Hearing that Yue Fei had suddenly turned his direction towards him, Talan was only stunned for a moment before displaying complete indifference... This wasn't a feigned composure to stabilize morale, but a reaction from the heart.

The reason was simple enough. The Song-Jin war had lasted four or five years, and up to this point, in the four major invasions, the Jin army had never lost a field battle with more than ten thousand troops!

"The Jurchen are not to be challenged if less than ten thousand; unchallengeable with ten thousand!" This was still an unbroken axiom!

And here, with Wanyan Talan, even after losing ten thousand men, there were still fifteen Meng'an! And these fifteen Meng'an, including the Jin army under the Mouke system, numbered no less than ten thousand, supplemented by five or six thousand troops. How could he fear a mere twenty thousand Song soldiers?

Besides, although Yue Fei's move could be considered a surprise attack, it was merely exploiting a difference in timing. Calculating the time, as long as Yue Fei couldn't completely break through this place within an afternoon, then when Puchu Hubalu arrived in the evening, it would inevitably be a two-pronged attack... However, could the Song army really defeat his fifteen Meng'an within an afternoon?

However, having said that, Yue Fei, the actual commander of this battle, understood this point. He fully understood Wanyan Talan's psychology, and what he sought was never some ingenious plan!

Moreover, the art of war is always extremely simple. The more self-righteous and clever a scheme is, the easier it is to run into problems.

For example, in this battle, Li Kui's feigned surrender was never intended to push Wanyan Talan into making a specific choice. He was simply there to deliver a message, with the fundamental goal of getting Wanyan Talan to make a decision as soon as possible. It didn't even matter if Li Kui himself was exposed, because Li Kui himself didn't know what Yue Fei was planning.

So, what was Yue Fei planning?

Very simple, Yue Fei's so-called 'brilliant plan' was just splitting his forces to the left and right... I'm splitting my troops to attack your weak flanks, will you split your troops to respond? You are cavalry, fast and informed, so will you ambush them under the city in advance? And as long as Wanyan Talan decided to split his forces, whether to Changge in the north or Linying in the south, he would fall into a diversionary tactic, giving the Song army the opportunity to concentrate their forces and attack the city of Changshe with numerical superiority.

In fact, Yue Fei had made it very clear to Zhao Guan Jia the day before about what he was relying on to fight this battle:

The key was that the Jin people's southward invasion had lasted for several months, and Wanyan Talan and his troops had been under the city of Changshe for so long, becoming tired and gradually relaxing.

The key was that as spring warmed up, the mobility of the Jin army's cavalry was greatly weakened by the rivers in the Jingxi area, which were entering the ice-thaw season.

The key was that Wanyan Talan had invaded southward many times, and his conservative military posture had gradually become known to many people, and he had not experienced any setbacks in the Jin army's several defeats.

The key was that after Zhao Guan Jia crossed the line of fire to integrate the troops, the Song army's morale soared in a short period of time, and the officers were willing to obey orders, so that bold, clustered military actions could be taken, and only in these few days could these actions be taken, or things would change.

The key was that everyone in the Jin army thought that the Song army could not take the initiative to attack the main force of the Jin army, but with the arrival of a Son of Heaven and the bold decision of a temporary commander, the Song army came, and they came so resolutely, so aggressively!

These things, plus a simple and direct diversionary tactic that relied on numerical superiority, were the real art of war, the real high-level military knowledge, and the real strategic brilliance... On a battlefield of tens of thousands of people, besides numbers, morale, military equipment, and opportunities, there was nothing fancy to speak of. Even Han Shizhong's bravery could probably only be reflected in the most critical places! What about others?

War is absolutely absurd at the micro level, but all the absurd things come together, and it seems so logical.

Back to the present, the Song army's current situation is: just fight with the most resolute attitude!

Almost half a quarter of an hour after Yue Fei turned around, as the smoke signals left along the way were lit one after another, Zhao Jiu also did not hesitate to raise his Jin Wu standard and personally led the expedition for the first time... Wang Yan's 28,000 Eight Character Army took the lead as the vanguard, followed by the remaining seven commanders of the Tokyo Garrison as the central army, and Wang Sheng and Niu Gao's troops followed last as the rearguard... Zhao Guan Jia himself personally wore armor and carried a bow, riding alongside, with Li Qiong's troops as escorts, almost abandoning Yanling, and throwing everything, in a do-or-die manner, at the city of Changshe.

