Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Xu Qing agreed and immediately led 300 cavalrymen to quietly move to the west.

There were about sixty or so enemy scouts. They patrolled the area for a while, and after confirming that there was no one else around, they quickly left the west gate and galloped south.

I don’t know how much time had passed before the rumble of horse hooves suddenly sounded in the distance, and the enemy immediately became alert.

"Look! What is that?" someone shouted in horror.

With the help of the faint moonlight, everyone could clearly see the smoke billowing in the distance, as if a large group of cavalry were galloping on their horses.

The enemy suddenly formed a large group, and someone shouted loudly: "The enemy is attacking, blow the horn to warn!"

"Don't blow the horn, keep on going!" the leading cavalry shouted.

After hearing the leader's order, these knights immediately slowed down and gradually approached the west gate.

"What do they want to do?" Seeing the approaching cavalry, someone in the enemy army couldn't help but asked doubtfully.

"Don't worry, the enemy should be reconnaissance sentries." The leader of the scout team comforted.

Although these scouts have not seen the combat effectiveness of Yang Ling's troops with their own eyes, they have heard from the scout captain how fierce this rebel army is.

Especially these cavalrymen impressed them even more.

The attention of the enemy scouts immediately turned to the approaching rebels. They clenched their swords and prepared for battle. At the same time, they did not forget to alert the surroundings to prevent any rebels from sneaking up on them.

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. When the enemy saw clearly the patterns on the armor, weapons, shields and blades worn by the rebels, they could not help but be frightened out of their wits, because the styles of these armors were very similar to the weapons of the rebels.

"It's Thief Yang's army, run!"

"Kill! Kill!"

……

Amidst the screams of the horrified enemy, the five thousand iron pagodas led by Yang Ling had already rushed to the city gate. Yang Ling raised his legs and kicked off his combat boots, rolled up his trousers, picked up his mace and shouted: "Follow me!"

"kill--"

The five thousand iron pagodas shouted, raised their weapons, howled and marched into the city along the city gate, like tigers descending from the mountain, unstoppable.

"Ah! Help!"

"Run away quickly——"

The enemies on the city wall were so frightened that they desperately climbed down. The soldiers at the top of the city didn't even bother to stop their robes, and allowed them to slide down in panic. They fell to pieces with broken bones, broken muscles, bloody flesh, and miserable injuries. The screams and cries of crying for father and mother intertwined into a soul-shaking lament.

Yangling's Iron Buddha Temple poured into the city like a tide, and then divided into several small teams to pursue the enemy forces in the city. The defenders in the city fled everywhere like headless flies. The defeat was unstoppable, and enemies kept escaping from the city. Outside the city, they were intercepted by Yang Ling's cavalry, and the two sides fought fiercely.

The two battalions of cavalry responsible for attacking the west gate this time had more than 20,000 people. Together with the four battalions of reinforcements outside the city, a total of 80,000 troops started a fierce battle inside the city. The entire west gate turned into a Shura field, with blood-stained ground and corpses. All over the field, broken limbs and broken arms can be seen everywhere, and the strong smell of blood floats in the air.

When the defenders on the city wall were afraid of being killed, many people knelt on the ground and prayed to the gods of death for forgiveness.

However, Yang Ling's main energy is still focused on the few groups of enemy troops in the city. They are the main strategic depth of the Northwest Army in Yuguan and the territory of the Gushi Khanate. They must be eliminated as soon as possible to cut off the enemy's supply line. Otherwise, the enemy can still continue to attack. Reinforcements were constantly mobilized from the north.

However, the Northwest Army has a small number of people after all. It is obviously difficult to eat the main force of this enemy army with only five thousand iron pagodas, but delaying time is not a problem.

Even if Yang Ling's troops cannot win, they can still retreat. As long as they can hold out until dark, the enemy will no longer be able to take advantage.

Yang Ling's troops launched frantic attacks on the enemy like hungry wolves pouncing on food. Every time they launched an attack, enemy soldiers were shot and killed outside the city. Sometimes they would deliberately fire crossbow arrows to lure the enemy closer, and then take advantage of the opportunity. Cut them down.

Such tactics are very effective. Many enemy troops often choose to avoid or retreat after encountering this situation. As a result, as soon as they retreat, Yang Ling's cavalry will chase them and kill them all.

This style of play caused the defenders to completely lose their will to fight.

"Surrender! Surrender!"

"Don't kill me, don't kill me! I am willing to surrender..."

……

The defenders on the city wall finally couldn't withstand the pressure, dropped their weapons one after another, knelt down and begged for surrender.

