"What's that thing?" On the Jin army's command platform northeast of Changshe City, Wanyan Talan turned his head to look at the surrendered Song officials behind him, a look of absurdity on his face. "Golden... what banner?"

"Golden Wu banner..." The middle-aged surrenderer who had previously guessed that Hu Yin was personally leading the army sounded noticeably flustered. "Anyone with a little common sense knows that where this banner is, the imperial carriage must be!"

"So, you're saying that young Zhao Song emperor is over there?" Talan still had that incredulous expression. "But how could the Zhao Song emperor be here? Did he fly here? Didn't you just say that it must be Hu Yin? Couldn't it be that Hu Yin borrowed this Golden Wu... what banner?"

"Perhaps that's the case?" Seeing Wanyan Talan pressing him, the surrenderer became even more flustered. "Given that emperor's character, it wouldn't be surprising if he bestowed this banner upon Hu Mingzhong before setting out..."

"Have you met the Zhao Song emperor?" Talan suddenly fixed his gaze on the man. "And do you recognize Hu Banxiang (Half-Prime Minister Hu)?"

"Yes..." The man became even more alarmed. "Most of the newly appointed officials in Jingxi were awarded their positions in last year's palace examination, so not only I, but about half of the officials here have seen the emperor and Hu Mingzhong..."

"I remember your name is Hong Ya, and you're from Jinan?" Talan suddenly interrupted him.

Hearing this, the surrenderer felt completely helpless and could only brace himself and reply, "That's right."

"Jinan is a good place; Liu Yu, that old bastard, is quite filial." As Talan spoke, his expression suddenly changed. "Go to the front and take a look, see if it's really the Zhao Song emperor, then come back and report to me!"

The middle-aged surrenderer, namely Hong Ya from Jinan who participated in last year's palace examination and was awarded a position, was dumbfounded upon hearing this. But seeing Talan's dark face, he really didn't dare refuse.

And so, completely helpless, he could only, under the gloating gaze of his colleagues, lead his horse off the command platform with a mournful expression, then mount his horse and head towards the most intense battle group, turning his head with every step... But when he turned his head for the third time, he was met with Talan drawing his saber, and he could only grit his teeth and spur his horse forward.

There was no way around it; who told him to be from Jinan?

Last year, when the Jin army returned to Jingdong, he, who was fleeing for his life in the Xuzhou area, naturally thought that everything south of the Yellow River would return to the Song Dynasty. Plus, having never held a proper official position in his middle age, he didn't want to miss the opportunity, so he easily used his past experience as a successful candidate in the imperial examination and as a professor at the county school to get Zhang Jun's attention in Nanyang, and then was able to be awarded an official position in the palace examination, becoming a proper county magistrate in Jingxi.

However, no one expected that while he did get the official position, the entire Jingdong area, only Jinan stubbornly clung to the Jin people's legs, and the Jin people were the only ones who didn't abandon their support for Jinan. Then, with the arrival of autumn, even most of Jingxi fell again.

At that time, with the city surrounded and his hometown being a staunch traitor territory, Hong Ya thought about it a few times and then simply gritted his teeth and surrendered to the Jin people. Later, when he heard in the Jin camp that Liu Yu, the Prefect of Jinan, was going to become emperor, he had other thoughts, and he proactively flattered Right Deputy Marshal Talan, hinting that he was from Jinan and could become a minister or something. He even took the initiative to send a letter to his family in Xuzhou to move back to Jinan... Who would have thought that he wouldn't become a minister, and now, because his family's location was exposed, he had to go to the front to be a spy observing the military situation.

However, at this moment, the battlefield was a chaotic mess. He was just a scholar. Even if he knew how to ride a horse and was wearing a presentable set of leather armor, how could he safely pass through the tens of thousands of troops?

Especially the location of that imperial dragon banner...

