Dulan Khagan had grown old, but he had not lost his nose for the battlefield.
So, after loosing that arrow, the khan of the East Wu Clan led his Ancestral Dragon Guard to the outskirts of the battlefield, protecting their Broken-Wing Ancestral Dragon Banner. There he acted as army inspector and concentrated on watching the fighting... Meanwhile, not all the thirty thousand elite cavalry he had brought had entered battle. Indeed, the vast majority remained farther back, concealed in the darkness and snowstorm, awaiting orders.
Dou Ru, who had accompanied him here, watched for a while. Uneasy, he urged his horse forward and asked, "Khan, what are you waiting for?"
"Reinforcements." Dulan glanced at the young member of the Western Pass nobility, his tone indifferent. "The enemy's reinforcements."
"Please enlighten me, Khan." Dou Ru considered this, then solemnly cupped his hands.
"The Exorcising the Dragon Gang holds a third of the realm, and the richest third at that. Their Chief Zhang San has such a great reputation. If the Exorcising the Dragon Army itself were so inept that my arrow just now sent it collapsing outright, that would indicate a trick." Dulan made no attempt to conceal his thinking. "So we must watch their response... Take the camp before us: their response is appropriate. They were caught off guard, but haven't collapsed, and are instead organizing whatever defense they can... But that is merely the outcome on one part of the battlefield. With so many men, we will break in sooner or later. It means little. The real key to this battle is how many reinforcements they bring across the entire battlefield, and how quickly.
"If the troops scattered a hundred to two hundred li away on raids come to their aid in great numbers and with great speed, or