This news might be delayed in reaching the city of Changshe because Ma Gao and Yue Fei's actions attracted a large number of scouts, and the number of troops dispatched was somewhat alarming.

In fact, after learning that Yue Fei had turned around, Wanyan Talan first threw a tantrum and killed people.

Not because of military intelligence, but because he had previously ordered his subordinates to keep an eye on Li Kui, but Li Kui had disappeared out of thin air in just one morning... That seemingly crude Song army commander bribed several leaders of the civilian labor camp with the bag of pearls, quickly gained some freedom, and then, within a sufficient amount of time, trimmed his beard, discarded his armor, put on the dirty clothes worn by the civilians, and infiltrated into the chaotic civilian labor camp.

And when Talan learned that Yue Fei was coming to attack with a mere twenty thousand men, he didn't take it seriously at all, preparing to let Dàwū actively lead six or seven Meng'an across the Qingyi River to meet the attack. But he was thinking about taking Li Kui out to sacrifice to the flag as a side benefit. However, Dàwū and the entire army were fully armed, but they couldn't find anyone for a while, so they had to bring several leaders of the civilian labor camp who had accepted the bribe to take his place.

After killing people, the inside and outside of the central army tent were a mess. Dàwū was about to throw away these annoying things and set out with this old man, but at this time, a scout cautiously came forward to report that troops had also suddenly been dispatched from the direction of Yanling, heading towards this place. Although the specific number could not be determined for a while, the flags were neat and the troops were numerous, and it was likely that the main force of Yanling had been dispatched!

The Yanling army totaled more than 80,000. Even if the road to Ma Gao to the north and the road to Yue Fei to the south were the same, the remaining troops were at least 40,000... In other words, the Song army heading towards this place had actually reached more than 60,000! If we count the tiger in the city of Xiashe who had been silent, the fifteen Meng'an of the Jin army here would likely be subjected to a fierce attack from 70,000 troops, which is nearly five times the number of Song troops, this afternoon.

At this time, Talan became completely serious. On the one hand, he ordered messengers to quickly go to Changge to chase his son-in-law, and on the other hand, he ordered Dàwū to abandon the attack and only defend within the river circle... Of course, this order was better than nothing, because after the scouts caught up, Puchu Hubalu would definitely have noticed the anomaly in Yanling and would definitely return to rescue; as for abandoning the attack, wasn't that nonsense? Was two thousand the same as six thousand?

However, now that the decision to attack had been cancelled, the Jin army completely ran out of time to make any extra preparations.

After all, continuous long-distance marching to maintain combat effectiveness is completely different from a reckless rush, throwing everything else away... In conventional long-distance marching, everything is based on the baggage carts in the army. Therefore, even in the Napoleonic era, his cavalry units were still based on a marching speed of forty to fifty miles a day. That's why Xiahou Yuan's five hundred miles in three days and one thousand miles in six days were so amazing. That's why Sima Yi's surprise attack on Mengda, at a speed of sixty to seventy miles a day, was called a military myth. But when you abandon the baggage and enter pure combat mode, it's a completely different matter. In this case, cavalry can run seventy to eighty miles in an hour, and infantry can cross the Yangtze River twice and travel hundreds of miles in a day and night (Zang Ba did something similar).

Back to the present, according to the distance calculation, Yue Fei was about twenty-five or six miles away from this place when he suddenly turned around, and Zhao Jiu was about thirty-six or seven miles away when he set out from the camp under the city of Yanling... So, for the Song army, who abandoned everything, it would only take half an hour to an hour and a half to engage in battle.

After subtracting the time spent for the Jin army scouts to run back, and the time Wanyan Talan spent finding people and killing people, how much time would be left?

That was exactly the case.

