Inside the royal palace hall of Yingdu, the capital of the Chu state.
Upon receiving the relevant news and confirming its accuracy multiple times, the King of Chu and the ministers of the court exchanged bewildered glances. Their minds buzzed, caught in a state of shock and disbelief, feeling disoriented and on the verge of collapse.
For a moment, the royal palace hall was plunged into silence.
No one knew what to say.
After a long while, the battle report in the King of Chu's hand slipped to the ground. He himself mumbled in bewilderment:
"How is this possible? How could this happen?
What does this battle report say? It claims that the Zhou state's army of ten thousand men, unharmed, broke through dozens of cities. It says these ten thousand soldiers were monsters, possessing immense strength and invulnerability to weapons. When did our Chu army become so incompetent? Are they trying to fool me?
Or are they trying to shirk responsibility, fearing punishment?"
Although the King of Chu had now accepted the reality of the Chu army's defeat and the significant loss of territory to the Zhou state, he still couldn't fully believe the contents of the battle report.
The report's claims were simply too exaggerated.
If the fighting capabilities of the Zhou soldiers were truly as described, why had the Zhou state been so unremarkable for so many years? It might be possible for one general to be immensely strong, but for ten thousand soldiers to all possess such power? How could that be? Even the fantastical tales written in popular fiction didn't dare to be this outlandish. Were those soldiers divine beings?
Meanwhile, the ministers kneeling below also began to whisper amongst themselves, engaged in low, hushed discussions.
"Could it be that the King of Zhou invested all the money he earned these past few years into training his soldiers? But that's still impossible. Even the elite Wei Wu soldiers, who require countless resources and over seven to eight years to train, aren't this formidable. The King of Zhou only became wealthy in the last three years. What methods did he possibly use to train so many powerful soldiers?"
"Don't you think the battle report is fabricated? Perhaps some defending generals, to avoid blame, intentionally exaggerated."
"Unlikely. A single city's defending general might do that, but if you're saying that the defending generals of all the dozens of cities that have fallen did the same...
That's absolutely impossible.
Moreover, the speed at which the Zhou army advanced is terrifyingly fast. According to current intelligence analysis, they have essentially swept through without encountering any city that could hold them off for more than a day or two.
The majority of their time during their campaigns was spent on travel, not on attacking cities.
Most of the defenders of the major cities were utterly incapable of resistance.
This indicates that even if the battle report contains some exaggeration, the fact that the Zhou state's ten thousand-strong army possesses extremely terrifying strength can be affirmed. The situation is dire!"
"Could the Son of Heaven of Zhou truly have divine protection?"
"I suspect it's still a matter of his legitimate mother, the Empress Dowager, that is, Consort Xiyun. People have suspected Consort Xiyun for a long time. Many things seem to appear inexplicably, and we can't discern the origin of some of her products. Furthermore, some of the items she sells are so exquisitely made that they don't seem to be man-made.
So, she might possess some supernatural abilities.
I even suspect whether those soldiers are even human."
"Demons or gods?"
"Then should we enlist the help of shamans?"
"Let's discuss that later. For now, we must see what attitude the King takes. Will he compromise and attempt to negotiate in Luoyang, or will he muster a large army and counterattack?"
"Can we succeed in a counterattack?"
"It's hard to say..."
After much private discussion among the assembled ministers, the King of Chu finally calmed down and officially convened a meeting. They deliberated, and indeed, argued for a considerable period. In the end, the King of Chu's opinion prevailed. He decided to recruit an army of four hundred thousand men to reclaim the lands lost to the Zhou state.
Following this, the conscription began with much fanfare.
Given the current productivity, even a great nation like Chu could not afford to keep four hundred thousand able-bodied men out of production to serve as soldiers under normal circumstances. Therefore, no matter how anxious the King of Chu was, he could not simply deploy troops immediately. It would take time to recruit soldiers, and after recruitment, logistical preparations would be necessary. Once all these steps were completed, it would take at least a month, or perhaps even half a year if delays occurred. This greatly slowed down the process.
As a direct consequence of this, before Chu's army of four hundred thousand men could even be fully assembled, Ding Yun had already received relevant intelligence.
While Ding Yun was not afraid of an army of four hundred thousand, this matter was still quite troublesome. If the four hundred thousand soldiers were dispersed to attack various cities, Ding Yun's current force of ten thousand might be severely weakened as they would have to split up to defend.
Therefore, upon receiving the news, Ding Yun immediately summoned his ten thousand troops, provided them with ample medicine, and then authorized them to act with discretion in their campaign, including plundering some Chu nobles to ensure sufficient supplies. Following this, he dispatched them to attack Yingdu.
They were not to attack other cities or expand their territory.
Instead, they were to march directly towards the Chu state's capital and capture all the nobles there. Ding Yun believed that if he could take down the entire Chu state and escort the royal family and nobles to Luoyang as guests, their four hundred thousand strong army would be unable to gather and counterattack.
Upon Ding Yun's command, the ten thousand soldiers, led by his trusted subordinates, immediately set off light-heartedly, carrying only medicine, towards the Chu capital. If they ran out of food on the way, they were to attack one or two cities to seize provisions.
It was a simple and easy task.
Moreover, traveling light, their speed was incredibly fast.
By the time the relevant news reached the Chu capital, the Zhou state's ten thousand troops had already arrived near the Chu capital and launched their assault without delay.
To facilitate their rapid breach of the city gates, Ding Yun had even specially equipped them with some gunpowder.
Consequently, the subsequent events were entirely predictable. The walls of Yingdu did not hold for even the time it takes an incense stick to burn before collapsing with a roar. The capital's guards and the private soldiers of the various nobles were also unable to resist for long.
They collapsed within minutes.
Only then did the King of Chu and the nobles finally and completely believe that there was not a single false word in the battle report, nor any exaggeration. At this moment, they thought of fleeing, but it was too late.
They were captured by the Zhou soldiers, almost entirely, in a short while. The King of Chu, his many wives, his sisters-in-law, and his children were all rounded up and taken away.
They were bound and prepared for escort back to Luoyang.
Because the ten thousand troops would be taking many people back with them, and along the way, they would encounter nobles who attempted to rescue their captured kin, the speed of their return was inevitably slowed.
The return journey took twice as long as the outward journey.
But despite the slow pace, not a single hostage was lost. All the "guests" that Ding Yun had specifically sent to bring back from the Chu state were delivered. They were all intact and unharmed.
They were invited back to Luoyang city as guests.