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

However, Han Jinlong's suggestion also made Yang Ling's eyes light up. He asked thoughtfully: "General Han, can your cavalry defeat the bandits?"

Han Jinlong straightened his chest proudly and replied confidently: "If it were another enemy army, I dare not say that I could win the battle, but if it were to deal with the bandits' infantry, I think that my cavalry would be enough to crush them!"

"Okay, I'll choose you! Your cavalry can bring enough food and grass. If it's not enough, I will allocate another two thousand stones to you!"

Yang Ling believed that the goal of this group of rebels was to rob property, because as long as they got the money, they could return to Jiangning, or continue to flee northwest, and there was no need to rob the property here.

Therefore, Yang Ling judged that the main target of this group of rebels was not the city in the south, but more like the plain in the north. It is precisely because of this that the weakest link, the North Gate, was lost.

No matter what, Han Jinlong's cavalry is Yang Ling's only hope now, and he must seize this opportunity.

"Thank you, Marshal!" Han Jinlong perked up after hearing this.

Yang Ling looked at the other officers and said in a deep voice: "If anyone can guarantee that he can stop the bandits outside the city, I will reward him with a thousand taels of gold and ten thousand taels of silver. If he can hold off the bandits outside the city for half a day, I will make him a marquis and a general. It’s not a dream either!”

As soon as Yang Ling finished speaking, the other officers' blood suddenly boiled with enthusiasm. This was much better than when they were in the regiment. They all expressed their willingness to defend this life to the death!

Yang Ling nodded happily, then turned to Wang Qinian and said, "Wang Qinian, you are responsible for assisting General Han in defending the North Gate, and at the same time organizing the people to defend the city. As for the food, I will allocate it right away."

"I accept my order from my humble position!" Wang Qinian said with cupped hands.

Yang Ling then led hundreds of cavalry out of the city, and then recruited migrant workers, old and young along the way to raise food and grass.

After Yang Ling set up a defense line at the north gate, he mobilized the remaining 800 civilians and 2,000 young men in the city, totaling about 2,500 people, and began to build simple defenses.

As soon as Yang Ling started to get busy, Han Jinlong set off with his cavalry over there.

Han Jinlong led about 500 cavalrymen. Except for some wounded soldiers, the rest were lightly armed. They camped about three miles from the north gate and built crude temporary fences, antlers, horses and trenches.

Han Jinlong led his soldiers to dig a hole several feet deep, then laid dirt and filled it with debris, and soon formed a dense shield formation. Then they set up Juma stakes, placed iron hooks and tripping ropes on the Juma stakes, and built temporary tents behind the Juma stakes.

After Han Jinlong's cavalry completed these preparations, they lined up and waited behind the Juma post.

At this time, fierce shouts of killing suddenly sounded from the city wall, and then several arrows flew over, breaking the iron chains hanging on the Juma stakes, and the entire row of Juma stakes collapsed.

Han Jinlong and others were so frightened that they hurriedly hid in the ditch nearby. Fortunately, the iron chains were only traction ropes and were not tied to the horse-rejecting stakes. However, this also created an opportunity for the rebels to attack the city wall, and soon the rebels climbed up with the siege ladder.

When Yang Ling and his men arrived in a hurry, there were corpses everywhere at the city gate, and most of the soldiers guarding the city had died in battle.

Yang Ling glanced at the battlefield and sighed to himself when he saw the defenders lying on the ground. These defenders performed their duties loyally, but unexpectedly they were brutally murdered, which is really sad.

"Report, report to the commander-in-chief. There are enemy scouts outside the city gate. They seem to be spying on our movements. Please make a decision to the commander-in-chief!" At this time, the adjutant ran over to report.

Yang Ling frowned when he heard this. He had expected that the enemy would attack at night, but he did not expect that they would adopt this method.

These enemies obviously knew the situation in the city and knew that the defenders lacked ammunition, so they chose to attack during the day, because night was extremely disadvantageous to the defenders.

Yang Ling thought for a moment and then said: "Order the archers to release arrows immediately to cover the defenders and clear the battlefield to minimize the losses of the defenders."

After hearing this, Han Jinlong immediately accepted the order and jumped out from behind the trench with hundreds of archers, drawing their bows and shooting to help clean up the battlefield.

Just as Yang Ling expected, the enemy scouts quietly retreated when they saw the defenders clearing the battlefield.

At this time, Han Jinlong came to Yang Ling and saluted with clasped fists: "Commander, since the enemy troops have withdrawn, I think we can recapture the North Gate immediately!"

"Okay!" Yang Ling said decisively.

"Send my order and the defenders at the north gate must gather immediately!" Han Jinlong shouted loudly.

