Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket-Chapter 438 - 404: Enlisting in the Army

Regarding Su Jingyue’s points of confusion, Su Jingchen, as a brother, was quite willing to enlighten him.

"The terrain over in Great Meng Country is easy to defend but hard to attack. It’s feasible for them to send small detachments to harass the border and occasionally steal some things back, but the idea of them annexing our Great Liang is impossible.

For the past hundred years, whenever we’ve struck Great Meng Country hard, they would voluntarily seek peace, sending tributes or a Princess over. But just let them recover for a few years, and they would come to harass our borders again. However, currently, we can only drive them away and can’t completely annihilate them, nor dare to pursue them across the river to fight.

I heard decades ago, there was a Southern General who went mad with the intent to level Great Meng Country, chased them over the mountain, and less than a third of his troops returned.

The people of Great Meng Country are extremely cunning. When our troops reach their side, they never face us head-on, but instead, constantly disperse for sneak attacks. Moreover, the Great Meng side consists of endless hills, and unfamiliar people entering the mountains can easily get lost. The most terrifying thing is there are no water sources; for dozens of miles, there’s no river. This is also the reason Great Meng Country always sends small troop units to grab and go. Any place lacking water sources is unsuitable for prolonged combat."

Yu Xiaolian picked up a shrimp, slowly chewing it as she listened attentively to Su Jingchen’s words.

Su Jingyue asked again, "But wasn’t it said a few years ago that Great Meng Country seized ten cities of our Great Liang in a row? Surely that involved many troops. How did they solve the water issue then? And having seized ten cities, they could have stationed a large army on our territory and continued fighting us. Why did they take things and run?"

Su Jingyue’s confusion was precisely what Yu Xiaolian didn’t understand either, so she quickly perked up her ears, listening carefully. It’s not that she’s going to the frontline to fight, but it’s always right to care about such national matters.

Seeing Yu Xiaolian and Su Jingyue both looking deeply interested, Su Jingchen told them in detail what he knew.

"Actually, the reason Great Meng Country leaves after looting is related to their nomadic nature. They aren’t skilled in farming and managing. Even if they seize ten cities, what they see are merely grains and cloth, and they like to capture some farming Liang people to take back as slaves. It’s been this way for years."

Great Meng Country reveres force, much like the Witch Clan. Whoever has the ability becomes the leader; their throne doesn’t follow the inheritance path. The style of Crown Prince succeeding the father as the leader is not Great Meng Country’s way.

Due to this custom, Great Meng Country experiences significant internal wars every few years; the losses from war are enormous. Great Meng Country’s treasury has always been in deficit, often experiencing financial shortfalls.

This is why the current Emperor of Great Meng Country has reigned unusually long. As long as you are an Emperor, you need to fret over money every day, sometimes having to supplement the treasury from your private funds. Over time, several wealthy nobles in Great Meng Country see being the Emperor as a losing business. So as long as the Emperor doesn’t provoke them or touch their interests, they refrain from fighting for power.

"As for the event four years ago when Cao Chengtong seized ten cities in succession, perhaps only she and Yu Zhenwu know what truly happened!" Anyway, Su Jingchen doesn’t believe that Yu Zhenwu didn’t let them win.

Regardless of how brave and wise Cao Chengtong is, she couldn’t easily take ten cities of Great Liang and withdraw after stealing things.

"Brother, if Yu Zhenwu intentionally lost, why didn’t the former Emperor punish him? Instead, he continued to use him heavily?"

In fact, Su Jingchen still hasn’t figured this out, though Yu Zhenwu’s public explanation claims that the citizens of Jie City colluded with the enemy, opening the city gates amid chaos for Cao Chengtong, resulting in the fall of Jie City and a scattered morale.

But in a conflict between two sides, how can ordinary citizens open the city gates so easily?

That’s certainly not something a few citizens could accomplish.

Moreover, even if citizens were disappointed in the court, they wouldn’t actively let ’bandits’ in to plunder their homes, right?

Could they willingly go to Great Meng Country to be slaves? That’s absolutely impossible!

However, for Su Jingchen, who doesn’t understand military tactics or strategy, all this is mere armchair discussion, just his thoughts.

If Cao Chengtong had previously mingled her people among Jie City citizens, undermining their resolve to defend the city, then maybe that’s a possibility.