Just after Wanyan Talan learned that the main force of the Song army had left Yanling, Yue Fei had already led his troops to the downstream area of the Qingyi River, about ten miles away from the city of Changshe, and only about five or six miles away from the Jin army's front line. Then, he didn't panic, but surprisingly ordered the troops to rest for the last time. After waiting for another quarter of an hour, he ordered some of the most elite troops to start wearing the Zhajia (Laminated Armor) that Zhao Guan Jia had ordered to be collected, before ordering the final advance.

And after another two quarters of an hour, that is, a quarter of an hour later, Yue Fei's troops formally engaged the Jin army on the eastern bank of the Qingyi River!

The Jin army's core positions were located on the large island between the Qingyi River and the Zhuoyi River, which was under the city of Changshe. At this time, because ten Meng'an had left, and because Talan had temporarily decided to abandon the plan to cross the river and fight on the eastern bank, the positions on the eastern bank of the Qingyi River were extremely empty, basically only some scattered Han Chinese troops who had surrendered, and one Meng'an of the Jin army. Then, after that Meng'an took the initiative to withdraw, this position almost instantly fell into the hands of the Song army.

This was expected and of course unimportant, but at this time, another inevitable choice was placed in front of Talan.

"Dismantle the pontoon bridges on the eastern side of the Qingyi River?" Talan, who had rarely put on his armor and left his tent, looked at the dense Song army on the other side of the river and hesitated for a moment at Dàwū's suggestion.

"That's right." The young Dàwū carefully suggested. "The key to this battle is to delay time and wait for Puchu Wanhu to return to aid us. We have pontoon bridges almost everywhere on the river for transporting grain and for the cavalry to travel back and forth. Now, dismantling the pontoon bridges can delay the Song army as much as possible, can't it?"

"There's reason in that! But it's no good!" Talan thought for a moment and shook his head slightly. "If we dismantle the pontoon bridges, it will be unfavorable for Hubalu to launch a two-pronged attack after he turns back. If we can't defeat the main force of the Song army before dark, we'll be caught in a night battle... It's not that we can't fight night battles, but what if Han Shizhong takes the opportunity to run away?"

This seemed to make sense as well, and Dàwū had nothing to say... In reality, there was nothing to be done. In a hasty response, everything was right and everything was wrong. No one would know which decision was right or wrong until after the battle.

"That's it. Ignore those pontoon bridges. Use these pontoon bridges to lure the Song army over. After this group of Song troops are halfway across, that is, about ten thousand people have crossed, you will immediately lead eight Meng'an to attack head-on. As long as you break through them with one blow, you will be able to defeat all of these twenty thousand troops before the Song army's subsequent forces arrive." Talan finally looked at the Yue character flag that was advancing at a rapid speed on the other side, and finally gave a definitive strategy. "I will lead the remaining seven Meng'an to guard against Han Shizhong!"

The young Bohai prince Dàwū, hearing this, not only had no objections, but felt reassured, and immediately rode away to carry out the order.

Talan looked at the sun, which was already clearly slanting to the west, and regained his usual composure... At this moment, in the heart of this Jin army's Right Deputy Marshal, there was this equation:

In battles with more than ten thousand people, one Meng'an is enough to defeat three thousand Song soldiers!

Therefore, eight Meng'an are enough to defeat twenty thousand Song soldiers. Therefore, twenty-five Meng'an combined are enough to defeat all the Song soldiers on the battlefield... Therefore, the only thing to avoid in this battle is to allow his fifteen Meng'an to be besieged by seven or eight thousand Song soldiers.

That was all.

Just as Talan, who hadn't worn armor and gone into battle for a long time, was encouraging himself, Zhao Jiu, Zhao Guan Jia himself, had already traveled to the boundary ditch between Kaifeng Prefecture and Yingchang Prefecture, which was no more than twenty miles away from the Jin army's Right Deputy Marshal.

Here, according to the original plan, Zhao Jiu allowed the entire army to rest briefly, and to prevent a surprise attack, most of the soldiers began to put on leather armor and slightly thinner iron armor before setting off again... Of course, except for Liu Yan's two hundred riders, there was not a single piece of the best Zhajia.

