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

Tears finally welled up in Li Yuanchang's eyes. Before he could speak, Gong Yun passed away in the north.

"My lord!"

"grown ups!!"

The cries and wails echoed through the night, the weeping never ceasing.

This seemingly unremarkable, even somewhat cowardly, old soldier, faced with the Xueyantuo cavalry, neither surrendered nor fled, but ended his life with his death.

Li Yuanchang looked grief-stricken, as scenes from his journey from Lantian County to the present flashed through his mind.

Gong Yun's care and assistance along the way were like those of an elder.

Although we met by chance, we had already developed a bond of camaraderie.

Seeing that he was lifeless, Li Yuanchang covered his eyes and took off his own clothes to cover him, preserving his last shred of dignity.

"Take off your hat!" he roared.

The entire army stood at attention, and with a resounding clang, they removed their hats.

"Respectfully seeing off Lord Lantian County's Military Advisor!" Li Yuanchang personally removed his hat to see him off.

The entire army joined in with grief and indignation, shouting, "Respectfully sending off Military Advisor Lantian County on his journey!"

"Respectfully seeing you off..."

The sound reverberated, lingering and echoing through the wilderness.

Half an hour later, the bodies of all the soldiers and officers of Lantian County were gathered together, instead of being left to rot in the wilderness and devoured by wolves.

A raging inferno erupted, illuminating the night sky.

In ancient warfare, it was impossible to transport corpses back unless they were important figures. Due to limitations, Li Yuanchang was also unable to take all the corpses back; he could only cremate them on the spot and take the ashes with him.

The flames roared, and thousands of corpses burned and twisted within them.

A vibrant life, now reduced to wisps of black smoke.

Li Yuanchang stood there, his travel-worn face cold and stiff, waiting quietly.

The soldiers and officers, their faces filled with sorrow, surrounded them from all directions.

I don't know how much time has passed.

Guo Chaocai arrived in front of him.

"Your Highness, when we were preparing General Gong's body for his death, the military doctor discovered that he died from excessive blood loss. He... had been tortured for a long time before his death, his limbs were severed, and... someone even dug out his bones..."

Guo Chao was at a loss for words.

Li Yuanchang remained expressionless, only the flames flickering in his pupils; he had already seen them.

"I found this while cleaning up the battlefield; it was left behind by the enemy."

Li Yuanchang's gaze finally shifted, and he slowly took it. It was a wooden plaque, inscribed with the provocative words "Fifth Division of the Shatuo Army's Cavalry, Nu Xiba was here!" written in blood.

boom!

Li Yuanchang crushed it with one hand, his eyes blazing with boundless fury.

Shatuo army, Nuxiba!

A thousand lives must be lost!

He suddenly stood up, and the entire army followed suit, creating a thunderous roar.

"General Gong, rest assured, my thousands of brothers from Lantian County, your deaths will not have been in vain. I will go and bring them down right now!"

"Revenge!!" Cheng Chuliang roared.

The entire army roared in grief and rage: "Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!!"

The sounds reverberated, rising and falling like a pack of enraged lions, echoing through the night.

Before the flames had completely died down, Li Yuanchang left thirty men to guard the site and wait for reinforcements to arrive and take back the ashes.

He quickly led fewer than four hundred men and began the pursuit.

The entire army was burning with a thirst for revenge; every single one of them was a raging lion.

Because of the heavy rain a few days ago, the roads in the entire Baidaochuan area are still relatively soft, and warhorses leaving deep ruts when they pass by.

This became an excellent clue for tracking down the killer.

Four hundred riders galloped across the wilderness like a vengeful army in the night.

Li Yuanchang was certain that he could track down the person.

This is the nature of nomadic peoples; they do not need to gather at a particular stronghold, and they make their home wherever they go, whether it is wartime or not.

Moreover, the Rangers' mission was to raid and scout; as for logistical supplies, they generally relied on burning, killing, and looting.

They will not withdraw to southern Mongolia.

This pursuit continued until the early morning of the following day.

He didn't know where he had chased them to; he could only determine the approximate location of the army by the direction the sun was rising.

"Whoa!!"

Li Yuanchang tightened the reins and suddenly stopped.

The three armies, who had been searching all night, were finally able to come to a halt.

He had intended to let his warhorse drink some water in the ditch, but he stumbled upon a discovery by accident.

"Your Highness, the horse manure isn't dry yet!" A guard exclaimed, poking the manure with his knife.

Li Yuanchang immediately dismounted his warhorse, parted the grass, and went to the riverbank.

Horse dung was piled up along the riverbank, and there were also dense hoof prints. There were even some bloodstained clothes left behind, which were clearly left by the cavalry of the Shatuo army.

"Damn it!"

"We've finally caught you!" Cheng Chuliang and Yuchi Baoqi cursed, their faces full of murderous intent.

Li Yuanchang quickly said, "Rest here immediately, eat, and feed the horses!"

"Guo Chao, take your men and spread out immediately to conduct reconnaissance. Their people should be nearby!"

"Once found, don't alert them; report back immediately!"

"yes!!"

The entire army gave a low shout, and then split up to carry out their respective actions.

The reconnaissance team was composed of the personal guards of the Prince of Han, and they moved with extreme speed.

All those who remained were soldiers from the Lantian County granary, each burdened with deep-seated hatred, their comrades-in-arms killed in battle, and many of their fellow villagers and friends also perished at the hands of the Xueyantuo.

Led by Li Yuanchang, they went without hesitation. After finishing their meal, they all jumped into the ditch to cool off with cold water and then sharpened their knives with stones.

The entire army was filled with a burning desire for revenge.

Just an hour later, Guo Chao led his team back at top speed.

As expected, the Shatuo army that killed nearly a thousand soldiers and officers of the Lantian County granary was found within a seven-mile radius of the river ditch!

Many of them were wounded, and the entire army was exhausted from the fierce fighting. After fleeing the scene, they moved to a village to rest.

The group had run far enough away from the supply route, but they did not expect the retaliation to come so quickly.

After determining the location, Li Yuanchang led his troops to quietly approach the village.

This is a village nestled deep in the mountains, with only seven or eight households. A large number of Xueyantuo troops are resting in the open space outside the village, which can be seen at a glance.

On the hill at the entrance of the village, there are more than ten corpses of villagers, most of whom are elderly.

At this moment, the Xueyantuo army was in a daze, eating meat and drinking wine. Including the wounded, there were about six hundred men, a number far exceeding that of a typical cavalry unit.

This was also one of the main reasons why the Lantian County granary suffered a great calamity. There were too many cavalrymen, which was simply not something that ordinary soldiers could handle. They couldn't even outrun them.

Li Yuanchang clearly observed all of this through his binoculars, and then slowly retreated down the hillside.