It is said that the Jurchen Mouke who had received the order had long lost his composure. He flipped onto his horse and galloped all the way to the official residence in the center of the city. Relying on his status, he went straight to the back hall to see Wanyan Seli. Disregarding everything else, he knelt down and recounted the events north of the city, imploring the commander to revoke the previous military order.

Now, Wanyan Seli was twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. His life experience was basically similar to that of Wanyan Wushu, who was now rampaging near the Huai River. However, he had two major differences compared to Wanyan Wushu:

Firstly, although he bore the surname Wanyan, his biological father was not called Wanyan Aguda, which determined his status.

Secondly, he was more sinicized, reading more books than most Jurchen generals and appearing very sophisticated... But to be honest, this trait might benefit him in the future, but it was not necessarily a good thing at the moment, because it would arouse the aversion of the old guard in power, which would limit his prospects.

Returning to the present, this man, who was enjoying a drink with a young Han Chinese general, was bewildered by the report. He put down his wine cup and frowned slightly: "You saw clearly, seven riders really defeated thirty of our Jurchen riders?"

"General! The matter is indeed strange. According to common sense, it shouldn't be so, but this subordinate saw clearly from the city wall that there were indeed only seven riders. They suffered no losses and scattered our thirty Jurchen riders!" The Jurchen Mouke who came to report also felt absurd, but he was even more eager to eliminate those seven people, and his plea became more urgent. "General, quickly lift the restrictions and allow us to lead a large army out to sweep them away! Even if the Song people have ambushes, what are we afraid of with an entire Meng'an?"

"You don't understand." Wanyan Seli shook his head slightly, but then looked at the Han Chinese junior general opposite him. "Brother Liu, do you Song people really have such brave people?"

The man smiled wryly and replied awkwardly: "Of course, there are. Aren't Han Shizhong and Wang De, who are now confronting the Fourth Prince on the Huai River, like this?"

"That's right!" Wanyan Seli suddenly realized, then turned his head to look at the Mouke on the ground. "It's normal for the Song army to have one or two top heroes. Just consider it to be Han Shizhong here. There's nothing to be alarmed about... Still no permission to go out to fight!"

The Jurchen Mouke who came to report was greatly disappointed, but due to military law and hierarchy, he could only leave helplessly. But as soon as this person left, Wanyan Seli and the Han general had not finished their meal when the other party returned.

"Why are you here again?"

This time, Wanyan Seli was completely angry, because the other party was already challenging his authority. "Isn't the military order clear enough?! Tell Da Taban Ye that if he is dissatisfied, he can seek the opinion of the other Meng'an in a military council tonight, how dare he come again and again?!"

"General, our Meng'an has been captured alive!" The man's face was ashen, and he kowtowed in response. "The Song army placed the heads of our Jurchen soldiers that they had won in the previous battle under their horses and even had attendants urinate on them. He was indignant at the arrogance of the Song army and went out of the city to confront them. As a result, the other party sacrificed two riders and allowed that powerful Song commander to find an opportunity to rush to the front and then single-handedly grabbed our Meng'an."

Wanyan Seli was stunned for a long time before he stood up, but he didn't say a word and went straight to the back, while the Han general was also embarrassed for a moment and could only stand up and wait.

A moment later, when the Jurchen Wanhus returned, he was in full armor. At the same time, other Jin state officers in the city heard the news and rushed to the front of the official residence.

The two sides met in the hall. Before these Meng'an and Mouke could speak, Wanyan Seli took the lead and raised his hand to stop them: "No need to say more... The reason I didn't allow you to go out to fight before was because the Fourth Prince was defeated on the Huai River, unable to advance or retreat. The battle situation is already delicate, and General Ali and General Elubu had privately contacted me in advance, asking me to be prepared and to ensure that the rear is not lost. You don't know this, don't complain about me."

Everyone then understood a little.

"But now that a Meng'an has been captured, we can't worry about so much." Wanyan Seli continued. "I think if we don't take action, you won't be convinced. Even if you are convinced... let alone anything else, how should we appease the officers in Da Taban Ye's Meng'an? So I have decided to send troops to eat up this Song army, but before sending troops, we must have a plan."

