Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1701 - 1625: The Empire Never Turns the Other Cheek

This chase turned out to be quite unexpected. The ships opposite seemed somewhat similar to the Sixth Generation ships. Although there were slight differences in size, the draft indicated heavy loading, yet their speed was surprisingly not slower than the Fifth Generation ships. It's important to know that ship speed is something the Kushan Navy has always pursued.

Immediately, the horn of the Naval Commander-in-chief was sounded, leaving only three hundred warships stationed at Malacca. The other seven hundred ships all pursued Gan Ning. They desperately needed this technology; once they had it, their navy would become stronger.

Unlike the previous batch, the current batch of commanders had already received a secret order from Emperor Vasu Deva I. The priority was not the Spiritual Relic; if they could find it, they would do their best to locate it. If not, they would spread national prestige, shaking the world for the sake of the Kushan Empire.

Otherwise, Vasu Deva I wouldn't have gone mad enough to throw a thousand warships into the sea, just to make other countries submit upon sight.

After these thousand warships were deployed, all the countries encountered along the way were terrified, and just the fleet alone was enough to destroy several nations.

With two hundred thousand marines plus one hundred thousand infantry, during this era, except for the Four Great Empires who could dispatch such forces, other countries could only imagine it happening in their minds.

Thus, along the way, not only did they truly intimidate many nations, but even the marines and infantry of this fleet also developed a tremendous sense of pride. Seeing other countries terrified day after day, how could the mighty army of their own nation not feel anything?

In this aspect, Vasu Deva I indeed played a good move. Setting other things aside, at the very least after this endeavor, the recognition of the state's military rose significantly. The idea was, after all, what army wouldn't wish for their own nation to be extraordinarily powerful?

This time, the forces deployed by Vasu Deva I truly achieved this effect. Along the journey, countless indigenous peoples and tribes, upon encountering this utterly unstoppable army, directly expressed their desire to join the powerful Kushan Empire, greatly satisfying the Kushan people's ambition of a strong nation.

It was also their first time experiencing the benefits of a powerful empire. Wherever they went, indigenous tribes and foreign lands they encountered all displayed attitudes of wanting to join and seeking submission, enabling this massive army to clearly feel the benefits of the empire.

This led them to sincerely agree with the idea proposed by Vasu Deva I to send out the army. The notion of human self-actualization is precisely this; having achieved great spiritual satisfaction, after this endeavor, the Kushan Army almost fanatically agreed with Vasu Deva I.

This sense of national pride and imperial recognition almost reached its peak under the repeated worship of indigenous tribes and foreign lands. They simply required no external stimulus to internally recognize their own strength, acknowledge their nation, and affirm the current emperor.

Even many originally discontented noble commanders and middle-level officers suddenly found that having a tyrant as emperor wasn't so bad after all. Those so-called wise emperors who didn't let them feel the glory of the empire — wasn't that still considered rubbish?

In the past, unable to enjoy the benefits of the empire, in this military expedition, not only did they achieve psychological satisfaction, but they also gained imperial dividends. Did they really think that indigenous peoples eager to join wouldn't offer anything in tribute?

What a joke — just look at Gan Ning. Isn't one of the empire's dividends precisely that a powerful empire can compel indigenous and foreign nations to yield their assets due to its might?

The money Gan Ning used to buy ships came from this source. Shiploads of spices and treasures weren't truly brought through business transactions. It's laughable — what the Central South Peninsula's indigenous people respected wasn't Gan Ning, but this kind of formidable martial force.

Speaking of which, in this era, isn't the relationship between nations simply governed by fists, fists, fists? Justice, to put it bluntly, isn't it just a matter of having big fists? And Gan Ning's fists were exceedingly large, so the indigenous people of the Central South Peninsula relatively acknowledged Gan Ning.

If it weren't for this guarantee of martial force, did they really think those indigenous people would obediently conduct business? How could that be — if they didn't rob you, it would be a surprise.

That group of barbarians is notoriously submissive only to the strong, and indeed this principle applies universally. Therefore, Kushan gained greater imperial and national recognition among the barbarians — after all, who doesn't wish for their own country to be strong?

As a result, along the journey, the Kushan Navy and infantry reached an extreme level in terms of morale. They were eager to clash with a powerful enemy, not only to match their recognition of the Kushan Empire but also to require a blood sacrifice of powerful enemies to honor their nation.

Even under this powerful morale, the fate of the Kushan Empire, which had been somewhat depleted due to overreach, began to revive. Public sentiment and national recognition are forever linked to the destiny of the empire.

Of course, the current encounter with Gan Ning, in their view, did not qualify for this. Although more than forty warships of various sizes indeed constitute a relatively formidable combat force, this was only so from the perspective of indigenous people in foreign lands. For the present Kushan Empire, it was merely a band of roving bandits. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As a result, the Kushan Empire's army didn't initially place much emphasis on Gan Ning's navy, which inadvertently allowed Gan Ning's navy to escape a disaster. Otherwise, had they shown the resolve to face a formidable enemy from the outset, Gan Ning might not have survived the day.