Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

"What?!"

Wu Zhong's voice instantly rose eight octaves, becoming as shrill as a duck whose tail had been stepped on.

He couldn't believe his ears. He rushed forward, grabbed the scout's tattered collar, and spat in his face.

"What did you say?! Say it again, you fucking idiot?!"

"Enemy troops? Where did they come from? How many are there?"

The scout was so terrified by Wu Zhong's murderous aura that he trembled like a leaf, his teeth chattering, and he stammered his reply.

"Judging from... in terms of scale... there are at least... at least tens of thousands of people!"

"What!?"

Wu Zhong let out another scream, this time his voice cracked.

"impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Wu Zhong exploded on the spot, like a firecracker that had been lit.

He abruptly flung his hand, throwing the scout to the ground like a tattered sack, his face filled with disbelief.

"How the hell is Blackwind City's population?!"

"Even if Lin Mo included all the babies who were still nursing and all the old women who were using canes, he still couldn't muster an army of ten thousand!"

"That's absolutely impossible!"

Wu Zhong roared and paced back and forth irritably, kicking over the brazier next to him.

Sparks flew everywhere, startling the villagers who had just been captured, who screamed in terror.

Elder Zhao, who had been silent all along, now showed a hint of seriousness on his face.

He slowly walked to Wu Zhong's side, his dead face revealing no emotion.

"General Wu, are you sure the intelligence regarding Black Wind City is accurate?"

When Wu Zhong was asked this question, he forcibly suppressed the rage in his heart.

He was panting heavily, confidently asserting his claim based on his years of experience guarding the pass.

"Absolutely no problem!"

"Elder Zhao, I have the household registration records for the entire area within a hundred miles of Iron Wall Pass!"

"That dilapidated Blackwind City has at most 20,000 inhabitants!"

"Logically speaking, if he can muster three thousand capable soldiers, that's already a huge achievement for Lin Mo!"

"An army of ten thousand? That's pure nonsense! It's utterly a fantasy!"

Upon hearing Wu Zhong's confident assurance, Elder Zhao did not immediately respond, but instead turned to the scout kneeling on the ground, trembling incessantly.

"Are you sure there are 10,000 of them?"

The scout was almost in tears and quickly knelt down to explain.

"It's too dark to see clearly... but... but those torches are all connected, judging from the formation... there are at least ten thousand people!"

Elder Zhao frowned and then asked.

"Besides the large number of people, what else did you see?"

"Flags... flags! So many flags! The wind is too strong to see what's written on them, but they're all standing there, like a forest!"

Upon hearing this, Elder Zhao fell silent once again.

But a few breaths later, a contemptuous sneer suddenly appeared on his face, as if he had seen through everything.

"Ha, is the whole city under siege?"

Elder Zhao shook his head, his tone full of superiority as if he had seen through the little trick.

"A bluff, nothing but a paper tiger."

"what?"

Wu Zhong was stunned, his mind a little blank, and he looked at Elder Zhao with a bewildered expression.

"Elder Zhao, what do you mean by that?"

Elder Zhao glanced at him, his gaze as if he were looking at an uncivilized fool, filled with an overwhelming sense of intellectual superiority.

He analyzed the situation with great confidence.

"That Lin Mo is cunning. He first used an unprecedented explosion to destroy the morale of our army and planted a seed of fear in our hearts."

"At this moment, he knew that our army was already on edge. So he resorted to his old tricks and started psychological warfare."

Elder Zhao paused for a moment, seemingly enjoying Wu Zhong's eager expression, and continued to speak in a teaching tone.

"He must be making a desperate gamble, driving all the people of the city, regardless of age or gender, out of the city."

"Each person was given a torch, and some rags were randomly found and hung on bamboo poles to serve as military flags."

"He was betting that the night was dark and we couldn't see what was going on."

"He was betting that we were too scared to approach and verify the information because of the daytime explosion."

To put it bluntly...

Elder Zhao spoke slowly and deliberately, delivering his final conclusion.

"The 10,000-strong 'army' in front of us is a hastily assembled force of the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled."

"The goal is to create the illusion that he has a strong and well-equipped army, hoping to...scare us away!"

These words were like a sudden awakening, or a ray of holy light, instantly illuminating Wu Zhong's mind, which had been blocked by fear and anger.

Yup!

That must be it!

Otherwise, there's simply no way to explain where this army of ten thousand came from!

That little bastard Lin Mo tricked me with landmines during the day, and now he's trying to scare me with a fake head!

"Hahaha! So that's how it is!"

Wu Zhong, who was grieving the moment before, instantly came back to life.

The fear on his face vanished, replaced by extreme contempt and mockery.

He slapped his thigh, gave Elder Zhao a thumbs-up, and flattered him loudly.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant, Elder Zhao!"

"You are truly a brilliant strategist, a master of planning and execution!"

"That little punk Lin Mo is nothing more than a naked kid playing in the mud in front of you!"

"He's run out of tricks! He's really run out of ideas!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Wu Zhong straightened his back again, and the authority and ruthlessness of a commander returned to his face.

He waved his hand dramatically, his voice booming like a bell.

"Pass on my order! The entire army, form ranks on the spot! Hold the defensive line!"

"Tell the brothers, don't fucking scare yourselves! There's just a bunch of civilians over there!"

"I'd like to see how Lin Mo, leading a bunch of old, weak, and disabled men, manages to break through the ironclad defenses of my 40,000 elite troops!"

Wu Zhong became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see the dawn of victory.

He added with a sneer.

"As soon as it's light, I'll shoot every single one of those charlatan bastards into a pincushion!"

"yes!"

The messenger took the order and left, and the entire camp instantly sprang into action.

The disorganized army began to regroup under the officers' orders, forming an impenetrable defensive formation.

Looking at the army that had regained its order, Wu Zhong felt a surge of pride.

He even started planning that once he had defeated Lin Mo's "army of civilians" at dawn, he would immediately drive that group of cannon fodder to clear the minefield.

At that time, he would sleep with Lin Mo's woman in the city lord's mansion in Black Wind City!

Thinking of this, Wu Zhong couldn't help but laugh out loud again.

Lin Mo, you idiot, you're going to die by my hand in the end!