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

"I humbly obey my orders!" Li Chun responded.

Yang Ling turned around and shouted loudly to all the people: "Fellows and elders, our Pingliang City suffered a major disaster. The imperial court sent relief food to help us tide over the difficulties. I am grateful. But we cannot sit back and enjoy the benefits. Not only can we not hide in leisure, but we must be even more Work hard and be loyal to the court!"

"Be loyal to the rebels!" All the civilians shouted in unison, their faces full of determination.

Yang Ling raised his hand and pressed it softly to signal everyone to be quiet, and then continued: "We have to fight a tough battle, so we need more labor. There are more than two thousand kilograms of relief food here. If you are willing to come with me, just stay here. If you don't want to, just stay here." Yes, I won’t force you.”

Hearing what Yang Ling said, all the people immediately started talking.

After a while, dozens of civilians raised their right arms to express their willingness to follow Yang Ling. The remaining people looked at each other for a moment, and finally walked out of the crowd one after another and reported to Yang Ling that they were willing to stay in the city to help.

Yang Ling looked at these civilians, nodded happily, and said, "Brothers, don't worry, we are all citizens of the common people, and our rebel army will definitely not treat you badly. In this way, I will take out 500 more money from the treasury and divide it among them. For you guys."

After Yang Ling finished speaking, he left the lobby with a few soldiers and went straight to the warehouse in the backyard of the county government office.

Yang Ling took out 500 copper coins in the warehouse and distributed them to the peasants, and told them to keep the money.

"Brothers, if anyone wants to quit, please come to me at any time. We will recruit more people to fight against the Tartars together." Yang Ling said solemnly.

The civilians thanked him one after another and watched Yang Ling leave. Then they began to disassemble the grain and transport it back to the city for storage.

These people are poor farmers without any technical content. With a few days of training, they can be qualified to work as civilian husbands, because they are civilian husbands to begin with.

Although these civilians lacked technical content, they were successful in number. They could transport tens of thousands of stones of grain from Pingliang Mansion every three days. Yang Ling even suspected that they did not need training at all, they just needed to eat enough.

Excluding the loss of food and grass, Pingliang Mansion can still maintain a food supply for six or seven days, which allows the people in the city to finally calm down and return to the usual production order.

Yang Ling took advantage of the fact that the people were still in good spirits and pushed forward the work of recruiting civilians very quickly. In just a few days, the entire Pingliang City took on a new look. The city walls were basically completed, and tall wooden fences were erected outside the four gates. Outside the city gate, trenches were dug, barbed wire was laid, and horses were kept away.

Fences have also been put up in all the lanes in the city, and Min Yong is on duty everywhere. Min Yong can be seen patrolling everywhere in the city.

The battle between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty had spread to their rebel armies. Yang Ling did not dare to neglect and could only do his best to ensure the safety of Pingliang City, otherwise his political future might be destroyed by this war.

When Yang Ling led the guards to inspect the city defense, there were faint noises in the distance.

"General Yang, it seems that officers and soldiers are coming. What should we do?" the civilian guard in charge shouted in panic.

"Don't worry, the officers and soldiers are here to rescue the food. You should guard your posts and don't act rashly." Yang Ling reassured.

"Yes!"

Sure enough, as Yang Ling expected, it was indeed officers and soldiers who came to rescue food. However, the opponent obviously underestimated the defense of Pingliang Mansion, and was beaten to pieces as soon as they approached the city wall.

These officers and soldiers obviously did not expect that there would be so many civilians armed to the teeth in the city, so they could only flee in confusion. It was not until the other party withdrew that Pingliang Mansion returned to peace.

This time Yang Ling did not massacre these officers and soldiers. After all, the two sides were friends, not enemies. He just severely reprimanded those officials who broke into private houses and ordered them not to enter without passes in the future. At the same time, Yang Ling also sent people to arrest these lawless villains to serve as a warning to others.

The people of Pingliang Mansion became more and more convinced of Yang Ling as they rejoiced in the aftermath of the disaster. They even believed that Pingliang Mansion was created by Yang Ling and his rebel army, because only Yang Ling had such courage and was qualified to command Pingliang Mansion. common people.

In the eyes of Pingliang Prefecture officials and people, this rebel army is already their only hero, even more prestigious than the emperor today, so they are willing to take extraordinary risks and organize civilians to build fortifications in order to prepare for the defense of Pingliang Prefecture. .

"Report!"

Yang Ling was inspecting the progress of various projects. Deputy Lieutenant Liu Dadao rushed over and reported: "Report to the general, the enemy has been detected ahead!"

"Oh, come on, let's go take a look!"