Now, half a quarter of an hour ago, after the Golden Wu banner passed over the pontoon bridge and arrived at Yue Fei's main formation in the southeast of Changshe City, Han Shizhong, who had been observing for a long time, no longer hesitated. He directly ordered a full-scale attack from the city, with commander Jie Yuan and Wang Shan rushing out from the east and south gates, respectively. And he himself, the dignified Military Commissioner of the Four Prefectures of Huaixi, Military Governor of Wucheng, and Commander of the Imperial Camp's Left Army, Han Shizhong, actually personally led a mere few hundred Beiwei soldiers to climb over the collapsed breaches in the city wall and launch the first attack.

After two or three months of confrontation, and with the added bonus of several street fights and raids, Wanyan Talan had a thorough understanding of the bravery of this person in Changshe City. Therefore, when he saw the other party's banner rushing out, he was almost scared to death, fearing that he would be directly charged to the front and have his head taken.

However, whether it was a blessing or a curse, Han Shizhong led his troops to break through, but he completely ignored Wanyan Talan, who was located northeast of Changshe City. Instead, he disregarded everything and directly led his army towards the Golden Wu banner.

At this time, in the midst of this alarm, Wanyan Talan took the initiative to inquire about the origin of the Golden Wu banner – this Jin army Right Deputy Marshal especially wanted to know why Han Shizhong thought that his head was not as important as that banner?

This led to the previous conversation and Hong's military affairs officer's battlefield trip.

Back to the present, Hong Ya, the former magistrate of Xinzheng County, Zhengzhou, Jingxi Road of the Great Song Dynasty, and now a military affairs officer under the Jin army Capital Military Headquarters Right Deputy Marshal, led seven or eight Han Chinese followers, walked hundreds of steps, and was submerged in the vortex of the chaotic battle. With great difficulty, he dodged a battle group, but when he turned his head, only half of the seven or eight followers were left.

The reason for saying half was that one of them had been hit by an arrow and was lying motionless on his horse, only being dragged along by the intelligent warhorse to continue following Military Affairs Officer Hong.

Seeing this, Hong Ya was trembling with fear and no longer had the courage to advance towards the core of the southeastern battlefield. That place had both Da Ju and Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, as well as the Golden Wu banner. Was he going there to die?

But he didn't dare to go back either!

Not only that, but as the Song army kept, and even frantically, crossing the river to join the battle, the scope of the battlefield became larger and larger. Even if it wasn't the most important place, it seemed particularly intense and crazy. Hong Ya looked around and only felt arrows flying back and forth and swords flashing. Perhaps because the tactical space was compressed, the Jin army cavalry could no longer launch attacks, and the Song and Jin armies were completely locked in hand-to-hand combat... The entire battlefield had become a complete mess, and even if he wanted to go back, the risk would probably not be low!

At the critical moment, this Military Affairs Officer Hong, who had survived hardships, served as an official, been in the army, and even learned a few simple Tungusic phrases specifically to curry favor with Wanyan Talan (but Talan didn't like it, so he didn't pursue it further), did have a little cleverness. He began to try to escape the battlefield by cutting to the side, that is, bracing himself and brushing against the main battlefield, heading straight east, or even northeast, towards the riverbank.

When he encountered Jin troops being pulled out of the battle group, he shouted loudly in Tungusic early on: "Don't shoot arrows! I am a military affairs officer under the Right Deputy Marshal!"

When he encountered Song troops surging up, he shouted loudly in Central Plains Mandarin: "Don't harm me! I am the magistrate of Xinzheng County of the Great Song!"

Perhaps both sides were in a bloody battle and no one cared about a scholar, or perhaps everyone valued bilingual talents these days, so he actually managed to escape to the riverbank. Once at the riverbank, this person naturally thought about taking the opportunity to cross the river and leave, away from this place of life, death, right, and wrong. However, when he found a pontoon bridge, he was stunned on the spot because there were Song soldiers actively dismantling the bridge in front of him!

