch me... Now that things have come to this, what arrangements does the commander have? Just tell me!"
"I do have an important task for you, Commander Liu." Han Shizhong had just withdrawn his gaze from the Jin army camp, but he shook his head and spoke clearly, issuing a very precise military order. "We are now in front of the Jin army camp on the west side of the Xiacai city wall. We are short of troops, and the safety of the emperor is the top priority. Please ask Commander Liu to lead his troops to provide assistance over there, just in case..."
Hearing this, Yang Yizhong and Liu Bao were both stunned.
Then, the latter couldn't help but take off his helmet on the horse, staring at the person in front of him with his eyes wide open, with a ferocious look on his face... To be fair, Commander Liu is a recognized fierce general of the Western Army, and is famous for his violent temper. If the man in front of him didn't happen to be a higher ranker than him, have more experience than him, seem to be better at martial arts than him, and seem to have a more ruthless personality than him, otherwise he would have to kill this guy first today even if he risked his life!
However, isn’t that just so much?
So Liu Bao took a few breaths and managed to hold it in. He just held his helmet and asked, "Commander Han, are you deliberately making fun of me? You asked me to come to support, but you asked me to retreat in the middle of the fierce battle , run back and forth along the river bank, and then return to my position, but I lost the position for nothing?"
Yang Yizhong also found it absurd and seemed ready to make some suggestions.
"Hurry up and leave!" Han Shizhong was too lazy to say anything, and just looked down and scolded. "The outcome is about to be decided here, and the safety of the emperor is more important at this time. Don't ask any more questions, and return to the team quickly!"
Liu Bao was extremely speechless, but he could only throw the helmet in his hand to the ground angrily, 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.
"I am here!" Yang Yi Zhong did not dare to be negligent. He immediately put aside all his doubts and obeyed the order.
"I already understand the Jin army's deployment." Han Shizhong's tone was calm, but also somewhat serious. "I will leave now to prepare. Yang Dalang is here. Please keep an eye on my flags, drums, and prepare to pass orders... I will go around from the east and wait for you. After I raise my flag to signal you from the east, you will observe the Jin camp. If there are cavalry coming out to fight Wang Sheng, raise the blue flag; after all the cavalry have rushed to Wang Sheng's formation, raise the yellow flag; when the Jin cavalry is blocked, raise the red flag... Remember?"
Yang Yizhong nodded repeatedly, but still gritted his teeth and asked one more question: "Is that all?"
However, Han Shizhong ignored him and just glanced down at Yang Yizhong, then rode eastward along the river bank. The guards behind him had all thrown away their flags and drums, and only carried a general flag with the word "Han" on it, which they also dragged on the ground as they followed him.
At the same time, on the exposed riverbed along the inner edge of the river embankment, the two thousand personal troops of Han Shizhong, whom Zhang Taiwei had been worried about for a long time, namely the Beiwei Army and the Cuipian Army, also followed suit. Amid Yang Yizhong's nervousness and anxiety, they casually threw away their flags and drums, and each of them only carried a small flag, and followed Han Shizhong to the east.
"Those more than a thousand soldiers went back again?!"
Jin Wushu, who had been hesitating whether to attack from the front, climbed up the wooden lookout on the edge of the platform and looked at the troops on the riverbank to the south. But he couldn't help but ask himself in astonishment. "What does this mean?"
Shi Wenbin below seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"I understand."
Of course, Jin Wushu was no waste. He came down from the platform and was stunned for a moment before he suddenly realized what was going on. "The Song general outside has bad intentions. He wants to test where my central army is through this real and fake deployment!"
"I think so too." Shi Wenbin nodded quickly. "And just now the Song army withdrew two main forces from the western battlefield, but the Fourth Prince has not taken the opportunity to reinforce the west to try to break through. I'm afraid the Song army generals are already suspicious; and if this part of the army turns back and still doesn't encounter the Fourth Prince's reinforcements, I'm afraid they will completely understand that the east is advancing so quickly, there must be ambushes in the camp, and the Fourth Prince's central army must have supported that side... So, Fourth Prince, do you want to call back the central army, or simply order General Puluhun in the east to switch from attack to defense?"
