Chapter 2257 - The Countries Surrender! (1/2)

“Impossible! How can this be?”

“The alliance has an army of millions in the northeast. How could it be so easily defeated!?”

All of the Tibetan generals began to panic.

Their backbone, Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling, had seen something and fainted, and the Tibetan army quickly began to break and verge on collapse. Had the alliance army in Youzhou really been defeated?

Whoosh!

The howling wind blew something out of Dalon Trinling’s hand which slapped Namri Songtian in the face. The latter instinctively reached out and carefully looked at it, upon which he realized that it was the letter Dalon Trinling had received.

Namri Songtian opened the letter, glanced at it, and felt like he was being struck by a lightning bolt.

Namri Songtian was no stranger to the handwriting. Ü-Tsang had received several other letters of this kind before, and he instantly recognized it as from the Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands. The contents of the letter were very simple.

“An Lushan has been executed! Meeting with the Imperial Minister today!”

At the end was the King of Foreign Lands’ seal, and below it was a small seal that was none other than the private seal An Lushan used in his letters to Ü-Tsang.

An Lushan had a habit that differed from all the other countries.

When other countries sent letters to each other, they would use the seal of their respective countries, but Youzhou was only a protectorate of the Great Tang and did not have the right to sit on the same level as the other countries. Thus, An Lushan had always used his personal seal.

One concern was secrecy, as no one except the target would know what it signified. The second concern was that An Lushan wanted to avoid leaving any clues that could be used against him, so he would use a different personal seal for each country he sent letters to. In this way, no one except the country involved would know that he was the writer of the letter.

Wang Chong had used none other than the personal seal that An Lushan used to communicate with Ü-Tsang, and the implied meaning was obvious.

“How could it be like this?

“Impossible!”

Namri Songtian’s heart trembled, his eyes turning gray and dim. He felt like he had fallen into an ice house.

The northeastern countries had been defeated and the Great Tang had won. All of this had come too suddenly.

The battle of the City of Steel in the northwest wasn’t even over, but that even larger-scale war in the northeast had prematurely ended. This was something that none of the Tibetans had imagined, and it was something that they had never wanted to see.

With the war in the northeast over, the war in the northwest became of dubious worth. The outcome was meaningless, whether it was victory or defeat.

To the east, the Ü-Tsang Empire had no more allies, and to the south, they had to deal with Wang Chong, who might be coming to reinforce the City of Steel. As for the west, the Tibetan Plateau was sealed in ice. They had nowhere to go, and in the vastness of the world, the hundreds of thousands Tibetan soldiers felt like they were all alone and bereft of allies.

The war of the northeast was over, and the Ü-Tsang Empire was now in dire straits.

“It’s over!

“It’s over!”

At this time, Namri Songtian finally understood why Dalon Trinling had fainted almost immediately after glancing at the letter.

The fate of the Ü-Tsang Empire was sealed, and no man or object could change this fact. Even Dalon Trinling was helpless.

“Retreat! Retreat!

“All soldiers, retreat to the west.”

After calling for retreat, Namri Songtian felt somewhat stunned. The only thought in his mind was the order Dalon Trinling had given before fainting.

Gallop!

Following Namri Songtian’s order, the Tibetan army retreated like clouds being swept away by a gale, withdrawing to the northwest together with the uneasy Tibetan commanders.

The army withdrew in disarray, lacking any of their former divine courage.

Bang!

Seeing the Tibetan cavalry withdrawing into the snowstorm in panic, the Tang soldiers within the City of Steel erupted with cheers.

“Kill! Kill them all!”

Some of the cavalry pursued tens of thousands of feet before the horn within the city called them back.

“Have them come back!” Young Master Qingyang ordered from the observation platform in the center of the city. “These Tibetans only fear His Highness. We don’t have the soldiers to defeat them right now!”

It was not wise to pursue a defeated enemy. While the Tibetans had retreated, they still had the strength to fight a battle. Their liege would have to arrive before they could think about taking on the entire Ü-Tsang Empire.

“Order the craftsmen team to begin repairing the walls!

“In addition, Barshad, I must trouble the Western Turks to keep watch over the perimeter and ensure that the Tibetans don’t return!”

Young Master Qingyang issued a string of orders.

They were the defensive side, and simply holding the City of Steel was a victory. They could leave the rest to Wang Chong.

The orders began to be carried out in an orderly manner. Regardless of where the Tibetans ran, their fates were sealed.

Meanwhile, within Youzhou…

In the former protectorate headquarters of Youzhou, An Lushan’s banner had long ago been exchanged for the dragon banner of the Great Tang.