The Jieke Group deployed a total of 1,025 sorties, mobilized 396 large mechas, and mobilized 380,000 troops, achieving a brilliant victory.
In fact, if it weren't for a round of cease-fire negotiations in the middle, the war would have ended even sooner.
After the conquest of Siam, the Jieke Group did not stop its war march.
The army gathered on the borders of Zhenla and Lancang, neighboring Siam, and pressed into these two countries with an overwhelming force.
"Zhenla, Lancang, and An Nan brazenly sent troops to war, blatantly provoking our country. Now, our country is acting in self-defense and counterattack."
Facing interviews from journalists and media, Liu Yingying, as the spokesperson for the Jieke Group, succinctly determined the nature of the ensuing war.
The Jieke Group's tens of thousands of troops split into two, attacking Zhenla and Canglan simultaneously.
Both countries were unequivocal examples of small, weak, and poor nations, and their military forces were no different.
Lancang covered an area of 181,035 square kilometers, had a total population of 16 million people, a military force of 180,000, including 110,000 active-duty soldiers, 70,000 reservists, 21 aircraft, 17 helicopters, 550 tanks, 300 armored vehicles, 600 artillery pieces, 27 warships, 26 patrol boats, and a military budget of 192 million US dollars.
Zhenla covered an area of 237,955 square kilometers, had a total population of over 6 million people, a total military strength of about 60,000, with approximately 50,000 in the army and the main force structured into 5 infantry divisions, 2,000 in the air force, 17 aircraft, 22 helicopters, 55 tanks, 185 armored vehicles, 149 artillery pieces, and a military budget of 18 million US dollars.
This military strength was recorded before the war began. After their involvement in the Siam war, their aerial forces had already been thoroughly destroyed by the Jieke Group, and their ground barracks and military facilities had suffered heavy losses from the Jieke Group's continuous aerial bombings.
Now, as the Jieke Group's ground troops advanced, the entire war ravaged Southeast Asia.
In Lancang, a hundred thousand troops invaded the region, with the Jieke Group's Second Mechanical Combat Brigade leading the way as the vanguard, accompanied by a large number of armored units and heavy infantry, storming a border town called Manya first.
The Lancang infantry battalion stationed there wisely discarded their weapons upon seeing the mighty mecha army charging forward. They actively removed roadblocks and dug up the landmines they had planted, then approached in a placating manner.
"Are you tired, sir? Have some water. It's very tiring to travel in such hot weather, and it wouldn't be good if you got heatstroke."
"Resist? No, no, no, we are all brothers. In a few hundred years, we were one family. How could we resist?"
"Our battalion headquarters is here. There are more than three thousand people. This is the location of the division headquarters. This is the position of our munitions depot..."
It is hard to strike at a smiling face, so facing these sensible Lancang soldiers, the Jieke Group did not make things difficult for them. Instead, they were made to work as laborers in the logistics transport, enthusiastically participating since it spared them from facing the battlefield and needlessly losing their lives against the Spider Mechas.
The mecha army continued to advance, easily seizing one position and barracks after another, barely encountering any combat, as almost the entire Lancang military yielded without a fight.
When the army reached the plains area near the Lancang Cave and Sa Lake, a region that was Lancang's largest grain-producing area and core economic zone, the force encountered a sizable resistance for the first time.
It was here on these plains that the war erupted. Lancang rallied most of its controllable military forces, over fifty thousand troops, to establish a defensive line.
However, if even Siam's sturdy Kerimu Defense Line had fallen before the mecha army, how could this hastily constructed barrier withstand the thunderous charge of the Jieke Group's mechas?
The defense line was easily broken, and with fewer than a thousand casualties, the entire Lancang force collapsed.
A large number of soldiers either fled or surrendered to the Jieke Group. Their fighting spirit dissipated like water under the forceful charge of the Jieke Group.
After breaching the defensive line, the mecha army poured into Lancang's largest plain, advancing towards the capital city of Jinbian.
Farmers laboring in the fields, amidst lush green wheat, saw hundreds of Spider Mechas rolling past, followed by a multitude of armored vehicles and fully armed soldiers riding in combat vehicles and troop trucks.
The sight of these enormous war machines, the grim and cold weapons, left the farmers gaping in astonishment, their eyes wide as they watched the mecha surge pass through the wheat field.
In just two days, Jieke Group forces were at the gates of Jinbian City. Before an assault began, they first received a surrender letter from Lancang.
In Zhenla, the fighting was even more effortless for the Jieke Group, it felt like they were facing no one at all.
As the army passed through, Zhenla soldiers often fired a few shots into the sky, indicating they had resisted, but they were no match for the mighty Heavenly Soldiers and Generals of the Jieke Group and could only regretfully admit defeat and be captured.
These Zhenla soldiers eagerly cooperated with the advancement of the Jieke Group without even changing their uniforms, acting as guides and helping the Jieke Group persuade more of their comrades to surrender.
The entire conquest of Zhenla was so effortless that the Jieke Group soldiers felt as if they were not there to fight a war, but rather on a leisurely outing.
Primarily because the formidable renown of the Jieke Group, along with the terror of the Spider Mechas, had deeply etched into people's minds. The forces of Zhenla and Lancang, already suffering from poor compensation and low combat will, faced off against the Jieke Group troops with wisdom, completely lacking the determination and belief to fight to the death.
Ultimately, with an aggressive and overwhelming onslaught, the Jieke Group conquered Siam in 46 days, Lancang in 5 days, and Zhenla in 3 days. Then they sent their troops to the An Nan border, forcing An Nan to both mobilize a massive number of reservists and militias, and to urgently send peace overtures to the Jieke Group.
The entire Southeast Asia peninsula had almost completely fallen under the iron hoof of the Jieke Group, succumbing to its might.
At this moment, the Jieke Group reached its zenith since its establishment, drawing global attention.
And due to the Jieke Group's bullish actions, Su Jie also gained a new title.
'The successor of chauvinism, the Emperor of Southeast Asia - Su Jie!'
——— "Washington Post"
As soon as this news was released, Su Jie's new title gained worldwide recognition, anointing him the Emperor of Southeast Asia.