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

Zhang Shijie, Li Dongyang and others looked stern and accepted the order solemnly.

Yang Ling continued, "Tell all the generals to advance at full speed this afternoon. We must capture Qinghe County before dark and return to Beijing tomorrow morning!"

"promise!"

Yang Ling immediately left the city wall and returned to the central military tent to continue discussing military affairs.

As soon as Yang Ling finished speaking, several guards rushed into the tent and reported: "General, there is movement in the valley to the north, it seems to be the sound of horse hooves!"

Yang Ling frowned: "What?"

"Marshal, look! There really is a large number of cavalrymen in the valley. There are at least five or six thousand of them!"

Yang Ling's face changed slightly, and he hurried to the edge of the observation deck. He looked around and indeed, among the mountains in the north, he could vaguely see several groups of dusty cavalrymen, who were quickly encircling him.

Yang Ling immediately determined that the enemy's target was him. They obviously wanted to take advantage of his army's crossing the river to harass his army's supply line and force him to retreat.

Yang Ling turned to his deputy general Liu Jinding and said, "General Liu, mobilize the heavy cavalry immediately and intercept the enemy's harassing troops."

Liu Jinding immediately agreed and said, "I will obey your orders!"

Liu Jinding left in a hurry, and a moment later he gathered more than 20,000 cavalrymen in front of the city wall, and then led more than 20,000 cavalrymen to rush northward.

In this southern expedition, Yang Ling had only 50,000 cavalrymen. Because he had to guard against bandits and local gentry in Qingzhou, as well as bandits and mountain bandits, Yang Ling did not dare to deploy the cavalry near Nanchang, but only arranged 3,000 cavalrymen to escort the grain transport convoy southward.

Yang Ling estimated that it should not be difficult to defend Qinghe County with only his 20,000 elite soldiers, but it would be more difficult to completely wipe out the refugee forces in Qinghe County. After all, these people were fearless and well-organized, and most importantly, their weapons were more advanced than those of the Ming army.

But now Yang Ling has no time to think about these things, the enemy has already come to him, he can only bite the bullet and fight. Besides, since ancient times, the soldiers are brave and the generals are brave. If he is cowardly and shrinks, the soldiers will also lose their fighting spirit.

Yang Ling brought his confidants to the top of the South Gate Tower, stood on the battlement and looked down, and suddenly found hundreds of horses carrying many boxes and food.

At this time, Li Dongyang walked to the fortress, pointed at the supplies and said, "See these boxes and food? They are filled with food."

Yang Ling suddenly realized, this means that these bandits don't need to rob at all, they only need to loot the granaries near Nanchang to survive?
Yang Ling couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "These guys really know how to enjoy themselves!"

Li Dongyang laughed and said, "This is also a helpless move. Who knows where these guys get so much money and food from? If we leave them alone, they will probably be able to jump around soon, and even become more harmful to the people around them."

"Well, we must not tolerate evil in this situation, otherwise there will be endless troubles. Pass my order, all generals immediately stop marching and launch the attack according to the original plan. At the same time, send out scouts to find out the enemy's strength and be ready to support the generals in battle at any time!" Yang Ling ordered loudly.

"Here!"

Everyone saluted with fists, then dispersed to carry out the combat tasks assigned by Yang Ling.

Yang Ling turned around and looked at the enemy outside the city that was getting closer and closer, and thought to himself: This time, we won a great victory at Qingshui Station, eliminated the refugees, annihilated several thousand enemies, and captured eight or nine thousand.

However, most of the refugees are young and strong, and the rest are women and children. Due to the lack of labor, food and fodder are consumed relatively quickly. If this problem is not solved as soon as possible, the logistical pressure will be very enormous.

The so-called "spending all one's strength to atone for one's sins" was impossible. Because these refugees had not committed any heinous crimes, Yang Ling could not bear to kill them.

Because of concerns about the pressure of logistical supplies, Yang Ling decided to first recruit these refugees and then use them to build military bases and expand military strength.

However, these refugees were unruly and it was not easy to make them surrender. Because they were hunted down by the government during their escape, they suffered a lot of bullying. Now that they finally found an opportunity to turn things around and become masters, how could they be willing to be controlled by others?

Yang Ling took a deep breath and whispered to Wang Yong beside him: "Deputy General Wang, you immediately take fifty brothers to sneak into the mountain stronghold and capture these guys."

"I obey your command!" Wang Yong responded in a deep voice, and immediately took twenty strong personal soldiers with him and rode out of the city at high speed, heading towards Qinghe Town.

Qinghe Town is about seven miles away from the city. Although it is not too far, because of the dense forests and rugged terrain, Yang Ling chose to camp in a flat area near the city.

