Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

When Zhao Yu led 500,000 Yellow Turban soldiers to the vicinity of Angkor Thom, even he, an emperor who was used to the horrors of war, was stunned.

Looking around, the wilderness was barren, the field ridges that should have been covered with wild vegetables were completely bare, and the thick tree trunks had been stripped clean, leaving not a single bark behind.

Along the roadsides and the banks of the moat, civilians, looking like starving ghosts, could be seen everywhere. They were ragged, emaciated, with sunken cheeks and cloudy eyes. Some were huddled in corners, barely alive, while others dragged their weak bodies, aimlessly groping through the ruins, as if searching for the last glimmer of hope for survival.

Zhao Yu frowned, muttering to himself: He had always thought his methods were brutal enough, but he never expected that Nipean Bart would be even more ruthless than him, actually treating his own people so cruelly.

However, since Niepean Bart has chosen brutality, Zhao Yu might as well play the role of a "merciful" savior.

"Pass down the order!" Zhao Yu reined in his horse and shouted, "Anyone willing to join the Yellow Turban Army will be provided with two meals a day, all they can eat!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Bai quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, the 500,000-strong army has already been greatly depleted. If we accept these civilians as well, our provisions will only last for half a year at most!"

"Grain?" Zhao Yu scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "Our Great Song Dynasty has a vast territory; would we lack such a small amount of grain? We seized so much gold and silver from the treasuries of the Khmer nobility; we can simply send people back to the country and purchase it from grain merchants."

He's right, the thing the Eastern Song Dynasty has the least shortage of right now is food.

As overseas territories continued to expand, estates in Borneo, Luzon, and other places had long since abandoned grain cultivation and turned to planting cash crops such as sugarcane, cocoa, and rubber—after all, India and Japan had extremely abundant grain reserves, which were continuously transported to the Song Dynasty, enough to support the consumption of the entire country.

Before squeezing every last drop of blood from India and Japan, the Eastern Song Dynasty had no need to worry about food.

Leaving aside distant places, the islands of Java and Sumatra alone have fertile soil and suitable climates, and their grain production is sufficient to supply the entire Eastern Song Dynasty.

According to a report by Gewu Academy, if all the land on these two islands were used to grow food, with current farming techniques, the food produced could feed 100 million people.

Although this figure is overly idealistic, and few people in the Eastern Song Dynasty were willing to go to remote islands to farm, it is enough to show the wealth of the land occupied by the Song Dynasty.

The Eastern Song Dynasty currently has a population of only 20 million, and its grain reserves are more than sufficient.

Sure enough, the news that "joining the Yellow Turban Army would provide two meals a day" spread like rain among the common people outside Angkor Thom.

The dying civilians' eyes lit up with a renewed will to survive. They supported each other, dragging their heavy steps, and rushed towards the Yellow Turban Army's recruitment points.

When the first bowl of steaming hot white porridge was placed in front of them and poured down their throats into their empty stomachs, many people burst into tears on the spot, feeling as if they had finally returned to the human world from hell.

This is why these newly joined Khmer people had a strong sense of belonging to the Yellow Turban Army, and they hated the king and nobles in Angkor who ordered the confiscation of their grain with a vengeance, wishing they could eat their flesh and drink their blood.

Interestingly, some Khmer people who had been robbed and persecuted by the Yellow Turban Army in the early days were reported on the spot by the newly arrived Yellow Turban Army when they complained in private.

"If it weren't for the Great Teacher's kindness, we would have starved to death by the roadside long ago!" the whistleblower said indignantly. "You eat the food bestowed upon you by the Great Teacher while slandering him behind his back. Do you have any conscience? Are you even human?"

Indeed, Zhao Yu added another honorific title to himself—Great Teacher of Virtue.

Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but sigh: It doesn't matter what a person was like before, what matters is what you can bring to others at crucial moments.

Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, a feat that has resonated throughout history, yet he is remembered as a tyrant for building the Great Wall and the Epang Palace.

Liu Bang was originally a street ruffian who suffered defeat after defeat in his struggle for supremacy against Xiang Yu. However, he won the final battle and became a hero celebrated throughout history.

In this light, he could have indulged in his pleasures without restraint, and then returned to the court in his final ten years to govern diligently. His descendants would likely not have been too harsh on him.

Zhao Yu was quite satisfied with the loyalty shown by the newly joined Yellow Turban soldiers.

Therefore, he ordered the Yellow Turban Army, which was originally formed and was already accustomed to plundering and fighting, to be the main force in attacking the city, while the newly recruited soldiers were responsible for transporting food and building siege equipment.

By this time, the Yellow Turban army had swelled to 700,000, while the garrison in Angkor Thom had only 50,000 men at most.

To prevent fires or chaos in the military camps, Zhao Yu further divided the 700,000-strong army into dozens of smaller camps, several miles apart, and strictly prohibited the carrying of flammable materials.

Having made all these arrangements, he was full of confidence—with such a huge disparity in troop strength, coupled with meticulous planning, he couldn't imagine any possibility of failure.

The siege has officially begun.

Under the strict supervision of the Song army's supervisory team, 700,000 Yellow Turban soldiers rushed towards Angkor Thom like zombies, wave after wave.