Yang Ling looked at them with a sneer: "Surrender? It's too late to surrender now!"

Yang Ling then issued an order for everyone to close the net, and the five thousand iron pagodas swept through the entire county like a torrent. Unless the enemy had strong firepower and strong combat effectiveness, they would not be able to withstand the crazy strangulation of Yang Ling's troops.

Outside the west gate, the enemy's scout team had been killed in pieces. Most of their lucky survivors had escaped, and the rest were captured.

"Report, the enemy surrenders."

"Oh, that's great!" Yang Ling almost jumped with excitement after hearing this.

"General, what should we do now?" the subordinate asked.

Yang Ling thought for a moment and decided to suspend the attack. He ordered the troops to set up camp and rest.

At this time, his subordinates ran over panting and reported: "General, the brothers have finished cleaning the battlefield. They have seized a lot of food and supplies, most of which are sheepskin jackets and furs. I think the enemy wants to use these clothes and furs." In exchange for food.”

"Hmph! Since the enemy likes sheepskin jackets and sheepskins, let's burn them all. Wool can be used to spin cloth. This thing is more valuable than cotton!" Yang Ling said viciously.

Yang Ling then ordered people to take several sheepskin coats back to the city and told the enemy: "My general said that as long as you cooperate honestly, we can give you sheepskin coats for free."

"What, give us sheepskin coats for free?" Ximen garrison couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, it's free. If you don't want to, then don't blame us for destroying the city!"

Hearing that Yang Ling actually agreed to give him a sheepskin coat, the enemy defenders immediately hesitated. These sheepskin coats and wool were precious and could be sold for food. But their current situation was not optimistic. After Yang Ling occupied the city, their life and death were decided by others, and they had no leverage to negotiate terms.

The guard thought carefully and finally decided to follow Yang Ling's request and give up all his property, including livestock and women, and let the enemy take away all the sheepskin coats and wool, and then surrender to the Northwest Army.

When Yang Ling's cavalry escorted dozens of women and children to the west gate, the enemy's heads had been hung all over the city tower, and several other groups of enemies had been basically wiped out. Corpses were everywhere at the west gate.

After Yang Ling inspected the damage to the city gate, his face became terrifyingly gloomy. Although the city gate was smashed last night, Yang Ling could still judge the extent of the damage to the city gate. The damage was obviously caused by huge stones, which meant that the defenders had fought fiercely with the enemy last night.

"Go down with the order, seal all the city gates, closely monitor the movements in the city, and report immediately if anything unusual is found!" After Yang Ling gave the order, he personally led the cavalry to Xiapi City, preparing to continue to encircle and suppress the remaining enemies.

"General, please stay. Please allow me to escort the general to Xiapi City."

Yang Ling was about to lead people away when he suddenly heard shouts from behind him. He turned around and saw hundreds of officials approaching, surrounded by several people dressed as civil servants. The leader was about forty years old and had a face like a crown jewel. , with red lips and white teeth, and a rather elegant demeanor. Looking at the crowd of stars surrounding him, he must be a certain big shot in the dynasty.

Yang Ling didn't know who this person was, but since he wanted to follow him, he had no reason to refuse. He immediately cupped his hands and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Zhao, please!"

Zhao Fu looked at Yang Ling, who had served as a general at a young age, and felt a little strange. He thought to himself, who is this guy? He is acting like this. Could it be that he doesn't know me, Zhao Fu?
However, he still said politely: "General, how about we go together?"

Yang Ling naturally would not refuse, and nodded and said: "Okay, it just so happens that this general is not familiar with Xiapi City. If Mr. Zhao can help, it will be even more powerful. Even Xiapi City can be saved."

Although Yang Ling said it politely, he had no intention of letting the other party act as a guide, because such a person would definitely provide false information as a guide, which would actually kill him.

However, after the two complimented each other for a few words, they quickly boarded the carriage and drove on. Yang Ling in the carriage closed his eyes and paid no attention to the scribe next to him.

When the scribe named Zhao Fu saw this, he cursed in his heart: "You are a dog looking down on others. When you get to Xiapi City, I will definitely teach you a lesson."

Zhao Fu was thinking about how he could regain his face, and suddenly an idea occurred to him. He remembered that Yang Ling lacked counselors, didn't he? As long as he uses some tricks to let him know how powerful he is, Yang Ling will definitely fall at his feet obediently and be at his mercy.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fu showed a proud expression on his face and glanced at Yang Ling disdainfully.

