@Kendama
Ah, Kin province is where Zeno's power is unveiled! I remembered the battle, and to see it again really kept me on edge and heart thumping. Eek. But I'd forgotten the reasoning behind that battle. Thanks for the chapter recall! I reread 94-101.
So I'll use this chapter discussion just to respond to the Kin arc.
Hmm.. So it's like Hak says.. the provocation at Sensui by Southern Kai provided an opportunity to show Kouka's regained power under the new kingship. For a King who is suspected to have usurped the throne, it served to gain the Earth Tribe's trust, give a chance for Fire Tribe to show its worth and fealty after the failed dissent, show Soo-Won's intent not just to the Water and Wind Tribe, but to the neighbouring kingdoms as well.
Kin was a weak province, and like the boy Kalgan's father Amoi mentions, it has switched hands numerous times yet the countries remain fickle on full ownership to the extent of lack of provisioning of enough border defence. Honestly quite stupid considering it's a key tactical area. Joo-nam/Yu-Hon plundered it. Then Il let it go because he refused to put up a fight (was there really a peace treaty signed here? It wasn't mentioned in these chapters). Fickleness of the countries also implies fickleness of the land and its people. Which means that the villagers were easy baits and could be swayed for use as needed. If that imbalance is present, and it was at a 50-50 chance who Kin would side with for war willingly, also considering the villagers would be a mix of Kouka and Kai citizens, as a King, why give this unstable "easy" territory away to Kai when Kouka can make use of it?
One way it to look at it is the way you've mentioned, as a ruthless plunder to gain territory. Another way to look at it is to secure the borders so that it prevents the impending attack. That was their weakest area after Sen and Sei borders. Sure, it wasn't an empathetic move by winning the hearts of the people, dragging them in for a rebellion with Kai on assurances and desire to join Kouka for their own prosperity, but based on chapter 94, I can't really see it as being solely for plunder. Sure there were more motives other than just border security, but that proved how advantageous it would be to Kouka if Kin were under their rule. Strategically it made sense, and especially when Kouka's own forces has just reawakened from a ten year slumber and comparatively still weak. Atleast in how it was intended as an attack route. They won Kin by sheer numbers as opposed to a smaller skilled assault force. The major thing Soo-Won was fighting against was time. If he'd had time, then it's a wonder of what other route he may have taken. Would he have dealt with it like he did with the Earth Tribe, more nuanced and winning people over rather than forcing rule.
Yet, having said that, true that it could have still backfired had the stragglers not chosen to raze the villages. The people could have still forced a rebellion choosing it was better to be with Kai than Kouka.
Then we come to the actual unexpected event of the remaining Kai forces plundering and pillaging their own Kin territory
a) as resentful retaliation through sacrifice of its own populace
b) to put up an indirect fight with Kouka by not giving up the land so easily
c) to put the blame on Kouka and colour them red.
This arc primarily served to show the consequences of war. That it's not always an end at the battlefield whether or not an attack or defence tactic was used.
Also, eerily, it reminds me of some of the India Partition accounts I'd read some time back. Villages were razed and people brutally chased and assaulted the same way, when it was decided that for the sake of freedom/independence, a line would be drawn to break the country in two (or 3 if you look at the eastern part too) in a sudden hasty declaration. Very haunting. The leaders didn't even consider the people living in the border areas, and suddenly a citizen no longer was a citizen.
Here, I do agree that had it not been for Yona, perhaps Soo-Won's reign would have been short-lived and collapsed. If Il had still been on the throne, that too would have collapsed just as soon, perhaps even sooner by the Fire Tribe rebellion itself. Then it would have been a mess of a situation with Fire Tribe being questioned and challenged. Meanwhile, the borders were already converging in on Kouka, and the other kingdoms could just as well have made a false handshake for the sake of overriding Kouka, then backstabbed each other to gain the territory for themselves. Lol, this scenario definitely makes for a good seinen doujinshi. 😅
I'm really interested in what happened to Kin during Il's reign. Honestly Gun-Tae was stupid for letting Kin go if it was already part of Kouka. I don't understand why he's so laid back and not even owning up to his past failure in this Kin arc. He just declares it would be good to get Kin back as if he was never at any fault. Compared to him, in ch 94, it felt that Joon-Gi was testing Il to the extent of sacrificing his people to gain attention to the ongoing crisis. He needed support to fight Nadai dealers, which he never got until Soo-Won came along. Whatever he could do on his own was nowhere near enough. And he was bound by Il not to go to war.
Even if this is a fantasy, Kusanagi-sensei has definitely been looking into military strategies/political theory. So I do think any kind of analysis is worth it. The story managed to invoke so many thoughts and reactions anyway.
Will bring up the prophecy bit in the next chap discussion.
