As time marches on, events inevitably unfold dynamically, especially in complex war situations.

On February 4th, the Song army, relying on surprise, used cannons against cannons in the siege of Xiacai, achieving a visible victory in a long-standing stalemate. That evening, news of the great victory at Liangshanpo also reached the Huai River area.

On February 5th, when Han Shizhong escorted Tian Shizhong up the mountain, he specifically reminded Zhao Guan Jia (Emperor Zhao) that the campaign was far from over.

On February 6th, unexpectedly, the Jin army decisively divided its forces and withdrew north, seemingly in an orderly fashion.

That same evening, Zhao Guan Jia sought out Han Shizhong, who judged that the Jin army might feint to the east but strike in the west, launching a surprise attack. Han Shizhong, according to Zhao Guan Jia's request, proposed a plan to eliminate the Jin army's main camp, which received Zhao Jiu's approval.

Early in the morning of February 7th, Zhao Guan Jia, having made his decision, summoned Prime Ministers Lu Haowen and Wang Boyan from the Eastern and Western Administrations, unilaterally informing them of the general military plan. With the assistance of several close officials, they nominally passed it through the Department of State Affairs, officially making the action a legitimate military operation at the national level.

In the morning, the Jin army began packing their equipment again. With Zhao Jiu personally overseeing the operation from the water camp, Han Shizhong began, according to plan, to replace the routed troops in Xiacai with elite soldiers from the Bagong Mountain camp in Henan.

At noon, the Jin army's second detachment of seven thousand men set off as predicted.

In the afternoon, Zhao Jiu, along with the Imperial Guard and several close officials, crossed the river with Huyan Tong's troops, returning to Xiacai from inside the city. However, to prevent information leaks, they remained in the government office without showing themselves.

Soon after Zhao Jiu entered the city, in the evening, Han Shizhong himself, wearing ordinary iron armor and without banners, suddenly rode in from the direction of the Jin camp with only a few riders. After a nearly farcical chase, he entered the city calmly and proposed changing the attack time to Zhao Guan Jia.

"Not a night raid, but a surprise attack at dawn tomorrow?"

Zhao Jiu paused slightly upon hearing this, then immediately nodded. "We shall follow what Liangchen (Good Minister) suggests."

Han Shizhong had wanted to explain further, but he was taken aback. Not only did the Emperor agree immediately, but most of the accompanying officials and military officers were also silent, so he simply took his leave.

As soon as he left, Grand Commandant Zhang Jun, who had been watching coldly, spoke up, "I must inform Your Majesty that Commander Han is afraid!"

"Is that so?" Zhao Guan Jia, sitting still, showed no change in expression, but pointed to the brand-new red robe he was wearing. "This Emperor thought that Commander Han wanted the soldiers attacking the camp to be able to see this Emperor's new clothes on the city wall clearly."

Zhang Jun was slightly stunned. He had wanted to hold back, but couldn't help himself. "Your Majesty! This is simply because Han Wu made a rash statement before, insisting on organizing a night raid. As a result, after personally scouting today, he discovered that the Jin army's defenses were tight, and his old night raid plan was completely unworkable, so he changed it to a dawn surprise attack!"

"Grand Commandant Zhang's words are inappropriate," Imperial Censor Zhang Jun, who shared half a name with Grand Commandant Zhang, suddenly stepped forward and refuted him publicly. "Commander Han's adjustment may have underestimated the Jin army's defenses, but hasn't it also overestimated our army's night fighting ability? It's hard to say whether the failure of the night raid was realized today because the Jin are too strong or because our army is too weak, isn't it?"

Zhang Jun was frightened by the Imperial Censor and his momentum stalled. As he prepared to refute, someone sneered and challenged the Imperial Censor before him. Grand Commandant Zhang looked up and saw Zhao Ding, Zhao Da Mu, who had been sharing weal and woe with him these past few days!

"Zhang Xiantai!" Zhao Ding's words were full of estrangement and indignation, as if he didn't care about their past friendship. "I must inform Zhang Xiantai that we have been facing the enemy day and night in Huaibei and know the Jin army's strengths and weaknesses thoroughly. If you high officials in the rear don't know the Jin army's strengths and weaknesses, just ask us. Why bother playing with words here?"

"That's right," Zhang Jun chimed in quickly. "If Han Wu had asked us in Huaibei before, why would he have changed his strategy at the last minute? The key is that he put Your Majesty in danger. I must inform Your Majesty that I have been dealing with the Jin army here for a long time and know that the Jin people's camps are well-organized and prepared, spacious and orderly, and that their night patrols are strict, even using hawks and hounds for nighttime defense..."

"Hawks and hounds?" Zhao Jiu, who had been listening expressionlessly for a long time, suddenly jumped. "Golden Eagles and war dogs?"

"Y-yes, that's right." Zhang Jun was also frightened by Zhao Guan Jia's reaction and could only explain nervously, "Precisely golden eagles and war dogs. The Jin people are skilled in fishing and hunting, and their military methods are often derived from hunting, so they naturally bring them along for defense!"

"If the golden eagles fly so high, wouldn't they have a clear view of the city's strengths and weaknesses?" Zhao Jiu asked quickly. "Wouldn't our movements this time also be visible to the golden eagles?"