Yang Ling immediately became energetic after hearing this, and immediately took Liu Dadao and others to the front line to observe the enemy's situation.

Frontline command post.

When Yang Ling arrived with Liu Dadao and others, the battle had already entered a fierce stage.

I saw densely packed figures standing on the slope in front. They were waving torches, carrying bows and arrows, or holding swords to attack the rebels on the opposite side.

In front of the crowd on the opposite side, two armored generals were directing the battle. The man on the left held a steel whip and kept beating the charging soldiers, forcing them to stop advancing.

The man on the right is tall and tall, carrying a snake spear eight feet in hand and a sword hanging from his waist. He is riding a horse in front of the formation. The halberd in his hand dances like a windmill, constantly stabbing the enemies who come up to him.

These two people were none other than Li Siye and Zhao Lejiao. They served as military advisors in the garrison of Pingliang Mansion and were responsible for the defense of the city.

Li Siye and Zhao Lijiao were very popular among the troops stationed in Pingliang Prefecture, especially Zhao Lijiao, who had a very high prestige in the army and was regarded as an idol by many soldiers.

Since both of them were masters of mounted archery, and combined with infantry who were familiar with the terrain, there was little pressure on them to defend the city. However, corpses were everywhere under the city wall and blood flowed into rivers, which also made the citizens of Pingliang City feel in danger.

The militia leader of Pingliang Fucheng is Wang Xiaohu. He is a man about fifty years old, with a strong body, big shoulders, round waist, and dark skin. He once participated in the construction of the city wall. In this day and age, ordinary people don’t even have enough to eat, so how can they have time to exercise?
Wang Xiaohu is tall but not very strong. Under Yang Ling's instructions, he is responsible for the security of the militia, responsible for the security of the city and the coordination of civilians everywhere.

"Brothers, the hope of guarding Pingliang Mansion lies with us." Yang Ling encouraged the civilians by patting his chest.

The mood of the people was obviously inspired, and they were all gearing up and eager to try.

Yang Ling continued: "Although Pingliang Mansion is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the food in the city is consumed too fast. We don't have much food and we won't be able to hold on to the autumn harvest. We must capture Xiangyang by then to solve the problem of Pingliang Mansion."

The granary in Pingliang Mansion has long been vacant, and all the grain is piled in the city warehouse. The grain in the granary can last until winter at most.

This situation makes Yang Ling deeply worried, because the food issue is closely related to the people's hearts. If this biggest problem that troubles the people is not solved in time, it may lead to mutiny.

Yang Ling continued: "Now our food is limited. If we don't expand the army as soon as possible, we won't be able to obtain enough food. So in the future, our goal is to expand the source of troops and expand the scale as much as possible in order to obtain food as soon as possible."

"General, do you plan to expand the army?" someone next to him asked.

Yang Ling nodded and replied: "Well, I have already made a plan to expand the militia first, and then gradually increase the army establishment."

"How many people does the general plan to recruit?" someone asked.

Yang Ling pondered for a moment: "Recruit five thousand first, and then gradually increase the number. Anyway, there is no rush now, we still have enough food."

"Okay, brothers, do you hear me clearly? Expand the militia." Yang Ling turned around and shouted.

"Here!"

The militiamen agreed in unison, with excitement on their faces. As long as the militia could be expanded, it meant that they could have enough to eat. Who wants to go hungry?

"General, where should we recruit soldiers?"

"We can recruit refugees to join the army. As long as they work hard, they won't have to worry about finding a job."

Yang Ling smiled and shook his head: "Don't worry about this. In short, don't just make up for it." Before Yang Ling finished speaking, a deafening shout suddenly sounded from the opposite side, and soon after, the enemies who were originally standing opposite began to retreat like a tide.

Yang Ling raised her eyebrows high and asked loudly: "What's going on?"

"General Qi, the enemy's reinforcements have arrived!"

"Reinforcements are here, reinforcements are finally here!"

……

Yang Ling followed the sound and saw dust and smoke rising from the west. Countless cavalry were galloping towards this direction, their horses' hooves stepping on the muddy ground and raising yellow sand all over the sky.

"Mom, reinforcements have really arrived!"

"Great, reinforcements are finally here!"

……

When the civilians on the city wall and the rebels outside the city saw the reinforcements arriving, they immediately cheered and their morale soared. The soldiers rushed out of the city wall to form formations to meet the enemy.

A smile appeared on Yang Ling's lips: "Reinforcements have arrived, we are saved!"

However, Yang Ling did not dare to take it lightly. He ordered Liu Xiang: "Take thirty personal guards to see the situation and find out the enemy's strength."

"I will obey your orders!" Liu Xiang promised with clasped fists, then got on his horse and left the tower with thirty personal guards.

