Controlling territory isn’t totally about number of people, it’s about strategy and terrain....
If I took control of the southern Mississippi River with 10,000 soldiers and the equipment to do so...all the surrounding lands for hundreds of miles would be under my domain...
Of course having no opposition would be important factor like in northen Iraq ....
“If I took control of the southern Mississippi River with 10,000 soldiers and the equipment to do so...all the surrounding lands for hundreds of miles would be under my domain...”
And a 1/2 dozen daisy cutters would end that occupation in a heart beat.