Chapter 2256: Dalon Trinling Faints!
“Everyone, prepare yourselves for the worst!
“All we can do now is delay Dalon Trinling and buy more time for His Highness,” Young Master Qingyang tersely said.
Sacrifices were inevitable in war. Whether it was him, Li Junxian, or Barshad, they had all prepared themselves for the worst-case scenario.
Everyone on the observation platform fell silent.
At that moment, all of them shared the same thought. I wonder how His Highness is doing!
Whoosh!
It was at this time that a snow eagle descended from the clouds and landed on the observation platform.
“It’s from His Highness!” Young Master Qingyang instantly recognized Wang Chong’s emblem on the snow eagle’s right leg.
The three of them nervously went up to the eagle.
Whoosh!
Young Master Qingyang quickly tore open the letter carried by the snow eagle, and upon glancing at it, he began to excitedly laugh.
“His Highness won! Victory in Youzhou! An Lushan has already been executed!”
“What? Let me see!”
The others were stunned by Young Master Qingyang’s words, and hastily took the letter from his hand.
“We won! We really won!”
“His Highness is victorious and the alliance was defeated! There is no one in the world that can oppose the Great Tang now! Hahaha!”
They had steeled themselves to go down with the city, but now, they were all brimming with energy, the dejection swept away. Even the dire situation facing them had been tossed to the back of their minds.
What did it matter if the City of Steel fell? What did it matter how formidable Dalon Trinling was? The northeast was won; the alliance, defeated! There was no faction left that could oppose the Great Tang. Once Wang Chong returned with the army from the northeast, Dalon Trinling would be forced to bow his head.
In terms of soldiers, the northeast was where all of the Great Tang’s elites had been located, and their strength far surpassed the Ü-Tsang Empire. As for strategy… His Highness had an undefeated record, and Dalon Trinling would not be able to gain the slightest advantage against the King of Foreign Lands.
The fate of Dalon Trinling and the Tibetan army was sealed.
“Pass on my order! Immediately relay this news to the army!” Young Master Qingyang declared, his eyes bright.
Bang!
A few moments later, upon hearing the news from the northeast, all the soldiers in the City of Steel erupted with cheers.
“King of Foreign Lands!”
“King of Foreign Lands!”
“King of Foreign Lands!”
Amidst the roaring cheers, the morale of the army swelled, and in the face of the constant Tibetan attacks, they actually seemed on the verge of pushing them back.
“What’s going on?”
Outside the City of Steel, a Tibetan general noticed the development within and grimaced.
They had estimated that the City of Steel would fall within the next few hours, but those cheers didn’t sound like those of a defeated army.
It wasn’t just him. All the Tibetan generals had noticed this development, and their faces turned grave. All of them instinctively turned to that erect and imposing figure in the rear.
Dalon Trinling didn’t have a very burly body, and in the Ü-Tsang Empire, he was not renowned for his martial arts. On the surface, he seemed like an ordinary middle-aged scholar, but on the battlefield, Dalon Trinling was unquestionably a hegemon.
Young Master Qingyang, Li Junxian, Barshad, and the numerous experts and soldiers of the Great Tang and the Western Turks working together were still no match for Dalon Trinling.
In terms of strategy, Young Master Qingyang and Barshad were completely overwhelmed by him. If not for Wang Chong’s City of Steel, the joint army of the Great Tang and Western Turks would have been defeated long ago.
The Tibetans were a fierce people and boasted many renowned generals, but only under Dalon Trinling could they exhibit their full power.
At this moment, this supreme minister of the continent who had risen to fame ten-some years ago was deeply frowning.
Dalon Trinling did not take Young Master Qingyang, Barshad, or Li Junxian seriously, but he was well aware that their true commander was several thousand li away, contending against An Lushan and his alliance army.
Wang Chong’s plans at this time did not seem very profound. He had simply seized the awkward situation the Ü-Tsang Empire was in and exploited the City of Steel’s special location. In placing soldiers there, he made it difficult for the Tibetans to retreat or advance.
Moreover, when clashing with Li Junxian and company, Dalon Trinling did not sense any intent to defeat him in the trio. Their goal from the start had been to disrupt, delay, and suppress him, giving them a great deal of leeway.
