This is the far more insidious scenario.
Juko Ou states that Reki and Beki were two of few states that resisted Chu incursions.
There are seven small white dots on this panel. They likely represent the other small city states that Juko Ou was talking about.
When rereading the chapter, something struck me as being rather odd.
One thousand casualties on Man U’s side? Only one thousand? For a supposedly large scale engagement, losing one thousand men is suspiciously low. Even Man U pauses at this number as if he is uncertain as to whether to be suspicious or grateful that the number is so low.
So I thought to myself, “How come the Chu forces are inflicting such little damage?”.
Then I thought to myself... “Wait, what if they are not Chu?”.
What would Chu do with half of an enslaved and resentful population of an enemy city state? The answer? Send them all to their deaths to whittle down other enemy city states.
If the Chu have no problem turning the citizens of Beki against Man U then they would equally have no problem using the citizens of other conquered city states as cannon fodder to grind down and whittle down the moral of Man U, his army and the citizens/nobility of Beki.
Not only that but Chu also disposes of a resentful native population that could have potentially rebelled in the future (similar to how the Juuteki Tribe rebelled against Qin by joining the Ai rebellion only 100 years after their lands were conquered) and replaces them all with loyal Chu citizens.
This is what one would call killing two birds with one stone.