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“Good brother, Su City only has 10,000 garrison troops.”

"Don't forget what I just told you, tonight is the main battlefield in Leshan'ao."

"Do you two intend to lead an army of 200,000 to Leshan Pass to clash with the Northern Wei army?"

Upon hearing this, the two retreated.

The two of them just wanted to gain some merit by following Jiang Zhe and then be promoted to general.

I'm content with just receiving a small monthly military pay; I don't even dare to think about anything else.

How could they possibly control a battle between two armies?

With Jiang Zhe painting a rosy picture from different angles, the two happily led their 100,000-strong army toward Suzhou.

At the same time, Hongze was stationed five miles outside Suzhou.

He couldn't sit still in the tent at all, pacing back and forth outside, his eyes fixed on the south.

Before you know it, an hour has passed.

Fang He looked at the dense forest in front of him, and without any hesitation, waved his hand and led his army into it.

His lieutenant spoke up again, saying, "General, I have no idea this could possibly be the location where the Great Qian Dynasty keeps its granaries."

"What are you doing? I personally led the investigation and found this out. How dare you doubt me?" Fang He turned his head to look at his deputy.

"General, how about I lead a thousand men in to investigate first?" The deputy general was still unwilling to send the main force forward.

Unexpectedly, his words directly angered Fang He.

He gripped the reins tightly and shouted, "You, a mere deputy general, dare to question this general?"

“As I said, I personally led a team to find this location.”

"Now, all troops, launch an attack and destroy the Daqian granary!"

After saying that, Fang He completely ignored the deputy general's expression and led his personal guards inside first.

Just after entering, a voice came from the darkness: "Is that General Fang He?"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Fang He's expression softened, and he replied, "It is indeed this humble general. May I ask if you are Commander Jiang?"

Two people slowly emerged from the darkness.

The person who came was not Jiang Zhe, but Jiang Zhe's personal guard.

The two led Fang He deep into the dense forest.

Fang He breathed a sigh of relief the moment he saw Jiang Zhe.

With a broad smile, he flattered, "General Jiang is indeed very cautious!"

Jiang Zhe did not refute, but nodded in agreement: "We must be more cautious when dealing with your Northern Wei."

"This... Commander Jiang, this humble general has come with sincerity!"

For a moment, Fang He was at a loss. At such a crucial moment, Jiang Zhe actually said that he was a person from the Northern Wei Dynasty.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries to ensure there were no unexpected developments, Jiang Zhe smiled and stepped forward to pat Fang He on the shoulder.

"Brother Fang, why call me 'General'? Just call me 'Brother'."

Fang He also called out, "Brother!"

"Report!"

Suddenly, two people rushed in from the dense forest; they were Jiang Zhe and Fang He's personal guards.

The two glared at each other, then hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the General/Commander!"

"A large number of cavalry are attacking from three miles away in the dense forest. General/Commander, please make preparations as soon as possible!"

The people who came belonged to different camps, but their reports were exactly the same.

In an instant, the two who were as close as brothers just a second ago were separated by a great distance.

The two people, who had been smiling, instantly turned deathly pale.

They looked at each other and asked in unison, "What's going on with the people outside?"

After asking the question, the two were both dumbfounded.

They could tell that the other party wasn't lying to them.

If neither of them had any ulterior motives, where did the cavalry outside come from?

No one told them the answer.

However, just as the two were beginning to suspect each other, the large cavalry force was only a mile away from the dense forest.

With the cavalry charging at full speed, a mile could be reached in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Zhe remained unhurried, waved his hand, and his personal guards surrounded Fang He in the center, questioning him: "Fang He, don't tell me you don't know where these cavalrymen came from?"

Even if he knew that the cavalrymen were not brought by Fang He, it was still related to him.

However, Fang He didn't give him an answer.

Two more people rushed in from outside. They were very fast and their faces showed panic.

"General/Commander, a large number of cavalry have reached the outskirts of the dense forest."

"What? We're already at the edge of the dense forest?"

Fang He and Jiang Zhe looked on incredulously.

They couldn't understand it at all; normally, cavalry wouldn't enter dense forests at night.

But tonight's situation is clearly too coincidental.

In an instant, Jiang Zhe's trust in Fang He completely vanished. With a wave of his hand, his men immediately tied Fang He up.

"General, I am innocent! I truly have no idea where these people came from!"

Fang He wasn't lying; he genuinely didn't know where those people had come from.

However, Jiang Zhe already understood somewhat, and looked at Fang He with a half-smile: "I know you are not lying, but my Great Qian's 300,000 troops are all here."

“Those cavalrymen could not possibly belong to my Great Qian.”

"Currently, only our two countries are at war, so it couldn't possibly be people sent by Western Shu, could it?"

Fang He was utterly shocked. He knew that Jiang Zhe was right.

Currently, the only people in this area besides those from the Great Qian Dynasty are those from the Northern Wei Dynasty.

While the two were talking, Hongyao had already stepped into the outer edge of the dense forest.

As he approached the dense forest, his intuition told him that there were many people inside.

So he had the soldiers dismount beforehand, with half of them leading the horses and the other half following him on foot into the dense forest.

After entering the dense forest, he looked around and waved his hand, saying, "Brothers, light the fire!"

Ten thousand people simultaneously lit fires on the outermost edge of the dense forest.

The already dry, dense forest suddenly burst into flames when it encountered so many fires.

As the fire raged, Hongyao laughed as he looked down into the dense forest: "Hmph, Daqian? Fang He? This is your burial ground!"

Upon witnessing this scene, the army deep in the forest could no longer remain still and scattered in all directions.

Jiang Zhe had no interest in dealing with Fang He; he was focused on commanding the army.

But now that they were at a life-or-death juncture, no one would listen to this newly appointed commander. In the darkness, the sounds of arguing, shouting, and pleas for mercy filled the air...

On the other side, General Zhou, who had been sent out by Jiang Zhe, looked back in confusion and muttered, "Old brother didn't tell us that he would set fires later? Are they playing such a trick?"

"Hmm?" Hearing this, General Lin turned around and glanced back, then smiled and reassured him, "Who cares? As long as we both get our military merits, that's all that matters."

He sighed again, "Tsk tsk, this old brother really knows how to play. With such a big fire, wouldn't it burn those Northern Wei bastards to ashes?"

Little did they know, the fire wasn't started by Jiang Zhe at all.

Those who were burned to ashes were naturally not people from the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Of course, what they didn't know was that ahead in Suzhou, Hongze was waiting for them.