Zhao Ding sighed. Although he did not go down the city with Zhang Jun, he could only stand on the city wall and watch in vain, and occasionally look at the dragon flag that was visible in the distance on the other side of the river.
As Zhao Ding turned his gaze to the south bank of the Huai River, on the northern cliffs of Bagua Mountain, under the Jinwu flag, as the place with the widest view on the entire battlefield, he saw the Jin army begin to build a pontoon bridge in an orderly and smooth manner under his nose. The atmosphere here may also be the worst place on the entire battlefield... The reason is simple, this place may gather all the military idiots on the entire battlefield!
"Your Majesty!" After watching for a while, Zhang Jun, the Imperial Censor, saw a large banner being raised on the other side of the river, and then countless armored cavalrymen carrying several people onto the levee. He couldn't help but ask, "Should we send someone down to urge King Yaksha? Ask him to send troops to stop the floating bridge as soon as possible?"
"No!" Emperor Zhao, who was sitting still, gritted his teeth and responded.
"Your Majesty!" After a while, Wang Boyan couldn't help but speak up when he saw the Jin army's floating bridge rising up and then extending. "Instead of going to Wang De, should we take this opportunity to send an edict to Xia Cai?"
Zhao Jiu finally got furious: "We have all the ships, big or small, and the Jin army is abandoning the advantages of war horses and armor to cross the natural dangers. Zhang Jun and Wang De are both veterans in the army. Wasn't it appropriate when they discussed it before? What are you panicking about?!"
There was an instant silence under the dragon banner, and it lasted for a while.
However, as the sun gradually rose higher and the Huaihe River floating bridge was almost half built, some people could no longer bear it.
"Your Majesty." Lu Haowen said cautiously, sweat dripping from his forehead. "The Jin army built the bridge so quickly, and the bridge is stable, with no signs of being washed away by the water... Let's not talk about this for now... The key point is that our army has not made any moves yet. Is it because the generals in the army down the mountain are dissatisfied with Wang De and have some disputes? Should we send an envoy with a gold medal to ask?"
Seeing that it was Lu Haowen, Zhao Jiu gave this most important minister some face, but turned to look at the trembling head of the eunuch department, Lan Gui, and said, "Go and give each of Lu Xianggong and Wang Xianggong a chair, and have someone make a few cups of tea. I want to drink tea with the two gentlemen!"
Lan Gui accepted the order and left in a panic… Besides, Bagua Mountain is located on the main road in Huainan, and had received offerings from the southeast early on, so naturally there was nothing missing. Soon, several tables and high stools were set out, and tea was served… To be fair, if the eunuch who came to pour tea had not seen the Jin army's floating bridge on the opposite bank and dropped the teapot in shock, this place would have been like a reenactment of the Battle of Feishui!
After a while, almost at noon, when the Jin army's pontoon bridge had progressed to three-quarters, they saw the water fort on the west passage of the Baguashan camp wide open, and more than a hundred large and small boats poured out and lined up upstream of the pontoon bridge. Most people breathed a sigh of relief.
"Officials!"
At this moment, someone couldn't help but speak again. Everyone turned around and saw that it was Hu Yin, the most fiercely angry young man in the world, Hu Mingzhong. They couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Your Majesty," Hu Mingzhong said proudly, his face flushed. "Since our army is going to fight, why don't you move your imperial carriage to the Dongdao Ferry at the foot of the mountain, and then have your Majesty personally beat the drum to cheer us on and boost our morale?"
"I'll help you..."
After hearing this, Zhao Jiu was stunned for a long while before he realized what the other party meant, and he almost wanted to curse.
"Mr. Hu is confused!" Yang Yizhong, who shouldn't have interrupted, couldn't stand it any longer, so he interrupted despite the world's disapproval. "It's not impossible to beat the drums to cheer at the Dongdao Ferry, but if so, it should have been decided earlier. If we move now, the soldiers in the river might think the emperor has escaped if they see the noise from afar!"
Hu Yin was stunned for a moment, then shut up obediently.
At this moment, a breeze blew the dragon flag, but it was actually a southeast wind. Zhao Jiu's heart moved slightly, and he actually gained a little more confidence. Then he wanted to take this opportunity to say a few polite words and put on a show.
But before he could speak, Hu Yin frowned again and said, "If that's the case, why was it that when the military discussed the issue of dealing with the floating bridge a few days ago, no one among the generals asked the emperor to come to Huai River to supervise the battle?"
Zhao Jiu was about to laugh and answer, but unexpectedly, Xiao Lin Xueshi suddenly spoke nervously: "Sir, Your Majesty, Wang De has just been promoted to commander, and I am afraid that other generals in the army will not accept it. Should we send someone to check on them to prevent any disputes between them and delay the military operation?"
Zhao Jiu was startled at first, then became furious. He ignored the fact that the floating bridge in the river had been built to the shallow water area on the south bank, the drums on the other side of the river were beating, and the entire Jin army was in high spirits. He pointed directly at Lin Jingmo and said angrily to Hu Yin:
"Mr. Hu, do you know now why the other generals don't want me to supervise the battle at the ferry? Because today, if I sit still under the Northern Mountains Dragon Banner, I will have two great achievements... One is to boost morale in the river, and the other is to help them keep you, the armchair strategists, in check!"
Before he finished speaking, the civil servants under the dragon banner had no time to feel insulted, before drums suddenly sounded on both sides of the river. Even the people in Xiacai City on the opposite bank beat drums to cheer. It turned out that the Jin army saw that the pontoon bridge was about to be completed, but the Song army's boats were about to move, so they simply urged the armored archers to force a crossing on the pontoon bridge. The Song army's navy no longer hesitated, and under the leadership of two veteran generals Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing, they rowed from upstream to the east and went straight to the pontoon bridge!
Zhao Jiu didn't have time to talk to the pale-faced officials behind him, and hurriedly turned around to look. He saw that in just a moment, the vanguard of the Song army's navy had rushed to the front, and there were seven or eight small boats... However, when he wanted to take a closer look, he couldn't see clearly because they were too far away.
One could only vaguely guess, based on what one had heard from the previous military meeting, that these ships must have been carrying incendiary devices… However, although it was not clear, it was obvious that these ships failed immediately after a moment—the fire was not set, and the people on the boats could not see clearly, but they should have been either dead or injured, because these seven or eight small boats quickly lost control and were carried to the floating bridge by the current, becoming the spoils of the Jin army.
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