After the victory on the main battlefield, it was natural to send people to gather the wounded soldiers, detain the remaining surrendered soldiers as prisoners, and clean up the battlefield.
Of course, the wounded soldiers mentioned here.
Were all from the Chu state.
Ding Yun's own side suffered almost no losses; not to mention deaths, not even a single severely injured soldier.
Only six lightly injured soldiers were accounted for in total.
Four of them had stumbled and fallen due to nervousness, and were trampled by horses a few times. Fortunately, they had been injected with gene serum; otherwise, being trampled by horses would have resulted in serious injury or death. Now, it was only a light injury.
They didn't even need medicine and would recover in two days.
While Ding Yun's side was methodically clearing the battlefield and treating the wounded, the scouts from several other countries who had secretly observed the battle were terrified and rushed back on horseback. This was especially true for the scouts from countries bordering the Zhou state.
They were eager to return to their respective rulers.
And warn them not to send troops to take advantage of the situation.
Because the outcome might not be a successful raid, but the complete annihilation of their army, with all soldiers disabled and taken prisoner.
However, compared to the countries that sent scouts to gather information, the state of the Ji-surname Han clan was perhaps more confident in the weakness of the Zhou state. Therefore, they had not sent any scouts to gather intelligence. Not long after the Chu army entered the vicinity of Luoyang, they sent their own soldiers.
The result was that as soon as Ding Yun sent people to clean up the battlefield outside Luoyang city, their army of ten thousand arrived. They were confused looking at the clean area outside Luoyang city, completely unaware of what had happened, and where all those Chu people had gone.
Since the people had been delivered right to her doorstep, Ding Yun couldn't possibly let these ten thousand able-bodied men return. Moreover, by keeping these ten thousand able-bodied men, Ding Yun wouldn't need to find any more excuses to borrow passage from the Ji-surname Han clan. After all, when the other side had already invaded her country.
She could attack them back and even occupy some land.
It was only natural.
This would allow her Zhou state to border the Chu state, making it much easier to attack Chu later. It would even be more convenient to indirectly manage the Song state after helping it restore its kingdom.
Therefore, the newly arrived ten thousand able-bodied men soon suffered the same fate as the Chu state, with many injured, some disabled, and others surrendering. Within a single day, Ding Yun successfully gained twenty thousand able-bodied men, and her counterattacks against the Ji-surname Han clan and the Chu state now had a legitimate pretext.
Thus, after a few more days of rest.
Ding Yun officially began her counteroffensive plan.
At the same time, those scouts finally reported back the situation they had witnessed, causing shock among the surrounding states. Due to disbelief, they dispatched more people to continue their investigations.
However, regardless of whether others believed it or not, Ding Yun's army of ten thousand entered the territory of the Ji-surname Han clan five days later. They swept through the land, quickly capturing all the territory that blocked the border between Zhou and Chu, and then continued their advance into Chu territory.
Of course, for the newly conquered territories.
Ding Yun also sent people to take over.
And because there were too few trustworthy people, Ding Yun was truly indiscriminate, initiating a full mobilization of the entire nation. Regardless of gender, even the old, weak, sick, and disabled within the Zhou state were brought to the battlefield to assist in guarding and managing the newly occupied territories behind the advancing troops, to prevent them from being recaptured.
After all, no matter how old, weak, sick, or disabled they were, after being injected with gene serum, they could easily overpower ordinary people.
As for the able-bodied men who had been captured earlier, since they had just been captured, and their families were still in their own countries, they could not be fully trusted. They could only be used for arduous labor and logistics, and even then, they had to be closely monitored to prevent sabotage.
In short, the extreme scarcity of population.
Determined Ding Yun's limited expansion this time.
As a result, the ten thousand soldiers dispatched by Ding Yun were unable to advance further after retaking the original Song territory and expanding it by another half.
This was not to say that the soldiers' abilities were insufficient. If allowed to continue, they could easily traverse within Chu territory and even break through the Chu capital, defeating the Chu King with ease.
The key was that Ding Yun truly lacked enough personnel to take over and even defend the conquered land.
Even by sending out all the old, weak, sick, and disabled, after they had all been injected with gene serum, she could barely maintain control of the land conquered so far. For anything more.
Ding Yun was truly powerless.
Instead of overextending herself and risking losing control, it was better to consolidate her gains. Therefore, Ding Yun decisively halted further expansion, consolidated her troops, and focused on stabilizing the land she had already captured.
She also declared her actions to be self-defense, exercising her right as the co-lord of the feudal lords, and that she had only intervened on behalf of the Song state because the Song people had sought her help.
She assisted in the restoration of the Song state and so on.
Then, of course, she quickly brought the surviving descendants of King Xiang of Song, who had been settled in the Zhou state, to the original Song capital to be established as puppets.
The restoration of the Song state was then officially announced, though in reality, a puppet was established. Ding Yun still controlled most matters, but at least the external narrative was plausible, reasonable, and legal.
Because Ding Yun's speed was too fast.
So fast that by the time the remote feudal states learned of the defeat and capture of the ten thousand-strong Chu army attacking Luoyang, the Song state had already been successfully restored. Therefore, the surrounding feudal states had barely reacted to the situation.
The matter had already been settled.
For a time, there was widespread uproar, and the states urgently deliberated, trying to understand what was happening and where the formerly weak Zhou state had obtained such terrifying soldiers, comparable to heavenly troops.
In short, fear spread among the states.
However, because Ding Yun did not directly annex the conquered territories but re-established the Song state, the states, despite their fear, felt a slight relief. Because, after all, the attitude displayed by the Zhou state was not one of territorial ambition, but rather an attempt to reassert its authority and become the nominal co-lord of the feudal lords.
Of course, those who felt relieved did not include the Chu state and the Ji-surname Han clan. The King of Chu, in particular, was both furious and terrified. Furious that he had not only lost all the territory of the Song state conquered in previous years but also lost dozens more cities and territories. Terrified, of course, by the strength of the Zhou state, and why it was so terrifying.
He also worried that the Zhou state would not stop there.
After all, the Chu state was the first to forcibly demand a higher title from the Zhou royal family and the first to declare themselves king. It was undeniable that their animosity was the deepest.
It was only natural for the now powerful Zhou state to seek revenge.