After the vast majority of troops were transferred to Yuguan City in Liaodong, the entire Liaodong province was almost completely emptied.

Meanwhile, the reserve troops from Dongning moved through Liaodong as if it were empty, taking over the territory city by city.

Occasionally, there are remnants of defeated soldiers holding out in Liaodong cities, but the Dongning reserve forces do not attack these cities; instead, they temporarily bypass them.

The isolated cities in various parts of Liaodong have lost their significance for Dongning.

What Dongning wants is to win the hearts and minds of the people of the entire Liaodong region!

How do we win the hearts and minds of the people?

Those were the policies implemented in Dongning.

The poll tax was abolished.

Newly developed farmland is exempt from tax for five years.

These two points alone are enough to make the people cheer with joy.

Moreover, Dongning's policies also include providing interest-free loans and subsidies for purchasing farm tools and draft cattle.

Over the past two or three years, news of what Dongning did has naturally reached Liaodong, which is very close by.

People from all over Liaodong also know that they can work and earn money in Dongning.

Therefore, they have no resistance to Dongning from the bottom of their hearts; on the contrary, they welcome it.

After the counties under the jurisdiction of Shenzhou, Liaodong City, Jinzhou, Kaizhou and other places surrendered to Dongning one after another, only a few isolated cities such as Kaizhou, Yingzhou and Jinzhou remained in the entire Liaodong region, with some remnants of defeated soldiers holding on and refusing to surrender.

Yu Maocai, Zheng Deliang, and others did not rush to persuade these cities to surrender.

Yu Maocai simply instructed the clerks from Dongning to form several work teams to go into the villages under various prefectures and counties to read out Dongning's policies.

As long as the hearts of the people are won, it doesn't matter if these cities hold out for a year or two.

Without the support of the people, there are no taxes, and therefore no food to sustain their lives.

Their fate is only one—death!

This is the wonderful use of public opinion!

As winter deepened and the year drew to a close, the entire isolated city in Liaodong grew increasingly panicked.

Panic wasn't limited to them; it also gripped the Liaodong garrison in Guangning and other areas outside the pass.

The longer the large Liaodong garrison stayed in Guangning, the more food and supplies it consumed.

When they arrived here, they had already used up most of their provisions.

Inside Guangning City.

Li Delu, the commander of the Liaodong garrison, had a gloomy face and a furrowed brow. He asked coldly, "Isn't the grain and fodder from Jinzhou being delivered yet?"

"Yes, General."

A trusted confidant nodded and replied, "In the Ningyuan area, there are more than 10,000 troops of Prince Xin's army stationed, cutting off the official road."

In addition, there are still scattered soldiers of Prince Xin's army wandering around Jinzhou City, constantly threatening the grain convoy.

According to reports from various cities in Liaodong and Jinzhou, Dongning has dispatched another large army to Liaodong and is taking over the region.

To date, more than twenty prefectures and counties have fallen into the hands of Dongning. Liaodong now only has Jinzhou, Kaizhou, Yingzhou and other places under its control.

Food supplies in various regions are also in short supply.

If this continues for a long time, I'm afraid...

The confidant didn't continue speaking, but everyone present understood the meaning behind his words.

After all, they were well aware of the situation of the Liaodong garrison around the Guangning front.

With 70,000 to 80,000 troops, the daily consumption of food and supplies for both men and horses was a huge drain on resources.

During this period, they also launched a probing attack on Yuguan City.

However, every attack ended in failure.

They have no way to deal with Yuguan City on their own.

Most importantly, every time they agreed to have the troops stationed inside the pass attack Yuguan City together, the troops stationed inside the pass refused for various reasons.

The troops stationed inside the Great Wall, with logistical support from the capital, naturally had no reason to panic.

The Liaodong garrison in Guangning was different.

After logistical support was cut off, the situation became increasingly critical.

"well!"

Li Delu sighed and said, "Write another letter and send it to the garrison inside the pass, explaining the situation."

In addition, we wrote to His Majesty, informing him of our current predicament and requesting his assistance.

If things continue like this, we'll starve to death here before we even fail!

"yes!"

The confidant nodded in agreement.

"General,"

Another general beside him hesitated for a moment before speaking, "After the Liao King was captured, we are probably just a bunch of rabble in the eyes of the court."

He was raised by a stepmother, and his maternal grandmother didn't love him, nor did his maternal uncle.

We don't know if the imperial court will provide us with support.

However, General, we cannot simply wait for a reply from the imperial court.

We need to find a way out ourselves!

"Find your own way out?"

Li Delu turned to look at the general and asked, "What other way out do we have?"

Don't tell me you're planning to surrender to Dongning!

"No, no, no, how could I dare!"

The general quickly waved his hand and explained, "What I mean is, if we can't move towards Yuguan City, does that mean we can't move towards Ningyuan in the east either?"

There were not many troops stationed in Jinzhou City, and the supply of provisions could not be delivered.

Can't we go to Jinzhou and get it ourselves?

My intention is to dispatch a portion of the troops to Jinzhou City to escort the grain supplies.

With more troops, why would we fear the Prince Xin's army in the Ningyuan area?

"Would we still be afraid of the Dongning soldiers roaming near Jinzhou?"

"Um?"

Li Delu frowned and asked, "So, how many troops do you plan to send to Jinzhou City? Thirty thousand? Forty thousand? Or fifty thousand?"

With fewer people, how can we possibly make it across the Ningyuan area alone?

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