"Who ordered the bridge to be dismantled?!" Hong Ya mustered his courage and asked loudly at the riverbank. "I was awarded a position in the palace examination, the magistrate of Xinzheng County of the Great Song, and I came from Tokyo with the army... Who ordered the bridge to be dismantled?"

Dismantling the bridge was definitely the responsibility of the general's confidant subordinates. Therefore, as soon as Hong Ya asked at the riverbank, an officer on the bridge immediately responded: "It was His Majesty who personally issued the order! All troops must cross the river with all their might within half an hour, and then cut off the pontoon bridges to fight the Jin people! I am Fan Yihong, a military affairs officer under Grand Commandant Wang, and I am carrying out my Grand Commandant's order specifically for this matter. After dismantling this place, I have to go upstream to continue dismantling the bridges... You magistrate, since you are a civil official, you shouldn't participate in the war, but you are not allowed to return to Hedong either! Listen to my words, find a shield on the battlefield and wait for me there! Dismantle the bridge with me, and you might be able to get away safely!"

Hong Ya was dumbfounded... but not because of the bridge dismantling. It was because the Zhao Song emperor had actually come!

At this thought, he recklessly asked again: "Military Affairs Officer Fan, I wanted to ask just now, did His Majesty really come across the river when the Golden Wu banner crossed the river?"

"It is indeed His Majesty who personally crossed the river!" Fan Yihong replied from afar again. "Unfortunately, he let His Majesty go to that birdman Yue Fei's formation! He didn't come to our Eight-Character Army formation!"

Hong Ya instantly felt the world spinning... Although he recognized that banner, he instinctively believed that it was a token given to Hu Yin by the Zhao emperor, because his common sense and his experience told him that the Zhao family would not be so resolute! But everything in front of him, from Han Shizhong's sudden and reckless attack to the excitement of the Song army on the entire battlefield, all told him that what the other party was saying was true!

And in a daze, he suddenly realized that Wanyan Talan's assigned task seemed to have been completed. Plus, the possibility of escaping the battlefield from here had been blocked, so he turned his horse around in a daze and headed west... As a result, the young Military Affairs Officer Fan on the bridge shouted a few times but couldn't stop him, and could only watch the magistrate, who had heard that the emperor was personally crossing the river, recklessly charge into the enemy lines to repay the emperor, and then filled with tears, continue to cross the river and dismantle the bridge.

On the other side, Hong Ya walked into the chaotic battle, instinctively announcing his identity several times, and then finally realized that since the emperor was personally leading the army, the Song army would definitely win a great victory this time. He should have stayed by that silly Fan Yihong's side, who looked like an easy person to deceive... Why did he come back?

However, since he had already entered the battle group, it was not good to turn back, because at this time, even if Military Affairs Officer Fan was stupid, he would become suspicious, so he could only brace himself and continue to cross the battlefield with his bilingual skills.

You have to say, whether it was dumb luck or no one really cared about him, Hong Ya actually managed to get through half of the battlefield again!

"Marshal!" Arriving in front of the command platform, Hong Ya, having sorted out his thoughts, dismounted and bowed to the marshal. "I have found out clearly that it is indeed His Majesty the Zhao Song emperor who is personally leading the army!"

As soon as these words came out, Wanyan Talan and the Jin army officers and surrendered strategists behind him stirred.

After the commotion, Wanyan Talan himself smiled bitterly: "Thank you for your trouble, Military Affairs Officer Hong... Actually, in the quarter of an hour you were gone, I could tell just by looking at the battle situation. If it weren't for the Zhao Song emperor's personal arrival, why would the Song army be so valiant? Da Ju has already requested my assistance twice, asking me to hand over the last two *moukes*! I am hesitating!"

"You can't!" Hong Ya raised his head and replied with gritted teeth. "Marshal! Let me tell you, Marshal, I just found out clearly along the way that the Zhao Song emperor personally ordered the entire army to cross the river as quickly as possible, and then each unit must actively dismantle all the pontoon bridges on the east side of the river! If all the pontoon bridges are destroyed, then even if Lord Pucha returns, I'm afraid it will be difficult to cross the river in time to save us... I hope the Marshal will make a decision as soon as possible!"

