NOVGO.NET Chapter 793 - Chapter 793: Chapter 344: The Fall and the Endgame
Chapter 793: Chapter 344: The Fall and the Endgame
After seeing through the facade of Zhou Country, Lu Yuan’s apprehension towards this northern country was significantly reduced.
After all, the situation was already quite clear.
Zhou Country, which had not received full support from Yuchan Tao, had already reached its potential limit.
Inborn ten people, a standing army of 1.3 million soldiers; all of these constituted Zhou Country’s total strength.
Even if they tried to dig further, they wouldn’t be able to bring out much more power.
What’s worse is that the current foundations of Zhou Country is rapidly being depleted.
In the western front of Zhou Country, on the Helong region, large-scale battles involving hundreds of thousands of barbarians break out twice a year during spring and autumn.
Though Zhou people were able to repel the barbarians by relying on their own strength, achieving victory.
Even if they win every battle, who could guarantee there would be no casualties in the war?
After each battle, Zhou Country would lose tens of thousands, or even up to a hundred thousand soldiers.
If you add these up, over the nearly six years of fighting barbarians in the Helong region, Zhou Country has already lost as many as 300,000 soldiers.
This number only accounts for the death toll.
Worse than the death toll is the 500,000 disabled soldiers.
Even though the majority of those killed or injured were temporary Village Braves, two to three hundred thousand elite soldiers were also part of this number.
Losing 200-300,000 elite soldiers and 500,000 young and vigorous village braves, with a total casualty count of over 800,000, was unbearable even for Zhou Country.
Keep in mind that ever since Zhou Country lost Hanzhong territory, their current total population is only around 17 million.
800,000 people already correspond to one twentieth of their population, and these were the most essential young and strong individuals among the populace.
Such a massive loss of human resources is on a par with what happened to both Qinguo and Zhao Country after the Battle of Changping.
Back during the Northern Expedition of Yue Country, when the united army of Lu Yuan and others annihilated over 200,000 soldiers of Zhou Country, their morale was decimated, and they no longer dared to look south.
In the end, it took more than a decade for them to recover.
Today, Zhou Country has lost over 300,000 elite soldiers and more than 500,000 young and strong village braves due to the battles, with casualties far exceeding those of the Northern Expedition.
Such massive losses, although not enough to end Zhou Country’s national destiny in a single battle, still heavily damage their vitality, requiring at least a decade or two of recovery before they can breathe easy again.
But is there time for Zhou Country to recover now?
At this moment, the barbarians, with Chu State’s assistance, have launched a large scale invasion of the Helong region during this spring, far beyond the scale of previous years, mobilizing over 700,000 soldiers.
In Zhou Country’s back, the Chu army is also causing destruction, driving a dagger into their heart.
By conservative estimates.
Even if Zhou Country can win this battle and repel the barbarians and Chu State, their final casualties are estimated to exceed 100,000, another massive bloodletting.
Each attack on the Helong region weakens the vitality of Zhou Country and reveals their internal weakness.
Ironically, faced with such a difficult situation, Zhou Country cannot afford to abandon the Helong region.
Because if they lose these two territories, Guannei territory, where the capital is located, will be left completely unprotected, and The most core and crucial territories of the entire nation would face a direct threat from the barbarians.
By that time, the barbarians would have gained control of the Helong region, further strengthening their power, making it increasingly difficult for Zhou people to counteract.
This is a dead-end situation where they retreat step by step until there is nowhere left to retreat.
Thus, no matter how difficult the Helong battle front becomes, Zhou Country cannot back away, because once they do, they’ll be one step closer to their demise.
But as they continue to hold their ground, Zhou Country maintains the status quo at great cost, continuously bleeding and losing their vitality.
Originally, with Zhou Country’s expansive territory and wealth, they were confident that they could wear out the barbarians through attrition, even while constantly bleeding.
But now Chu State has intervened, stirring up chaos in this already complex situation, making the obvious outcome uncertain and unpredictable.
Zhou Country’s sure-win situation has become uncertain, filled with countless variables.
What’s even more unfavorable is.
In addition to the Helong battle front, in the past two years, Wei Country in the north has suddenly been exacerbating border conflicts with Zhou Country in the Shuofang region, seemingly because of the cold wave.
Originally, both countries had occasional friction in the Shuofang region, but conflicts involving only thousands or tens of thousands of people barely escalated.
However, starting the year before, the number of Wei Country troops invading the Shuofang region suddenly increased substantially.
There were often wars involving tens of thousands of people, and even last autumn, a large-scale conflict of 100,000 people broke out.
100,000 soldiers, even for a dominant country, amounted to a national war.
In other words.
Wei Country has formally engaged in a national war with Zhou Country within the Shuofang region.
Although this national war did not last long, ending after only one or two months, and did not erupt again afterward.
However, the impact of this war is far-reaching.
It represents that after several years of adjustment, Wei Country has officially prepared to gather the strength of the whole country and launch a southward expedition.
Last year’s national war was just a small appetizer, making some preliminary probing.
Once they discern Zhou Country’s true strength, they will brazenly march southward, setting off a grand Southern Expedition journey.
This is not a false alarm.
Wei Country’s geographic location has determined that they will inevitably make this choice.