Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1247 – Tibet Coup
India Region, Ashoka Dynasty, New Delhi.
When the young Ashoka saw the China battle report, his eyes shone, “This time, there will be a huge battle on the China mid plains. Good, very good!”
With Ashoka’s understanding of war and emperors, Great Xia and Great Song had no way of compromising; they could only fight to the death.
Moreover, this would affect the attitudes of Qin and Tang.
“This is our chance!”
Just as Ouyang Shuo had guessed, Ashoka was a really ambitions emperor. Three months ago, Songtsen Gampo had obtained the contact of Ashoka apprehensively. Ashoka had realized that this was a great chance for the dynasty to swallow up Tibet and make their occupied land double.
Such a temptation was something that no emperor could resist.
Ashoka did not hesitate at all. He split the troops into two batches and very generously sent 300 thousand troops to Tibet. While they engaged with the Great Xia Bear legion corps, he added 200 thousand more.
This meant that Ashoka had sent a total of 500 thousand troops into Tibet, exceeding the number of troops Tibet itself had.
To reduce the logistical burdens on the Tibet Dynasty, Ashoka sent grain from India.
Ashoka going all out in supporting Tibet was naturally not out of the kindness of his heart. A so-called cooperation was only possible when both sides had equal strength. However, the Ashoka Dynasty’s army was 10 times larger than Tibet’s, so they were not even on the same level.
This huge disparity in strength meant that Tibet was leading a wolf into their house.
By the time Songtsen Gampo realized this point, it was already too late. The Ashoka Dynasty army that entered Tibet’s Lhasa City had already controlled the important areas of the city.
“It is easy to invite a god, but it is hard to send them away!”
Li Jing was a really experienced general. After noticing what was happening with the Tibet army, he was not in a rush to attack. Instead, he simply camped at the border to monitor the enemy and slowly obtain intel.
Seeing that, Songtsen Gampo raised up the matter to Ashoka. He said that the Tibet crisis has basically been settled, thank you for your help. This kindness was something Tibet would remember dearly.
This was also him saying that he hoped the Ashoka Dynasty would withdraw some of their troops.
Toward this matter, Ashoka let it fall on deaf ears using the excuse of the troops traveling far and needing to rest to continue to camp in Tibet. Even to say that Ashoka moved 500 thousand more troops to the border to get ready to charge into Tibet at any moment.
When he received the news, only then did Songtsen Gampo realize that something was wrong, but he was helpless toward this situation. The weak Tibet was stuck between Great Xia and the Ashoka Dynasty, and they were destined to be sacrificed.
Moreover, the speed at which Ashoka swung his butcher knife was more decisive and faster than Songtsen Gampo had expected.
6th month, 28th day, just as the Honglu Temple headed to Great Song again, Ashoka sent another 500 thousand troops to Tibet, totally taking over control.
Songtsen Gampo became a true puppet of the Ashoka Dynasty.
Ashoka’s plan was really vicious. Not only did the reinforcements he send control Lhasa City, but he also used the chance to get the troops to familiarize themselves with the geography with the help of guides.
Along with the two armies fighting side by side, the Ashoka Dynasty completed their takeover of Tibet.
The coup of Tibet was not noticed by outsiders because it was really discrete, and even Ouyang Shuo did not know. At the end of the 6th month, Great Xia had a giant beast hiding at their west border.
…
6th month, 29th day, Great Song Dynasty, Xiangyang City.
Ouyang Shuo’s surrender order created an uproar in the Great Song wilderness. The Imperial Court was split into two factions. One group wanted to surrender, and the other group wanted to fight; it was truly reminiscent of North Song.
The ones who wanted to surrender did not need to be mentioned, as they were afraid of the might of Great Xia and did not want to be buried.
This was also helpless because even Great Zhou, who was Great Xia’s greatest opponent and had 700 thousand troops, surrendered without fighting, much less the far weaker Great Song.
“We do not want Great Song to turn to dust.” The officials said.
The ones who wanted to fight were mainly generals; they had a simple reason, “Surrendering without fighting? Can we show some backbone? Even if we surrender, Great Xia will still look down on us.”
