Upon the sea, warships laden with soldiers landed along a southern coast.
The moment they came ashore, they were met with sniper fire, but the naval guns swiftly crushed the resistance.
The resistance fighters soon withdrew.
Liu Jian hid within a Coconut Grove, watching the filthy soldiers crawl ashore one by one.
Most of their eyes were filled with exhaustion, numbness, and a trace of despair.
Only the Officers barking at them, along with a small number of others, seemed exceptionally excited.
"Up ahead is a prosperous city. You may loot to your heart's content!"
"The Captain will no longer take a share of the spoils. It all belongs to you!"
Only then did the Soldiers' morale rise.
They quickened their pace, jumping down from the rocking ships, wading through the murky seawater, and entering the coconut grove.
Liu Jian had already handed battlefield command over to several scholars who had graduated from military academies.
Their command abilities were stronger.
He was only responsible for providing intelligence.
After sweeping his gaze across the enemy for three days and three nights, he estimated that roughly three hundred thousand men had disembarked.
The total number of the westerners' allied forces now exceeded five million.
After a year of attrition, they had lost nearly seven to eight hundred thousand men, most of them casualties from injuries and disease.
Such an enormous force was stationed across the north, center, and south, intended to blockade the Great Cheng Dynasty's overseas trade.
This time, the enemy had deployed three hundred thousand troops against the Bright Light Army's base in the South Country. It seemed they intended to turn them into a refugee army and then throw the Great Cheng Dynasty's heartland into chaos.
Previously, the westerners' allied forces had also abandoned attacks on key ports, attempting