The leader who had previously led a group of scouts appeared flustered on his face and replied: "To the King, among the second wave of ten scouts who returned, Yu Ning was found to have colluded with the enemy and has already been executed."

Wanyan Jun recalled capturing a scout who had defected to the enemy, nodded, and continued to ask: "And who is the other person?"

The leader's body trembled suddenly, but he forced himself to remain calm and said: "Your Majesty, Lin Gu had some business this morning and returned to the military camp, but he has not come back yet."

Bang...…

The leader's trembling appearance could not deceive Wanyan Jun, who directly slapped the leader, sending him flying backward more than ten meters, and asked sternly: "What on earth is going on, speak quickly!"

The leader trembled, fell to his knees, and said: "Spare my life, Your Majesty! Lin Gu secretly left the scout camp twenty days ago; although I sent many people to look for him, he could not be found. He... he... should have already defected...…"

Defected?

Wanyan Jun's expression changed immediately, he suddenly remembered that Lin Gu was the last scout to return at the border between Jiuhua and Dongyuan; it was because of him that he confirmed the movements and positions of the three allied armies, but now the person has defected, what does this mean?

The movements of his army, including the deployment of troops by the Four Marquis, were all known to Hou Yuxiao, which is why the three allied armies are now stationed north of Wangchuan Road, not entering Jiuhua Dao.

Slap...

"Why report such a big incident only now, damned!"

Wanyan Jun shouted angrily, raised his hand and struck the leader, then turned his head southward, pondered for a moment, and said solemnly:

"I foolishly waited here for more than ten days, Hou Yuxiao had no intention of marching the army onto Dongyuan Path, he was purposely stalling me, depleting the Retired Emperor's forces, inadvertently assisting the alliance!"

The other four kings remained silent; given the current situation, Wanyan Jun's speculation seemed the most reasonable, and even though they felt uneasy, they had no other guesses. This chapter is from the collection at M-VL-EM-PYR.

The crucial issue was that they dared not approach Wangchuan Road, and hence were unable to learn the movements of the three allied armies in time, which presented an unsolvable hindrance.

"Does Your Majesty mean we should make a move first, march the army forward, and go to Wangchuan Road to engage the three allied armies in battle?" Yingtang Marquis asked.

"Otherwise?"

Wanyan Jun sneered and said: "Among the three allied armies, only the Hou Clan's two hundred thousand Red Flame Army is worth considering, the rest are nothing but rabble; with your four divisions combined with my Yuzhou Army, four hundred thousand Sacred Army, shouldn't we fear fighting them?"

All four Marquis nodded, agreeing that compared to the Sacred Army, the three families' eleven hundred thousand heavenly army were indeed nothing but rabble, facing four hundred thousand Sacred Army head-on, defeating the three allied armies could indeed be done effortlessly.

"According to Your Majesty, Hou Yuxiao intends not to support Dongyuan Path but to use the three allied armies to scatter the Retired Emperor's forces, thereby aiding the alliance. Thus, we should take the initiative to attack, swiftly annihilate his army, and then unite forces with the Retired Emperor to expedite the conquest of Jizhou!"

Wanyan Jun nodded and was about to turn around to deploy troops, but suddenly frowned, turned his gaze northwest, and the other four Marquis followed suit, looking over.

A ray of light sped from the northwest wind, shouting sharply from afar: "Urgent report from Marquis of Ziquan: Hou Yucheng and Hou Yujie led two hundred thousand Red Flame Army into Lin Cang territory yesterday, broke through twelve cities overnight, and by dawn had captured Junyang Prefecture City; Tao City is in danger, Marquis has ordered more reinforcements from the remaining two paths' four Marquis to support Lin Cang Path, particularly for reporting!"

Boom...…

Wanyan Jun felt a buzzing sound in his head, and he was stunned on the spot, then he reacted, almost roaring as he asked the person who had just landed in front of him.

"What did you say?"

"Urgent report from Marquis of Ziquan: Hou Yucheng and Hou Yujie led two hundred thousand Red Flame Army into Lin Cang territory yesterday, broke through twelve cities overnight, and by dawn had captured Junyang Prefecture City; Tao City is in danger, Marquis has ordered more reinforcements from the remaining two paths' four Marquis to support Lin Cang Path, particularly for reporting!"

Hiss...

This time, not only him, but the four people behind him, Yingtang Marquis included, all changed their expressions, their pupils full of shock.

"The three allied armies are clearly all stationed at Wangchuan Road without moving, how could the Hou Clan's two hundred thousand Red Flame Army have struck Lin Cang Path?"

"Breaking through twelve cities overnight, how is that possible?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, two hundred thousand Red Flame Army marching, there's no way I would be kept in the dark; even if I was deceived, such strong vitality fluctuations, how could the wilderness demons not detect them?"

"Impossible, impossible, who exactly are you?"

Wanyan Jun repeatedly asked four questions, constantly chanting impossible, and then his eyes turned cold as he stared at the person delivering the report, starting to doubt him.

The man's face showed a hint of fear, hurriedly lowered his head and took out a seal from his bosom, raising it to Wanyan Jun's hand.

"Your Majesty, this matter is absolutely true; last night the Hou Clan's Red Flame Army overran Junyang Prefecture City, I was present on site, Tuoba Tao's fifty-thousand strong army was completely slaughtered, even Marquis Qingyang himself nearly lost his life, fortunately Marquis of Ziquan saved him just in time and salvaged a life.

The Hou Clan has made clear they will continue to attack Lin Cang Path City, unexpected as it is, the army will arrive outside Tao City by tonight; Marquis of Ziquan has already communicated with the four Marquis of the Capital Region Path and Shuofeng Road, they have begun marching towards Lin Cang Path, although their distance from the Hou Clan's army is greater, as long as Marquis of Ziquan holds for two hours, they can arrive in time, so there is no major problem.

The Marquis dispatches me to inform Your Majesty, not to seek aid in warfare, but to report the situation at Lin Cang Path. With the Red Flame Army absent from the three allied armies, only rabble remains, Your Majesty can lead forces to crush them utterly, securing a major victory at Lin Cang Path, leading to the complete overthrow of Hou Yuxiao and his so-called three allied armies, and relieving Emperor Yuliang of concerns regarding the battle in Dongyuan Path!"