After the great victory at Qingshuiyi, Sun Chengbao, the defender of Qinghe Town, saw that the soldiers were reluctant to withdraw, so he quietly led his subordinates to hide in the woods, ready to ambush the invading soldiers.

But they didn't expect that the other party had discovered them in advance and sent cavalry to surround them.

Seeing the cavalry getting closer and closer, Sun Chengbao gritted his teeth and shouted: "Brothers, follow me and kill these sons of bitches!"

Sun Chengbao used to be the little bully of western Liaoning. Naturally, he would not sit idly by and watch his small force being surrounded by officers and soldiers, so he was prepared to fight to the death and fight his way out to escape, at least not to die here in disgrace.

Following Sun Chengbao's horn, hundreds of soldiers from Qinghe Town howled, waved their swords and shouted as they rushed towards the enemy cavalry.

However, how could these rabble stop the well-trained cavalry of the government army?
The cavalry on both wings turned their horses in unison, avoiding the enemy's flanks and charging forward. In the blink of an eye, they broke through the enemy's formation like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Afterwards, these cavalrymen did not hesitate to fight, bypassed the enemy formation, and continued to charge forward.

At this time, the enemy cavalry had already approached, and the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat. In an instant, dozens of people were killed off their horses.

Sun Chengbao was also knocked to the ground. He struggled to get up, but was stabbed in the shoulder by the enemy's spear. The severe pain almost made him faint. He could only barely hold on to the shield to resist the enemy's attack.

At this time, the enemy had already pressed in front of him. Seeing that he could not break through, Sun Chengbao drew the sword from his waist, gritted his teeth and roared: "Brothers, come with us, it's death anyway, let's fight them!"

As he spoke, Sun Chengbao hacked and chopped with all his might, instantly killing several enemies, and then he staggered towards the center of the enemy.

The officers and soldiers of Qinghe Town had been frightened for a long time. When they heard Sun Chengbao's tragic cry, their morale was boosted and they rushed towards the enemy with their swords. The two sides soon mixed in the battle group and fought. Soon after, Sun Chengbao was covered in blood. After all, he was outnumbered and beheaded in front of the battle under the siege of more than a dozen infantrymen holding Mo Dao.

Although Sun Chengbao died in a miserable way, his deterrent power was still very strong. Seeing this, the remaining bandits in Qinghe Town were terrified and quickly defeated.

This encounter lasted less than half an incense stick of time before two hundred government troops killed hundreds of refugees, leaving corpses all over the ground and blood flowing like a river.

However, because the officers' cavalry had just chased the refugees and defeated the soldiers to Qingshui Station, the refugee camp was in chaos because of this incident. Many refugees took advantage of the chaos to seize tents and escape, and the entire Qingshui Station camp was suddenly in chaos.

Yang Ling and his personal guards hurriedly climbed up to the platform to check the results of the battle, but unexpectedly found a large number of refugees fleeing. They were obviously shocked by the tragedy of the refugees and the defeated soldiers, and they fled outside one after another.

"Catch those old, weak, sick and disabled people!" Yang Ling said decisively.

Soon, the guards took ropes and tied up the fleeing refugees, and escorted them to the stage. When the refugees saw the armored soldiers on the stage, they were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy.

Seeing these refugees in a state of panic, Yang Ling's heart softened. He finally gave up the idea of ​​capturing the refugees and ordered his troops to return to the city to rest.

As soon as Yang Ling and his companions returned to the city, they saw flames outside the city and heard faint explosions. Needless to say, it must be the friendly forces harassing the officers and soldiers of Qingshui Station.

Now Yang Ling was even more certain that the government had already arranged an ambush around Qingshui Station, and his people had forced the government soldiers to retreat as soon as they arrived, which led to the battle just now.

Yang Ling immediately called all the generals together to discuss: "We have been attacking the government's fortresses repeatedly these days, which has completely angered the officers and soldiers of Qingshui Post. They will definitely not dare to risk a battle with us in the field. So tomorrow we must send a large number of troops to garrison Qingshui Post to prevent the officers and soldiers from continuing to attack, otherwise our plan will fail."

Yang Yi thought for a moment and said, "From the current point of view, this method is indeed feasible, but Qingheyi is a county-level town after all, and the population is quite dense. It may not be easy to defend it!"

Yang Ling smiled and said, "We have to try to know whether we can defend it or not."

The next morning, before it was light, Yang Ling had already woken up. He put on his armor, checked his equipment, and then ordered his personal soldiers to invite Liu Bingxian to come over for a discussion.

