In Kaiping County, or Tang State, Li Yulong sat on the throne, surrounded by officials; the news from Anyang shocked everyone. Although everyone knew that the war mode had changed and was accepting this change; however, Anyang always challenged everyone's understanding.
In half a day, 500,000 people were wiped out. Even standing on the border wall of the Tang State, one could see the blazing fire on the battlefield. The battlefield turned into a truly ruthless sea of fire. The 500,000-strong army of the State of Cai was completely wiped out, including the generals, commanders, and generals of the State of Cai. Not a single one escaped.
On the outskirts of the battlefield, Anyang's adventurers and mercenary groups were like jackals looking for food, always able to catch every fleeing defeated soldier; only a very small number of Cai's defeated soldiers, probably less than a thousand people, managed to escape successfully.
Of the 500,000 troops, plus the border guards and civilians of the State of Cai, there were more than 600,000 people, but less than a thousand escaped. The entire land was charred, and the screams and resentment that soared into the sky made the soldiers and officers on the border wall of the Tang State tremble all over.
But Li Yulong was unusually calm: "What the wise king did is right. If we don't kill the chicken to scare the monkey, more people will covet Anyang's technology and wealth. If we are lenient, it will lead to more wars, more casualties, and even drag down Anyang. War and survival have always been an inevitable vicious cycle in the fairyland."
"But... burning 500,000 soldiers is a bit too cruel..." A civil servant expressed his objection.
Li Yulong glanced at the civil servant calmly, and his voice slowly spread out: "There are only 500,000 people. You have not seen the battle of the masters in the Tribulation Period. In one battle, thousands of miles of people were devastated, and millions of lives were wiped out. Mountains and rivers were broken, the earth was overturned, fire surged, and floods were raging. Not to mention life, even the soul will dissipate. I know you don't believe it, but you will see it in the future. Now, prepare for war. In addition to the 100,000 troops defending the south, the troops defending Xiao Guo (Xiao Liming) will be withdrawn, leaving 50,000 for defense. Reorganize 200,000 troops at home and prepare to conquer Cai Guo together with Anyang."
Yang Zhong suddenly asked: "Your Majesty, I wonder what the wise king's goal is..."
Only Yang Zhong is qualified to ask this question.
Li Yulong pointed at the map behind him, "Anyang only wants Huaihua County. Cai State has 13 counties in total; in addition to Huaihua County, there are 12 more counties. Considering that Chen State may intervene to seize Cai State's land, our goal is to occupy three to four counties of Cai State. In addition, Anyang will support our 500 larger aircraft to drop bombs including incendiary bombs to bomb the enemy. Together with all the aircraft we have now, we will have 1,000 aircraft participating in the war."
Yang Zhong then asked: "Your Majesty, after Anyang has occupied Huaihua County, will he continue to send troops to participate in the war?"
"Yes. And it will be 50,000 elite soldiers in the foundation-building stage and 20,000 mechanized troops." Li Yulong nodded affirmatively, but the next moment Li Yulong gritted his teeth and said, "But that brat actually asked me for 100,000 taels of gold every day for military expenses!"
Yang Zhong was upset and said, "Your Majesty, we already owe you more than 40 million taels of gold, so let's just keep owing you."
Li Yulong sighed helplessly, "In exchange for the 40 million taels of gold owed, Anyang merchants were exempted from tax for a hundred years. But according to last month's tax statistics, at least 200,000 taels of gold taxes could not be collected from Anyang merchants. 200,000 taels of gold a month is 2.4 million taels a year, and 240 million taels of gold in 100 years! What's more, Anyang is developing very fast, and commercial taxes can increase by more than 20% almost every month. According to this number, we will collect less than 100 billion taels of gold in a hundred years! This bastard actually played a number game with me!"