As soon as Han Jinlong finished speaking, the surrounding civilians took action and began to quickly re-reinforce the north gate, and even cast bricks, wood, and concrete into a solid gate frame.

Due to the enemy's sneak attack, the area near the city gate was in a mess. The ground was covered with blood and minced meat. Many corpses were even smashed. Some corpses could not even find their heads, leaving only bloody bones.

Yang Ling stood behind the battlements and stared at the darkening night sky in the distance, with worry in his eyes. According to Han Jinlong's description just now, there are at least more than 7,000 rebels. If they attack again tomorrow, the soldiers guarding the city may not be able to hold on.

Although Han Jinlong said that more than 2,000 people were willing to follow Han Jinlong to join the war, there are only about 400 people now, and the others have been persuaded to return to their hometowns for refuge. After all, defending the city this time is very dangerous. Who knows if we will encounter any danger?

"Commander, I am willing to go with General Han to defend the city." At this time, Wang Qinian suddenly said.

Yang Ling turned around and saw Wang Qinian, frowned and said, "Qinian, please stay and help me!"

"I will obey your orders!" Wang Qinian responded respectfully.

Although Yang Ling really wanted Wang Qinian to stay and help defend the city, considering that Wang Qinian's special status should not be exposed for too long, Yang Ling decided to let him stay to avoid arousing suspicion.

After Yang Ling comforted Wang Qinian and told him to pay attention to safety, he led his soldiers out of the city.

Not long after Yang Ling left the city with dozens of soldiers, violent fire broke out in the city. Yang Ling cursed in his heart: Damn it, Li Hongzhang, you are hurting me!
Yang Ling guessed that the rebels must have taken the opportunity to burn down the granary and the granaries where various supplies were stored, because Yang Ling had already sent people to check and found that the food in the granaries had long since disappeared. However, he was not too worried. After all, the burning of the granary was only a temporary problem. After he had dealt with the rebels outside the west gate, he could rebuild the warehouse and granary.

"Commander, there seems to be a fight over at the city gate!" The adjutant suddenly pointed at the north gate and reminded.

Yang Ling looked up and saw smoke and dust billowing from the north gate. His heart couldn't help but thump. It seemed that the rebels wanted to storm the North Gate. Now there are more than 2,000 militiamen here at the North Gate, as well as hundreds of anti-horse vehicles, and they can barely resist. If the enemy troops rush into the county after the city is broken, the situation will be dangerous.

Thinking of this, Yang Ling immediately ordered: "Quickly, summon the people in the north gate immediately, let them get their weapons and prepare to meet the enemy. At the same time, notify the generals at all levels to strictly observe military discipline. If you dare to leave the post without authorization, you will be killed!"

"Yes!" The adjutant immediately turned around and carried out the order.

Yang Ling immediately galloped towards the north gate, shouting at the same time: "Quick, gather the team and prepare to face the enemy!"

Under the command of the adjutant, the originally relaxed defenders immediately re-entered the state and began to get busy. Soon, Yang Ling led his troops to the north gate. He dismounted and came to the high platform. He raised his eyes and looked forward. He saw that the enemy was still more than three miles away from the north gate. It seemed that it would take about half an hour before he could officially launch his attack. General attack.

At this time, Yang Ling suddenly saw a few wisps of gunpowder smoke coming out from the direction of the east gate. His pupils suddenly narrowed, and he vaguely saw hundreds of cavalry galloping along the street. It seemed that the enemy was planning to attack the north gate from the east gate.

Yang Ling didn't care to think about it, turned around and shouted loudly: "Quickly, send the order, let the militiamen at the east gate abandon their defenses immediately and move closer to the east gate."

Yang Ling's voice was not loud, but the generals gathered nearby could hear him clearly. Zhang Fu and others asked what was going on. After Yang Ling briefly explained the matter, Zhang Fu and others immediately issued orders to the generals at all levels.

At this time, the rebel scouts appeared in the night sky again. When these people saw Yang Ling and others, they immediately turned around and ran back to the city. Apparently they had received news that reinforcements from Hanyang Mansion were stationed here, so they did not dare to test easily.

"Look, the lights are on over there again."

"The enemy is building a fortress, let's rush over quickly!"

"Brothers, don't hesitate, take down these dog officials and avenge your parents, wives and children!"

The rebel sentries kept making hoarse and strange screams, and then galloped towards the defenders guarding the north gate. Each of their faces was full of excitement, as if what was about to come was an extremely delicious meal.

"Array up!"

Yang Ling roared sternly, and the soldiers formed a neat horizontal formation.

After the rebel sentries rushed over, they slashed with their swords without saying a word, then immediately turned their horses around and continued to escape.

