Chapter 2260: Ü-Tsang Surrenders!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Bang!
Upon seeing the army outside, the army within the City of Steel grew restless, all of them preparing for a vicious battle.
The Tibetans were fearless, and it would be an arduous task to push them back.
Just when they were ready to welcome a great battle, a Tang commander noticed something and shouted, “A white flag! They’re raising a white flag!”
On the continent, every country had its own war banner, but ever since the Great Tang’s war with Arabia, due to w.a.n.g Chong, everyone had come to understand the special significance of the white war banner.
Surrender!
Perhaps there had been no such custom in the past, but everyone had accepted this by now.
The Tibetans wanted to surrender?
How was that possible!?
The soldiers glanced at each other in confusion. What was Ü-Tsang plotting with this? Trying to make them let down their guard?
Did they want to deceive them into opening the gates?!
But this was not the only thing that left them shocked.
Rumble! The Tibetan army drew closer and closer.
Everyone quickly noticed several dozen powerful Tibetan commanders amidst the Tibetan ranks. But what was most unusual was that they were escorting a prisoner cart.
“What are the Tibetans trying?”
They all looked at each other, confused as to what sort of scheme the Tibetans were attempting.
As the distance shrank and they saw who was in the prisoner cart, everyone paled.
“Dalon Trinling!”
On the walls, Young Master Qingyang, Li Junxian, and all of the Tang and Western Turkic generals were flabbergasted.
The figure in the prisoner cart was none other than that man who had placed so much pressure on their shoulders and had almost taken the City of Steel.
But he was no longer casual and elegant, graceful and handsome. The Dalon Trinling in the prisoner cart was disheveled and filthy, his hands and feet shackled. He presented the perfect picture of a prisoner.
“What are the Tibetans up to? Did they rebel and imprison Dalon Trinling in the hopes of buying a chance at survival for the Ü-Tsang Empire?”
On the walls, the Tang commanders, particularly the generals who had clashed with the Tibetans before, glanced at each other in immense shock.
“You’re all overthinking it. All of this is simply a play put on by our Imperial Minister of Ü-Tsang.” w.a.n.g Chong looked in the distance and chuckled as he solved the riddle.
The Tibetans rebelling and imprisoning Dalon Trinling?
How could that be?
This sort of person didn’t exist in Ü-Tsang.
Even the Tsenpo treated Dalon Trinling with great respect, let alone those below him. Anyone who tried anything on Dalon Trinling would probably be torn to shreds before they could even get close.
This was Dalon Trinling’s status in the Ü-Tsang Empire.
“And besides, you’ll know as soon as you look at his hands.”
w.a.n.g Chong grinned.
These words caused everyone to turn to Dalon Trinling. Most of them were confused as to what w.a.n.g Chong meant.
But Young Master Qingyang and Li Junxian immediately understood.
While Dalon Trinling was in a prisoner cart, the shackles on his hands and feet were not actually linked together, meaning that he still had free movement. Moreover, while his hair was filthy, his face was extremely clean.
All of this was clearly just a performance.
This should be a play Dalon Trinling is putting on specifically for the King of Foreign Lands! Young Master Qingyang mentally commented.
When experts exchanged moves, their blows were difficult to observe. Though these two were meeting for the first time, on the mental plane, they had already fought a few times.
“Come on—follow me!”
w.a.n.g Chong smiled as he floated down from the walls and toward the surging Tibetan army.
Behind him, Young Master Qingyang, Li Junxian, and Barshad followed.
Rumble!
The city gates opened. This was the first time in this intense war that the Great Tang had voluntarily opened the gates.
w.a.n.g Chong rode out with several thousand elite Tang cavalry.
On the other side, the hundreds of thousands of Tibetan soldiers noticed this. When they saw the young commander leading them, these fierce Tibetan soldiers seemed to deflate like a punctured leather ball, their energy plunging.
All of the Tibetan officers slightly dropped their heads, fear in their eyes.
Even Ü-Tsang’s sole remaining Great General, Namri Songtian, felt an invisible pressure weighing on his heart.
w.a.n.g Chong!
The only War Saint of the continent!
And he had another name: Ü-Tsang’s Bane!
w.a.n.g Chong’s appearance had caused the powerful and majestic Tibetan cavalry to swiftly decline, the empire to fall from the ranks of power.
The Ngari Royal Lineage had been rendered a no-man’s land through w.a.n.g Chong’s plague, and the revered Dalun Ruozan had also died at w.a.n.g Chong’s hands. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that Ü-Tsang had lost its northern region.
