Chapter 520: The Dark Clouds Hang Overhead! The Capitals Anxiety! (1/2)

Chapter 520: The Dark Clouds Hang Overhead! The Capital's Anxiety!

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

”Aaaaah!”

Screams could be heard everywhere as a massacre unfolded across Chilechuan. Many of the shepherds chose to flee, but a few them chose resistance. Yet this sort of resistance was useless against these cavalry, equipped with Meteoric Metal armor and Wootz Steel swords, little more than an itch.

Cattle mooed and sheep bleated as they fell to the ground, their blood dyeing the earth red. There were no civilians or warriors in this conflict, only a life-or-death competition between countries. In this predestined war, there were no innocents.

The righteous did not grasp for wealth, and the kind did not command soldiers!

Today's shepherds would be tomorrow's Tibetan warriors, fierce and cruelly hacking down Tang civilians. Any softheartedness shown to one's enemies today was future cruelty to one's brothers-in-arms.

The battle proceeded quickly and ended quickly. Chilechuan, this region of the empire's southwest close to the Tibetan border, was covered in blood. The group led by Li Siye had already left, headed for even farther destinations.

They left behind them a ground covered in corpses. The bodies of cattle and sheep stretched toward the horizon.

However, not even the future Invincible Great General could completely kill off these tens of thousands of livestock. After the massacre, a large number of cattle and sheep had managed to survive, all of them bleating or mooing in distress. Except them, no one knew what had happened.

Chilechuan was quiet, time having seemingly come to a stop. After some time…

Splat!

A pile of Tibetan corpses burst open, and a trembling and bloodstained hand emerged from the ground.

”Demons, these Tang are all demons…!”

A heavily injured Tibetan shepherd emerged from the pile of corpses. He muttered to himself in Tibetan, the eyes on his pale face still reflecting a deep fear.

A nightmare!

Only a nightmare could explain what had happened just now. The six or seven hundred tribesmen had not even been able to last a single round before being slaughtered, and their opponents had come away without a single injury. Although their enemy had been regular soldiers, this gap was still a little too large.

Moreover, hadn't the Great Tang's Annan Protectorate army been defeated?

And hadn't the 60,000 reinforcements the Great Tang had sent also been eliminated by the Great General?

Weren't there three generals standing guard at the three passes running from north to south? Where had this group of Great Tang cavalry come from? Hadn't they been told that the rear was completely safe?

”It's no good; I have to tell the Great General! He needs to dispatch soldiers to slaughter these Tang!”

The lucky shepherd stood and prepared to leave, but he walked only two steps before stopping.

”No, I do have to inform the Great General, but also the other tribes as well. The Tang have already appeared in Chilechuan, which means this place is no longer safe. I have to tell the rest of them as quickly as possible,” the surviving shepherd quietly said to himself.

On the plateau, there were no such things as shepherds. 'Shepherd' was a term that the Han used. All Tibetans were natural warriors. When they weren't fighting, they were supporting the army as the military's logistics officers. In battle, they could also serve as the eyes and the ears of the army. The shepherds and the army were a single entity.

Looking around, the shepherd quickly noticed the surviving cattle and sheep.

The Great Tang was no longer safe. One force was bound to be followed by a second and a third… He couldn't leave these livestock here. He had to drive them back to the Tibetan Plateau. Moreover, once the other tribes saw these leaderless flocks, they would definitely understand what had happened here.

They would grow more vigilant.

This was an unwritten rule of the plateau.

Snap!

The fearful and furious shepherd cracked his whip and began to herd the livestock.

”Hurry, hurry, hurry! Don't stay here. Get out of here for me!”

The sheep were gradually driven toward the Tibetan Plateau. 'An old horse knows the way.' Sheep herds were not that smart, but by following the water and grass, they would be able to find the road. As long as the other sheep saw where the rest of the herd was going, they would understand.

Baaaa!

Loudly bleating, the surviving sheep began to move.

But in his fear and anger, the shepherd didn't notice that amidst the pure white flock, several cattle and sheep were eating soybeans, a plant that was impossible to find in Chilechuan. And these soybeans were stained with some sort of black paste. As the herds began to move, these cattle and sheep mixed in with them and vanished over the horizon.

……

At the same time, the distant capital of the Great Tang was also a hive of activity.

Wang Chong had not attracted much notice when he had departed with his one thousand fully-equipped clan experts. The Imperial Court and the common people had other things to be concerned about. The southwest, Longxi, Anxi, Beiting, Andong… the Great Tang had never been in so much danger as it was now.

In its golden age, the Great Tang had enjoyed the obedience of all the surrounding countries. They rarely saw a single country raise the standard of war, but now, they were hearing the songs of the enemy from all sides.

Right now, the Great Tang was no longer concerned solely with the southwest, but with the entire empire. The greatest fear was that the surrounding kingdoms might communicate with each other and engage in a simultaneous invasion.

Given how the current situation was developing, such a possibility was very real.

In the Wang Clan Estate, Wang Gen anxiously strode back and forth. When the door opened and a guard entered, he immediately went to meet him, his eyes filled with worry and anxiety.