Armed with rudimentary wooden spears and stone axes, they roared as they charged toward the city walls, using their flesh and blood to fill the gaps in the moat, to ram the sturdy city gates, and to fend off the arrows and rolling stones falling from the city walls.

Zhao Yu's tactics were simple: to use relentless attacks to deplete the city's supplies and the soldiers' stamina.

Like the fate of Zhenla, Angkor Thom struggled for half a year under the relentless attacks of the Yellow Turban Army before finally falling.

Having accumulated anger and resentment for half a year, the Yellow Turban Army rushed into the city like wild horses, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities.

The once solemn and sacred Angkor Thom was instantly transformed into a hellish landscape.

Flames soared into the sky, thick smoke obscured the sun, and screams, cries, and the clash of weapons mingled together, echoing through the heavens.

In this battle, the Yellow Turban army suffered as many as 100,000 casualties.

After the war, the burned corpses piled up like mountains, and the ashes left behind formed small hills outside Angkor Thom. When the wind blew, the black ashes were scattered by the wind, as if telling the story of the tragedy of the war.

The saying "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand" is far too inadequate to describe this battle.

Looking back on the year's war, the population of the Khmer Empire plummeted from 1.5 million to 1 million, and the 500,000 deaths proved the "feasibility" of Zhao Yu's Yellow Turban tactics with their blood.

Finally, the battle report reached the Eastern Song court: "The mighty general and King Zhao Shou of Siam led an army of one million to break through the Khmer Empire and kill five hundred thousand enemies."

Upon seeing the battle report, the officials couldn't help but exchange a knowing smile, secretly thinking: "This time, the Emperor isn't even bothering to pretend anymore. What kind of war could kill 500,000 people?"

This record is even more impressive than that of Bai Qi during the Warring States period.

Well, well, since the official likes it, let him be. I just hope he'll have his fill of fun and return to Xinxiang soon.

Zhao Yu's actions terrified several small countries surrounding the Indochina Peninsula.

They all sent envoys, carrying large amounts of gold, silver, jewels, and beautiful women, to Bangkok to pay tribute and beg Zhao Yu not to attack them.

Although Zhao Yu was not interested in these riches and beauties, he had no choice but to accept them reluctantly in order to appease the surrounding countries and stabilize the situation.

Right now, he has a very tricky matter to deal with.

After a full year of war, the Khmer Empire was no longer just riddled with holes; it was like a deep crater left by a meteorite, a scene of utter devastation.

Agricultural production has been completely destroyed, and the millions of surviving Khmer people will have to wait until at least next year to harvest their food.

Before this, Zhao Yu had to ensure the food supply for these million people; otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable if an uprising broke out.

After much deliberation, Zhao Yu finally decided to "trust" the wisdom of the Khmer people.

He only took 200,000 loyal Yellow Turban soldiers with him, and distributed the remaining food evenly among the remaining 20 chieftains, allowing them to lead 800,000 Khmer people to "make a living on their own" within Khmer territory—in other words, to hold a survival competition and let them compete with each other for resources.

The twenty commanders were stunned when they heard the news.

Is this something a human being would do?

They all rose through the ranks from the bottom, and their blood and guts are never lacking.

That very night, several commanders secretly plotted to join forces to attack Zhao Yu's Song army and seize their grain.

But they didn't expect that the news had already been leaked to Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu acted decisively, leading 10,000 Song soldiers in a night attack, killing the instigator and handing over all the food supplies of his troops to the informant.

The Song army's formidable fighting power once again shocked all the commanders—those powerful firearms were a disparity that could not be bridged by sheer numbers.

Since they could not fight against the Song army, they could only turn their attention to other commanders.

A brutal Khmer "chicken-eating contest" has officially begun.

Zhao Yu, with 200,000 loyal Yellow Turban soldiers, happily returned to Bangkok by boat.

He gave these 200,000 Yellow Turban soldiers a chance to live—to participate in the construction of the Buddhist palace. In return, they were provided with three meals a day and a small amount of wages to distinguish them from slaves.

With the combined labor of 300,000 slaves and 200,000 Yellow Turban soldiers, the construction of the Buddhist palace progressed remarkably quickly.

During this period, there were several slave rebellions, but they were all suppressed by the Song army and the Yellow Turban army.

After these incidents, Zhao Yu felt that the slaves were still being fed too much, otherwise how could they have the strength to rebel?

So he ordered a reduction in the slaves' rations, distributing the rations to outstanding Yellow Turban soldiers and rewarding several who had rendered meritorious service in the suppression, allowing them to be relieved of labor and instead focus on guarding the slaves.

In the thirteenth year of Xingwei (1361), the Khmer "chicken-eating contest" reached its climax.

Twenty chieftains fought each other, and the flames of war spread throughout Cambodia, all for the sake of a limited amount of food.

In just six months, half of the commanders were wiped out.

Some weaker leaders, in order to survive, had to abandon internal struggles and instead plunder neighboring countries.

This greatly troubled several small neighboring countries, but they dared not speak out against it and could only urgently dispatch soldiers to reinforce their city defenses and take strict precautions.

Historical records state that in that year, the Khmer people suffered a severe famine, and some even resorted to cannibalism.

The once prosperous and powerful nation in the Indochina Peninsula has been completely reduced to a living hell.