"We... have won?"
In the main camp, Chen An looked at Liu Chu in disbelief, seemingly unable to believe it.
"Perhaps... maybe?"
Facing Chen An's skepticism, Liu Chu also began to lack confidence, hesitating in his tone.
Don't blame them for looking inexperienced. It's just that things have been too smooth on this journey.
For nearly half a month, they had been heading south from the front line, and now they had reached the territory of the Song Kingdom without encountering any obstacles.
It turns out that during the journey, they thought they would face all sorts of difficulties that simply did not exist.
Difficulties? Non-existent.
All the way here, they were welcomed with open arms, a grand scene of welcoming the victorious army.
As Chen An traveled, many local villagers greeted them, bringing various supplies to reward the army, joyfully welcoming them into the county city.
This was quite unexpected.
It was completely different from what Chen An had imagined.
Chen An almost thought he had been given a fake script, thinking he wasn't an invader from Dahua, but instead a soldier defending their homeland.
The gap was too huge.
So huge that at first, Chen An was cautious, almost thinking it was an enemy trap and wanting to run back.
But after careful investigation, he realized the reason behind it.
This was thanks to King Tai and Liu Sheng.
With thirty thousand soldiers at the front line fighting against Chen An, they still needed to eat.
If it had been a quick battle, it would have been fine. But facing Chen An's shameless delaying tactics, King Tai and Liu Sheng had no choice but to stop and engage with Chen An.
But while they were engaged, food couldn't magically appear.
Self-sufficient? Not possible.
Not to mention that Chen An had already used a trick to relocate the local villagers in advance, even those small teams constantly sent out to harass would be enough to keep them busy.
Farming? No problem.
After working hard for half a year, just wait and see, a fire could easily destroy it all.
Due to various real-world hardships, self-sufficiency was impossible.
Therefore, the logistical pressure of the thirty thousand army fell on the Song Kingdom.
For ten years, the people of the Song Kingdom had been living in difficult conditions.
They not only had to bear extremely high taxes, but also had to act as laborers to transport food and undertake heavy labor, making their lives unbearable.
As a result, there was a strong aversion to war within the Song Kingdom, pervasive throughout.
The continuous rebellions in recent years were a result of this. The people no longer wanted to tolerate, it was like a powder keg waiting to explode.
Countless tragic events occurred everywhere.
Thinking about this, the reactions of these people were understandable.
After realizing that these people were genuinely welcoming, and not pretending, Chen An realized the opportunity and swiftly led the army south, conquering cities along the way.
The Song army couldn't organize any decent resistance.
It seemed that the previous major defeat had already destroyed all the elite soldiers of the Song Kingdom.
It sounded unbelievable, but upon careful consideration, it seemed quite logical.
After all, they had been deadlocked at the front line for almost ten years.
Ten long years.
Even with a rich reserve, it must have been depleted by now.
The current situation seemed normal.
The Song Kingdom was facing internal and external crises, and was already at a critical point of decay.
At this stage, previous hidden problems had erupted fiercely, leading to the current situation.
"Chang'an... Commander."
In front of him, Liu Chu couldn't help but swallow nervously, asking, "Do we need to continue our advance?"
"No, let's not."
After hesitating for a moment, Chen An slowly shook his head.
Joking aside, if they continued their advancement, they might end up at the capital of the Song Kingdom.
Although the idea was tempting, Chen An remained rational.
In other words, he wasn't being arrogant.
Despite the disastrous defeat, the Song Kingdom was still a powerful force compared to all of Dahua.
Such a large country, even in its current state, wouldn't be easy to conquer.
"According to our information, the court of the Song Kingdom is split and facing severe internal conflicts."
After some thought, he slowly spoke, "If we don't continue, they will likely be busy with infighting, with little time to deal with us. But if we push too hard, it might be different."
A cornered beast will fight back.
Currently, the Song Kingdom was in internal turmoil, with many ministers attacking each other, mostly adhering to the idea that internal stability was necessary before dealing with external threats.
If Chen An didn't go too far, just maintaining the current situation, they might struggle, but they probably wouldn't take drastic action.
But if Chen An went too far, marching directly towards the capital of the Song Kingdom, the situation would be different.
Under immense external pressure, these people might temporarily set aside their differences and focus all their efforts on Chen An.
At that point, the situation would change.
If they were defeated at that time, the situation would be even more complicated.
After some thought, Chen An decided not to take any risks.
Maintaining the current situation was enough.
"Alright."
With a hint of regret, Liu Chu nodded, giving up on the tempting idea.
"However, we don't need to go to the capital of the Song Kingdom, but there is another place we need to see."
Chen An's voice echoed out.
Liu Chu was taken aback and instinctively looked down, following Chen An's indication to another direction.
It was a place not too far from here.
"Mingzhou?"
Liu Chu whispered the name of the place.
As time passed slowly, under the gaze of many eyes, Chen An led the army to withdraw directly without continuing south.
This disappointed many people, but it also made the Song Kingdom breathe a sigh of relief.
It's a good thing they didn't come.
At this moment, the Song Kingdom was in a dangerous situation, both internally and externally.
Constant party struggles internally and widespread rebellion from noble families made it almost on the brink of fragmentation.
If Chen An had led his army south at this time, the outcome would have been unpredictable.
One battle might have endangered the entire Song Kingdom.
But before they could relax, the war report came.
The Dahua army had captured Mingzhou.
Mingzhou had fallen.
For a moment, the entire court and officials of the Song Kingdom were in an uproar.
This was because Mingzhou was a very special place for the Song Kingdom.
It was the birthplace of the founding emperor of the Song Kingdom.