At this moment, Wang Yan, who was in the vanguard, suddenly rode over and went straight to the dragon standard to find Zhao Guan Jia, who was drinking water, and then directly proposed a proposal on horseback that exceeded the original plan:

"Guan Jia, this place is only twenty miles away from the front line, and my vanguard at the front is already able to see the smoke ahead. In addition, the messenger sent by Yue Fei's troops during their last rest has confirmed that there is a battle in progress ahead... Therefore, I specifically request Guan Jia to issue an order to let my Eight Character Army stop resting and run forward immediately! And concentrate the cavalry in the army to advance first to support the front!"

"Cavalry can advance first naturally, but if the entire army runs forward, will they have the strength to fight when they reach the front?" Zhao Jiu, who got up in a hurry, was stunned for a moment.

"There is no need to fight immediately!" Wang Yan still did not dismount, but replied seriously. "At this time, Yue Fei must be fighting with the Jin army for the pontoon bridges on the river. There are not many places to engage in battle, and it is extremely difficult for 20,000 troops to cross the river completely. Even if our army breaks its legs running, it can rest calmly on the riverbank before crossing the river. Guan Jia, forgive me for speaking frankly, the key to winning this battle lies in whether we can overwhelm the Jin army with absolute force in one breath. There is no other way... So, the key is to have a continuous offensive!"

"I second that!" Hu Yin, the highest-ranking civil official in the accompanying army, suddenly cupped his hands in agreement. "Since Yue Zhenfu is not here, Wang Zhizhi should decide on the military matters here!"

Hearing this, Zhao Jiu no longer hesitated: "In that case, Liu Yan leads the cavalry to go first, and Wang Qing can do as he sees fit with the forward military matters, without reporting back!"

Wang Yan was overjoyed and immediately thanked the emperor on horseback and left, and Liu Yan immediately ordered his troops to put on Zhajia, and after a moment, they galloped away.

Seeing Liu Yan set off, Zhao Jiu did not delay any longer and ordered the entire army to set off again and follow the vanguard.

Only two quarters of an hour later, the Song army reinforcements arrived one after another. The first cavalry that arrived was only a few hundred, but the flag of the heavy armored cavalry leading the way caused a slight commotion among all the Jin soldiers - the Red Heart Team was familiar to many Jin soldiers.

Not only that, although the subsequent Song army had a slightly chaotic formation, they were continuous and quickly poured in, and the characteristics of these soldiers quickly made all the Jin soldiers realize the identity of their opponents - the Eight Character Army was also familiar!

At this time, Wanyan Talan, who was watching the battle, had begun to become confused. The reason was simple: in the previous two quarters of an hour, although the eight Meng'an had not lost any ground in terms of appearance, or rather had always been pressing the Song army to fight, they had never been able to quickly break through and defeat the ten thousand Song soldiers who had crossed the river in the so-called halfway crossing and attack!

After crossing the river, those ten thousand Song soldiers did not advance rashly, but under the command of that large Yue character flag, they seized the western bank of the Qingyi River before the Jin army cavalry came to attack, and with their backs to the pontoon bridges, they formed a solid formation composed of long spears and hard crossbows, as solid as mountains.

This exceeded his long-standing understanding of the Song army, and he even began to regret not dismantling the pontoon bridges.

"Marshal!" A Bohai Mouke galloped over and shouted from afar. "The Song army is coming up in large numbers. My lord Wanhu is asking the marshal for some support!"

Wanyan Talan, who had been watching the entire battle from the earthen high ground on the general's platform and had a thorough understanding of the entire battlefield, instinctively wanted to agree, but just as he was about to open his mouth, there was suddenly a commotion beside him, and a trusted attendant took the initiative to pull him.

Talan followed the attendant's finger and then began to sweat on his forehead, because on a certain section of the city wall ruins of Changshe City that had collapsed and been blocked, Han Shizhong's flag had appeared there silently at some point... That flag was like the eyes of a hidden tiger staring at his back.

After hesitating for a moment, Talan gritted his teeth and replied to the Bohai Mouke: "Tell Dàwū that I will give him two more Meng'an, but tell him that he is not allowed to worry about casualties. Let him take the lead himself and use us to break into the Song army's formation!"

ps: Thanks to the big man "I bestow you suicide" for the double cute!