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

The entire Gar family was enraged and rushed forward.

"Great Minister, it's absolutely true! Our scouts saw it with their own eyes, and everyone in Qinghai Lake knows about it!" the messenger cried.

Gardonzan felt dizzy, looked up at the sky, and tried his best to suppress his anger.

As the overlords of the plateau, in the culture of the Tibetans, the beheading of people and the creation of a mound of heads was a disgrace, a disgrace that transcended victory or defeat!

"Son of a bitch!"

"Li Yuanchang, I swear I will not rest until I avenge this!"

The roars continued unabated, a fight to the death.

Immediately afterwards, the entire Gar family roared in anger, almost unanimously demanding the execution of Dayan Mangbuzhi to take responsibility for the disastrous defeat.

"That useless Dayan Mangbuzhi, why didn't he retrieve the body?"

"The general died in battle, how is he still alive?"

"That piece of trash!"

"Eighty thousand men against twenty thousand, and they still couldn't win? And they even dared to betray their general!"

"Your Excellency, Dayan Mangbuzhi, this worthless wretch who has brought shame upon the nation and its people, must be executed!"

"..."

Gar Tongtsen, the most powerful minister in Tibet and the de facto ruler, remained unusually calm.

His gaze swept from his confidant to a young man in the corner whose eyes were red, but who remained calm and silent.

"On Qinling"

The crowd paused, all turning to look.

The two children whom the emperor loved most and on whom he placed the most hope were Zanpo and his eldest son!

At only twenty-one years old, he was a brilliant strategist; he was not just a talented general, but a true commander-in-chief!

Moreover, he was ruthless and possessed wisdom and temperament beyond his years. He was hailed as the successor to the Grand Chancellor and the hope that the entire Tibetan Empire used to deal with the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Galdonzan asked, puzzled.

Garlunqinling slowly raised his head. He was the most handsome in the family, not so dark-skinned, but clean-cut.

His face was filled with grief, his eyes were bloodshot, but he possessed the bravery of the fallen Garzanpo and inherited the composure of his father, Gardontsen; his face was almost expressionless.

One glance was enough to tell he had the bearing of an "Emperor"!

If Li Yuanchang were here, he would surely be shocked and then immediately execute him to prevent future troubles!

"Father, I don't think now is the time to assign blame."

"The reason for the defeat was not Dayan Mangbuzhi's command ability, nor was it Dayan Mangbuzhi who killed Zanpo. If the commander is corrupted at this moment, it will only further shake the morale of the troops at the front."

"The worst possible outcome would be removing the Grand Marshal, which would provoke opposition from the Dayan family and cause internal turmoil."

"Losing a battle temporarily is not terrible; what is terrible is the impulsiveness that follows defeat—that is utterly catastrophic!"

Upon hearing this, the sacrificial altar fell silent instantly.

The ministers and generals, all of whom were older and held greater military power than Lun Qinling, exchanged glances but remained silent.

"So what do you think we should do now?" Galdonzan asked in a deep voice.

"Father, the most urgent task is to reassure the troops at the front so that they can continue to fight the Tang army. At least we still have the advantage of the high plateau, and the Tang army cannot fight on the plateau for a long time."

"Secondly, we need to ascertain the existence and number of Han Lei in order to formulate a strategy to counter them!"

Thirdly!

At this point, Lun Qinling paused, a look of grief appearing on his young and composed face.

"Father, please allow me to go to the front lines. I want to bring my brother's body back for burial!"

Everyone looked at Gardon Tsen.

Without a doubt, he is the only one in charge in Tibet right now.

"Firstly, and secondly, it was adopted."

"Thirdly, no." Galdonzan shook his head expressionlessly.

"Father!"

"I said no!" Gardonzan said, displeased.

"Father, I promised Mother I would bring my brother's body back!"

Gar Tongtsen said almost ruthlessly, "This is a critical time of war between the two armies. Any mishap will put Tibet at a disadvantage in its struggle against the Tang Dynasty."

"The death of one person cannot shake the grand plan."

"Zanpo died on the battlefield; that was his destiny and his glory!"

"What we must do is continue fighting against the Tang Dynasty and become the new overlord!"

Upon hearing this, Lun Qinling was filled with despair. In his youth, he was not yet the head of the family, so he had no choice but to give up.

He also understood his father's meaning: it would be foolish for the entire empire to take risks or act irrationally because of the death of one person.

He could only say yes in the end.

But when he looked at his brother's blood-stained weapon, his pupils were filled with deep-seated hatred and grief!

……

September 7th.

The attack on Fuai City has officially begun.

After achieving a major victory against the Tibetan army, the Far East Army advanced rapidly, as if entering an uninhabited territory. The Tibetan army suffered heavy losses, and its control over the entire Tuyuhun territory plummeted.

Along the nearly 100-mile journey, the Far Eastern Army encountered almost no enemies, advancing from the northeast of Qinghai Lake into the south, specifically to Fu'ai City.

According to intelligence, there are at least 8,000 elite Tibetan troops here, along with 50,000 "auxiliary troops".

These 50,000 auxiliary troops were mostly Tuyuhun people who had surrendered to Tibet, from various noble families, and were under the unified command of the Tibetans.

When Dayan Mangbuzhi fled to the plateau to recuperate from his injuries, he must have guessed that Fu'ai City would be attacked. Therefore, he left behind a lot of food and weapons and issued a death order to fight to the last man.

So even though they knew the Far Eastern army was coming, they did not flee or evacuate. Instead, they closed the city gates and erected a large number of fortifications.

But these fortifications were seen as a joke by the Far Eastern Army.

If the Tibetans had relied on their excellent cavalry to fight on the plains, they would have had a chance, because once the fighting became chaotic, the use of Han Lei would be greatly limited.

But in this kind of offensive and defensive battle, Han Lei could raze the entire city to the ground.

On this day, a massive army pressed in, encircling the area from all sides.

Li Yuanchang first dispatched a force to storm the walls of Fu'ai City.

"Listen up, people inside the city! The Far Eastern King has ordered that Dayan Mangbuzhi has been defeated and fled to the plateau, unable to resist. You will not receive any reinforcements!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed; those who stubbornly resist will be executed and their entire families exterminated when our army enters the city!"

Whoosh! !

The Far East Army was met with a barrage of arrows and extremely insulting abuse from the city walls.

Those are Tibetan barbarians, they refuse to surrender!

The Far East army was furious and spurred their horses to retreat, avoiding the rain of arrows.

Then, he spoke again through a homemade, simplified cylindrical loudspeaker: "Murong Khan has also instructed that the Tuyuhun soldiers inside the city, as long as you abandon the darkness and embrace the light, the Far East King has promised to forgive and forget!"

"You don't need to surrender immediately. As soon as our army enters the city, you can drop your weapons, put your hands behind your heads, and not resist with the Tibetans. That will be considered your surrender!"

"Think carefully about who you are fighting for. The people in the city are all Tuyuhun people, subjects of the Tang Dynasty, not slaves of the Tibetans, much less their tools!"

"The Qi Mu, He Lian, and other families and tribes you serve are only thinking of themselves. You should think carefully about your own future!"

"..."

This was not just a message from one city gate, but a campaign targeting the entire city of Fuai, with several city gates simultaneously employing similar tactics of "psychological warfare" and "persuasion to surrender."