CHAPTER 1465: CHAPTER 1382: USELESS

In early February, a unit of the 7th Corps of the Great Tang Empire landed in the southern part of the Shu Territory and captured a small fishing village only 11 kilometers from Qingluan Port.

The situation in the Shu Territory was already extremely critical, with the Qin troops retreating step by step. Some people have even started considering abandoning the Shu Territory and retreating their troops to consolidate the borders.

The Qin Empire was filled with lamentation, and everyone’s face was marked with worry. The atmosphere in meetings had become eerie. Almost everyone was sighing, and few people proposed any opinions.

Indeed, there was no good solution left. The Qin side had already tried every effort, and now what was left was only waiting.

Ying Duo sat on his chair, looking at Prime Minister Ying Ke in the office, and both saw the difficulty in each other’s expressions.

"Tell me, what are the terms offered by the Tang Empire?" Ying Duo knew that the Great Tang Empire wouldn’t easily let Qin go; he just wanted to know the answer.

Prime Minister Ying Ke hesitated a little because he knew His Majesty The Emperor would be raging upon hearing the terms from the Tang Empire. Yet, he had to answer Ying Duo’s question, so he forced himself to respond, "The terms offered by the Tang people are extremely harsh, even to the point of being insincere."

"There’s no need to talk about sincerity; Tang Mo indeed holds the winning hand and has no need to be sincere. Just say it directly."

"Unconditional surrender, punish the generals and ministers who instigated the war... execute Liu Zhian, Your Majesty, you... go to Chang’an." Ying Ke answered truthfully.

The first condition of unconditional surrender meant incorporating Qin into the Great Tang, which alone was enough to make Ying Duo fuming with anger.

When he heard the condition of going to Chang’an, it further infuriated His Majesty The Emperor of Qin, making him burst into cursing instantly: "That bastard! That bastard Tang Mo! He’s still my son-in-law! Son-in-law! A union between the two countries, and this is how he treats his in-laws? Hmm?"

"..." Ying Ke dared not speak, only lowering his head and waiting meekly as Emperor Qin Ying Duo continued to curse, only slightly raising his head when Ying Duo had finally cursed enough.

Ying Duo was panting, holding a cup he hadn’t brought himself to smash, the action seemed rather comical, but Ying Ke dared not laugh.

In the past few weeks, the Tang Empire kept launching missiles attacking the Qin capital Wuyang City, and Ying Duo had moved to an underground shelter outside the city to feel secure.

Those damned missiles had blasted Wuyang City beyond recognition, with many buildings collapsed; many common people lost their homes, and even some public facilities were damaged.

The Qin side, however, had no way to repair the damages in a state of war, as they lacked sufficient parts and material equipment.

The precious reinforced concrete had all been sent to the front lines to build defensive facilities, leaving almost none to repair the destroyed city.

The solution given by the Great Qin Empire was to wait, waiting for everything to get better after the war ended, for once the Great Qin Empire wins, everything would return to normal.

But no one knew when this war would end, and what exactly the so-called victory of the Great Qin Empire would look like.

In reality, from any perspective, the Great Qin Empire had already lost this war: millions of troops were lost, and millions of square kilometers of land were taken by the Great Tang Empire.

Continuing the war would only result in more losses, but Qin had lost the ability to end the war: negotiation, or rather, a dignified negotiation, is only possible when both parties have equal strength.

The current situation is that the Great Tang Empire is advancing triumphantly while the Qin Empire is almost certainly doomed to ruin. In this situation, only a fool would agree to a negotiation with Qin, wouldn’t they?

"The Emperor of Tang means that if Your Majesty can accept the terms, he personally owes you a favor." Ying Ke offered a condition that seemed somewhat naïve.

Sure enough, Ying Duo angrily questioned, "What does it mean to owe me a favor? Does his favor worth an empire? Let me surrender, then make me a Duke and call it a favor? Hahaha! How could he have the audacity to say it?"

If it were before the war, Ying Ke would have thought that statement was just a joke, but the war had progressed to such a state that Ying Ke thought for the Emperor of Tang to say such a thing indeed was extending a hand to Emperor Qin Ying Duo.

Unfortunately, Ying Duo would not take this hand; knowing him, unless the Tang Army surrounded Wuyang City, Ying Duo would not choose to surrender.

The problem is that even if the Tang Army enclosed Wuyang, Ying Duo might not surrender either. According to Ying Ke’s understanding, the majority chance is that Emperor Qin might choose death over surrender.

"Has Liu Zhian left?" After cursing the Great Tang Empire for a few minutes, Ying Duo finally calmed down and asked.

Ying Ke answered honestly, "He hasn’t figured it out yet, but I’ve already arranged someone to persuade him, so it should be fine. He is reasonable and won’t make things difficult for you, Your Majesty."

"If everyone were as loyal and patriotic as General Liu Zhian, we would have won this war!" Ying Duo had started to become idealistic.

In his view, if the generals of Qin feared no death and the soldiers did not retreat, the Qin Empire would have invaded the territory of the Great Tang by now.

Ying Ke dared not speak, as this was Ying Duo’s fantasy time; he would speak once Ying Duo returned to reality.

Finally, Ying Duo returned to the main topic, "If there’s a problem with Qingluan Port, then we’re almost cut off from Dorne, rare metals, and engineering personnel... we won’t be able to replenish them."

"Yes, Your Majesty... In the short term, we can only rely on ourselves. However, Dorne has still been a great help, sending us over 200 technical workers, some equipment, and one division’s troops..."

He hadn’t yet mentioned that Dorne simultaneously supported the Qin Empire with hundreds of anti-aircraft guns and dispatched submarines to operate near the Qin coastlines.

Although such assistance could not change the outcome of the war, Dorne indeed tried every means to support the Qin Empire. It’s just that their capabilities were limited and the assistance provided was not impactful enough.

"Sigh... Send our acceptable terms back to the Tang people, saying I’m willing to pay tribute and hope the Great Tang Empire can be lenient so I can face my ancestors with dignity." Ying Duo ultimately chose to yield, taking another step backward.

In his mind, he had already softened his stance so much that the Great Tang Empire would ultimately give a little face, step back, and offer a treaty condition relatively acceptable to the Qin side.

Ying Ke glanced at Emperor Qin Ying Duo and sighed inwardly, shaking his head secretly: However much Qin retreated, this time... would it be of any use?