"Viscount, these are the battle reports sent separately by the commanders of the eleven battalions pursuing in different directions. The results are not... ideal!" In Shanyang County City, Marshal Gao Xingji handed Ye Zhen a stack of Jade Talismans.
Ye Zhen did not even take them, much less look at them.
In truth, the moment he had ordered the troops divided to give chase, Ye Zhen had already known what the outcome would be.
Because this was the true reason the floods could not be completely eradicated.
Great Zhou pursued an iron-blooded policy and granted noble titles and lands based on Military Merit. Thus, martial customs flourished throughout the nation, and its military strength was formidable. Although commandery troops were ordinarily equipped, military law was incomparably strict.
Under normal circumstances, even if the water demons were numerous, if they dared face Great Zhou's commandery troops head-on, then even if they won, they would suffer grievous casualties.
The truly difficult ones to deal with were the water demons scattered about, plundering everywhere.
There were vast numbers of water demons, and each was individually powerful. Against these scattered water demons, Great Zhou lost its advantage in concentrated forces.
Not to mention other places—within Shanyang County alone in North Sea Commandery, more than fifteen water demon units numbering over a thousand had currently been discovered, while there were nearly a hundred units numbering several hundred.
As for those plundering units made up of fewer than a hundred water demons, or even merely dozens, there were likely more than a thousand of them.
Yet the troops Ye Zhen had sent out amounted to only eleven battalions, with each battalion comprising just three thousand men.
Of course, Ye Zhen could have continued splitting his forces, making units of around five hundred men the smallest pursuit