Now, Talan's position was high and he could naturally see the Song army dismantling some of the bridges, but after all, he couldn't confirm the source of the matter. But when he heard Hong Ya's report at this time, he instantly felt cold all over...

It must be known that this is not the same thing as whether the Zhao Song emperor has come or not!

The Zhao Song emperor's arrival only meant that this battle would be difficult to fight!

And his Wanyan Talan's son-in-law, and the ten *moukes* carefully selected by his son-in-law this time, were the fundamental confidence that this Jin army Right Deputy Marshal was using to withstand the enormous pressure here!

This Jin army Right Deputy Marshal had been standing on horseback here for nearly an hour, watching more and more Song troops join the battle with a continuous, swift, and violent offensive. Now, it had reached the most difficult situation he had foreseen, that is, the Song army had formed an astonishing numerical advantage on the battlefield, five times greater than his own side!

In this process, as an army commander, you need to have a strong belief to hold on here. And the belief that had been supporting Talan was his conviction that his son-in-law would arrive at any time to force the Song army to end this battle.

Therefore, when someone now told him with certainty that even if those ten *moukes* returned, they would not be able to participate in the battle, this old man, whose heart had been frightened enough today, naturally became completely terrified.

However, perhaps because the Jin army generals hadn't used that term for many years, Wanyan Talan, in his terror, didn't realize the hint of the surrenderer in front of him for a while.

But it was only for a while.

A moment later, as Wanyan Talan, in a strange state, watched from afar as Han Shizhong's military banner crossed the entire battlefield with an unstoppable force and successfully merged with the imperial dragon banner and the Yue character army banner, he didn't know why, but he suddenly realized what this surrenderer meant.

Or rather, this surrenderer reminded Talan, making Talan realize the meaning hidden in his heart – when Han Shizhong suddenly broke out of the city and went straight for the dragon banner, which was also directly attacking Da Ju's back, at that time, Talan didn't take the initiative to send out his last two *moukes*, which he had originally used to defend against Han Shizhong, because he already had some unspeakable thoughts in his heart.

But this thought was too absurd... Now, it's not impossible to escape at this time. The Song army is in the east, preparing to dismantle all the pontoon bridges on the eastern Qingyi River, but there are also pontoon bridges on the Zhuo Yi River west of Changshe City. Only the east side is not the Jin army's supply route, nor is it the direction to defend against the Song army's attack, so there are only one or two regular pontoon bridges there!

In other words, if he Talan escaped now, there would be no problem, but escaping would be a standard abandonment of the troops! More than a dozen *moukes* would be thrown away in this place!

And for many years, how long has it been since the Jin army had a situation where the main general abandoned the troops and fled in a battle of this level? And it wasn't a desperate situation!

Back to the present, after figuring all this out, Talan neither scolded the surrenderer in front of him, nor agreed with him, nor did he send his last two elite *moukes* to Da Ju as reinforcements. Instead, he used a strange silence to respond to this great battle in which the Song army had completely taken the initiative!

Now, a day ago, if you said that the Song army would take the initiative to attack, Talan would definitely not believe it;

Before noon, if you said that the Song army would come to Changshe City to find his main force for a field battle, Talan would definitely not believe it;

Before noon, if you said that Yue Fei would lead 20,000 troops, regardless of everything, and cross the river to attack first, he still wouldn't believe it;

Until half an hour ago, Talan still didn't believe that he would lose control of this battle;

And a quarter of an hour ago, he still didn't believe that the Zhao Song emperor had really arrived on the battlefield;

But at this point, after all kinds of disbelief were broken one by one by the Song army with reality, Talan was already a little confused... He didn't dare to think, and he didn't dare to make any moves to control the situation.

