 But the emperor rejected an outright invasion . Just coming off a disastrous Japanese campaign , the emperor was unwilling to commit the central government troops to what he considered a low priority affair . He was now focused on delivering the final blow against the Song ; the emperor ordered the <unk> provincial army to secure the <unk> in order to block the escape path of the Song refugees . He also sanctioned a limited border war if Pagan contested the takeover . As planned , the <unk> army proceeded to consolidate the <unk> in 1275 – 76 . ( Elsewhere , the main <unk> armies had captured most of the Song territory by <unk> . ) 
