Through countless dynasties, I can summon the heroes of Chinese history.

Chapter 23 Expanding Territory, Generous Rewards

"General Liu..."

Jiang Ce patted Liu Hong on the shoulder, then said in a deep voice, "I believe that General Andong's loyal spirit will never die. As the saying goes, a tiger father begets no dog son. General, your arrival today with your troops has greatly boosted the morale of the Laiyang army. From this day forward, we are comrades-in-arms, working together to recover our lost territories and wipe away our national humiliation!"

Liu Hong's eyes welled up with tears, and he nodded emphatically, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

At this moment, Mu Yu stepped forward, looked at the sword at Liu Hong's waist, and immediately laughed loudly, "Good lad, worthy of being a descendant of General Liu! In the future, on the battlefield, you and I will fight side by side and make sure that the Eastern barbarians never return!"

"Mr. Wei, allocate more provisions to settle the brothers at Tiepan Mountain. At the same time, pass down the order that the entire army will have a special meal tonight and will not return until they are drunk!" Jiang Ce issued the order again.

"Yes, sir!" Wei Renpu responded and left.

In an instant, the south gate of Laiyang City became lively again, with bonfires burning brightly and the aroma of meat and wine mingling and permeating the air.

Jiang Ce sat with Chen Yun, Liu Hong, and others, discussing the military situation of the Dongyi army. At the same time, Liu Hong introduced the people he had brought to Jiang Ce one by one.

Jiang Ce also tested their five-dimensional attributes.

Most of these people were outlaws and their strength was quite good, but there were a few that Jiang Ce valued highly.

Among these people was a young man named Peng Liang, who possessed exceptional talent and whose peak martial arts level reached 101.

His master, Li Jiu, possessed the strength of a mid-level Heaven-rank expert.

Besides that, there's the strategist Li Zheng, whose intelligence and political acumen are both at the bronze level, and whose leadership skills are also quite good.

After gaining the loyalty of these people, Jiang Ce's summoning points instantly rose to 2251.

…………

Since Jiang Ce issued the summons and had Luo Wang relay it to his old subordinates, the cheers at the gates of Laiyang have grown louder day by day.

In just over a month, the camps outside Laiyang City stretched for dozens of miles, with banners obscuring the sun and drums resounding across the fields.

Unbeknownst to many, Jiang Ce's army, including those who had defected, had grown to over 40,000.

This brings up a new problem: food supplies.

Even if a county had once been the governor's residence, it would not have been able to support the logistics of an army of more than 40,000 men.

If it weren't for Liu Hong, Chen Yun, and others bringing a lot of supplies and food, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold out for so long.

Now that Laiyang City has its troops fully prepared and its elite forces are almost fully trained, it is time to launch the campaign to recapture Laiyang County.

[Ding dong, it has been detected that the host is about to lead an army to conquer the entire Laiyang County. Therefore, the second main quest, "Expanding Territory", has been issued.]

Expanding Territory: When the host's city is conquered, each successful city capture will reward 10 Summoning Points, each successful occupation of a prefecture will reward 200 Summoning Points, and each successful occupation of a state will reward one Gold Summoning Card and one point of any attribute.

The first main quest is recruiting talents, which can definitely be called a powerful tool for harvesting summon cards and summon points. This main quest is not much different.

Laiyang Prefecture has a total of 21 counties. Even if Laiyang City is excluded, as long as Jiang Ce can take it all, he will directly obtain 410 summoning points.

Faced with such a reward, Jiang Ce was naturally happy to accept it.

[Ding-dong, a system side quest has been activated;]

Task 1: Recapture Laiyang County. The task period is six months. If the host completes the task, the reward will be doubled.

Task Two: Reclaim the entire Laizhou region. The task has a three-year time limit. If the host completes the task, an additional reward of one Golden Summoning Card and two points of any attribute will be given.

Task Three, The Road to Conquest: Before Laizhou is completely recovered, as long as the host kills or recruits a gold-level talent, the host will be rewarded with an additional gold summoning card on top of the original system rewards.

For every three Heavenly-level talents killed or subdued, the host will receive an additional Silver Summoning Card on top of the system's existing rewards.

(Note: Since the host has only performed four summons, they will still enjoy the newbie benefits. Furthermore, the side quests in this system are not mandatory, and there will be no penalty for not completing them. Whether or not to complete them is up to the host.)

"Interesting, these newbie perks are really impressive." Jiang Ce couldn't help but admire in his heart after seeing the system's rewards.

Although the system righteously declared that this was not a mandatory task, given the generous reward, it had to be completed; otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of the reward?

Of these three side quests, the first one is quite simple. After all, most of Laiyang County is now occupied by mountain bandits, and the truly capable people have mostly gone elsewhere.

After all, once they settled in Laiyang County, they would be easily invaded by the Eastern Yi and live a life of constant fear.

Now that the decision has been made to begin the expedition, it is natural to discuss the next strategy, such as where to attack first and how to attack in order to recover Laiyang County at the lowest possible cost.

After some discussion, Jiang Ce finally decided that the key to breaking the deadlock in this battle was Changyang County.

According to news from Luo Wang, Wang Guodong, the garrison commander of Changyang County, is a talent cultivated by the Han family, a prominent family in Laizhou. Although he is quite capable, he has a minor flaw: he is too greedy.

This is a point that is very easy to exploit.

"Your Highness, once Wang Guodong emerges, our army can take advantage of the chaos, first trapping him with our main force, then feigning an attack on Changyang!"

At this moment, Liu Zhi, who was serving as a military advisor, said with a cunning smile.

"Military Advisor Liu, the strategy of muddying the waters seems simple, but if the commander lacks a bit of shrewdness and composure, it is very easy for the enemy to see through it."

"Changyang's geographical location is crucial. Even if Wang Guodong is greedy, he would never dare to neglect the defense of this place. He would definitely arrange for his trusted confidants to guard it firmly before daring to go out of the city himself."

"If our army doesn't plan carefully and falls into his trap, we'll suffer a great loss!" Chang Yuchun frowned upon hearing Liu Zhi's words and then spoke in a deep voice.

"General Chang is quite right, but it also depends on who we send!" Jiang Ce smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Your Highness, this humble general is willing to go!"

"This humble general is willing to go!"

.......

One by one, the generals stepped forward and eagerly volunteered for battle.

"I am well aware of the bravery of all the generals, but I must personally command this battle. Only in this way can I truly make a name for myself in Laizhou," Jiang Ce said directly.

This time, no one stopped them.

Because those present were not political novices, they naturally understood the significance of this battle. If Jiang Ce were to personally lead the army, it would surely boost the morale of the people of Laizhou.