Hu Yantong couldn't help but panic.

Although this person was born in a military family, he was a descendant of the Huyan clan, and his ancestors had a dull mind and no scheming. On that day, it was just by chance that Han Shizhong casually pointed him out and followed Emperor Zhao, so he was always somewhat uncomfortable with the core work.

He was completely different from the smooth-talking Yang Yi Zhong. He neither knew how to guess the emperor's thoughts nor how to get along properly with civil servants and eunuchs. Some of his inappropriate remarks even got out, leading to his impeachment by the censor... From this point of view, this Huyan Commander was not even as good as Liu Yan, who knew how to keep silent.

However, this man was born into a family of generals in the Western Army and had some idea of ​​the importance of the task. It was understandable that he was a little nervous when he knew the weight on his shoulders but was not used to this kind of work.

Besides, no matter what, the enemy came too fast - Bachelor Kobayashi arrived in the morning, and the enemy appeared in the west of Ruyang City at noon. Such a speed, even taking into account that Bachelor Kobayashi's horse riding speed was too poor, was enough to show that the Jin people might have immediately set out from Dengzhou after defeating Monk Zongyin.

How can such a reaction and decision not be shocking?

But it didn't matter. Now that the enemy had arrived, the previous concealment and appeasement were no longer meaningful... For a moment, not to mention that Huyan Tong did not lose his character as a veteran general while reporting to Emperor Zhao, he quickly ordered the gathering of idle people outside the city, and hastily cut off the floating bridge outside the city, and then closed the city gates. Even the four ministers who had just left not long ago received the order and were assigned to various places in the city to stay in charge in order to appease the people, and Emperor Zhao also personally went to the top of the west city.

Of course, there was no armor this time.

"The enemy has only 500 cavalrymen." In the afternoon sun, Hu Yantong, who had regained his composure, pointed to the direction of the sparkling Ru River and gave the emperor a brief introduction. "This is a common tactic used by the Jin people. Whenever they march and attack, they must lead with a small group of elite troops at high speed. If they can scare the enemy or seize the city gate when they are not prepared, they can easily succeed... Before, outside Xiacai City, it was the dead Puluhun who was the vanguard and arrived at the city first."

Sitting on the top of the city wall, Zhao Jiu looked at the flags on the other side of the Ru River, and recalled the scene he saw on the Huai River that day. He nodded slightly and said, "So, the one who came should be the most capable Meng'an (captain of a thousand men) under Yin Shuke's command?"

"That's how it should be." Hu Yantong shook his head, a little doubtful. "But the scouts came back to report that the word Yelu was on the flag, and it was also a white horse flag..."

Yelu Jia Baima must be a Khitan. As for Huyan Tong's reaction, Zhao Jiu suddenly realized it but said nothing.

By the way, the military myths of the Jin army in the previous decade were there, so much so that many ministers, generals, and even the people of the Song Dynasty believed that the Jurchens were better at fighting than the Han, Khitan, and Xi people, as if the Jurchens had two more hands than others.

According to this line of thinking, for the traditional generals of the Song Dynasty, it is sometimes difficult for them to understand a phenomenon, that is, why the Khitans, Xi people, and Han people in Liao, who had always been on the same level as themselves, and were the remnants of a fallen country, suddenly changed and showed such powerful fighting power once they surrendered to the Jin people?

The answer to this question is of course very simple for Emperor Zhao - when the Jin Dynasty was first established, there were senior military officers from the Han, Xi, Khitan, and Bohai peoples. What maintained the strength of the Jurchen army were always the strict military discipline, the morale brought by consecutive victories, and the emphasis on military technology, which had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.

But it's not the right time to say this, and there's no point in saying it.

"It should be Yelu Ma Wu." After hearing the introduction, Liu Ziyu, who was standing behind the emperor, thought for a moment and guessed the possible answer. "A surrendered general of the Liao Kingdom, he once served as the commander-in-chief of the army. During the Battle of Taiyuan, he served under the brothers Yin Shuke and Balisu... He had no reputation before surrendering to the Jin Dynasty, but after surrendering to the Jin Dynasty, it is said that he would personally fight in the front in every battle and was fearless. Judging from his current appearance, it is probably because he had made many contributions before and officially entered the system of Meng'an and Mouke, becoming a formal Meng'an."

"If that's the case, I'm willing to lead the troops down to meet him!" Hu Yantong couldn't hold back and took the initiative to ask Emperor Zhao for a fight.

After all, he was quite embarrassed by the official's scolding just now, and now that he saw that it was a Khitan, he became even more indignant.

"Just defend the city." Zhao Jiu had no choice but to scold again. "You are the only commander in the city, and most of the defenders are your old subordinates. What if something goes wrong when you go down? Besides, there is the Ru River in between, and the floating bridge has been demolished. Will he wait for you to come over, or will you wait for him to come over?"

Hu Yantong was embarrassed for a moment.

"Don't worry, Commander Huyan." Liu Ziyu also hurried over to persuade him. "Being careful and cautious at this time is a great achievement... Yelu Ma Wu didn't cross the river from upstream in advance, and when he came here and saw that the floating bridge was broken and the city was well guarded, he must have lost his mind."

"Right. Instead of worrying about these 500 people, we should send another messenger while the enemy is still looking for an opportunity to cross the river and the main force has not arrived yet." Zhao Jiu also arranged. "Send another messenger to tell the surrounding towns to be cautious and not to come to Ruyang. Send another official messenger to Han Shizhong and Wang De to tell them to be careful of being besieged and attacked."

Huyan Tong knew the seriousness of the matter after all, so he nodded in agreement after hearing what was said. After Emperor Zhao finished his instructions, he simply stood up and prepared to follow the previous discussion and leave Huyan Tong in charge of defending the city while he himself would return to the city to calm the people's hearts... Because in just a short while, due to the closure of the city gates and the withdrawal of people outside the city, there was already some unrest in the city.

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