The detour of the Jin army was even more illusory. How could Wu Jie not be prepared? They worked hard to cross the mountains and walked half a circle around the mountain stronghold, but found desperately that there were no gentle slopes on the other two sides, but there were sentry posts on both sides, and the trees around the camp had been cut down early... After hesitating for a long time, these Jin soldiers did not dare to show their heads.

At noon, as the Jin army suffered setbacks on three fronts, and perhaps because the furious Salihe gradually got used to the stench, the Jin army finally changed its strategy. Most of the Jin army withdrew to a safe distance and rested on the spot. Under the supervision of Gu Chipi, some Jin troops no longer forcibly set up fences, but simply chose to pile up earth along the river to defend against attacks from Fangzhou City on the other side of the river.

At the same time, Salihe's request for help finally arrived at the Hekou camp. The reinforcements were immediately approved and set off immediately.

The only thing worth mentioning is that after dealing with the military aid issue, Deputy Governor Wanyan Balisu took the initiative to see Lou Shi and raised a question.

"I did it on purpose."

Just when the Jin army was completely frustrated at the front, the Jin army commander Wanyan Loushi laughed calmly. "I know that Salihe rarely sees setbacks, is arrogant, and easily angered, just as I know that Tuhesu has a bad temper and likes to charge into battle personally... I want to use Tuhesu's irritability and Salihe's arrogance... Think about it, if I let you or Yelu Mawu go there at the beginning, I'm afraid you two will see the casualties and ask for safety."

Balisu suddenly realized, but couldn't help but sneer: "But what if we really can't capture Fangzhou City within a few days? Wouldn't the lives of so many soldiers be wasted?"

"If we really can't capture it right now, we can only divide our troops here to block the city, and then ignore the danger in the rear and go south directly." Lou Shi answered without hesitation. "However, we have to capture it if we can. In the overall situation, the lives of soldiers, even your life and mine, are not worth mentioning. If we throw them away, we throw them away. What's more, if we fail to accomplish something useful, it can't be considered as throwing them away."

Balisu's expression changed drastically, but he remained speechless in the end.

After noon, the sun was scorching and the weather became increasingly hot.

Because of the continuous fighting in the previous two days, the narrow area on the other side of the Ju River north of Fangzhou City was already filled with a fishy smell, and countless blood-sucking insects and flies were circling around.

Both sides of the battlefield were resting.

The difference is that since there was no order to withdraw, the Jin army still waited for orders after carrying the wounded to the small camp in the rear. Many soldiers were exhausted and simply hid in the gullies and valleys on the roadside to rest. However, this hiding effect was very poor. First, there were only a few shades, and second, many soldiers were wearing armor. The Jin army had very strict military discipline, and no one dared to take off the armor easily. Even the helmets were not known whether they should be taken off or not... If they took off the armor, they would feel uncomfortable in the sun, but if they didn't take it off, they would sweat all over their heads, so they had to take it off and put it on repeatedly.

In sharp contrast, the Song army was sitting comfortably inside the city and the camp, and they didn’t even need to drink much water… and a considerable number of them had removed their armor, were wearing cool clothes, and were taking naps in their tents or in the shade under the city.

Of course, there was still some movement on the battlefield. On the east side of the battlefield, under the urging of the furious Salihe and the surveillance of Mengangu Chipi, a small number of Han army auxiliary troops did not stop the process of piling up earth and building fortifications, and the Song army's crossbows would occasionally shoot cold arrows in this direction... But overall, both sides seemed exhausted and were waiting for the summer heat to dissipate in the evening.

As the sun moved further west, the battlefield became increasingly dull, and in the military camp on the mountain, the atmosphere was vaguely not right… In front of the military camp, many crossbowmen in armor, with bows and crossbows placed in front of them, were just chatting and laughing there. Some soldiers were cleaning up corpses and stripping off trophies on the mountain, and this area was still very noisy; then starting from the vicinity of Wu Jie's central army tent in the front of the military camp and moving back, there was a considerable area that was too quiet. There were obviously many soldiers in cool clothes resting in tents or wooden sheds, but almost no one talked to each other. They would only whisper a few words when they went to the fixed water points to drink water, and they would be like dumb again when they went back and sat down.

Wu Jie, who was sitting in the central army tent to escape the summer heat, also looked like a ghost and did not say a word from beginning to end.

However, unlike the other soldiers, Wu Jie had been doing something incredible since noon - he placed a Jin army gourd helmet on the open space in front of the central army tent and let it be exposed to the sun... This was peeled off a Jin soldier's corpse last night, and there was a hole on it... Then, every quarter of an hour, Wu Jinglüe would personally go out and touch the Jin army helmet with inexplicable red and white stains.

And this time, for who knows how many times, as Wu Jie reached out to touch the helmet and then instinctively retracted his hand, the general was greatly encouraged and then excitedly waved to the leader of the personal guards beside him.

Upon seeing this, the leader of the personal guards was a man who could speak. He immediately ordered people to take out two purple flags. He arranged one flag and held it personally, while the other flag was hung high up in the southwest corner of the camp facing the suspension bridge.

When they saw the flag being hung, there was a commotion in the military camp and the city. Although they still suppressed their words, the noise could no longer be concealed, especially on the gate tower of Fangzhou City, where a red flag was immediately hung in response.

The two flags were not far away. An Gu Chi Pi, a Jin army officer who had given up patrolling, had already taken shelter behind an earthen fort to rest. Seeing this scene, he stood up in a daze despite the scorching heat out of the instinct of an excellent officer. He looked twice, then turned back to look at the Jin army troops behind him, who were weak and scattered all the way to the small camp not far away. He suddenly realized what was happening, then he immediately got on his horse and headed towards Salihe.

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