"Your Majesty is overthinking it." Zhang Jun finally understood the Emperor's meaning and breathed a sigh of relief. "Golden eagles are just falcons. My family is from Guanxi, and I've seen them a lot... These things, no matter how smart, are just birds. In the grasslands, deserts, and snowfields, they can see large groups of people marching, but in the Central Plains, where there are people everywhere, they can hardly distinguish between soldiers and civilians in the wild, let alone understand what's happening in the city. If they were really that magical, the Jurchens would have known about my artillery when it first started!"

Zhao Jiu realized that he had made a fool of himself and slowly nodded. "In other words, when these golden eagles come to the Central Plains, they mainly rely on the falcon's invincible aerial stance to deliver military secrets and are mostly used as messengers?"

"That's right," Grand Commandant Zhang nodded repeatedly. "I must inform Your Majesty that in terms of camp defense, hawks may not be as good as dogs, and dogs may not be as good as camps, and camps may not be as good as people... In short, if Han Shizhong had asked me a question before making this plan, he would never have made such an absurd change of plans at the last minute!"

Zhao Jiu chuckled and nodded immediately. "This Emperor knows that Commander Zhang has been independently supporting Xiacai these days, doing all the hard and tiring work. I also know that you have almost ruined your family to save Xiacai. You are a great hero in this battle, and this Emperor understands that! In short, this battle will not be fought in vain!"

Zhang Jun felt his bones loosen a few pounds upon hearing this, feeling that he had not bet on the wrong side, and nodded immediately.

Zhao Ding, on the other hand, was slightly helpless... The Emperor was vague, not knowing whether he was pretending to be confused or truly confused, but his intention to protect Han Shizhong was too obvious.

Looking at it this way, Han Shizhong was more favored than Zhang Han in the Emperor's heart!

Further investigation would only reveal that, no matter what, compared to Zhang Deyuan, who took the lead and then led every step of the way, he, Zhao Yuanzhen, was always a little lacking in all aspects.

But at least he hadn't missed this time!

Regardless of the small twists and turns before the war, the next morning, at the fourth watch (between 3 and 5 AM), Zhao Jiu, who had barely slept a wink all night, was awakened and, under the personal protection of Grand Commandant Zhang, ascended the east gate tower of Xiacai with a group of important officials.

There, several tables of wine and food had already been set up.

"Have the soldiers eaten their fill?" Zhao Guan Jia, having changed into a new round-collared red robe and wearing a hard-winged futou (hat), glanced at the densely packed armored soldiers behind the city gate, but was not in a hurry to take his seat. Instead, he smiled and asked Zhang Jun, "Have all the riches that this Emperor brought yesterday been distributed?"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" Zhang Jun, fully armored, bowed and replied, rarely serious. "The rewards have all been distributed, the armor and weapons have all been properly allocated, and everyone has just eaten their fill in batches..."

Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly, but then gestured with his mouth, "What about the wine?"

"Your Majesty," Zhao Ding, the Prefect of Shouzhou, finally inserted with a wry smile. "We've been defending the city for almost two months. Although we haven't lacked food and water, we've really run out of wine in the city. This little bit was basically requisitioned from Commander Han at the last minute..."

"Since it's so precious, let's temporarily withdraw it," Zhao Jiu waved his hand and said loudly. "When the soldiers return victorious, this Emperor will share it with them... For now, let this Emperor watch how you all defeat the enemy!"

These words were clearly meant for the soldiers below the city, and how could Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding not understand? So, they didn't dare to neglect and were about to act accordingly.

However, at this moment, someone from the soldiers below the city who were originally quietly craning their necks to look at the Emperor, suddenly spoke presumptuously: "Your Majesty! According to me, this time out, we might not come back to use your imperial wine. Just like Prefect Zhao said, two months, our mouths have been as bland as bird droppings... Why not let us have it first?"

The civil and military officials on the city, whether they were Imperial Censors, Academicians, Prefects, or Commanders, all turned pale with embarrassment. Zhang Jun was even more exasperated and stamped his feet towards the city below, "Li Laosan, this is before the Emperor, can't you be quiet for me? What do you have to drink wine with, without any merit? Besides, we're about to attack, wouldn't rewarding you at this time disrupt the attack order?"

Zhao Jiu had wanted to bestow it, but upon hearing this and seeing the east gradually turning white, with countless armored soldiers below the city craning their necks to look at him in the morning light, he smiled slightly and said no more. Instead, he led the officials to their seats calmly.

The ruffian in the army below seemed to know that he was in the wrong and only muttered a few words before saying anything more.

After a moment, with Zhao Guan Jia sitting still, the imperial standard was first raised, and then Xiacai City suddenly collectively fired cannons as a signal.

Next, the drawbridges outside the east, north, and west gates of Xiacai City were lowered together. Floating bridges had also been set up at the south water gate to connect to the embankment outside the gate... Along with small boats that rushed ashore from the Huai River, a total of over ten thousand Song soldiers divided into several groups and immediately attacked, rushing towards the Jin army's camp, which was already slightly flustered.

At this point, the east was bright, and the Huaibei plain battlefield, which had been silent for nearly two months, suddenly became restless.

But for some reason, Zhao Guan Jia, sitting still under the imperial standard, facing the sunrise, suddenly felt that his heart, which had been restless for half a year, had calmed down at this moment.

In a daze, the fighting had already begun in front.

ps: Happy New Year to everyone! I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous new year! Xiao Jiu kowtows (pretending)!

I thought I could do it, but in fact, New Year's Eve is still busy enough... Coded on my phone, put together a chapter to wish you a Happy New Year, please forgive me.