"We... have won?"
In the main camp, Chen An looked at Liu Chu in disbelief, seemingly unable to believe it.
"Perhaps... maybe?"
Facing Chen An's skepticism, Liu Chu also began to lack confidence, hesitating in his tone.
Don't blame them for looking inexperienced. It's just that things have been too smooth on this journey.
For nearly half a month, they had been heading south from the front line, and now they had reached the territory of the Song Kingdom without encountering any obstacles.
It turns out that during the journey, they thought they would face all sorts of difficulties that simply did not exist.
Difficulties? Non-existent.
All the way here, they were welcomed with open arms, a grand scene of welcoming the victorious army.
As Chen An traveled, many local villagers greeted them, bringing various supplies to reward the army, joyfully welcoming them into the county city.
This was quite unexpected.
It was completely different from what Chen An had imagined.
Chen An almost thought he had been given a fake script, thinking he wasn't an invader from Dahua, but instead a soldier defending their homeland.
The gap was too huge.
So huge that at first, Chen An was cautious, almost thinking it was an enemy trap and wanting to run back.
But after careful investigation, he realized the reason behind it.
This was thanks to King Tai and Liu Sheng.
With thirty thousand soldiers at the front line fighting against Chen An, they still needed to eat.
If it had been a quick battle, it would have been fine. But facing Chen An's shameless delaying tactics, King Tai and Liu Sheng had no choice but to stop and engage with Chen An.
But while they were engaged, food couldn't magically appear.
Self-sufficient? Not possible.
Not to mention that Chen An had already used a trick to relocate the local villagers in advance, even those small teams constantly sent out to harass would be enough to keep them busy.
Farming? No problem.
After working hard for half a year, just wait and see, a fire could easily destroy it all.
Due to various real-world hardships, self-sufficiency was impossible.
Therefore, the logistical pressure of the thirty thousand army fell on the Song Kingdom.
For ten years, the people of the Song Kingdom had been living in difficult conditions.
They not only had to bear extremely high taxes, but also had to act as laborers to transport food and undertake heavy labor, making their lives unbearable.
As a result, there was a strong aversion to war within the Song Kingdom, pervasive throughout.
The continuous rebellions in recent years were a result of this. The people no longer wanted to tolerate, it was like a powder keg waiting to explode.
Countless tragic events occurred everywhere.
Thinking about this, the reactions of these people were understandable.
After realizing that these people were genuinely welcoming, and not pretending, Chen An realized the opportunity and swiftly led the army south, conquering cities along the way.
The Song army couldn't organize any decent resistance.
It seemed that the previous major defeat had already destroyed all the elite soldiers of the Song Kingdom.
It sounded unbelievable, but upon careful consideration, it seemed quite logical.
After all, they had been deadlocked at the front line for almost ten years.
Ten long years.
Even with a rich reserve, it must have been depleted by now.
The current situation seemed normal.
The Song Kingdom was facing internal and external crises, and was already at a critical point of decay.
At this stage, previous hidden problems had erupted fiercely, leading to the current situation.
"Chang'an... Commander."
In front of him, Liu Chu couldn't help but swallow nervously, asking, "Do we need to continue our advance?"
"No, let's not."
After hesitating for a moment, Chen An slowly shook his head.
Joking aside, if they continued their advancement, they might end up at the capital of the Song Kingdom.
Although the idea was tempting, Chen An remained rational.
In other words, he wasn't being arrogant.
Despite the disastrous defeat, the Song Kingdom was still a powerful force compared to all of Dahua.
Such a large country, even in its current state, wouldn't be easy to conquer.
"According to our information, the court of the Song Kingdom is split and facing severe internal conflicts."
After some thought, he slowly spoke, "If we don't continue, they will likely be busy with infighting, with little time to deal with us. But if we push too hard, it might be different."
A cornered beast will fight back.
Currently, the Song Kingdom was in internal turmoil, with many ministers attacking each other, mostly adhering to the idea that internal stability was necessary before dealing with external threats.
If Chen An didn't go too far, just maintaining the current situation, they might struggle, but they probably wouldn't take drastic action.
But if Chen An went too far, marching directly towards the capital of the Song Kingdom, the situation would be different.
Under immense external pressure, these people might temporarily set aside their differences and focus all their efforts on Chen An.
At that point, the situation would change.
If they were defeated at that time, the situation would be even more complicated.
After some thought, Chen An decided not to take any risks.
Maintaining the current situation was enough.
"Alright."
With a hint of regret, Liu Chu nodded, giving up on the tempting idea.
"However, we don't need to go to the capital of the Song Kingdom, but there is another place we need to see."
Chen An's voice echoed out.
Liu Chu was taken aback and instinctively looked down, following Chen An's indication to another direction.
It was a place not too far from here.
"Mingzhou?"
Liu Chu whispered the name of the place.
As time passed slowly, under the gaze of many eyes, Chen An led the army to withdraw directly without continuing south.
This disappointed many people, but it also made the Song Kingdom breathe a sigh of relief.
It's a good thing they didn't come.
At this moment, the Song Kingdom was in a dangerous situation, both internally and externally.
Constant party struggles internally and widespread rebellion from noble families made it almost on the brink of fragmentation.
If Chen An had led his army south at this time, the outcome would have been unpredictable.
One battle might have endangered the entire Song Kingdom.
But before they could relax, the war report came.
The Dahua army had captured Mingzhou.
Mingzhou had fallen.
For a moment, the entire court and officials of the Song Kingdom were in an uproar.
This was because Mingzhou was a very special place for the Song Kingdom.
It was the birthplace of the founding emperor of the Song Kingdom.