Despite Dalon Trinling’s formidable abilities, he found it very hard to deal with this situation. His several hundred thousand soldiers were stuck in Qixi, unable to advance farther east and join up with An Lushan.
For Dalon Trinling, the best-case scenario was that while he was holding down part of the Tang army, An Lushan and the alliance army, with the aid of that mysterious Celestial God Organization, had already defeated the Great Tang. The worst case was that the fortress in the northeast was too sturdy and An Lushan’s men were still locked in combat. But once he seized the City of Steel, he would have plenty of space to maneuver.
If he advanced southward, he could threaten the Great Tang’s capital and disrupt Wang Chong’s rear. With the rear in danger, the Tang army’s morale would collapse, resulting in defeat. And if he advanced eastward, he could continue with the original plan, join An Lushan, and work with him to defeat Wang Chong.
Regardless, Ü-Tsang had enough room to maneuver.
After a few moments of silence, Dalon Trinling ordered, “Come; pass on my order. Immediately head to the front line and see what’s going on. I need to know what happened as quickly as possible.”
“Yes!”
A Tibetan horseman mounted his horse and immediately rode for the front line.
Dalon Trinling was located very far from the front line, as demanded by many Tibetan generals. But while this was safe, it meant that he didn’t have a detailed view of the situation at the front line.
Whoosh!
Moments after the horseman left, the flapping of wings drew everyone’s attention.
The sight of that large snow eagle in the storm made everyone widen their eyes.
With the arrival of the cold wave, the Ü-Tsang Empire had been forced to rely on ancient sacred tools passed down by the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple to resist the cold, but this method could not be used on birds.
Thus, upon the descent of the cold wave, its communications with the other countries had been cut.
Thus, such a large bird in the middle of the snowstorm was far too obvious.
“It’s a Tang bird! Archers!” a Tibetan general sternly ordered, his expression dark.
“Wait!” Dalon Trinling slightly frowned as he shouted for them to halt.
A moment later, the large snow eagle slowly flew down, reached out with its claws, and landed on Dalon Trinling’s outstretched arm.
The world fell silent, and time seemed to stop. The appearance of this snow eagle was too sudden, too bizarre.
Atop his horse, Dalon Trinling silently inspected the snow eagle, countless thoughts passing through his wise and deep eyes.
“Imperial Minister, this is…”
Namri Songtian looked hesitantly at the snow eagle.
Namri Songtian understood in a flash of insight that there was only one person in the Great Tang who would send a letter to the Imperial Minister at a time like this.
There was no telling what was written within, but there was no doubt that it would be an unexpected variable.
With the appearance of the snow eagle, an unknown factor had appeared in this war in the northwest.
Dalon Trinling took the letter from the snow eagle’s leg, and after a few moments of silence, he finally opened it.
Bang!
Dalon Trinling unfolded the letter, glanced at it, and almost fell from his horse. His composed face that seemed immune to panic instantly turned ghastly white.
“Imperial Minister!”
Everyone grimaced and went up to support him.
In their minds, Dalon Trinling was a god, and they had never seen him like this.
“Pass on my order! Stop the attack! All soldiers, retreat!” Dalon Trinling suddenly ordered.
“What?”
Everyone was thrown into an uproar by these words. Ü-Tsang had the upper hand and the City of Steel was about to fall. This order at this time was far too strange.
But before they had time to ask questions, Dalon Trinling suddenly fainted.
“Imperial Minister!”
“Imperial Minister!”
Everyone paled in alarm and hastily went to support Dalon Trinling’s body.
No one knew what that letter had said that would trigger such a reaction from their divine Imperial Minister.
In the chaos, a chorus of cheers erupted from the City of Steel, but this time, it was shouted in Tibetan rather than in the Tang language.
“An Lushan has been defeated!”
“The alliance has been defeated!”
“Hail the Great Tang!”
As the cheers rocked the City of Steel, the Tang army seemed to be infused with divine strength, and as their morale rocketed upward, they began to charge out of the City of Steel.
Outside the city, the Tibetan army was in disarray and was repeatedly pushed back by the Tang army.