Great Wilderness Island!
As one of the four major islands in the Xiliang Sea, this place has not yet undergone basic development and is currently just a temporary base. It has now become a place for guarding prisoners.
This island truly lives up to its name; it is a completely deserted island. Apart from a small portion with trees, almost half of it is barren mountains, making it very unsuitable for human habitation.
After observing the island, Guan Yu couldn't help but frown and say, "This Great Wilderness Island is such a pity. It's the closest to Great Ning, but only a small part of it is habitable."
"Yes, what a pity!" Guan Hai couldn't help but frown.
This geographical environment presents a major problem: it makes it impossible to station troops on a large scale. The environment there is not self-sufficient, and everything needs to be transported over, which undoubtedly adds a lot of trouble.
If he could establish a large-scale military presence, he could even take some time to launch a raid on Great Ning and then come back for dinner.
At this moment, a lieutenant couldn't help but whisper, "General Guan, these prisoners are in our hands, and they still need a lot of fresh water and food. If this continues, we'll suffer heavy losses!"
Fresh water and food need to be transported here. If there hadn't been so many fishing boats already, we probably would have had to send people to transport them now.
"Fool, these things all have a price. The ransom will be doubled when the time comes. Nine out, thirteen back. Don't you understand this principle?" Guan Hai said sternly.
He's just a hostage; he has to bear all the expenses himself. We can't possibly cover them.
He delayed things himself, it's not that we don't follow the rules of the game.
Upon hearing this, even Guan Yu's lips twitched slightly, and he chuckled dryly, "Is this the rule of your Yellow Turban Army?"
"Of course not. Our Yellow Turban Army's rule is that what's yours is mine, and whoever seizes it keeps it." Guan Hai patted his chest, looking smug.
We're doing business with no capital investment, and now we have to haggle with them? It's such a waste of time.
Holy crap!
Several Eastern Wu Navy turned green with shock. No wonder their instructor looked so knowledgeable; he was a professional, after all.
Guan Yu frowned and said, "More than a day has passed, why haven't they made a move yet?"
"The other party said earlier that they are urgently raising money," Guan Hai explained.
Still raising money?
A murderous glint flashed in Guan Yu's eyes. These powerful families had swallowed all of Prince of Min Li Sanjiang's wealth, and they were still dawdling over tens of millions of strings of cash. They really didn't take Guan Yu seriously.
To be honest, he still prefers fighting to these trivial matters, but these people are so indecisive, which really annoys him.
He thought of his lord's orders and couldn't help but sneer, "Hmph, it seems they still recognize our power and have no respect or awe for us, which is why they're so lax!"
"All of you, go and prepare! Today, I Guan Yu, will destroy a city of theirs!"
Since you're not in a hurry, then let's make you even more anxious, otherwise you'll think that pirates really can't threaten your land.
Since that's the case, let them know what true respect is!
Holy crap!
Guan Hai's eyes lit up immediately. He loved having such a hot-tempered leader! He exclaimed excitedly, "Boss, you're awesome! I'll go and make the arrangements right away. Today we'll take a city and make them never dare to underestimate us!"
They want us to wait!
Wait my ass!
Watch out!
Several generals of the Eastern Wu Navy were dumbfounded. This big shot really was going to attack Great Ning without a second thought. Great Ning was really in deep trouble.
So the question is, how many people should we bring?
"This time we'll choose a small target; six thousand people will suffice!"
"To achieve a swift victory, all we need are small warships and some siege crossbows; there are basically no city walls along the coast."
Guan Yu pondered for a moment and then gave his answer.
The purpose of this battle is deterrence, not effectiveness. We only need to instill fear in the enemy, so we will choose a small county town near the Min River for the time being.
The enemy's garrison usually numbers only five hundred or so soldiers, at most a thousand or six thousand. Six thousand soldiers would be enough to easily wipe them out.
Hanhai County!
This is a county town in the southeast of Great Ning. It belongs to Min Region, but it is a relatively remote place, so its defenses are insufficient.
Faced with the imminent threat of pirates, the county magistrate immediately ordered the sea area to be sealed off, forbidding any civilians from entering the water, lest they attract the pirates and face utter annihilation.
"What the hell? This pirate is just at sea, we're just fishing on the shore, is there some problem with that?"
"In the end, it's because the imperial navy is too useless. They were completely wiped out by the pirates. If they had been a little more capable, we wouldn't be so constrained."
"Damn it, my whole family depends on me fishing!"
This policy has left these ordinary people extremely frustrated, as many of them rely on the sea for their livelihood, and this closure is tantamount to taking their lives.
The people were full of complaints, but the county government refused to allow them to go to sea or even approach the coast, and even blocked it off with stones. It was simply too ruthless.
Separated only by a wall, yet unable to go to sea, the people couldn't help but erupt in anger, each glaring angrily at County Lieutenant Zhou Dayou.
Looking at the angry crowd, Zhou Dayou said in a deep voice, "Fellow villagers, the pirates number twenty to thirty thousand, and they are extremely vicious and ruthless. If you fall into their hands, you will not only be dead, but your families, and perhaps not even a dog, will be left!"
Hiss!
The common people couldn't help but shrink back. This pirate was so terrifying; it seemed like they were going to eradicate him completely. This was far too ruthless.
An old man couldn't help but say bitterly, "Lord Zhou, my whole family depends on my fishing. If you don't let us go out to sea, my whole family will starve to death!"
"Yes, yes, our family is the same," someone immediately chimed in.
Hearing their words, Zhou Dayou couldn't help but retort angrily, "I don't care whether you survive or not, this is an order from the imperial court. If you're not satisfied, go to the capital and find the Emperor!"
"You!!!"
Everyone was furious. They had traveled such a long way to find the Emperor; many would probably starve to death along the way.
Just as he was about to speak, a huge flying rock suddenly came hurtling towards him.
Boom!
With a loud bang, the stone wall that had originally isolated the people collapsed instantly, leaving a large hole.
Looking out through the large hole, one could see rows upon rows of warships. Then the sky darkened, and it felt as if a deluge of boulders was flying towards them!
Holy crap!
The catapults have arrived!