On June 24th Mao arrived at the town of Lianghekou to meet up with Zhang Guotao, the commander of the Fourth Front Army. Zhang had been in the field establishing a series of base areas for five years. There were questions about the size of the respective forces. Zhang had about 100,000 troops. Both were exaggerating their forces. Zhang had about seventy to eighty thousand combat troops and perhaps seventy thousand non-combat personnel. But Mao had exaggerated more. He had about 10,000 troops. Wisely, Mao had dispersed his troops so Zhang could not know the exact number, but it was obvious that he out-numbered Mao greatly. Friction soon developed. Mao had sent Peng Dehuai of the Third Army and Lin Biao of the First off in different directions. Perhaps he did not trust Zhang, but he was taking precautions. A great celebration took place with cordial outward appearances, but underneath, and not far underneath, there ran a current of bitterness, hostility and suspicion.