Although he was earlier forced to retire, in 1124, Tong Guan was called back into military service by Emperor Huizong, who trusted no other general more than Tong Guan to head the mission across the northern border. However, in the last month of 1125, Tong Guan fled across the border back to Kaifeng to deliver the ill-fated news that the Jurchens had begun an invasion of the Song dynasty. Tong Guan was made the leader of Emperor Huizong's personal bodyguard after the emperor abdicated the throne and fled from Kaifeng.