Chapter 61: Kong Rong's Naivety

  Bei Hai Taishou Kong Rong, a group of literary officials under his command, Kong Rong was one of the most prominent Confucian scholars of his time. The guests at the gathering were mostly men of letters and scholars, with few military officers present. At this moment, only General Zong Bao was among them.

  "This time the bandits are on the move, Donglai County is in a state of emergency, I don't know if you all have a way to retreat!"

  Kong Rong, sitting in the main seat, finished greeting a group of literati and then leisurely asked about military affairs. In Kong Rong's eyes, Donglai Commandery was an insignificant place, so even if it were to submit to him, he wouldn't bother to accept it. However, now Donglai Commandery was being invaded by bandits without any official position, which was unacceptable to Kong Rong.

  This time, upon hearing the urgent letter from Huang County, he could no longer remain calm and hastily gathered his trusted advisors to discuss this matter.

  "Your Excellency is benevolent and virtuous, so it would be better to first send a letter ordering the rebel army to retreat. If not, then dispatch a large army to conquer them. This is also known as 'using courtesy before using force', which can spread Your Excellency's reputation for benevolence."

  A scholar named He Lin stood up and said with a bow.

  "That's right, the adults govern one side and manage Beihai like a paradise on earth. Who among the people of Beihai does not think of the good deeds of the adults? With the prestige of the adults, it is possible to transmit orders and quell the bandit troops. If the bandits do not obey, then are the 20,000 armored soldiers of Beihai just a fantasy?"

  Another Kong Rong staff member also flattered him.

  When the two of them said so, the rest also praised one after another. Kong Rong humbly bowed his hands and smiled, but in his heart he was extremely satisfied. Of course, he wasn't a rotten Confucian scholar to the extreme, knowing that relying on reputation alone would not be enough to stabilize Donglai Prefecture. However, Beihai had 20,000 troops, and Beihai was also one of the few wealthy areas in Qingzhou, which was something Kong Rong took great pride in.

  So the old good man hastily said: "Donglai County is in urgent need, we can't be slow, hmm, so let's first write a letter to persuade the enemy army to retreat, and our great army will also prepare to send troops. Once the enemy army is unwilling, immediately attack!"

  "Ah, Zongbao!" said Kong Rong after he finished speaking.

  "The end is near!"

  General Zong Bao hastily knelt down on one knee and said.

  "Hurry up and go to recruit soldiers and prepare for war, assemble a large army of 10,000, as soon as there is an order, immediately dispatch troops to Donglai County!"

  Kong Rong said with extreme arrogance.

  "Promise!"

  …………

  Let's not mention the dynamics of Beihai Kun Rong for now, but rather talk about Guan Hai's side. Looking at the tall city walls of Huang County, Guan Hai set up camp and didn't immediately attack the city. The city walls of Huang County were approximately three zhang high, and the thickness was also considerable. As a county town, although it couldn't compare to the grandeur of Beihai County's city walls, it was still top-notch.

  At this time, the large army had a lot of people, but Guan Hai didn't think about launching a hard attack after all. Attacking the city was something to do when there was no other way out. The soldiers and horses under his command were all elite warriors, how could they be damaged in the siege?

  So Gan Ning did not rush to attack the city, but instead besieged Huang County, and on the other hand, he communicated with Wu Qing's army, waiting for Beihai's response.

  "The great army besieges, consuming the enemy's morale every day. If they come from Beihai, we will surround and attack their reinforcements. If not, even better! When the enemy is desperate, we can persuade them to surrender, and the outcome of the battle will be decided in one move!"

  The words of Xian Shi Zhang Xu resonated, and Guan Hai strongly agreed. In the heat of battle, a single drumbeat could boost morale, but this was only effective in other cities where there were fewer soldiers. Even if they hastily recruited young men, it would not have much effect against the enemy's fierce attack, and one battle would be enough to take down their own city.

  However, Huang County is the seat of Donglai Prefecture after all. The city walls are high and grand, and there are many soldiers stationed here. Although they are not elite troops, their military preparations are slack, but they are not something that ordinary people can compare to. In a hurry, if you attack, taking it down would be no problem at all, but the loss of soldiers would be too great, and it wouldn't be worth it.

  To say nothing of the recent siege, it has also made the army extremely tired. The physical strength can be replenished, but mentally, it is impossible to recover. If it weren't for the military officers in the army doing ideological work every day, these troops who have just entered the battlefield would have had some mental problems long ago.

  As for leading troops, Guan Yu also had a lot of experience and was extremely clear about the military situation. When he led the Yellow Turban Army, every day's meal was a problem, so naturally, he wouldn't consider the issue of soldier casualties too much. Being able to capture cities was a great achievement. Now it's different, these soldiers are precious wealth, with such a strong foundation, they can't be easily lost.

  "Haha, General Kan Hei's words are reasonable. We should defeat the Beihai reinforcements in one move, and this will intimidate all the vassals. This Donglai County is the foundation of the future Master Xian's hometown, and it would be better to have fewer wars. Huang County is also extremely important!"

  Wu Qing received the news from Guan Hai and immediately agreed. He led 5,000 soldiers to station in the northwest of Huang County, while constantly sending troops to explore the situation in Beihai.

  …………

  "What? You want me to wait for the troops to retreat and withdraw from all counties in Donglai Commandery? Has Kong Rong's brain rusted away?"

  On this day, Wu Qing led a scouting party to explore the enemy's situation. They encountered a group of soldiers and horses arrayed against them. It turned out that they were envoys from Beihai. The leader of the scouting party did not dare to take charge, so he took the envoy to Wu Qing's large camp.

  Upon receiving the message delivered by the messenger, Wu Qing did not dare to act arbitrarily and immediately sent the messenger to Guangwen County in Changxian County. At this time, Zhang Xu had already arrived in Guangwen County, and a group of internal officials quickly absorbed Guangwen County. At this time, Zhang Xu was stationed here to get all kinds of news as soon as possible.

  After hearing the messenger's words, Zhang Xu also laughed in anger: "I've long heard that Kong Beihai is not good at using talents. This time it seems to be true. Such a lack of understanding, it's really ridiculous. Go back and tell Kong Beihai, if he wants to take back this Donglai County, just send troops over!"

  Zhang Xu was confident at this time, and the land of Beihai under Kong Rong's rule would also be his next target. Offending Kong Rong? So be it, what's the harm in that anyway.

  "Alright, since it's like this, I'll definitely bring back your original words, and I hope you won't regret it!"

  This envoy spoke eloquently in front of Kong Rong, but when he arrived here, he still didn't dare to show off. He had the intention to boast about his eloquence, but he didn't dare to do so because after arriving at Guangwen County, Zhang Hua only occupied a short period of half a month, yet it was enough to see a new atmosphere emerge, making people not dare to underestimate him.

  This Guangwen County is a neighboring county of Chang County, and has long been infiltrated by the forces of Zhang Xu. Now those rural gentry and local tyrants have been cleared out by Wu Zhong's troops, and Guangwen County immediately began its rectification work. The people of Guangwen County had long been looking forward to the arrival of Zhang Xu's immortal masters. With a large number of followers entering at once, the two systems' immortal officials worked hard, causing faith to spread rapidly throughout Guangwen County. With a steady stream of supplies pouring in, it naturally gave people a thriving and prosperous atmosphere!