"Your Majesty." When Emperor Zhao came to the ground, Wu Jie's tone was slightly lowered. "I am ashamed."

"What is there for Jin Qing to be ashamed of?" Zhao Jiu shook his head quickly. "It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married. Who can stop it from raining? Besides, even if we suffer more losses because of this river, it's impossible to cause a real loss of combat power... But no matter what, we have to do something now, not just to gather the troops... Gathering the troops is the responsibility of Prince Yan'an and Li Shaoyan... We also have to do something to ensure that morale is not discouraged."

"Your Majesty," Wu Jie replied, his tone becoming more cautious, yet resolute. "We have been pushing forward these past two days, and today's incident shows that both sides have reached their limits, with no room for maneuver. Even if it rained today, it would only be able to maintain the situation by relying on the Taiping River... In such a situation, the more tense it is, the more we cannot retreat. Therefore, we must first set up a camp on this side of the river to facilitate the dispatch of troops, and at the same time ensure that there are no Jin army strongholds on this side of the Taiping River!"

Zhao Jiu thought for a while in the rain, and suddenly said, "I remember that before the news was delivered today, you wanted Li Yanxian to lead his troops to capture Huolu County? Is Huolu County on this side?"

"yes."

"How far?"

"It's about ten miles from here, but not due northwest. It's slightly east of here, and only five or six miles away from the Taiping River."

"How many defenders are there?"

"A Meng An..."

"Sure?"

"I am sure."

"Take it down! Take it down immediately in the rain and darkness. We will spend the night in Huolu County and set up a stronghold with this city as the center... Let Liu Yan personally supervise the four commanders to climb the city from all sides and capture it in one fell swoop!"

"yes!"

The military order was hastily passed down, but the front line was still in chaos. In the rain, Zhao Jiufu couldn't help but ask again. "Jin Qing, why did the Jin army abandon Huolu County and instead set up a camp around Shiyi Town?"

"Before today, I thought they were attracted by the flatness of the area around Shiyi, or they were worried that our army would blow up the city with gunpowder and destroy their morale... But today, when I arrived at the battlefront, I suddenly realized it." As he spoke, Wu Jie pointed to the southeast bank of the river. "Your Majesty, have you noticed the high ground on the other side of the river?"

Zhao Jiu, pay no attention to me!

He is completely confused now.

However, this did not prevent him from immediately noticing the high ground when a flash of lightning came.

"Sir, that should be the only high ground on the other side of the river, two or three miles from the river, and ten miles away from Shiyi Camp." Wu Jie answered seriously. "Six or seven miles in radius."

"I understand." Zhao Jiu suddenly realized. "They didn't set their sights on Shiyi, but on this high ground. The other side of the river is a flat road, and only this high ground remains. If they can occupy the high ground like they do now, they can be high above, grasp the situation on all sides, and send cavalry to sweep and support at any time... This is the battlefield they chose."

"Your Excellency's decision is wise." Wu Jie nodded in agreement, but he expanded on it a little. "But it's not just that... In a war like this, it's impossible to pursue fixed tactics. It's possible that they used the high ground to suppress our troops crossing the river and attack calmly, just like today... But it's also possible that they used that high ground as bait to deliberately lure our troops to attack, and our army had to attack even though they knew it was bait in order to gain a view and spoils of war. At that time, when our reinforcements behind us are unable to advance because of the river, they will concentrate their troops to sweep, eat up our troops on the high ground, and recapture the high ground."

"I really understand it this time. Anyway, the high ground is here, and the Taiping River is here. We attack and they defend. The initiative is in their hands. There is always a trick in tactics... Is that right or not?"

"Your Majesty is wise and decisive." Wu Jie repeated the words again.

Lightning flashed again, and the surroundings became blurred, even the high ground on the other side of the river became blurry.

Zhao Jiu, who was already soaked, looked at the other side of the river and shook his head in the rain: "No matter what, wait until the rain stops and Qu Duan gathers... He should be here in the next two days... It won't be too late to make plans then."

Amid the rumbling thunder, Wu Jie seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

PS: Thanks to Mr. An for the Silver Alliance, and thanks to Mr. Xiao Tangsheren for the cuteness... The latter is the 202nd cuteness in this book.