What does てmean in this sentence?
After trying to learn Japanese with textbooks I decided to try and learn it the way I learned English - playing games.
Now, I have this sentence:
一つの国家を瞬く間に滅ぼし、魔族を束ねて勢力を拡大、周辺国家を震え上がらせた。
I know some basic grammar and understand the general meaning, but don't know what て means in 魔族を束ねて勢力を拡大.
Can anyone explain me the grammatical meaning of て in this sentence? Does it connect 束ね and 勢力, or does it modify 束ね? In what way?