Of course, John Harrison was by no means some great expert in history.

On the contrary, most of his historical knowledge came from nine years of compulsory education and some basic popular science books, at most supplemented by a few high-end web novels like "Qin Li" and "Han Que," and low-end games like Total War, so he really didn’t know about these strange things.

Only the principles of the world are universal, and John Harrison happened to have his own personal circumstances and needs.

With this thought, John Harrison began to calculate in his mind, thinking about how to win over this troop, so he could finally get a good night’s sleep.

Little did he expect that just as Mr. Harrison was gradually making plans in his heart, those few old comrades from Yingkou, after loosening up and chatting more and more freely, began to speak in greater detail, revealing more and more information. Among it all, they mentioned a name that John Harrison was particularly concerned about, which made him think of someone else!

"That day in Tokyo, we were following Captain Lewis under General Lewis's command, but who would have thought that General Lewis, after so many years, still hadn’t changed his long-legged ways—from Gaoliang River to Tokyo, as soon as the fighting started, he ran! We, as mere company leaders, really had no choice but to be swept along by his ten thousand Guanzhong soldiers as they fled. We hadn’t even settled down when word came that General Lewis had run too fast, and ended up running straight into the Jurchens at Gui'er Temple, where he was killed on the spot. Then, over ten thousand western soldiers collapsed in confusion..."

"At that time, many of the rascals took the chance to run away, but we didn’t. Even so, out of three thousand men, only a thousand were left. We asked Captain Lewis where to go next. Captain Lewis said Tokyo was no longer an option, but we had all received the grace of the Song Dynasty and could not fail to repay it. Just as well, Mr. Harrison, you were serving as Grand Marshal of the armed forces in Hebei, so we came to find you."

"As soon as we crossed the river, we ran into Deputy Marshal Bennett, who had received orders from Mr. Harrison to go rescue the Two Emperors, so we followed Deputy Marshal Bennett to rescue them..."

"That Deputy Marshal Bennett is truly a good man. Even at his age, and being a jinshi, he was just like our Captain Lewis, not the least bit pretentious. Following him was the smoothest time we’ve had in years, but unfortunately, he just didn’t know how to fight... Mr. Harrison, the ten thousand elite soldiers you worked so hard to gather were wiped out right at the start. We had no choice but to protect Deputy Marshal Bennett and escape with him. But by then, there were no troops left in Hebei, and Mr. Harrison had already circled from Shandong to Nanjing (Shangqiu). We counted, and there were only about eight hundred of us left, so we could only follow Deputy Marshal Bennett across the river to Nanjing, and that’s how we caught up with Mr. Harrison..."

"You all... you old brothers have really suffered!" Night had completely fallen, and Mr. Harrison, coming back to his senses, sighed with emotion.

"We wouldn’t dare call ourselves brothers in front of Mr. Harrison!" Several of the old comrades from Yingkou sitting closest immediately stood up in alarm.

"Why shouldn’t you call yourselves that?" John Harrison replied with a laugh, using some idle talk he’d heard from Emily Parker in recent days. "You’ve been in Liaodong so long, you still don’t understand Central Plains customs. From the royal family down to street workers, in the Central Plains and Shandong, everyone casually calls each other ‘brother’... When I was in Tokyo, even though I was a prince, everyone in my household called me ‘Brother Jiu’, and even the pear seller on the street, you and I could call him ‘little brother’."

Only then did the cavalrymen settle down again.

"Speaking of which," at this moment, John Harrison suddenly changed the subject, his face showing anticipation. "You all followed Deputy Marshal Bennett in Hebei for a long time—do you know someone named George Walker?"

However, the soldiers of the Chixin Squad looked at each other, but none of them knew.

"May I ask, Mr. Harrison, who is this George Walker that you keep thinking about?" The one who had been talking earlier plucked up the courage to ask.

"George Walker isn’t anyone special..." John Harrison was clearly a bit disappointed. "George Walker is just George Walker, I think he’s from Hebei, styled Pengju, and fought alongside Andrew Bennett—that’s the Deputy Marshal Bennett you mentioned..."

The Chixin Squad soldiers looked at each other again, but all shook their heads.

John Harrison was completely helpless.

However, seeing Mr. Harrison’s spirits flagging, and sensing he might leave at any moment, plus after a night of chatting everyone had become a bit more relaxed, one of them suddenly took the initiative to ask:

"Mr. Harrison, I heard people say that the reason we suddenly stopped this time isn’t because there are bandits ahead, but because you don’t want to go south anymore. Is that true?"

"Oh..." John Harrison was momentarily distracted, and almost blurted out, "About that, I do have such thoughts, but staying here, I really don’t know how to defend against the Jin soldiers who could show up at any time. Maybe we’ll still have to go to Yangzhou."

The soldiers around him changed expressions slightly at these words, but said nothing more.

At this moment, John Harrison also realized he might have misspoken and wanted to change the subject, but before he could, a familiar voice suddenly sounded from the shadows behind him in the night:

"Mr. Harrison, by order I have brought Mrs. Parker’s ice cream."

John Harrison stood up in surprise and turned around, only to find that at some point, Charles Young had already appeared behind him, holding a bowl of some kind of milk dessert in both hands, standing respectfully.

Chapter Three: Where Are My Trusted Followers?

Charles Young’s arrival made the young John Harrison extremely alert—this feeling of being constantly watched was just too awful!

And that night, this Mr. Harrison exploded like a cat with its fur standing on end. He ordered that the ice cream personally made by Emily Parker—which was really just some kind of milk dessert—be distributed to the Chixin Squad soldiers, and then simply forced himself to stay overnight in the Chixin Squad’s camp!