Liu Bingxian came to the meeting room of the Marshal's Mansion, looked at the energetic Yang Ling, and sighed in his heart: No wonder the court transferred this Huai'an Marquis to be the governor, he is indeed a man of both civil and military talents!

"Lord Liu, you're here quite early!" Yang Ling greeted him with a smile and a bow.

Liu Bingxian smiled and said, "I heard that Lord Yang captured Qinghe Posthouse last night, so I came here to congratulate you."

Yang Ling laughed and said, "It was just luck. If Zhang Xian and Chen Xingang hadn't shown up in time, I would have died in Qinghe Station. Sir Liu, we captured Qinghe Station this time and got a lot of spoils, but it also revealed that our whereabouts have been discovered by the soldiers, so we must be on high alert to avoid being ambushed again."

"Your Excellency is right in your teachings. I will go and urge all departments to step up their vigilance." Liu Bingxian clasped his fists and promised.

After Liu Bingxian said goodbye and left, Yang Ling immediately called Li Chunfang.

"Report to the Lord, I have just discovered that the government troops will gather at Qingshui Post this morning."

Yang Ling couldn't help but frown when he heard this. Qingshui Post was fifty or sixty miles away from Qingyuan Township. How could the officers and soldiers be prepared for such a long distance last night?

Li Chunfang explained: "According to the information sent back by the scouts, the government troops set up fortifications such as chevaux de frise, trenches, and crossbow shelters in the woods near Qinghe Posthouse last night, and dug pits. Before dawn this morning, the soldiers quietly left the camp and set traps along the way. It is estimated that they will arrive at Qingshui Posthouse this morning."

"These guys are so cunning!" Yang Ling cursed angrily.

Yang Ling was silent for a long time and then asked: "How do you think we should deal with it?"

Li Chunfang replied: "Your Excellency, according to common sense, since we have captured Qingshui Post, the officers and soldiers will definitely choose to hold on, so I suggest that the army be divided into two main forces, with 5,000 left and right vanguards, and 500 elite soldiers left to guard the food and grass. The remaining 3,000 light soldiers will cross the canal by boat and then attack Qingshui Post directly."

Yang Ling nodded in agreement and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say."

At this time, Liu Bingxian also walked into the Marshal's Mansion. After hearing the conversation between Yang Ling and Li Chunfang, he couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Sir, I think Li Canzheng's fighting method is too simple and crude. Such a method can easily fall into the enemy's trap!"

"Oh? What's your plan, Lord Liu?"

Liu Bingxian said: "I feel that the fighting methods of the Lord and the Councillor are too conservative and lack creativity. As the saying goes, to capture a thief, you must first capture the leader. Since the soldiers are using Qingshuiyi as their base to confront us, why don't we lead our army to attack the enemy camp directly, capture the commander or the main general of the soldiers alive, and force them to surrender. In this way, our army can march straight into Qingshuiyi and capture it. If the soldiers dare to resist, we will fortify the walls and clear the fields and burn their food."

Yang Ling shook his head and said, "Lord Liu's idea is too dangerous. Do you think the commander of the government army is a fool? If our army really raids the enemy camp, the enemy will definitely lure our army to split up to rescue, and then concentrate its forces to annihilate our army; if we do not split up to rescue, the enemy will transfer its forces to attack our flank, and we will even face the dilemma of being attacked from both sides by the enemy. Lord Liu, you said that such a battle is too risky, and I do not agree!"

"But I think your tactics are very safe. I am willing to serve as your deputy and implement your strategic plan!" Liu Bingxian said seriously.

Yang Ling looked at Liu Bingxian, who had a resolute face, and said hesitantly: "Lord Liu, I know you are a loyal minister and I admire you, but you are a civilian after all, and you may not understand the dangers of the battlefield. Please think twice."

Liu Bingxian said: "I don't understand the war situation, but I am familiar with history books. I have practiced martial arts since I was a child, and my knowledge is extraordinary. As long as I am given a chance to hone my skills, I will definitely be able to take on the banner alone."

Yang Ling was silent for a moment and said, "Well, write a letter to General Yuan Chonghuan to ask for permission. If he allows you to participate in the attack on Qingshui Station, then I will consider letting you participate."

Liu Bingxian was overjoyed when he heard this. He knew that since Yang Ling had given in, there was a great chance that the attack on Qingshuiyi would be successful. He immediately clasped his fists and thanked him, "Thank you for your help, sir. Please rest assured, I will never fail in my mission."

"Well, then you go down and get ready. We'll leave this morning."

"As you command, I will take my leave!"

After Liu Bingxian left, Yang Ling told Li Chunfang, "Chunfang, you must quickly find out the situation at Qingshuiyi, especially the situation in the city. You must find out before the soldiers cross the canal." (End of this chapter)