Cao Cao's hesitation only lasted for an instant. In the end, he still couldn't give up on Chen Liu County, which he had occupied for a long time. Yang Rui's actions, on the other hand, could only be described as non-stop. After conquering Yuanju County, Yang Rui led a group of elite troops and charged towards their next target.
Yang Rui didn't target Jiyang County, which was the closest to him. Instead, after crossing the tributary of the Ji River, he went to the north of Jiyang County, and from the south of Changyuan County, which was also heavily defended. He stuck close to the border between the two counties and headed straight for Pingqiu County.
Jiyang County and Changyuan County were both cities that Cao Cao focused on defending. If he were to attack them head-on, Yang Rui was confident of achieving victory in the end. However, if he were to do so, it would take a lot of time and effort.
In a situation where he had the advantage in numbers, Yang Rui intended to use the disparity in information to achieve more results through surprise attacks.
At the same time, with the five hundred thousand elite troops under Yang Rui's command, they wouldn't fall into a passive situation after going too deep into enemy territory. Although Yang Rui didn't know the exact number of troops Cao Cao had, according to the results of the flying pet's investigation, the total number of troops that Cao Cao had stationed in Chen Liu County was no more than five hundred thousand.
Most of the five hundred thousand troops under Yang Rui's command were Sixth Grade and Seventh Grade. Even if there were some Fifth Grade soldiers, they were all unique soldiers such as the silver-coated crossbowmen.
It could be said that even if Yang Rui's forces were to fight against Cao Cao's combined forces, they would still have a chance.
The total number of troops under Cao Cao's command wouldn't exceed one million at most. At the very least, the key cities in Yan County, Changyuan County, Jiyang County, Kao County, and Jiwu County only had about four hundred thousand soldiers.
Of course, this was only the number of troops that Cao Cao had deployed on the surface. There should still be some troops that were originally stationed in each county. Under such circumstances, each of the five cities would only have around 100,000 soldiers.
Yang Rui chose Pingqiu county as his second target because it was also near a tributary of the Ji River. Yang Rui could use all kinds of small and medium-sized warships to escort and transport ships to ensure the supply of food.
After the appearance of the Nine Dragons Whip, the sacred weapon of the Three Kingdoms Civilization, Yang Rui had been thinking about how to solve the problem of food supply transportation. Now, Yang Rui's water transportation method was undoubtedly a very good solution. The importance of the navy was also gradually highlighted.
With the provision of water transportation, the five hundred thousand soldiers under Yang Rui's command were all lightly equipped. Naturally, the speed of the army's movement was greatly increased. This was also one of the prerequisites for Yang Rui to be able to infiltrate deep into the enemy's territory alone and launch a surprise attack.
Of course, Yang Rui's large scale deployment also benefited from the relatively flat terrain of Chen Liu County. If it was in a more rugged area, it would be difficult to achieve.
With light equipment, Yang Rui and his troops advanced very quickly. They set off from Yuanju county in the morning and were already 100 miles east of Pingqiu county in the afternoon. Wherever they passed, Cao Cao's scattered forces were all wiped out.
Previously, when they crossed the river to receive the food from the water, Yang Rui's officers had dug a hole near the river bank to build a stove and had a full meal. Therefore, when Yang Rui's army arrived at Pingqiu county, they did not stop at all. They immediately launched an attack on Pingqiu county.
As Pingqiu county was the rear city, Cao Cao did not deploy too many forces to defend it. The number of soldiers guarding Pingqiu county did not even exceed 10000, which was a far cry from the situation at Yuanju county. Therefore, the entire process of attacking the county was much simpler and faster than at Yuanju county.
In less than an hour, Yang Rui and his officers controlled the entire county. Out of the ten thousand Cao Cao soldiers, almost none of them were able to escape from Pingqiu county. Less than half of them were killed and the rest were all captured.
For the time being, Yang Rui did not plan to let his troops come over to take over Pingqiu county. Therefore, he did not have time to appease the Liegeman.
It took some time to clean up the battlefield. The main thing was to collect the various treasuries in the county, as well as the gold coins and skill books from the battlefield. Moreover, only the cavalry soldiers participated in the cleanup. Most of the remaining soldiers were ordered by Yang Rui to rest at various places in the county.
Yang Rui's target was not only Pingqiu county. The nearest county to Pingqiu was Fengqiu county, which was only an hour's journey by horse. Even if the army rushed over, it would take at most four to six hours to reach there.
After settling the matters at Pingqiu county, Yang Rui led the army and charged towards Fengqiu county. According to Yang Rui's rough estimation, they should be able to reach the county after dark.
"What? Blazing Sun's army avoided Jiyang and Changyuan counties and headed west?! "
"Uh! Blazing Sun's army has five hundred thousand soldiers? They're heading straight for Pingqiu? "
"…"
Just as Yang Rui was attacking Pingqiu county, Cao Cao, who was in Chen Liu county, began to receive news of Yang Rui and Guan Yu's westward journey. No matter how powerful Yang Rui's troops were, it was impossible for them to wipe out all of Cao Cao's scouts.
However, due to the limited method of information transmission, the information that Cao Cao received was delayed by quite a bit. Even if the speed of his scouts was faster, he was unable to achieve real-time information. At the same time, Chenliu County City was also further away.
As more and more information was transmitted, Cao Cao became more and more anxious. He felt that he had underestimated Yang Rui's determination and decisiveness from the beginning. He even held on to the hope that they could avoid war and racked his brains over whether to send a messenger for peace talks. In the end, he could not make up his mind.
However, as the situation took a turn for the worse, it was no longer the time for Cao Cao to consider this matter.
"Send out a messenger and order the garrison generals, Man Chong and Xu Chu, to put up the waiver sign. At the same time, command all the reinforcements in the county to reach Jiyang …"
After thinking for a while, Cao Cao finally sorted out some ideas and ordered the messenger.
Cao Cao had a few considerations for dispatching the garrison troops in his county that was near Yuzhou to Jiyang.
Firstly, Yang Rui had already broken through near Jiyang. That area needed more troops to strengthen the defense.
Secondly, Cao Cao also had plans to gather his troops and be prepared to deal with any situation. At this moment, Cao Cao once again had the idea of giving up on Chen Liu county. He was already thinking about how to retreat if the situation became unfavorable.
"Report! Blazing Sun has broken through Pingqiu county! "
Cao Cao's order was only just passed down. Another messenger appeared in front of Cao Cao again and brought the news that Pingqiu county had fallen.
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