"Seventy to eighty thousand civilians are just bluffing, and there are twenty thousand soldiers in between?" Wuzhu summed it up. "We are confused, and we dare not believe it more, nor do we dare to believe it less?"

"I think so too," Yelu Ma Wu interrupted. "There are Li Yanxian and Han Shizhong's troops around Hezhong Prefecture, with a total of 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers. We are now heading south with 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers. The Song people want to support us, and the Zhao Song officials are in Fangzhou with 20,000 soldiers. They are already in the middle to provide support as a backup, so they should come over."

"Not bad." Balisu immediately agreed.

"Can't we have some accurate information?" Wanyan Wushu asked seriously. "How many soldiers are there? The only ones we need to consider are the regular soldiers in the Imperial Camp, and the Song Imperial Camp must have a certain number..."

Balisu shook his head directly. "There are too many civilians on the other side, and the troops are well deployed. The scouts are also very tired. After a lot of effort to cross the river, they can only capture some civilians and people from the Tuanjie Society to interrogate. The information is complicated and difficult to distinguish. We can only do our best. The main thing is to try to verify these confessions... For example, the commander of Tongguan, the scouts interrogated and found that it was Huyan Tong, and then went to Fenglingdu to risk crossing the river. To see, it was indeed Huyan Tong's flag. It is said that there is an imperial camp commanding army in Tongguan, with at least 2,000 and at most 3,000 soldiers. The general is Huyan Tong, which can't be wrong."

"It must be true that Hu Yantong guarded Tongguan." Wushu nodded immediately, listing all the details. "This man served as the personal guard commander of the Zhao Song emperor for a while when he was in Huaishang. He was once assigned to the Central Army of the Imperial Camp. Later, it was said that in order to remind Han Shizhong not to eat empty salaries, he was transferred back to the Left Army of the Imperial Camp without reorganizing the personnel... So, in order to reassure the Zhao Song emperor, it was natural for Han Shizhong to use this man to guard Tongguan."

The generals nodded in agreement, seeming to be thinking about something.

"It is indeed difficult to conduct reconnaissance across the river, and this method is our best effort." Wushu sighed helplessly again. "However, we have only seen the dragon banner from a distance, but have not yet verified it... We must find a way to verify it!"

Balisu understood Wuzhu's meaning instantly, but still frowned: "King Wei means that the Zhao Song official might be fake? In my opinion, it is not that serious... What Yelu Wanhu said is very appropriate. At this time and place, it is reasonable for the Zhao Song official to come to support first."

"It's always a good idea to test more." Before Wuzhu could speak, Wanyan Salihe interrupted. "The Emperor of Zhao Song has always been cunning..."

Seeing that it was this person who spoke, Balisu and several commanders of the Western Army, such as Wanyan Zhehe, Yelu Mawu, and Wanyan Tuhesu, almost started to get annoyed with each other, but they were helpless... Everyone knew that Salihe was raised in the central army by Taizu since he was a child, and had a very good relationship with several princes. This was one of the reasons why he stayed in Yan'an with Huo Nu when Nianhan was in power, and it was also the reason why he was willing to cooperate with Wuzhu now.

It can also be imagined that if Huo Nu continues to be obsessed with the revenge for her father's murder, then after the dust settles, this person will most likely be promoted to deputy governor-general, and together with Wanyan Eluguan, the governor of Xijing, he will serve as a constraint on Balisu.

But to be honest, this arrangement was bound to make the several Wanhu who had remained in Hedong feel a sense of common hatred for the enemy.

This is because Huo Nu is a Huo Nu. She was promoted to the position of commander-in-chief shortly after the war between Song and Jin broke out. She also had the influence of Lou Shi. Although they were divided, everyone was convinced of her. How could she be compared with this person?

However, Wushu did not seem to notice the attitude of the generals of the Western Army. Instead, he nodded directly: "This Zhao Jiu from Cangzhou has always been cunning. We should really test him a little bit..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden commotion on the other side of the river, which became louder and louder, and then the entire huge military camp and construction site on the other side of the river began to shake.

At the same time, on the Stork Tower on the east bank of the river, Wanyan Wushu, whose face was already a little pale, Balisu, who had remained calm, as well as Salihe, Zhehe, Ma Wu, Tuhesu, Wulibu, Huzhan and other Jin generals, all fell silent for a moment.

There was no other reason. As far as everyone could see, the Jinwu banner that they had been observing for the whole morning was automatically pulled up from the general platform of the military camp on the opposite bank and headed towards the river. Not only that, but the accompanying flags of different sizes and shapes were also densely packed and swarming. The dazzling armored soldiers and armored cavalry on both wings were also not missing.

Wherever the dragon flag went, the mountains and the sea roared, and when it reached the riverside, the shouts of "Long live the dragon" could be clearly heard across the river.

In the end, Wuzhu and others could see with their own eyes that the dragon banner was the half-old dragon banner they had seen that day. At this moment, a rider wearing a golden helmet and golden armor jumped out on his horse under the dragon banner, and came to the riverside surrounded by countless civil and military officials, and looked towards the building above.

It was a beautiful spring day, and Wanyan Wushu and others could even clearly see that man arguing in public and pointing at themselves and saying some nonsense.

"This saves us the trouble of testing!" With a sneer, the first person to break the silence was the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, Wanyan Balisu.

After these words were spoken, most of the surrounding Jin army generals burst into laughter, except for Wei Wang Wushu and a few others who stood still, staring at the scene opposite them without saying a word... and after these people finished laughing, they looked pale again, just like Wushu.

Because just as Balisu said, there is no need to test! Without any doubt, the Zhao Song officials on the opposite side came to the front line again.

At this time, looking back, the second prince Wuliebu died of illness, Lou Shi died in battle, Nianhan was killed with a hammer, and the king Wuqimai collapsed on the couch... When this group of people tried to find a magic needle that could absolutely suppress the Zhao Song emperor and give themselves confidence, they were shocked to find that the two military commanders they could rely on at this time, one was Wei Wang Wushu, and the other was the commander-in-chief Balisu, did not seem to be convincing enough.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!