Compared to the Philippines, whose military only numbered 150,000, the United Grand Sultanate of Borneo possessed a much larger armed force.
Yet considering that Borneo was a pure colony compared to the Philippines, the combat effectiveness of its military was naturally open to question.
Because Arthur intentionally balanced the power gaps among the various Sultanates, aside from a certain disparity in land area, the population difference between the several Sultanates was minimal.
This also pointed to a terrifying reality: any single Sultanate within the United Grand Sultanate held a population of at least four million.
In particular, the pre-existing Kutai Sultanate occupied one of the two largest land areas in all of Borneo, and furthermore sat close to the coast, making it quite prosperous among the minor Sultanates.
If not for the fact that Grand Sultan Muhammad had secured the ruling territory of the Grand Sultanate—essentially a narrow strip leading to the coast—the Kutai Sultanate likely would have become the nation with the best geography in the entire Grand Sultanate of Borneo.
The benefit brought by a larger population was that the armed forces of the various Sultanates, or the so-called military numbers, were actually quite substantial.
According to the regulations established by Muhammad, the minor Sultanates could maintain between 80,000 and 100,000 troops, with each minor Sultanate responsible for its own military expenses.
Meanwhile, the military of the Grand Sultanate was jointly supplied by all the minor Sultanates; both the military expenses and the weapons, equipment, and supplies needed by the troops were evenly distributed among every minor Sultanate.
The advantage of doing this was that it allowed the other minor Sultanates to help fund troops for him.
Currently, Muhammad's army totaled 300,000. Apart from the 100,000 troops belonging to his own Sultanate, whose military expenses he had to