CH 231

After a long wait, Wang Bo'an finally waited for his guard.

"Governor! Governor!"

The guard ran over, shouting, "Something bad happened! West Tai City has been breached! The 11th Division of the Adri Mountain Division attacked from the outside, and the assassins from the Monk Division assassinated the defense commander Wang Chonghuan. The defense army has no command, and the Adriano Cavalry Division broke through the defense line!"

"We, we..."

He burst into tears, gasping for breath.

"Our 7th Army has been annihilated!"

Wang Bo'an was stunned, as if struck by lightning, and stood there in a daze before finally speaking.

"Move the defense line back fifteen kilometers, mobilize the personal guard, and intercept the enemy with Minghai City as the center of the defense line."

"Governor!" The guard exclaimed in shock. "Minghai City is our capital! You can't put yourself in danger. We still have the Central Capital Guard in front of us!"

Wang Bo'an shook his head.

"The Central Capital Guard is too small, with no defensive advantage. Minghai City is a big city with fortresses and heavy artillery. It has sufficient supplies and convenient transportation in the rear. Whether it's command and dispatch, support, or supply transportation, it's all very fast."

"Using Minghai City as a stronghold is advantageous for the battle."

Tears streamed down the guard's face, but he didn't delay and immediately went to deliver the order to the staff and the command headquarters.

After a while, another guard ran over, shouting, "Governor, my lord! Reinforcements have arrived! Reinforcements have finally arrived! So many trains! So many trains! Wuu wuu wuu... We're saved, we're saved..."

By the end, he was sobbing uncontrollably.

A huge burden was lifted off Wang Bo'an's heart, and he immediately arranged for a large number of logistics personnel to receive the supplies.

Then he held a meeting of all the commanders to discuss the revised strategic and tactical plans, as well as the distribution of supplies.

As evening approached, the discussion was almost complete.

"Yes, the enemy is being delayed on the western front. The 3rd Army of the Green Camp near Yutai will ambush the enemy when the opportunity arises."

"Zezhou is in fierce battle, and their supplies cannot cross the front lines to reach here."

"It doesn't matter if it's occupied. Burn everything that can't be taken away. Don't let a single grain of food fall into their hands."

"That's their weakness."

"Yes, we have supplies, they don't. We can wear them down here."

At this time, news came back from the logistics department.

Just as Wang Bo'an picked up the phone, he heard a mournful cry, followed by a loud cry with sobbing.

"Governor! The supplies, the supplies..."

The words were cut off, replaced by crying.

"What?"

Wang Bo'an almost crushed the phone in his hand. "Explain clearly to me!"

The sobbing on the other end of the phone continued, and the person couldn't speak. Another person took over.

"Governor, a total of 551 train carriages have arrived, with a total of 40,000 tons of various supplies and 90,000 tons of food. However, at least half of the food is rotten, and around 10,000 tons have already gone bad."

"There is also a lot of damage to the supplies, with many substandard and defective items. In the medicine, we found bandages and tourniquets made from waste cotton rags, as well as expired and ineffective drugs."

"Currently, less than 40% can be used."

After the phone call ended, the meeting room fell silent.

After a long time, Wang Bo'an finally spoke.

"Minister of Internal Affairs."

"Here!"

"You preserve all the evidence, record all the testimonies, detain all the witnesses. Once this matter is settled, I want to settle the accounts with some people."

"Yes!"

"Chief of Staff, all the previous battle plans are overturned, and we need to discuss them again."

"Yes!"

"Director Ning."

"Here!"

"Bring me the phone. Contact all the surrounding provinces again and ask them to take in refugees."

"We can't accommodate them here!"

Wang Bo'an's voice remained calm, but everyone could see that his hand was tightly clenched, and blood was dripping from his fingers.

Beep...

"Hello, this is Wang Bo'an. We can't hold on in the Central Province. Please help us take in some refugees."

On the other end of the phone, the reply from Governor Ge Guanglin of Mingzhou came, "Okay, 50,000."

"Hello, this is Wang Bo'an. Can you help me take in some refugees?"

"Oh, Governor Wang, it's rare to hear you asking me for help. Well, even though we are neighboring provinces, I have already fulfilled my duty, Governor Wang. I still have tens of thousands of your refugees here. Last time, when I asked you for something, you didn't agree."

"I'm sorry, it was my mistake. Please take in some extra refugees. The Central Province has no more supplies."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. "It seems that things are very serious. Alright, send 100,000 refugees over, and I will continue to help you."

