Chapter 672 - Chapter 672: Chapter 303: The Battle Ceases and Resumes_3

Chapter 672: Chapter 303: The Battle Ceases and Resumes_3

Everything was still under Lu Yuan’s control.

However, as a result, he couldn’t help but order Huang Xuan to further oppress the Yi common people in Jianchuan Country, to squeeze out more money and grain to fill the void in the domestic treasury.

After all, they were just Yi people, so it didn’t matter if they suffered a little.

Compared to death, the local Yi people should be understanding and sympathetic to the difficulties of Chu State.

…

While Chu State was busy with organizing the local provinces, purchasing grain, and preparing for war, nearby nations were also making various moves.

Firstly, in the beginning of the eighth month, when Jihui brought the monks of White Phoenix Temple to Qianzhong County to take up positions at the National Guardian Temple.

Two major pieces of news came from the southwest.

First was about Song Country.

After the beginning of the year, King Xie Ning of Song led several battles against the Dali Army, but they were unable to make progress.

Not only did they fail to seize more land, they also lost tens of thousands of soldiers and some of their current territories.

Since then, Xie Ning finally realized that it was impossible to take advantage of Dali Country as he had initially planned.

Moreover, after two years of war, Song Country suffered from the increased taxation, exhaustion, skyrocketing grain prices, and unrest among the people due to survival problems.

Some of the remaining inhabitants from Jinghai Country began to cause trouble in local areas, even inciting small-scale rebellions.

Although these rebellions were quickly suppressed, their impact was undoubtedly huge.

This reflected the Song people’s disgust for the war.

If it continued, it would be hard to say whether it would eventually lead to a large-scale rebellion that involved the whole nation, like what had happened in Su Country.

As a member of an aristocratic family, Xie Ning was not like the Jianghu martial artist Su Xuange, who relied solely on force to solve problems and only considered his own preferences without considering the consequences.

His political wisdom was quite adequate.

Therefore, realizing the internal hidden danger and the continuous warfare at the front line, Xie Ning decisively chose to cease fighting.

He sent a messenger to Dali Country to negotiate a truce between the two nations.

On the other hand, Dali Country was also exhausted from the war.

Moreover, the collapse of the Great Changhe in the north and the sudden adjacency with the Chu State had a considerable deterrent effect on Dali Country.

Dali Country urgently needed to reinforce its northern border to deal with the immense pressure from Chu State.

Therefore, when the Song Country sent an olive branch, both sides eventually signed a ceasefire agreement in the beginning of the eighth month after some negotiations.

They agreed to recognize each other’s sovereignty over their respective territories and live in peace as neighbors without raising troops again.

After signing the peace agreement, Song Country only informed Su Country before immediately withdrawing its troops.

A hundred thousand Song soldiers retreated from the front line.

In the newly established Yinsheng County, Xie Ning left only 25,000 troops under the command of a trusted general.

He then returned to Song Country with the remaining troops.

At this point, the participation of Song Country in this joint war ended with the expansion of one county and five prefectures.

With Song Country out of the picture, Su Country was no match for Dali Country on its own.

Therefore, when Su Xuange learned about the situation, he had no choice but to reluctantly negotiate a peace with Dali Country after cursing Song Country for its betrayal.

Compared to Song Country, the situation in Su Country was even worse.

Because of Su Xuange’s tyranny, there were refugees fleeing from Su Country every day.

The fleeing crowds included Su people, the remaining Yi people, soldiers from Shu State, conscripted civilian workers, and the local Su and Yi people from Tonghai and Yulin Counties.

It could be said that Su Xuange had become a tyrant in the eyes of the Su and Yi people, far surpassing the cruelty of previous rulers.

Under such a ruler, few people were willing to accept his rule.

Taking advantage of the situation, on the border between Yulin County and Dongting County, Chu Country had already received over 50,000 Su people. At the border of Qianzhong County and Tonghai County of Su Country, there were more than 30,000 refugees, including Yi people.

As for the areas bordering Nanhai Country and Song Country, according to the intelligence from the imperial city’s Intelligence Bureau, there were also many refugees, no fewer than ten thousand.

In the lower strata of Su Country, the numerous escape incidents were countless.

The foundation of Su Country’s rule had completely collapsed.

The only reason it could still hold on and not be destroyed was due to Su Xuange’s Inborn martial power and the tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command who belonged to the vested interests.

However, with the loss of access to resources from Dali Country, a lack of sufficient financial and material support, and the total collapse of internal production, the eventual demise of Su Country could not be avoided without reforms.

It was unclear whether Su Xuange saw this and had the courage to carry out reforms.

But in any case, in the middle of the eighth month, after Song Country, Su Country also officially ended the war with Dali Country through peaceful negotiations.

It lasted two years, and Su Country withdrew from the alliance with the result of one county and four prefectures.

During the two years of war, Dali, Song, and Su Countries all suffered heavy losses, with varying casualties, ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands.

Although Su and Song countries made some gains, it required a considerable amount of time to assimilate the spoils of war.

After losing almost one county’s territory and suffering nearly 200,000 casualties, Dali Country also needed a long period of recovery to restore its vitality.

Although the truce among the three kingdoms was not really what they wanted, it was the best outcome under the current situation.

With the end of the war among them, the remaining conflicts in the southwestern region were between Chu, Chilih, Kunhai, and the three nations in Nanzhao Country.

However, before the outcome of this war surfaced, another major turning point occurred in the battle north of Xichuan County.

…

On the second day of the ninth month in the sixth year of Shenwu.

Zhou Country’s 150,000-strong army led by Eastern Pillar State General Dongfang Wuyun besieged the Hanzhong Country’s capital, Baishi City, for three months and finally captured it on that day.

King Qiao Kangquan of Hanzhong was forced to flee to the south with thousands of remnants, together with his relatives and officials, in a pitiful state, retreating to Jianmenguan in the south.

The remnant soldiers were gathered in the remaining two prefectures, continuing to hold out.

Zhou soldiers took this opportunity to sweep through the three prefectures in the north of Hanzhong Country, regaining control of Hanzhong’s ten prefectures that had been lost for nearly a decade.

At the same time, having lost the protective barrier of Hanzhong Country, Zhou Country now bordered Chu State’s Xiangyang Prefecture to the west.

The Zhou army’s front had reached Xiangyang’s western border.