Never in history had so many Tibetan cavalry died at the hands of a single Tang Great General. Not even Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian w.a.n.g Zhongsi had achieved this feat.
w.a.n.g Chong was like the sun at its zenith, and after defeating An Lushan’s alliance army, he exuded a pressure that was as heavy as the seas.
Even a famous Great General like Namri Songtian felt like it was difficult to breathe in front of w.a.n.g Chong.
The current him is probably truly invincible!
Namri Songtian deeply sighed.
Ever since he had defeated Khatabah and the Arab army in the war of the northwest, w.a.n.g Chong had been acknowledged by the world as the War Saint. But the current w.a.n.g Chong could be considered a G.o.d.
Since ancient times, both the Great Tang and the surrounding countries had always boasted many fierce generals who had accomplished many great feats.
And while it was said that civil officials never claimed to be first and no generals ever claimed to be second, when compared to those renowned generals of past eras, no one dared to claim that they were first.
But through war after war, this youth had undoubtedly seated himself upon the throne of number one.
Because what he had done were things that none of those renowned generals of the past had ever done.
Even Namri Songtian could tell that this youth was about to achieve what no other empire in the continent had ever achieved, a completely united continent.
No one could stop his momentum!
“Imperial Minister…”
Namri Songtian’s eyes dimmed as he glanced in Dalon Trinling’s direction.
The Great Tang’s ascendancy was inevitable, and in this meeting with the Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands, not even Namri Songtian knew what would ultimately happen to the Ü-Tsang Empire.
As for surrender, Namri Songtian had no idea if it was right or wrong, or what it meant.
Neigh!
At a distance of around three hundred feet, w.a.n.g Chong’s army stopped.
Except for the howling of the wind, this vast region instantly fell silent.
After a few moments of silence, the ranks of the army parted, allowing the prisoner cart escorted by ten-some elite Tibetan generals, including Namri Songtian, to slowly emerge.
The world fell silent, all of the Tibetan soldiers waiting with bated breath.
“Imperial Minister, we finally meet!”
w.a.n.g Chong smiled as he broke the silence and looked at Dalon Trinling within the cart.
Dalon Trinling had a thunderous reputation throughout the continent. When War G.o.d w.a.n.g Zhongsi had led the Tang army to attack the plateau, he had ultimately withdrawn when he was about to attack the royal capital. Part of the reason had been alt.i.tude sickness, but another reason had been Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling.
All of the soldiers of the Ü-Tsang Empire, as well as the n.o.bles and common folk, had withdrawn from the royal capital. This was a decision made by Dalon Trinling.
w.a.n.g Zhongsi and Dalon Trinling were some of the few people on the continent to have alarmed the western world.
w.a.n.g Zhongsi was renowned for his command of soldiers, and he was himself a very powerful general. As for Dalon Trinling, he had truly squeezed his way into the ranks of the top commanders through purely his grasp of strategy.
In certain ways, the entire continent acknowledged that Dalon Trinling surpa.s.sed w.a.n.g Zhongsi when it came to strategy.
Though w.a.n.g Chong and Dalon Trinling had long ago heard of each other, this was the first time they had actually met.
w.a.n.g Chong wasn’t surprised to see that Dalon Trinling had imprisoned himself. Given Dalon Trinling’s pride, he would never surrender to anyone except a peer, which was w.a.n.g Chong.
This was because no one else had the right to accept his surrender. That was why he had waited until w.a.n.g Chong had appeared to make his own appearance.
This was also the primary reason w.a.n.g Chong had appeared!
“What can a defeated general say about courage? Congratulations, Your Highness, for successfully defeating An Lushan and the alliance army. Starting from now, no one in the continent will be able to contend against the Great Tang.”
Standing in the prisoner cart, Dalon Trinling couldn’t help but sigh as he looked at the youth before him.
In these words, Dalon Trinling felt admiration, regret, unwillingness, and also deep frustration.
In this war, both w.a.n.g Chong and Dalon Trinling had believed that there would be a clash between the two of them in the future, but in the end, w.a.n.g Chong had won without fighting and Dalon Trinling had lost without losing.
“Isn’t there still Imperial Minister?”
w.a.n.g Chong smiled.
Dalon Trinling’s face froze, and then bitterness appeared in his eyes.
“Dalon Trinling erred this time. I did not expect Your Highness to outplay me!
“The grievous losses inflicted on the City of Steel were all due to me. Someone must take responsibility for this matter. Your Highness can escort me to the capital or simply cut off my head and present it to the Emperor of the Great Tang, perhaps even hang the head from the gates so as to vent the anger of the people of the Great Tang!”