Although the training time of the more than 800 militiamen guarding the city wall was short and they could not form strict cooperation, they were not timid and still bravely stepped forward to stop them with their swords drawn.

"Kill!"

The two sides soon strangled themselves in the city gate corridor, and both sides tried their best to kill each other.

The rebel sentries became more and more courageous as they fought, and they soon gained the upper hand. However, they were not in a hurry to launch the final attack, and seemed to want to consume more of the opponent's vitality first.

As time went by, casualties on both sides increased. The rebel sentries also began to gradually gain the upper hand, but still did not launch an attack.

Yang Ling also noticed that the rebels seemed to have a delaying tactic, and he immediately realized in his mind that the opponent might really want to annihilate the defenders first, and then concentrate their elite troops to invade the county from the east gate.

After thinking about this, Yang Ling suddenly felt a huge pressure. He must defend the north gate before the opponent captured it. Otherwise, the city would not be saved, and Dalaoshan County would be completely lost.

Yang Ling gritted his teeth and ordered loudly: "The crossbowmen are ready to shoot immediately. Beat me hard and defeat them. We must not give the rebels any chance to breathe!"

Upon hearing this, the crossbowmen immediately aimed the birdcages and bows in their hands at the rebel sentries in the distance. Following Yang Ling's order, dozens of feather arrows were shot out, instantly knocking down five or six rebel sentries to the ground.

The birdcages and bows of this era were very weak and not powerful enough to deal with cavalry unless gunpowder packets and bombs were used.

Then the crossbowman drew the bow and arrow again and threw the birdcage in his hand. This birdcage is made of wood and filled with straw. It keeps shaking when it floats in the air, as if someone is grabbing it and shaking it. In fact, it has no lethality.

The rebel sentries were not a vegetarian either. They reacted quickly, divided into two teams and spread out to both sides to dodge, and then climbed up the slope to the roof or treetops. This effectively reduces the range.

Seeing that the long-range throwing effect of the crossbowmen was limited, the militia army responsible for guarding the city gate immediately organized the crossbowmen to shoot. Under Yang Ling's supervision, the crossbowmen began to load the kerosene bottles, and then threw the kerosene bottles at the rebels.

When the kerosene fell into the rebel formation, a raging fire immediately ignited, and the flames spread quickly. Many rebels screamed and fell to the ground, and several were even scalded alive or burned to death.

"Ah! Put out the fire, put out the fire quickly!"

"Block the door quickly."

Under the cover of crossbows, the crossbowmen of the militia army kept throwing kerosene bottles outward. The kerosene bottle exploded as soon as it flew out, and thick smoke billowed into the air. It not only frightened the enemy into panic, but also made the corpses under the tower black and look extremely scary.

The rebel commander obviously realized that he had made a fatal mistake. This fortified city was actually guarded by only two to three hundred soldiers. There are only two thousand militiamen among them. This is simply asking for death.

Because of the presence of kerosene, it was difficult for the rebels to successfully climb to the top of the city. They had to avoid the fire scene and continue to rush towards the north gate.

I have to admit that Yang Ling and the others arranged the city wall well. The rebels hit the stone walls and wooden fences one after another, and then fell to the top of the city one after another, but they still could not shake the defenders' formation.

At this moment, Yang Ling keenly noticed a large number of fires suddenly appearing in the distance. This was followed by the thunderous sound of drums and horns.

"It's the main force of the rebels!" someone nearby exclaimed.

Yang Ling carefully identified it and was convinced that the fire was the rebel flag.

"Oops!"

Yang Ling sighed secretly. Now that the rebels are ready, they will definitely launch a violent attack with thunderous momentum. Although he was confident that he could hold the north gate, he was worried that the stalemate would cause chaos and lead to the defeat of the defenders.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Ling decisively ordered: "Order the defenders to retreat thirty meters. The rest are ready to fight!"

Soon, the outside of the north gate turned into a sea of ​​fire, and the rebels swarmed in like a tide. Yang Ling personally went into battle, armed with spears and shields, and led the civilians and minzhuang to fight.

Although the rebels were not afraid of death, their numbers were too small and they quickly retreated.

"boom!"

When the rebels approached the North Gate, Yang Ling led the people to open the city gate and shouted: "Brothers, kill!"

Yang Ling's voice was particularly loud on the battlefield. Behind him were hundreds of people holding swords. They followed Yang Ling and rushed out of the city gate with shouts and fierce battles with the rebels.

The rebels originally wanted to make a sneak attack while Yang Ling was leading the people to defend the city, but unfortunately they were discovered. Seeing that Yang Ling's defense was as tight as an iron barrel, they had no choice but to fight head-on. (End of chapter)