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

Having learned from the previous experience, Li Yuanchang knew that it would be too late to stop them, and he would most likely be killed in the explosion.

"Bow and arrow! Bow and arrow!!"

He shouted.

Due to the suddenness and chaos of the night raid, most of the guards were not fully equipped; they basically just wore armor and grabbed their swords as they charged out.

They finally managed to find a few bows and arrows on the Tibetan corpses, but there weren't many arrows, not enough to cause large-scale casualties.

Li Yuanchang was so anxious that he didn't care about anything else, grabbed a handful of things and rushed forward.

"Your Highness!"

Guo Chao and the others were stunned by the explosion. Seeing him rush forward, they were so frightened that they immediately grabbed their shields and followed.

The shield couldn't completely defend against Hanley, but it was somewhat useful.

The Tibetans' bows and arrows were not composite bows, so their range wasn't as exaggerated as claimed. Li Yuanchang could only get a certain distance closer.

At this time, the Tibetans on that hillside had already started lighting fires.

Li Yuanchang barely had time to aim; he simply drew the bow in a circular motion as if it were muscle memory.

"Die!!" The Tibetan man let out a strange cry and roar, gathering strength in his waist.

call out! !

Li Yuanchang and his men fired a total of seven arrows, but six of them missed, only injuring people and failing to stop the attack.

Only his arrow, aimed precisely at the arm of an enemy Tibetan, pierced through it.

"Ah!" the Tibetan cried out in pain. His arm loosened, and the box full of Han Lei failed to be thrown out, but instead landed at their feet.

All the fierce Tibetans looked down, and their eyes instantly became clear.

"run!".

"Lie down!" Li Yuanchang roared.

Bang bang bang!

The Far Eastern soldiers who approached fell to the ground one by one, clutching their heads with their hands.

The Tibetans, still locked in battle, hadn't yet reacted.

Bang bang bang! !

The explosion, like a tsunami, was like setting off firecrackers. Flames and shockwaves raged out, blowing countless people away.

Amidst the continuous explosions, the most terrifying were those on the hillside.

With a deafening roar, the noise overwhelmed everything, and even a mushroom cloud appeared!

The Hanley exploded at their feet, causing other hijacked Hanleys that had not yet had a chance to detonate to explode as well.

At least a hundred Hanlei exploded at once.

Its power was comparable to that of an ancient guided bomb.

"what!"

Amidst desperate screams, the Tibetans on that high slope were unable to escape and were swallowed up, turning into a cloud of blood mist!

Dust and pieces of corpses were falling all around!

When the aftershocks of the explosion completely subsided, Li Yuanchang and the others dared to raise their heads. They looked like beggars, covered in dust.

That high slope was halved by the massive bombing, revealing a huge black crater where the Tibetans were wiped out!

Seeing this, Li Yuanchang breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, the battle resumed!

Only the Tibetans who carried the Han thunderbolts were wiped out there; many other Tibetans scattered in various places survived by sheer luck.

Of course, the majority of the troops were Tibetan soldiers fighting in the camp.

This group was just a group that had stolen Han Lei and tried to escape, but were intercepted by Li Yuanchang and his team.

Without the threat of Han Lei, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard rose up to fight the enemy, hunting down the elite Tibetan troops and wiping them out one by one.

The desperate screams of the Tibetans and the constant drumming of the Far East Army formed a stark contrast, intertwining and echoing across the mountainside of the Gongwang Plateau.

Li Yuanchang's successful interception became a microcosm of the entire night raid. The Tibetans were completely defeated in the second half of the night and were almost annihilated!

However, the Far Eastern Army also suffered considerable losses.

Its daybreak.

Thick smoke still billowed across the mountainsides of the Gongwang Plateau. Due to the preciousness of water resources, although the open fires at the campsites had been extinguished by manpower, they were still emitting thick smoke.

Everywhere were deep craters from gunpowder explosions, and corpses were being moved one after another, making the already overcrowded wounded soldiers' camp even worse off.

Li Yuanchang didn't sleep a wink all night. Looking at the desolate state of the camp, his brows furrowed.

"Has the casualty figure not been tallied yet?"

The second questioning left the subordinates with no time to delay, so they had to say, "Your Highness, three hundred were killed in action, and the number of wounded reached two thousand."

"However, most of them are brothers from the wounded soldiers' camp."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang took a deep breath, and no one else dared to speak!

Three hundred people!

Leaving aside injuries, that only increases logistical pressure, but death means no return. They were all elite confidants who came from the Far East together.

This number represents the highest number of casualties suffered by the Far East Army in an attack since the introduction of gunpowder.

"Report!!"

"Your Highness, we've found out! We've found out!" Liao Jie rushed over, panting heavily.

"Your Highness, the Tibetans came down from the mountains. There is a small path on the back mountainside of the plateau."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang instantly flew into a rage.

Why wasn't there prior research into the small path located halfway up the mountain?

"What is the scout battalion doing?"

He angrily rebuked that this was a capital offense, and that the scout battalion needed to conduct comprehensive reconnaissance before the camp was established to ensure safety, and that sentries should be set up along all passageways.

We didn't even notice this possible route down beforehand.

Liao Jie was covered in cold sweat and was on the verge of tears: "Your Highness, strictly speaking, that path wasn't even a path. I never expected that they could get through those cliffs and precipices."

Li Yuanchang kicked the man to the ground, then quickly led his men to the scene of the incident, which was that small road.

It was early morning, just as dawn was breaking, and the mist shrouded the cliffs, creating a desolate and hazy scene.

When everyone saw that road, they were all dumbfounded!

This is not a road at all, but a cliff with an angle of more than 45 degrees and an altitude of more than 2,000 meters!

There is no soil at all; instead, it is composed of uneven rocks that make up the mountainside. Even flies would slip and fall. Only the antelopes of the plateau can move freely here; if they fall, they will be smashed to pieces.

Looking down, Li Yuanchang saw a few Tibetan corpses lying haphazardly at a height that made his legs weak, proving that they came from here.

Three thousand people, and they came down from here?

No wonder there were no warhorses!

"Your Highness, you see, I wasn't lying."

"I am guilty, but these Tibetans are too strange," Liao Jie shouted.

Li Yuanchang's anger subsided somewhat.

This kind of road really isn't a road. Even if he saw it, he wouldn't think there was any risk. It just shows how incredibly fortunate the Tibetans were to live on the plateau.

"Even so, your scout battalion is also responsible for last night's night raid. So many Tibetans came down, yet you didn't react at all!"

"The loss of supplies, the loss of Han Lei, and the lives of three hundred men—all due to your negligence. If it weren't for the soldiers' desperate resistance, a catastrophe would have occurred!"

"Guards, drag him away and give him thirty strokes of the cane!" he shouted, his voice sharp and decisive, a stark contrast to his usual amiable demeanor.

Upon hearing this, many generals paled, and Guo Chao led the way in begging for mercy: "Your Highness, please don't!"