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

They had planned to ambush him at Jinliang Mountain, but the encirclement failed and Jin Minda escaped.

They pursued them relentlessly, and still had a great chance, but they witnessed firsthand how 40,000 Japanese soldiers were annihilated by lightning in the blink of an eye!

They are now in a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place!

Li Ji slowly lowered the replica telescope, his eyes revealing a sense of powerlessness and frustration.

"We lost this battle."

"It's not that our encirclement failed, but that the King of Han had already seen through the encirclement and deliberately came to turn the tables on us, luring the enemy out of their hole."

"I finally understand why Jin Minda's troops went through such a long detour, avoiding shortcuts and deliberately colliding with the Japanese army. Their target was Miyamoto Takekawa's army."

"If we don't go around, we'll be the ones chasing us."

Upon hearing this, all his subordinates and generals trembled in fear, their faces instinctively showing signs of lingering apprehension.

Li Ji spoke with an almost calm tone, but his expression was still complex.

He knew that Li Yuanchang had held back again; otherwise, they would have been wiped out.

The two instances of leniency contrasted sharply with the order to kill issued by Chang'an. At this moment, Li Ji was even somewhat unsure who was more considerate and who was more concerned about the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, he couldn't understand how such a meticulous plan, which even involved the Japanese army crossing uninhabited areas to come and help, was discovered.

At this moment, his heart was more complicated than ever before.

"General, what do we do now?"

"The rebels are on that mountain, waiting for us to get there. They seem completely confident; there's probably an ambush going on!"

"Yes, there's clearly an ambush!"

"That Han Lei was terrifying; he leveled that mountain."

"Now the screams and shouts of killing have completely stopped. Has the entire army of 40,000 been wiped out?"

"..."

Tens of thousands of soldiers were filled with fear, shock, and unease, awaiting Li Ji's orders.

If the military order is given, they still have to go. However, the Tang Dynasty's border troops were completely intimidated by Li Yuanchang's methods.

Li Ji remained silent, gazing intently at the row of figures above Black Dragon Valley.

His gaze was deep, so deep and powerful it was like a black hole, piercing through reality and illusion.

With twelve war drums beating in unison, thousands of troops standing tall against the wind, and a "Ten Thousand Heavenly Thunders" spell just performed, there was almost no flaw in their defenses.

No one knew what Li Ji was thinking at that moment, and Li Ji didn't say anything.

After the two armies faced each other across the mountains for a while, the Tang army, seeing that they were only a few miles away from the besieged Han army, finally chose to retreat.

This is bizarre enough, because this Tang army was under imperial command and dreamed of forcing the Han army to come out of the city for a battle, but now, faced with a victory that was within their grasp, they gave up.

Even Li Ji's decision to give up was met with no opposition from anyone!

None of them dared to approach Black Dragon Valley.

They disappeared at the end of the mountain ridge.

After the people left, a deafening roar of shouts and cheers erupted over Black Dragon Valley.

In the blink of an eye, 40,000 Japanese enemies were annihilated.

The twelve drums scared away tens of thousands of Tang soldiers.

Such a victory is truly remarkable!

Amid cheers and applause, Li Yuanchang remained motionless, watching the Tang army in the distance with equally profound eyes.

Although they were far apart, they couldn't see whether Li Ji was there or not.

But as a fellow commander, he seemed to understand Li Ji's decision to retreat.

Li Ji seemed to have understood himself as well, and understood his own bluff.

Can my composure in the face of danger really fool the Ten Sages of the Martial Temple?

Li Yuanchang took a deep breath, and a question suddenly popped into his mind: when Zhuge Liang staged the Empty City Stratagem, did Sima Yi actually see through it?

But there will be no answer to this question!

There can only be one explanation: the Han army laid an ambush, forcing Li Ji to retreat.

……

An hour later, the Japanese army was "replenished" and completely wiped out!

Although the 3,000-strong cavalry force narrowly escaped the bombardment of 100,000 thunderbolts, they ultimately met their demise and were besieged and annihilated by Jin Minda's troops.

His general was captured alive and taken away in a bag.

It wasn't until the Han army had completely retreated, and a full day after that, that the Tang army dared to send small groups of troops into Black Dragon Valley to check the situation, after sending out a large number of scouts to explore and confirm that there were no ambushes.

When the Tang army entered Black Dragon Valley, the earth-shaking tremors of the previous day were finally revealed, and some of the seasoned border soldiers vomited on the spot!

Even those who didn't vomit had their eyeballs practically popping out of their sockets!

The valley was filled with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a scene of charred remains, densely packed with flesh and blood, yet almost no intact bodies could be found.

Limbs and severed bodies were everywhere, and large numbers of crows were feeding on the exposed intestines.

In the distance, the chrysanthemum flag was burned down to a single thread connecting it, and below it, pairs of mud-covered hands reached out from the ground.

He struggled desperately before his death, but was ultimately buried alive by the bombed-out mountainside.

The entire valley is almost devoid of flat land, filled with large black craters blasted out by explosions and numerous mountainsides cut in half.

The granite stones, which required hundreds of people to lift, were also blasted into pieces.

What I saw and heard was shocking and appalling!

Even the mighty Tang Dynasty border army was gripped by immense fear; the name "Han Lei" became a nightmarish presence.

"Then, what exactly is it??"

……

The next day.

The army, victorious, returned to Anshi City one after another.

It was at this moment that Li Yuanchang learned from Jin Minda why he was an hour later than the agreed time yesterday.

He launched a feint attack on Jinliang Mountain as planned, and once the ambush troops appeared, he immediately withdrew and lured them back.

Everything was going smoothly until an unexpected incident occurred during the retreat. Li Ji saw through his probing feint and sent cavalry to block the reserved retreat route.

To lure the Japanese pirate army into pursuit, he was forced to take a detour.

He spoke very casually and comfortably, but in reality, if there had been even the slightest problem or an improper adjustment, the outcome would not have been the same.

Upon returning to Anshi City, Li Yuanchang's first act was to generously reward the soldiers of the three armies, especially Jin Minda's auxiliary force, which was responsible for luring the enemy deep into their territory.

Just as the entire city of Anshi was filled with joy and celebration, Li Yuanchang was busy in the city lord's mansion.

There was no rest, no celebration, only diligence and composure at the forefront of the times.

A group of prisoners, bound by heavy chains, were brought into the city lord's mansion. They were the Japanese samurai who had been deliberately released from Black Dragon Valley.

Their force of approximately three thousand men was almost completely wiped out, with only a small number captured alive.

And their commander was among them!

"Baka!!"

The Japanese pirates' signature curses rang out continuously. The leader struggled and even tried to bite his guards. The other prisoners were also very unruly and agitated.

boom!

He was beaten to his knees, his face contorted in pain and grotesque, his chubby head exuding a sinister aura.

"Are you a general?" Li Yuanchang looked down at him from his high position, like a black dragon coiled in the hall, exuding a strong sense of oppression.

He had already discerned that the man's attire was something only someone of a very high status in Japan could possess.