"Thank you."

"Hello, this is Wang Bo'an. I request assistance in taking in some refugees..."

"Oh, isn't this Governor Wang? It's rare to hear you begging me, Chang Shengkai. Well, if you shout 'please' three times, I will help you regardless of past grievances. How about that?"

All the generals and officials in the meeting room showed anger, and General Wang Guangrong jumped up and cursed angrily, "Begging him? That damn old dog! I'll go and kill that looter!"

Wang Bo'an raised his hand to stop him.

"Please, please, please."

"Hahaha, Wang old dog, serves you right. You never expected this day to come, did you, fool."

Click. The phone hung up.

General Wang Guangrong roared and directly smashed through the door of the meeting room and rushed out.

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Wang Bo'an ignored him and continued to make a phone call, this time dialing the Governor of East Qin Prefecture, Sheng Huaixuan.

"Hello, Governor Sheng..."

"Wang, can't hold on, huh? Is Yu Zhongxian causing trouble with your supplies again?"

Only at this moment did Wang Bo'an's voice show emotion, full of bitterness.

"Yes, we lost half of them.""Although Yu Zhongxian's authority to audit relief supplies has been taken away, he can still control the officials who provide and manage the supplies. With them causing trouble, it's almost impossible to receive complete goods... Well, I can still scrape together 30,000 tons of grain..."

"Brother Sheng," Wang Bo'an said bitterly, "No need for support anymore, just help take in some refugees. I can't help them anymore. They are dying in droves here, I can't bear it."

"Alright, I can take in 500,000. I'll send vehicles and personnel to pick them up later."

After hanging up the phone, the mood in the conference room improved slightly.

Afterwards, Wang Bo'an made all the calls he could, but only managed to send out a little over a million refugees. For the refugees scattered all over the hills behind Minghai City, this wasn't even a fifth.

Wang Bo'an asked, "Are there any more calls to make?"

He could only seek help from nearby areas. Faraway places were out of the question.

The staff shook their heads. Instead, a young man stuttered, "Governor Wang, Changshan County is also close to us."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" A staff member who was obviously his father scolded, "That's just a county, and the poorest one in the empire at that. Can they take in 100 people?"

"Right! Although Changshan County is just past Hanguguan, with their limited strength, I'm more worried about their refugees flooding over... Governor! You can't call! There's no precedent for a governor asking a sheriff for help!"

But Wang Bo'an had already dialed Changshan County's number. He smiled, "Even if it's just 100 people, it's worth me making this call as governor."

The call was quickly answered.

The person who answered was a woman. This was a characteristic of Changshan County. They had a foreign affairs bureau responsible for handling external relations, and the head of this department was actually a young woman.

"Hello."

"Hello, Director Qin, this is Wang Bo'an."

"Hello, Uncle Wang."

The young woman on the phone spoke very politely and deliberately tried to close the distance, which made everyone in the conference room feel much better.

Wang Bo'an briefly explained his purpose.

After a moment of silence on the phone, she said, "Uncle Wang, as a close neighbor, it's natural for us younger generation to help when you're in trouble. Let's do this, we'll initially accept 100,000 people. If we can settle them, we'll gradually increase the number depending on the situation."

Even Wang Bo'an smiled at this, and the staff member laughed, "The youngsters in Changshan County really know their stuff. We should take care of them more in the future."

Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the other end of the phone, as if someone had barged in.

"What did you say about 100,000 people?"

The phone was immediately muffled, but you could still faintly hear intermittent voices:

"Hush! It's Governor Wang Bo'an from Zhongzhou, they're out of food... seeking other areas to help settle refugees, didn't you say Zhongzhou is impor... I agreed to initially accept 100,000 people..."

"What!" This voice was very loud, and it was clearly a young man's, "Who told you 100,000 people?"

There was a dull sound, as if the phone had been snatched away.

"Hello, Governor Wang, right?"

The voice was urgent and not very polite.

Everyone in the conference room looked displeased, and there was a hint of worry.

"It's me," Wang Bo'an answered calmly, "Is it Sheriff Lin? If you're having trouble, 50,000 will do..."

"No, no, no, no!"

The voice on the other end was loud and impatient.

"What 50,000, 100,000, I want them all!"

"Huh?" Even Wang Bo'an couldn't help but doubt his hearing for a moment.

The voice on the phone got louder and clearer.

"Only children make choices! Governor Wang, I'll take all your refugees, hahaha!"

Bang!

"Ouch, Qin Luoshuang, why did you hit me!"