Unfortunately, Yang Ling seemed to notice Zhao Fu's gaze and opened his eyes and looked at Zhao Fu coldly. Zhao Fu was so scared that Zhao Fu quickly moved his eyes away and pretended that nothing happened.

Yang Ling looked at the other party's appearance and sneered in his heart: "This person is nothing."

Zhao Fu thought he was disguising well, but he couldn't hide it from Yang Ling, and he couldn't help but look down on Zhao Fu even more.

Yang Ling was too lazy to talk nonsense with the other party and simply closed his eyes to rest, leaving the scribe standing there in embarrassment.

Soon, the two arrived at the city gate. After seeing Yang Ling from a distance, the guards at the city gate immediately lowered the drawbridge and opened the city gate, respectfully welcoming them into the city.

"Join General!"

Outside the city gate, countless people had already gathered, waiting to welcome Yang Ling into the city.

Yang Ling turned over and dismounted, waved to the civilians at the city gate, and shouted: "Brothers, thank you for your hard work. Come into the city. Let's eat mutton and drink wine to celebrate our victory today."

"Thank you, General!"

When the civilians heard the generous rewards of food and wine, they cheered and poured into the west gate, and then carried the defense materials down the city wall.

Liu Yong, who was in charge of commanding the defense on the tower, also came down from the tower, ran quickly to Yang Ling, knelt down on one knee and reported: "General, you despised your duty and failed to close the city gate in time, which caused the enemy troops to break through the gate and enter the city. General, please surrender." crime!"

Yang Ling stretched out her hand to hold his shoulders and shook her head: "Liu Lieutenant, there is no need to blame yourself. This is also the enemy's long-planned plan. I am also at fault!"

"Thanks to the general who arrived in time, otherwise the city gate would have been breached by the enemy." Liu Yong breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked with some confusion: "General, how did you know that the enemy might attack from the north? Did you already expect that the enemy would attack? here?"

Yang Ling smiled slightly and said: "I'm just guessing. After all, the enemy troops must pass through here when they come around from the Hetao area. As long as they send people to strictly patrol and be on guard, they can prevent the enemy troops from sneak attacks. The main reason why I arranged this is because I know that the Southern Song Dynasty They crossed the Yellow River by water, so they set up an ambush!"

Liu Yong suddenly realized and admired Yang Ling in his heart. He did not have Yang Ling's courage and wisdom.

However, Yang Ling then asked: "How many enemy soldiers are left?"

Liu Yong immediately informed Yang Ling of the situation. He did not dare to take it lightly this time. He arranged thousands of militiamen to take turns guarding the city in several shifts. Guards were changed every half an hour, so the city gate was still relatively safe, but many civilians were sacrificed.

Hearing this, Yang Ling nodded, "Liu Lieutenant did a good job. This will give us enough time to build a new city gate. However, the weight of the city gate has increased, and I'm afraid we need more people."

Liu Yong thought of this and immediately suggested: "There are about 60,000 young people in the city now. We can organize them to build city walls and dig trenches, and recruit craftsmen at the same time to build the city gate in the shortest time."

Yang Ling nodded in agreement and said, "Yes! Then go down and build the new city gate and trench as soon as possible."

Liu Yong responded: "I obey my orders!"

……

Yang Ling took several of his cronies and headed straight to the government office in the center of the city, because Yang Ling's cronies were stationed there.

When I walked to the door of the government office, the soldiers at the door immediately opened the door.

Yang Ling walked into the government office with his cronies. There were already more than a dozen people inside, including five or six military generals. When they saw Yang Ling coming, they all stood up and saluted: "See you, Marshal Yang!"

Yang Ling waved his hand, then sat in the front seat, glanced at the people present, and said in a deep voice: "There are several important things to announce here. First of all, I have decided to adjust the deployment of the army and change the original defensive north gate to the east gate."

When many generals heard Yang Ling's order, they became interested and looked at Yang Ling.

I saw Yang Ling continue to say: "Second, concentrate all our troops on the southwest gate and the northern city wall, a total of 40,000 troops."

"Third, mobilize the troops and militia from nearby counties and bring them all to the three walls of the east, west and south. There are a total of 89,000 people. At the same time, we will gather the squires from the surrounding villages and organize them to come to help in the battle."

Many generals were obviously stunned when they heard Yang Ling's arrangement. They did not expect that King Ruyang would lead the remaining troops to escape before they captured Ruzhou. This was really unexpected.

Some of the generals were unwilling to do so and couldn't help standing up and questioning: "This King of Ruyang is too cunning and treacherous to retreat easily. They must have a conspiracy!" (End of Chapter)