"If it's just those few hundred cavalry, we can definitely eat them. Why do we need a plan?" Someone immediately responded, still indignant about yesterday's and today's military orders. "In fact, if you had allowed us to send troops earlier, even Da Taban Ye's Meng'an would have been enough to settle this matter. Why has it come to this?"

"There won't be just a few hundred cavalry." Wanyan Seli shook his head repeatedly. "If I'm not mistaken, there must be ambushes by the water! Don't you remember what was said before? That a Song Tawei, called Yang Weizhong, has arrived in Guangji Army in the west and is gathering troops. You wanted to raid them, but I refused. This person's arrival is strange, and it is likely related to Yang Weizhong."

"What if there are ambushes?" Someone replied dissatisfied. "In the end, what are we afraid of with five thousand troops? Even if Yang Weizhong gathers a rabble, can they withstand our fierce charge?"

"Even if they can withstand it, so what?" Before Wanyan Seli could reply, someone else said indignantly. "If one charge doesn't work, we'll charge twice. If two charges don't work, we'll charge three times. When have our Jurchen cavalry ever been afraid of hard battles?!"

"I told you, we will definitely send troops this time!" Wanyan Seli slammed his palm on the table angrily. "But since we are sending troops, you must listen to my orders... Firstly, we must leave a few hundred men to guard the city with those newly surrendered Han people; secondly, that water near the north is hundreds of miles in radius. I have never seen such a large lake. We are good at cavalry warfare and infantry warfare, but when have we ever been good at naval warfare? The Fourth Prince suffered a great loss in naval warfare this time on the Huai River. The Song Emperor is right across the river, but we still don't know how to cross it..."

"Then we won't enter the water!" The officers below listened to reason, but they were still impatient and responded directly. "Let's agree in the hall today that after sending troops, we are not allowed to dismount and enter the water. We will only pursue on hard ground where we can ride horses and fight on foot... How about that?"

"That's what I mean, but in addition to that, we are not allowed to get close to the reed marshes." Wanyan Seli added another condition.

"If there are ambushes, they must be in the reed marshes. If we are not allowed to get close to the reed marshes, how can we break them? Even if the Song army outside the city wants to escape, they must escape to the reed marshes... If we are not allowed to get close to the reed marshes, how can we save Da Taban Ye?" This was the second time someone had interrupted the commander's speech.

Wanyan Seli saw the surging crowd and felt helpless, but he remembered his responsibilities and shook his head firmly.

"It's better to prepare more flammable materials."

Just when the two sides were at an impasse and felt extremely difficult, someone suddenly suggested. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the Han general who had been accompanying Wanyan Seli. Their expressions were different, but no one showed hostility... Because this person's biological father was Liu Yu, the former Zhifu of Jinan Prefecture of the Great Song, and this person was called Liu Lin, Liu Yu's own son.

It is said that since Liu Yu surrendered, he knew that he would not be tolerated in the south, so he wholeheartedly served the Jin people. He himself naturally tried his best to please the military supervisor and deputy commander Wanyan Talan, and Talan liked him very much. But even so, how dare he neglect Aguda's fourth son, Jin Wushu? He was just unable to attend to everything.

However, when Jin Wushu went south and divided his troops to Wanyan Seli, allowing the latter to first quell the rebellion in Jinan Prefecture for Talan and then take advantage of the situation to go south to Jizhou, a vital transportation hub, as a rearguard, it gave Liu Yu an opportunity. He sent his son Liu Lin out with dozens of riders to accompany Wanyan Seli as guides, hoping that if there was an opportunity, he could let his son get close to Wanyan Wushu.

Because of Wanyan Seli and Wanyan Talan, this group of people gave this hereditary Song traitor some face.

"Generals!" Liu Lin saw that the people in the hall did not reject him and felt proud, so he quickly cupped his hands and explained. "Now that spring has just begun, the reeds have just turned green, and the dead branches and leaves of winter have not yet sunk into the mud. It is still easy to set fires. If the Song cavalry retreat into the reed marshes, regardless of whether there are ambushes or not, we five thousand cavalry... no, we four thousand five hundred cavalry, can throw a torch each and they will naturally scatter, making it easier to fight! Wouldn't that be perfect?"

Everyone cheered, and Wanyan Seli pondered for a moment and finally nodded heavily:

"In this way, everything will be safe! We will follow Master Liu's opinion and set off with the entire army immediately!"