That's right, it was just that there were no old Jin generals with enough qualifications around Wanyan Talan at this time, otherwise, someone would definitely say it directly – with a series of resolute and fierce attacks from the Song army, old Talan had been beaten silly by the Song army!

"Your Majesty!"

At the same time that Talan was being beaten silly, Han Shizhong entered Yue Fei's formation, went straight under the imperial dragon banner, and only after seeing Zhao Jiu himself did he take a long breath, then took off his bronze-masked helmet and wept on the ground. "Your subject was on the city and dared not believe that it was Your Majesty who had personally arrived... Your subject deserves to die ten thousand times for troubling Your Majesty to come to such a dangerous place!"

"What kind of dangerous place is this?" Zhao Jiu, whose face was still a little flushed, quickly stepped forward to help Han Shizhong up, then glanced at Yue Fei, who was shouting and commanding on horseback a few dozen steps away, and said a truth from the bottom of his heart: "Good ministers are my courage, and these tens of thousands of troops are my foundation. Since you are all here, then this is the safest place in the world... Without saying anything else, now that this battle has been fought to this point, what do you think, good minister?"

"This battle has been won since Your Majesty led the dragon banner across the river!" Han Shizhong wiped his face, and without wasting any more words, he quickly got up, held his helmet, and replied proudly. "It's just that the generals lack a unified command, and they are just short of the final general offensive!"

"Then I will entrust it to a virtuous minister!" Zhao Jiu immediately instructed.

"Your subject can't do this either. Although the Tokyo Retaining Division and the Eight-Character Army are bound to recognize your subject, they are not under your subject's jurisdiction. Moreover, the chaotic battle is such that it can no longer be done by one general alone..." Han Shizhong pointed to the imperial dragon banner above his head and said, "Only by asking Your Majesty to move the dragon banner to the northwest to Wanyan Talan's command platform, and your subject and Zhenfu Yue Fei will protect it together, can everything be settled!" (*Zhenfu* is a military rank)

"Let it be as a virtuous minister says!" Zhao Jiu glanced at Yue Fei, who was reining in his horse to listen but not speaking, and understood in his heart that it was because Yue Fei didn't know him well enough, and that he was already very satisfied with the battle, so he didn't dare to persuade himself to do this. Or rather, at this time, only Han Shizhong dared to persuade the Zhao Emperor to use this trick.

If I had to give an inappropriate example, according to some high-end games, only Han Shizhong among the world's top generals had achieved the highest level of kinship with him, Zhao Emperor, and could link up with this emperor to use this trick.

But no matter who initiated it, after fighting for an hour and half a quarter, the Golden Wu banner, which anyone with a little common sense knew represented the Zhao Song emperor, began to move again on the battlefield, but under the escort of a Han character banner and a Yue character banner on the left and right, it slowly advanced to the northwest... Everyone knew that it was Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, while the pitiful Li Qiong and Liu Yan, the military officers at the commander level who were acting as Zhao Emperor's central army, were not qualified to raise their own banners next to the dragon banner at this time, so as not to overshadow the main one. They could only escort it far on the flanks.

And seeing the dragon banner and the Han and Yue banners moving together, the nearly 70,000 Song troops on the battlefield, who had been thrown into a chaotic battle due to the hasty crossing of the river, began to launch a full-scale assault spontaneously in this direction. The advantage of being five times the enemy was completely displayed, and the Song army drove the rolling dust, surging like a tide, and the shouts of killing shook the sky!

Facts have proved that when one side concentrates its strength first in a chaotic battle, the other side has no power to resist. Immediately after the Song army launched a full-scale assault, the most broken *moukes* on the front line completely collapsed, and Da Ju, the Jin army front-line commander, could only sigh and ride away.

At this time, Talan was still stunned in place, just staring at the dragon banner that was surging towards him and murmuring in a lost voice... Now, even now, this Jin army Right Deputy Marshal was actually still holding two *moukes* in his hand and hadn't put them into battle!