Chapter 856: Chapter 365: Triple Attack on Ning
Looking solely at the underlying strength, Nanhai Country actually ranks as the foremost among the three nations of Lingnan.
Its territory spans only one prefecture, a re five thousand miles. Its army numbers no more than one hundred thousand, including sixty thousand infantry and forty thousand naval forces, and not a single Inborn Grandmaster among them.
From a military standpoint alone, this is indeed a small nation, and on the weaker side among small nations at that.
However, if one disregards military strength and considers other aspects such as agriculture, comrce, and economy, one will find that with a population registry of eight hundred thousand and a population exceeding four million, Nanhai Country actually qualifies for the status of a great nation.
After all, one of the foundational conditions for a dominant nation is rely a population of ten million.
With over four million people, almost half that of a dominant nation, such an underlying strength naturally qualifies for the title of a great nation.
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The reason Nanhai Country is currently labeled a small nation, even considered at the bottom of small nations, is simply due to the absence of an Inborn Grandmaster’s protection, which leads others to undervalue it.
But if the country possessed a Grandmaster, then leveraging the small grain-producing delta plains near Nanhai City, as well as the mariti trade benefits of the two provinces and two regions near its ports,
the country’s finances and population could, in tis of dire need, sustain an army of four hundred thousand permanent soldiers.
With this four-hundred-thousand-strong army, coupled with two or three Inborn Grandmasters, even if placed among the nations of the world, it would rank as a first-tier great nation just below the dominant nations.
Even when facing a grand dominant nation, with such strength, it might well be capable of battle.
When Chu State was newly founded, Lu Yuan had only just over two hundred thousand soldiers, and the population within the country was about six million. Yet, with his and Lan Cai’er’s combined two parts Inborn status, did they not compel the then weakened ruler of Ning Country to concede and recognize the independence of Chu State?
Now, as tis change, just a decade has passed, and Chu State has beco a dominant nation, even pressuring the established dominant Ning Country into successive retreats, faintly suggestive of an imminent unification of Yangzhou.
Nanhai Country’s underlying strength far exceeds that of Changsha State when Lu Yuan started his rise. Should it redy the Inborn shortfall and develop for a few years, it would beco the most likely among the three nations of the Southsea to replicate the rise of Changsha State against the odds and unify Lingnan.
If Nanhai Country truly succeeds in unifying the three nations of Lingnan, acquiring the land of five prefectures and forty departnts, along with a population of over six million, a new “Chu State” will erge to the south of Chu—Lingnan Great State.
This Lingnan Great State would vie with Lu Yuan’s Chu State for dominion over Jiangnan and even ddle in affairs to the southwest, attempting to annex the remaining countries of Dali and Nanzhao to complete the conquest puzzle.
With the remaining four to five million people from Dali and Nanzhao, as long as the Lingnan Great State assimilates them, it could imdiately achieve a population of ten million, govern eight prefectures, raise a million soldiers, and claim supremacy in the world.
Indeed, with the territory of Yangzhou having expanded through several rounds, it now covers about eighteen prefectures, enough to sustain three small dominant nations already.
The depth of its foundational strength ranks among the leading in the Nine Provinces.
This also signifies that if Chu State succeeds in unifying Yangzhou, its national power will soar to rank among the top three in the world, with a population close to forty million, sustaining an army of two to three million soldiers and over twenty Inborn Grandmasters, while its lands would span one hundred thousand miles.
Among the various nations, only Liang Country, which has unified sixteen prefectures of Qingzhou, could compare to it.
When the ti cos to raise an army and head north, competing for the Central State, the chances of victory would greatly increase.
This is precisely why, in order not to allow a third Lingnan dominant nation to rise, Lu Yuan, after conquering Su Country, imdiately forwent the stronger but more remotely situated Song Country.
He instead directed Lan Cai’er to head east, instructing her to work with Qingyunzi to eliminate Nanhai Country.
The reason, of course, is that Nanhai Country, already having two Inborn Grandmasters dostically with Ning Country’s help, had beco a massive threat to Chu State.
If Nanhai Country were allowed to secure its footing and then Ning Country, drawing upon its power, set up a competitive arena in Lingnan against Chu State,
it’s possible, with perseverance, that this “Lingnan Dominant Nation” could erge.
However, this dominant nation might not be known as Nanhai Country but as Ning Country.
Lingnan would be annexed by Ning Country.
After all, Nanhai Country has long been a vassal to Ning Country, effectively a puppet.
And as for Song Country, it was originally a part of Ning Country that had broken away. The ruler of Song, Xie Ning, from the Coastal Aristocratic Family, in a situation with bleak prospects, is highly likely to opt for reintegration into Ning Country.
Only Su Country remains, weak, with a re million people; should Ning Country wish it, like Chu State easily vanquished Su Country, it could be effortlessly destroyed.
Thus, the unification of Lingnan could occur almost overnight.
Precisely owing to these nurous advantages, when Bai Yian earlier proposed abandoning Lingnan and fully retreating to Jiangdong, the plan t with rejection from Shen Qiu and others.
Because if Ning Country plans properly, it indeed has a high probability of annexing Lingnan.
And once Lingnan is in hand, with the financial and population resources of the area, Ning Country could feasibly raise an army of four to five hundred thousand soldiers, battling Chu State in an arena and restraining nearly half of Chu State’s military force in Lingnan.
Even with well-made plans, it could incite the nations of Nanzhao and Dali to join forces with Ning Country, attacking Chu State’s southwestern lands and creating chaos in Chu’s heartland, opening another battlefield.
With such a three-front war, enemies at both front and rear, Chu State, stretched thin on all sides, would naturally struggle to maintain itself; defeat would be inevitable.
With such grand visions at stake, Shen Qiu naturally did not wish to give up on Lingnan, unwilling to forsake ten thousand miles of territory, over six million people, and the hope for supremacy.
But now, these prospects have all turned into illusions.
Lu Yuan, having already seen through Ning Country’s sches, had long mobilized the two armies of Lingnan, striking like thunder, successively conquering Su and Nanhai Countries.
At this point, the land spanning ten thousand miles from these two countries has been integrated into Great Chu, and nearly five million of its residents enlisted for Chu State. Just give it two or three years to consolidate, and Chu State can add another three hundred thousand soldiers; the standing military force officially entering the million-strong elite, ranking amongst the first-tier dominant nations.
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