Chapter 2174: In Full Swing

Ten days later, the new border trade agreement with Mu and Ya officially took effect. After the Mu army withdrew, the first caravan to cross from Mu territory was warmly welcomed by the Does Bailie region.

Its arrival signified the normalization of bilateral relations between Mu and Cangyan.

A new order had been established.

In the capital of Does Bailie, firecrackers echoed throughout the city all day long, more lively than during festivals, with smiles on everyone's faces.

From today on, from this moment on, Does Bailie could stand tall, no longer needing to pay tribute to Mu, no longer needing to endure Ya's frenzied plundering.

Because a powerful regime had risen behind it.

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The war within Ya's borders raged fiercely.

The Mu army launched a large-scale invasion of Ya's northwestern borders, and since most of Ya's forces had been redeployed to the holy land, the Mu army captured four prefectures as if entering an uninhabited land.

By the time Ya mobilized its defenses, vast tracts of land in the west had already fallen.

The two armies fought in bloody combat for over half a month.

When the Mu army entered Ya, it numbered seventy thousand; half a month later, it had been reinforced to three hundred thousand, a number that even greatly exceeded that of the Bekka battlefield!

Know that Mu had only deployed eighty thousand troops to the Bekka battlefield.

Mu's determination drew worldwide attention.

He Lingchuan himself returned to Does Bailie, but the avian monster flying messages from the Ya battlefield continued without cease, with as many as five arriving in a single day at most.

Even as a mere observer, he could detect so many variables, revealing how complex the Ya battlefield situation was and how entangled the fighting had become.

He Yue followed beside his elder brother to monitor the battlefield, his heart pounding each time.

Each shocking figure represented a lost life.

This was what a great power's war truly was.

Compared to this, the Yan Kingdom war he had experienced truly seemed like villagers beating each other with hammers and hoes.

By this point in the war, its intensity had surpassed even the Dragon God Army's Baiqiuyuan War in Ya. After all, at that time, the Ya army had hastily dispatched a few elite units to respond, while the main Ya army that later assembled never actually clashed with the Dragon God Army, instead being directly sent to the front against Mu.

Both sides were composed of elite troops and fierce generals.

For He Lingchuan, this was a rare and excellent opportunity to observe Mu's military strength.

He analyzed battle reports day and night, and had to admit that Mu's main force was on par with the Black Armor Army he himself had raised, with no significant difference in combat quality or individual ability, but vastly superior in numbers, and each unit had its own distinct characteristics.

However, he held reservations about Mu's tactics and combat philosophy.

He Yue accompanied him as they watched from the sidelines, unable to refrain from asking: "Elder brother, Mu initially couldn't even aid Does Bailie, so why is it now fiercely attacking Ya as if gone mad? Its fighting with Bekka has clearly never ceased."

He Lingchuan was reviewing construction materials for Cangyan's capital when he heard the question, and without looking up said: "What do you think? If you can ask the question, you must have already considered it yourself."

The elder brother was testing him again. He Yue scratched his head: "Is it because the Ya army suffered setbacks at Baiqiuyuan, damaging both its strength and morale, and is no longer in its prime?"

"Not bad. They have lost confidence greatly. This is a crucial point." He Lingchuan never overlooked the role of his own side.

The significance of the Dragon God Army's victory at Baiqiuyuan far exceeded these few battles themselves. The holy land had been captured—an unprecedented humiliation for Ya since its founding, and Ya later failed to avenge this shame, instead ceding northern territories to Cangyan.

This dealt a heavy blow to the nation's confidence and the army's morale.

"Furthermore, Ya is a multi-tribal state; you shouldn't view it as a monolith. It differs from vertically centralized states like Cangyan." He Lingchuan further broke it down: "In the Baiqiuyuan War, it was mainly Ya's royal tribe, the main tribal army, that suffered the heaviest losses. Of the Ya soldiers we killed then, one in three was a Kelin tribesman, and the Kelin tribe also lost several senior commanders. With the main tribe's strength diminished, its control over other tribes would also decline. Look at the intelligence we received yesterday: in the past two days, Ya's army has made errors, both major and minor, numbering at least five or six, even including one Ya unit that charged into its own camp. This is with intelligence gathering; the actual number may be higher, and even they themselves may not know. If the Ge brothers were still alive, this might not have happened."

Waging a major war, especially with such a long front and rapid tempo, all sorts of strange and unexpected incidents may occur.

He Yue nodded as he listened, still acknowledging his elder brother's observation was more thorough.

He Lingchuan continued to test him: "And what else?"

War has two sides; having spoken of Ya, now turn to Mu: "Is Mu in a predicament where it cannot dismount? Elder brother, you once said war is a mire—once you sink in, it's hard to get out?"

"Correct." He Lingchuan nodded. "Mu was never 'powerless' to aid Does Bailie; it was sparing its strength. Ultimately, whether to send troops comes down to a cost-benefit calculation."

"Previously, whenever Mu aided Does Bailie, it would entangle itself in the mire—this was originally a ploy by Bekka and Ya colluding together. Mu had no desire to dive headfirst in, so it consistently avoided Ya's provocations." He smiled. "We must say, the former Guo Zongfu still had considerable composure, but allowing Does Bailie to be bullied by Ya damaged Mu's prestige. Even without our intervention, once the war pressure from Bekka weakened, Mu would seek to regain this standing and give Ya a taste of its own medicine."

A great power losing face cannot simply be left unaddressed; otherwise, other nations will continually demand it let things slide.

Face is the most valuable asset of a strong nation; once lost, one knows not how many times the cost must be paid to recover it.

"But now the situation is entirely different. The current Mu-Ya war was initiated by Mu itself; Ya was first struck by me to suffer great vital energy loss, after which Mu seized the opportunity, as if picking up a bargain. Moreover, we successfully compelled Ya to sign an agreement and cede territory. With our pearls and jade leading the way, if Mu cannot display brilliance and achieve results, if it cannot return victorious, its hegemony in this region will waver!"

This is precisely what it means to be unable to dismount from the tiger.

He Lingchuan tapped the sand table and said: "That is why we see Mu continuously reinforcing the Ya battlefield; in fact, Bekka is also applying pressure on Mu's western front, attempting to restrain Mu. But Mu's strategic focus has now shifted to the Ya battlefield—it should be resolved, regardless of cost, to win this engagement."

To fight, one must surely win!

"Thus, one should not lightly provoke war; entering is easy, exiting is hard."

He Yue exclaimed: "Then Mu is now fighting on two fronts."

"Correct, this is Mu's most difficult period." He Lingchuan sighed. "Unfortunately, I have signed a truce with Ya, so I can only stand aside and watch. Otherwise, if I again led the great army southward, Ya would surely surrender swiftly."