Unfortunately, in Great Song, the generals did not hold much power.
The true power laid in the hands of the officials and the emperor.
Zhao Kuangyin felt really conflicted. On one side, he could not put down the pride and dignity of an emperor, much less the great dynasty he had created. He was unwilling to surrender; he was unwilling to lower his head.
However, if they did not surrender, his race might be wiped out.
He definitely would not suspect or doubt the determination of the Xia emperor. If they really went all out, the Xia emperor using his head as a symbol would be a normal matter.
If it were Zhao Kuangyin, he would do the same.
Zhao Kuangyin, who was in a tough spot, did not know whether he should surrender or not. Helplessly, he sent out envoys to Qin and Tang to ask for their opinions.
If they surrendered, the three would surrender together, and their faces would feel much better; if they did not, the two of them would be able to sit on the fence and watch on as Song face destruction simply because the Great Xia Army was monitoring them.
“He will destroy us all; please think carefully. The day Song is destroyed is the day Qin and Tang are wiped out to. Rather than surrendering, let’s not have a good war!”
The good war he mentioned was just to let Qin and Tang take up some of the pressure. Only he was clear about the plans and plotting within.
“Let’s hope it will be of use!” Zhao Kuangyin was making a final struggle.
…
Jingchu Province, Jingzhou Prefecture.
Looking at the order from the emperor, Imperial Palace Guard marshal Xu Da hollered, “Men!”
“Present!”
“Gather the generals for a meeting!”
“Yes, marshal!”
No matter how the Great Song officials debated, after getting the order to take down Great Song in half a month, the three fronts of Great Xia started acting.
The emperor mentioned really clearly that whichever one of them took down Xiangyang City first would be greatly rewarded. The Imperial Palace Guards, Xiangjiang legion corps, and Tiger legion corps belonged to three different systems, and none of them wanted to lose out to the other two.
“In the army, merits determine whether one is strong or not!”
To the Imperial Palace Guards, this war had significant meaning.
First, this was the first big war that Xu Da would fight in since joining Great Xia. In the army where generals were like clouds, Xu Da needed to use this war to prove that he was worthy of his great general title.
Secondly, the Imperial Palace Guards were a new army and needed to mesh together through this war to test the results of their training and to truly come together as one.
In his words, “I hope that after this battle, there will be no Jin, Ming, or Sui troops. Instead, we will all be Imperial Palace Guard soldiers!”
The left wing that they were in charge of faced the most danger. Not only did they have to face the Song army, but they even had to defend against the Tang army, who might charge over and intercept them at any moment.
Ouyang Shuo gave this heavy responsibility to Xu Da.
That day, Xu Da rallied the troops, saying that they will stop at nothing to claim the credit; they will take down Xiangyang and show the glory of the Imperial Palace Guards.
Pretty much at the same time, the Xiangjiang legion corps in the middle and the Tiger legion corps at the right wing had similar rallies. 700 thousand Great Xia troops were lined up like ferocious tigers, baring its fangs at Great Song.
The battle to destroy Song had entered its most intense moment.
…
7th month, 3rd day, middle army Xiangjiang legion corps claimed first blood.
At 4 PM, after a day and a half of intense battling, along with the help from the inside, the army finally conquered Pill Sun city, killing 30 thousand people and emerging victorious.
As the previous main city of a territory, it was not only the second biggest city in Great Song, but it was also its sturdiest fortress on the south. Along with Xiangyang City in the north, it became the foundations of Great Song.
In Pill Sun city, Great Song had housed 150 thousand guards and stored large amounts of grain. It was an important bridge for them to fight Great Xia.
Helplessly, Pill Sun city was within Chun Shenjun’s control. He had run it for close to six years, and although he was forced to hand it over to Great Song, he still had massive influence there.
The Xiangjiang legion corps managed to smoothly take down Pill Sun city due to inside help.
If not, the enemy would be able to rely on the sturdy defense of the city and the 150 thousand guards to last for at least a week, even with Zhang Xutuo’s abilities.
The Great Xia Army used just a day and a half to take down Pill Sun city, giving Great Song a huge blow.
When the news spread to Xiangyang, the Great Song Imperial Court trembled once more.
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