After a while, Liu Xiang came back and reported: "General, there are about 60,000 to 70,000 enemy troops. In addition to the cavalry, the remaining 30,000 to 40,000 are infantry. They are probably sent by the army from Xiangyang for reinforcements."

Yang Ling nodded: "It seems that the battle in the direction of Xiangyang is more intense than imagined!"

Yang Ling thought for a moment, then turned around and ordered: "Immediately send an order to the city gate captain of Pingliang Mansion and ask him to bring the city gate and prepare to meet the enemy."

"Yes!"

Yang Ling hurriedly returned to the headquarters with his guards, and at the same time summoned all civil and military officials to discuss matters.

There is no doubt about the importance of this battle to the entire Pingliang Mansion, so Yang Ling is extremely cautious and wants to share the information he knows with everyone.

When everyone arrived at the city gate, they saw a sea of ​​people inside the city gate, and the rebels outside the city were organizing a climb to the city to rob the county government hall.

"kill!"

"Stop the thieves!"

……

The rebels outside the city held up shields, axes and spears, desperately attacking the city gate outside the city, trying to storm the city gate.

The city gate of Pingliang City is wide, the city wall is tall and thick, and there are anti-horse antlers placed near the city gate to hinder the rebels outside the city from attacking the city.

With the help of many civilians, dozens of wooden stakes were pushed into the city gate. The rebels had to step on these wooden stakes if they wanted to climb the city gate. If the rebels want to break through the city gate, they will have to pay a huge price.

This city gate is the northeastern gateway of Pingliang Mansion, and its importance is beyond doubt.

Outside the city gate, the rebels attacked the city at all costs, beating war drums and beating gongs and drums.

Under the crazy attacks of the rebels, the civilian warriors retreated steadily. Many civilian warriors were forced to withdraw into the city, and the city gate became increasingly chaotic.

"Archer, shoot!"

Following Yang Ling's order, the two hundred crossbowmen who had been waiting for a long time bent their bows and set arrows, aiming at the enemies outside the city and shooting dense arrows.

Arrows flew through the air like locusts and landed among the rebels outside the city.

Pfft, the sound of sharp blades piercing flesh was heard one after another, and screams were heard one after another. Many rebels fell to the ground after being hit by arrows, and their blood made the gray sky red.

"Archers, cover archers!"

Under Yang Ling's order, countless torches appeared on the roofs of the houses on both sides. With the help of the firelight, the people on the city gate tower could see that the people outside the city suffered heavy casualties. The corpses of the fallen rebels covered the ground below the city, and their blood Gurgling water seeped out from their corpses, dyeing the surrounding area red.

"charge!"

The leader of the rebel army outside the city raised his sword high and charged forward with an angry roar. Other generals followed suit, and the rebel army's offensive became more fierce.

The defenders of Pingliang Mansion continued to fall, but the militiamen still gritted their teeth and held on.

With a deafening explosion, the defensive equipment was ignited, thick smoke billowed, and tongues of fire raged, lighting up the night sky.

The rebels outside the city were confused by the sudden changes. Many people fell or tripped in the panic.

However, this did not affect the determination of the rebels to attack the city at all. They quickly adjusted their formation and continued to attack the city.

The explosion of gunpowder packets outside the city was endless, and the gunpowder smoke filled the air. The choking black smoke made it difficult to open one's eyes, but the rebels charged like crazy, vowing to take Pingliang Mansion.

Just as the battle between the two sides was fierce, a sentry suddenly came to report: "Report, general, there are cavalry coming towards Pingliang Mansion."

"What kind of cavalry? Where did the cavalry come from?" Yang Ling couldn't help but frown.

The detective hurriedly said: "Report, the cavalry are all Mongolian cavalry, and the number exceeds 30,000!"

Yang Ling's expression changed drastically when he heard this. Although he guessed that Xiangyang would be attacked by a large-scale enemy army, he did not expect that the enemy would send an army of 30,000 to attack the city. This was completely beyond expectation.

"General, what should we do? What should we do?"

"Calm down!" Yang Ling took a deep breath and said calmly, "This is just a feint by the enemy. We cannot mess up our position. Everyone should follow the steps and do a good job in defense."

Everyone calmed down a bit, each performing his duties and preparing for the attack.

Sure enough, the enemy's main force was still two miles away from Pingliang Mansion, so they stopped advancing and formed a formation to attack the city.

A loud horn sounded suddenly, and soon the deafening drums sounded outside the city. The drums trembled and resounded through the sky like thunder.

Yang Ling listened intently to the sound of war drums and horns, and his mood gradually became nervous, because he vaguely felt that the enemy's offensive might be far more ferocious than shown. (End of chapter)