In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Although they are not afraid of these words individually, when combined, they are like the sky falling and the earth cracking.

The fear of being dominated by the Han Chinese of the Tang Dynasty once again enveloped this group of rebels, just as it had been back then!

"run!!"

"..."

Some government troops fighting on the city walls suddenly felt the pressure lessen. Looking down, they cried out in surprise, "They're retreating! Khan, they're retreating!!"

Murong Khan was covered in blood, panting heavily, and leaning against the blood-stained city wall as he looked down.

The dark mass of rebels retreated in all directions.

"No, this isn't retreating, this is fleeing!"

"It's done! The King of Han has truly succeeded!!" Murong Khan trembled with excitement.

A thunderous roar of cheers erupted from the city wall.

"Open the city gates immediately! The entire army is to attack! Follow me in responding to the King of Han!" Murong Khan roared, displaying his confidence.

"yes!!"

Immediately afterwards, Fuai City, which had been besieged for several days and was almost a ruin, was about to be ravaged by blood. However, the withered trees sprouted new life and burst out with amazing fighting spirit, and the whole city took the initiative to fight out.

Looking down from the high point, it was an extremely rare sight to see two thousand people chasing after twenty thousand people!

This fierce battle, in which they relentlessly attacked a drowning dog, lasted until noon, and ended after a chase of eighty li (approximately 40 kilometers) in front of a frozen lake.

Li Yuanchang and Murong Khan met here.

The frozen lake had broken, and the fleeing rebels, in their panic, stumbled upon it. As a result, the ice broke, and at least a thousand people froze to death or drowned – an extremely alarming number!

"Your Highness, the Prince of Han!"

Murong Khan and his confidants knelt down, one hand on their chest, which was almost the highest etiquette among nomadic peoples, representing the utmost respect for warriors.

"Hey, what are you all doing?" Li Yuanchang asked with a smile, though he was tired, he was in a great mood.

"Your Highness turned the tide, defeating tens of thousands of troops with only two hundred men. This battle saved my Murong clan and the millions of people of Fu'ai City. How could Murong dare to be disrespectful!"

"I will certainly report this matter to the Heavenly Khan and request credit for the King of Han!" Murong Khan spoke with a firm voice, extremely serious, and his eyes were filled with shock and respect.

"That's right, Your Majesty, please accept our bow!!"

The Tuyuhun generals bowed again and again, almost worshipping Li Yuanchang as a god.

In their minds, this was almost a myth.

After this battle, Li Yuanchang's image in the Tuyuhun region was directly comparable to that of Li Shimin and Li Jing.

"Hahaha!"

Li Yuanchang laughed heartily and generously helped several people up.

"This victory was not solely due to my efforts. Had it not been for you all drawing away the main force of the rebels, how could I have achieved such an easy victory?"

"I will also report your merits."

Upon hearing this, the generals of Tuyuhun were embarrassed, as they had not actually been able to help at all.

It was this magnanimity that earned their sincere respect, and the way they looked at Li Yuanchang changed. Those who had previously doubted Li Yuanchang felt utterly ashamed.

"Alright, now is not the time for pleasantries. Let's return to the capital."

"Your Highness, what about those rebels?" Murong Khan drawled, clearly not wanting to let the tiger return to the mountain.

"Let's leave it for now. The imperial reinforcements will arrive later, and we'll deal with it then. Right now, we're also full of wounded soldiers, and we can't possibly deal with them all."

"Once the imperial reinforcements arrive, none of them will escape!" Li Yuanchang's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Upon hearing this, Murong Khan finally felt reassured.

"good!!"

"King of Han, I have another request," Murong Khan said earnestly.

Li Yuanchang was taken aback for a moment: "Khan, please speak freely."

"Your Highness, today we two have fought our way to this icy river crossing, decisively defeating the enemy and successfully quelling the rebellion. How about we become sworn brothers?"

Upon hearing this, everyone around lit up.

Especially the people of the Han Prince's Mansion. Although Murong Khan appeared weak, he was recognized by the Tang Dynasty as the Khan of Tuyuhun and a leader who stabilized the region. His status was extremely special.

Under normal circumstances, Li Shimin would give him face.

If the Prince of Han's Palace could be on good terms with Murong Khan, it would be a great thing.

Li Yuanchang smiled and said, "Khan, we've been through thick and thin together, so let's just call each other brothers. We can skip the sworn brotherhood ceremony; after all, true friendship comes from the heart, not from formalities."

He responded with high emotional intelligence, knowing that if the news reached Chang'an, it would be misleading to portray it as a blood oath. Having experienced numerous attempts to frame him, Li Yuanchang was already very cautious.

Upon hearing this, Murong Khan smiled and did not insist.

"Alright, Brother King of Han, mount your horse!" Murong Khan personally led the horse.

Li Yuanchang was both amused and exasperated, but he did not refuse.

Subsequently, the three armies returned victorious.

In order to quickly take control of Fuai City, the corpses and weapons in the wilderness were not collected, as manpower was extremely scarce.

That day, Chi Lian protected Princess Honghua and returned to the royal city, and everything was fine again.

The cleanup of the entire city of Fuai lasted for three days and three nights. The city was riddled with corpses and blood, a scene of utter devastation and utter horror.

This is all before the city falls. Once the city falls, the entire city will be slaughtered, and the scene will be even more terrifying.

This was the first time Li Yuanchang had encountered such a scene, and he was filled with many emotions. However, this experience of quelling the rebellion of the ten tribes also helped him grow considerably.

He began to accumulate his first valuable experience in commanding large-scale operations.

The tenth day after the end of the war.

Fuai City began to receive a number of surrender documents.

They came from various tribes, expressing their willingness to submit, atone for their crimes, and help the Tang envoy conquer the Bato tribe.

Murong Khan personally came to ask Li Yuanchang how to handle the situation.

"Khan, stall for time, do not make any promises, and do not crush their hopes."

"If they know that Fu'ai City will not accept surrender, they might be driven to desperation and launch another attack, or even migrate their entire clan to Tibet!"

"Tibet?!" Murong Khan exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, when my men were searching the bodies of high-ranking rebels some time ago, they found many letters with Tibetan script and some gold and silver ornaments."

"Given Bator's recent rebellion, I suspect they have some kind of connection with Tibet."

"Moreover, the captured prisoners also confirmed this: Bator had connections with Tibet." Li Yuanchang said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Murong Khan flew into a rage: "These traitorous dogs!"

He suppressed his anger: "Very well, Brother Han, I will respond accordingly."

"However..." he drawled, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"But what?" Li Yuanchang poured him a cup of tea.

"However, how long will it take for the Tang reinforcements to arrive?" Murong Khan asked awkwardly. It had been half a month already. If Li Yuanchang hadn't defied fate by killing the enemy amidst a sea of ​​soldiers, the bodies would probably be rotting by the time the reinforcements arrived.

Li Yuanchang frowned upon hearing this.

He anticipated the deterioration of the situation and sent a messenger with urgent news the day before Barto's army was at the city gates. In theory, ten days should have been enough for the round trip from Shanzhou.

At the very least, the vanguard cavalry should have arrived by now.

But it's been almost half a month now, and there's a border crisis. It's an urgent matter. During the Zhenguan era, there were exemptions for such situations.

The nearest prefecture can send troops directly to provide assistance without waiting for orders from Chang'an.