Parents hugged their children, wives cried in their husbands’ arms, children went to their fathers, everywhere he looked there was joy.
Zhong Yu smiled as well, knowing fully well the casualties would be minimal, except for some poor saps.
Then why did he put on such a heavy face and instilled a sense of dread at what was to come in the campaign? It was to sharpen his men and understand the cruelty of war.
Through marching and training they would grow. But the soldiers would gain more from a battle than dozens of days training, even if it was bloodless.
While the people felt this battle would be disastrous, never going to see their loved ones again.
But going through such despair and crushing sadness, they reunited at last and saw him as their last shining hope.
It would boost their loyalty and approval ratings to unseen heights, their belonging to these lands increasing and considering this odd world as home.
Taking his imperial guards to his seat of power through winding pathways, he stopped at his study.
Shedding the black armor for a more casual one, in white, Zhong Yu ordered the servants to bring him a strong tea before ushering them out.
Alone in his chair, he gazed in the steamy cup as his erratic mind slowed down.
He got used to being tense and now that he was alone, he came to terms with those thoughts and resumed calm.
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He summed up the questions to the campaign to: ‘What did I achieve? What have I neglected?’
‘All in all, I gained 2500 people, completing the 1000 homes, or 5,000 people quest and can upgrade the domain.’
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Next, in Edson’s site, or Luoyang’s west, there were four established locations of which one was a town. They will be used to support future conquests further west while also exercising my control within 20 miles.’
‘In addition, the experience from this campaign will make the conquest north of Luoyang, in Monla’s direction, smoother.’
‘Lastly, and perhaps the most important, those Chinese soldiers and citizens feel utterly grateful and loyal to me now and won’t affect my rule.’
With the gains established, it was now time to look at the losses.
‘The main one is I lack soldiers. Taking all my military on a campaign will leave my domain weak and just a hundred men could easily raid it.’
‘And I’m a bit too greedy. Without a real force I can’t quell the hearts of the service army and taking them to hunt for tribes will only exacerbate the danger of mutiny.’
‘Fortunately, I showed the extent of my power and reigned in their desires to fight back before it was too late.’
‘But I can’t take such risks again. I need to leave some behind to defend.’
In case his campaign went belly up, Luoyang was safe and sound, a way to recover and amass more troops against the enemy.
An ancient case showed Zhong Yu how true this was. It was the Chu-Han Contention, 206 BC, in which Emperor Liu Bang of Han and Conqueror Xiang Yi had gone on an eight year long war for unification.
The war was cruel and harsh. The population then was 30 million, but in just 8 years it dropped to 8 million, with even the emperor’s royal carriage falling victim.
There were countless battles of hundreds of thousand soldiers, or countless skirmishes of tens of thousands.
The most renowned was the Battle of Pengcheng. Liu Bang’s 560,000 troops was decimated by only 30,000 cavalry of Xiang Yu. He abandoned his wife and kids and fled to Guanzhong.
Yet in two short years, he gathered a force of hundreds of thousands to push for Xiangyang, going against Xiang Yu once more.
The start of the battle wasn’t in Liu Bang’s favor, losing ten thousand in a blink, but his base, Sichuan and Guanzhong were safe.
Under his man’s command, Xiao He, was training recruits and sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder.
While Xiang Yu, despite the numerical advantage, he was on hostile grounds, with his domain in chaos and no place was safe. Even his people lost faith in him.
It brought him not a single soldier and all he could do was rely on his force as it was whittled down to nothing.
It was a prime example of how important it was to have a fallback. He was of firm belief that in two years, Luoyang would be the political and economic center of his domain.
It would be the heart of his lands, pumping out fresh blood to fuel his conquering needs.
Based in the furthest reaches of his domain, it had the endless forest behind it so no one could attack it.
He could just leave a few guards for law and order and any occasional revolt while he’d be out there with his entire army, conquering.
Luoyang’s periphery had flat fertile land and developed into thousands of acres. It would supply his campaigns, year after year after year.
He’d imitate Cao Cao, who worked the lands on the ancient capital Xuchang, where the core of the country lay and had the best men.
It would reach a point, 20-30% of wealth, 20-30% of food, 20-30% of talent and 20-30% of soldiers would come from this place alone. It would make the enemies and masterminds’ hearts bleed: ‘How can we face it, the essence of this world?’
As long as this place stood its ground, even with his borders set aflame, he would make a comeback without a doubt.