Chapter 60: Sweeping Away (Seeking Bookmarks)

  "Order Wu Qing as vanguard, open the way for the main army, build bridges when encountering water, and clear roads when encountering mountains, lay the foundation for occupying Donglai County!"

  Zhang Xu said softly.

  "Yes, I will receive the order!"

  "What's going on?"

  Zhang Xu let out another loud roar.

  "The end is near!"

  Guan Hai bowed again.

  "Order General Haig to lead the main force of the army, along with auxiliary civilians and logistical personnel, to attack Donglai County!"

  "Yes!"

  …………

  Zhang Xu's military order was issued, and Wu Qing and Guan Hai's respective armies were mobilized. Wu Qing's army took the lead, each carrying 10 days of military rations, departing from Chang County, thinking about attacking Huang County, the seat of Donglai Prefecture, to open up mountains and roads, and clear the way!

  While commanding a large army of 100,000 men, he slowly entered from the rear with the civilian laborers who were transporting military rations and attacked the cities along the way.

  All materials have been ready and the merchant team is constantly gathering supplies to support the Thunderbolt action, which has officially kicked off.

  Wu Qing led the vanguard of 5,000 troops, and wherever they passed, no one could resist them. Moreover, they did not attack the county town, but only repaired the roads along which the army passed, and incredibly, within three days, the road to Lin County was opened up.

  "Report to General Hei, the army can be mobilized now. The roads of Lin County have been opened, please send troops, General Hei!"

  After opening up the road to Linxian and Guangwen counties, Wu Qing immediately sent someone to gallop quickly and send out the news, this was his task!

  "Oh, General Wu Qing has already opened up the road to Guangwen County, this is great! We will immediately send out troops!"

  At this time, Guan Hai left a team of soldiers and horses to escort the civilians transporting grain, while he led 9,000 troops to rush towards Guangwen County. The order from General Zhang Xu was clear: they had to take down the entire Donglai Prefecture at the fastest speed possible, without any delay.

  So the 90,000-strong army arrived at Guangwen County in just one day. At this time, the whole city of Guangwen was under siege. The county magistrate Liu Da was so frightened that he had already sent someone to the East Lai Prefecture to seek help, and his face was pale and unbearable.

  "Oh no, what can we do? I've heard that the bandits have killed countless people and are extremely powerful. Lin County and Chang County were taken down in just one day, and now they're attacking our Guangwen County!"

  The county magistrate was in a state of anxiety, and the county lieutenant had no courage at all. Although they had trained 1,000 militia by then, they were basically not very effective in combat, and their numbers were too small compared to the enemy army.

  "County Lord, why don't we just open the city gates and surrender? The enemy's morale is high, they're clearly elite troops. Even General Kong doesn't have an army as powerful as this, it's impossible for us to be their match!"

  The county lieutenant advised on the side, but it made Liu Da's heart move extremely, and he was a little hesitant. After all, he knew the actions of Chang County, which was adjacent to his own.

  "If we were to surrender now, it would be difficult too. The militia are all provided by the various families, they will definitely not agree!"

  Liu Da said with a bitter smile.

  "This is easy, we quietly surrender and open the city gate, it will definitely work!"

  However, this county lieutenant had long been bribed and took a sum of money to persuade him to stay.

  …………

  "Heh heh, the county magistrate and county lieutenant have surrendered, this has saved us a lot of trouble!"

  Just as Guan Yu was preparing to attack the city, he received a report from his scouts that the envoy from Guangwen County had arrived. After meeting with him, he was overjoyed and praised Zhang Xiu's plan, admiring it greatly.

  It was a day when the army of Gan Hai attacked the city, and County Magistrate Liu Da and County Wei Cao He surrendered. With internal and external cooperation, it only took half an hour to capture Guangwen County. Then, they accepted the surrender of the captives, left behind a contingent of soldiers and horses to guard the city, and the main army continued to advance!

  Donglai County was indeed deserted, and along the way, Wu Qing repaired the road. General Kan Hai then took down the city, and the remaining twelve counties of Donglai County were all settled in one battle. The last one reached Huang County, where Wu Qing had already guarded the gate of Donglai County, and General Kan Hai led his army to besiege Huang County.

  At this time, the county seat of Huang County was already tightly guarded at the gate. Huang County was the capital of Donglai Prefecture and had 3,000 regular troops, but the army had also been abandoned for a long time and its combat effectiveness was not strong.

  At this time, Cao Da, the governor of Donglai County, was worried and anxious. He gathered all the gentry and nobles in the city to discuss the matter of defending the city. They were all aware of what had happened on the road to Chang County and were extremely worried.

  "Governor Taishou, I wonder if Governor Kong Rong would be willing to support us!"

  The head of the Lin family in Huang County asked with a worried look on his face.

  "The envoy has been sent out, and as I am a neighbor of Governor Kong Rong in Donglai Commandery, I believe he will not ignore us!"

  Cao's heart was uncertain, and it was not a good time to say anything. He hastily said that the strength of Guan Yu's army was too great, and along the way, they had also attacked some cities that were unwilling to surrender. The soldiers had seen blood, and under the continuous great victories, their progress speed was extremely fast. Although many troops had been left behind to garrison the remaining counties, there were only 6,000 troops now, but they were strong and powerful. A probing attack on the city had already made Huang County terrified.

  "That's great, if Commander Kong is willing to send troops, then the city of Huang County will certainly be able to hold on, and when Commander Kong's army arrives, we will definitely let the bandits disappear into thin air!"

  At this moment, all the people of these big families showed a smile on their faces, but Cao Da secretly sighed in his heart. He knew a thing or two about the strength of Gan Ning's 6,000-strong army. Even if Kong Rong was willing to send out a large army, it was difficult to predict whether they could win. In his opinion, the bandit soldiers and horses were no weaker than the elite troops.

  …………

  "This Huang County is indeed heavily guarded, and I have lost dozens of soldiers for nothing. It's really infuriating!"

  Guan Hai launched a probing attack on the city, but found that it was heavily guarded and could not be taken in a short time. To avoid casualties, he decided to have the army temporarily set up camp and rest for a while.

  The continuous siege in recent days has made the army stronger and more spirited, but the soldiers are also extremely exhausted. Taking a break to rest and regroup is the best strategy.

  Moreover, Zhang Xu has already sent someone to explain that attacking Huang County is not the most important thing. The most important thing is to annihilate the reinforcements sent by Kong Rong, the old good man. Kong Rong regards Donglai Commandery as his own territory. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to defeat his army, there will be more twists and turns.

  Therefore, Guan Yu did not directly attack the city. Firstly, to avoid unnecessary casualties among his soldiers and secondly, to wait for Kong Rong's reinforcements. Surrounding and attacking the reinforcements would lead to their defeat, which would inevitably cause a drop in morale among Huang Zu's troops, making it possible to win the battle with one strike!

  At this time, Beihai's administrative office in Xiling City was also holding an emergency meeting...