The World Online

Chapter 1263 – Squeezing Dry Their Last Bit of War Potential

Gaule Dynasty, Vic City.

Everybody had their difficulties. Along with the strong rise of the Spain Dynasty, the Gaule Dynasty had become the weakest out of the six European dynasties.

Hence, Henry’s worries were no less than William’s.

Although the Gaule Dynasty had six million players, one million more than House of Tudor, they were similarly facing many problems in west Africa. Till date, they had only taken down one small country, Libya.

Such a result did not mean much to the Gaule Dynasty and could not change much.

However, this was not the part that worried Henry.

The terrible geographical position of the dynasty worried him the most.

Southwest, the Gaule Dynasty and the Spain Dynasty were separated by the Pyrenees mountains. Southeast, it was separated from the Caesar Dynasty through the Alps. They belonged to the same camp and high mountains separated them, so there would not be any problems.

However, toward the northeast, it was located in the north European plains just like the Ottoman Dynasty. The boundless vast plains could not offer the Gaule Dynasty any strategic help.

Once Silver Hand decided to attack the Ottoman Dynasty, the Gaule Dynasty would be thrust to the forefront.

This placed them at a very passive position.

Henry did not believe the words of the organization that claimed that they could win in one battle.

The Ottoman Dynasty was not weak. If it truly faced the attacks of five dynasties, it would fight to the death. Being the weakest with nothing to protect them, the Gaule Dynasty would be the best choice for them to attack.

If that happened, the organization would benefit while the Gaule Dynasty might be lost.

Hence, as the Ottoman Dynasty expanded outward eagerly, Henry found it difficult to sleep. However, he was restricted by the geography and lacked the strength to change anything, so he could only quietly wait for the huge war to arrive.

Henry was looking forward to a change in the situation.

…

9th month, 15th day, Imperial Capital.

Ouyang Shuo temporarily lacked the energy to bother about Europe. Instead, it was Di Chen who submitted a memorial saying that he had arrived in Europe and would visit the six dynasties soon.

Ouyang Shuo did not have high hopes toward this matter.

Ouyang Shuo would need a good opportunity if he wanted to tear apart the two organizations.

On the other hand, Zhang Yi’s first negotiation with the Mongol Empire made Ouyang Shuo disappointed. Genghis Khan agreed to let the Great Xia Army travel through the House of Ogedai, but he was not willing to submit to Great Xia.

The negotiation process froze up just like that.

Ouyang Shuo was really clear cut, summoning back Zhang Yi and saying, “They only have one chance. The next time they want to negotiate, they will have to send someone to the imperial capital.”

Currently, Ouyang Shuo focused on the war of Tibet the most.

During the past few days, the four armies of Great Xia had gone all out, not bothering about sacrifices as they sieged city after city. They had already removed the first defensive line of Tibet and obtained a stable frontline base.

The two million Great Xia troops finally stepped onto Tibetan soil.

At the same time, the Ashoka Dynasty’s 500 thousand guards and resources had all arrived in Tibet. Only then did the seismic battle between the two dynasties truly get underway.

Close to four million troops would fight a life or death war on the Tibet plateau. The fates of both dynasties were on the line, and neither side would be able to take the loss.

However, as their motives were different, the attitudes of both sides were different too.

The Ashoka Dynasty wanted to defend Tibet and protect their honor. As such, they were more conservative and let the enemy come to them. On the other hand, as Great Xia wanted to reduce the strength of the enemy and wear them down, it was really proactive and went all out.

One attacking and one defending, the effects would obviously be different.

Under Li Jing’s leadership and the coordination of the four marshals and various generals, the two million troops formed a black line, pushing from east to west.

Regardless of how many enemies stood in their path, they feared nothing.

As the battles were too intense, the cities that the Great Xia Army took down were in ruins, and some were even torn apart by cannon fire. Flames and smoke were everywhere.

The Ashoka Dynasty was vicious too. Apart from shipping grain from India, they scoured Tibet, making the entire Tibet annoyed and filled with resentment.

9th month, 20th day, a Tibetan army tried to rebel. Helplessly, their plan had failed to remain a secret and was found out by the Ashoka Dynasty army. They even fell into the Ashoka Dynasty’s trap instead, and 50 thousand soldiers were killed just like that.

50 thousand heads were stacked up outside of Lhasa City, sending a chill down everyone’s spine.

The moment this news spread out, the entire Tibet was shocked.

When Ashoka received the news, he said, “Tibetans are abusing our kindness; they deserved to die!”

Since the damage was already done, he ordered men to massacre the Tibetan royal family, placing Tibet under military rule. All young and healthy men were conscripted to help defend the city walls or sent to transport grain.

Such crazy acts turned the entire Tibet into hell.

His crazy actions did not mean that Ashoka was brainless. From the attitude of the Great Xia Army, he could see that this war meant more to the Ashoka Dynasty, exceeding the constraints of Tibet.

If they lost, the Ashoka Dynasty would never be able to stand back up.

He was even worried that if Great Xia won, they would chase for the win and charge onto Indian soil. Rather than letting that happen, why not block the enemy outside of their door?

Facing such a situation, the death of the Tibetans did not mean much.

“Everything is done for war. As long as we win this war, even if we make all the Tibetans our slaves, they cannot resist. If we lose, everything would be all the more useless.” said Ashoka.

Hence, he did not mind slashing down with his blade, squeezing out the last bit of fighting potential out from Tibet.

Ashoka’s cold-blooded methods came into effect immediately.

With the smooth logistical supply, the Ashoka Dynasty army on the frontlines defended the cities, and their morale soared as they used their home ground advantage to collide with the Great Xia Army.

Now, to break down a city, the Great Xia Army would have to pay a heavy price.

In order to not affect military sentiment, the four armies could only take turns. They used legions as a unit to rotate one by one. It was like how one would command troops when training them.

With the Qin army on the right as an example, they established five legions while the remaining 150 thousand acted as reserve forces.

Why reserve forces?

When the main legion suffered casualties, they would directly replenish themselves from the reserves and be fully filled up the next day. Such a plan ensured that the legions were at their peak state and would not have low morale because of heavy casualties.

This method worked.

Although the soldiers of the legion in charge of sieging could feel their brothers around them dying, when they returned to the camp, they could not feel that the camp was empty. Instead, they felt like not many people had died.

Although it was a misconception, it worked to calm them down.

As a result, the next morning, they could gather their spirits and charge onto the battlefield with their new friends, fighting with energy and fervor.

In such a training environment, only the true elite could survive.

This was really cruel, but this was the true battlefield.

In fact, if one looked at the big picture, one would feel that it was even crueler.

With the right wing as an example again, at the end of the 9th month, after just a month of sieging, less than a tenth of the reserve forces remained. Hence, one could see how intense this war was.

These were the Qin elites, and the others were faring far worse. Especially the middle protector army, which had 380 thousand people and could only make four proper legions with 100 thousand people acting as reserves.

On the 9th month, 25th day, their 100 thousand reserves were completely used up.

After paying such a heavy price, on the 10th month, 1st day, the left wing, middle protector army, and the middle army finally arrived under Lhasa City and successfully regrouped.