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Chapter 316: 184: Losing the Territory Again

On the surface, Lan Zhaoyun led hundreds of thousands of troops, attacking Shaoyang Prefecture from the north and south, with the intention of eliminating it and establishing a north-south passage.

In secret, Lan Cai’er led 30,000 Miao soldiers in a sneak attack on Baling County town, catching the defenders off guard and capturing the city.

Such a bloody example was right in front of their eyes.

As an eyewitness to this scene, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but think of the enemy’s cunning strategy when he saw the Five Poisons Sect, as stubborn as Shaoyang Prefecture was before, now hiding and not coming out.

Anyway, he now had a large number of troops, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.

The Miao people had just lost their top-level strength after he injured their Holy Maiden and were now in a panic, fearful of the Inborn Grandmaster’s deterrence.

Just like Lu Yuan last year, they could only stay in the city and defend, not daring to venture out and have an open battle with the enemy.

If that’s the case, there’s nothing more to say.

Just repeat the same trick that the Miao people had used before.

Let Zhou Qing lead the majority of the militia, moving northward, recovering the abandoned prefectures and county cities, making a show of force, and deceiving the enemy.

He would select a few tens of thousands of elite soldiers, then bring Yan Wangqiu and the experts from the Nanhai Sect, to launch a surprise attack on the poorly defended Jiuyi Prefecture, cutting off the southern Miao people’s retreat.

Wuling Prefecture may be good, but it’s just the Miao people’s ancestral land and the headquarters of the Poison Sect. Even if it’s captured, it would be difficult to assimilate and the rewards would be limited.

The three southern prefectures are different.

Although there are also many Miao people there, the territory in the south is much larger.

Three prefectures are undoubtedly better than one.

If he could capture the three southern prefectures, Lu Yuan would instantly have a large rear area, allowing his territory to expand to five prefectures, and bring them all together.

One option is easy to capture and brings great rewards, while the other is extremely difficult and offers limited rewards.

The choice is clear.

…

Hongdao Year 6, February 28th.

Three days after the army camped in Xinhua County town, Lu Yuan picked 30,000 soldiers, 20,000 of whom were assigned to his disciple Li Liang, and another top-ranked expert from the Nanhai Sect, to station in Wugang County.

They would confront the 50,000 Miao Soldiers entrenched in the resources and Suining counties.

After that, he personally led 10,000 elite soldiers, accompanied by Yan Wangqiu and several experts of the Nanhai Sect, traveling day and night back to Hengyang Prefecture.

Hongdao Year 6, February 30th.

Zhou Qing, who had taken over the army, led the two high-ranking experts of the Nanhai Sect assigned to him, 30,000 newly recruited soldiers, and 70,000 civilian workers, totaling 100,000 people, with great momentum northward towards Wuling Prefecture.

Two days later, the army successively arrived in Xupu and Yuanling counties, recovering the two counties that the Miao people had given up.

Zhou Qing then stationed his army in Yuanling and sent 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilian workers separately to recapture the eastern and northern counties of Wuling Prefecture, such as Wuling Prefecture City, Longyang, and Cili.

When the news that all but Chenxi and Qianling counties had been recovered in Wuling, Zhou Qing finally felt relieved.

After leaving 20,000 civilian workers to defend Xupu and Yuanling and secure the army’s rear, he led 20,000 soldiers and 30,000 civilian workers north to Chenxi and surrounded the city.

However, considering that there were 40,000 Miao defenders in the city and his purpose was merely to attract and distract the Miao, Zhou Qing didn’t send his troops to attack the city. Instead, he ordered his men to blockade the city from all sides, cutting off communication between the city and the outside world.

The Miao people retreated in such haste this time that they managed to gather their manpower but not their supplies.

Furthermore, Wuling Prefecture had been in constant battle for years, with hundreds of thousands of Miao people conscripted into the army several times, leaving them no time to care for local production. They could only rely on the conquered Yue people to provide them with food and weapons.

After several years of turmoil, Wuling Prefecture had become quite impoverished.

There were 40,000 defenders and 30,000 civilians in Chenxi City, totaling 70,000 people.

The horrifying amount of food and fodder consumed daily by so many people was a terrifying figure.

Zhou Qing didn’t believe that the food in the city would last long enough to feed these tens of thousands of people.

He feared that within two months, people would be starving to death inside the city.

When his troops besieged Luyang City, Zhou Qing relied on cutting off the food supply and undermining the enemy’s morale with the rebels’ families, eventually conquering the city a few months later.

And now, he was just applying the same strategy to Chenxi.

“Within three months, if there’s no external assistance, the city will surely fall.”

Standing on a newly built tall platform outside Chenxi City, Zhou Qing stared coldly at the connected city and the fortresses in the distance.

In his eyes, the fate of the city and the Miao people inside had already been sealed.

All that was left was to wait for the fruit to ripen.

While Zhou Qing led the main force northward to Wuling Prefecture with great fanfare.

Hongdao Year 6, March 1st.

Having marched over 400 miles day and night for three days, crossing the border between the two prefectures, Lu Yuan finally led his troops to Dali County in Jiuyi Prefecture.

On the deserted road, a group of tired soldiers trudged with heavy steps towards the south.

They had been on the move for three days and nights, with only two short naps, each less than two hours, and were already extremely exhausted.

If it weren’t for their extensive training and many who were skilled in martial arts, they would not have been able to endure such high-intensity marching.

In fact, out of the original 10,000-strong troops, nearly a thousand had fallen behind after the 400-mile journey.

But even so, the soldiers were still full of fighting spirit as they watched the determined figure on horseback in front of them.