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

Wang Qing was immediately shocked when he saw this, and he shouted, "Quick! Behead those rebels in public, or we'll all be doomed!"

"Here!"

Hundreds of Japanese pirates immediately chased the civilians into the woods, and then there were flashes of swords, blood and flesh flying everywhere, and civilians kept falling to the ground and dying.

There were about two to three hundred people living in the woods on the east side of Qingshui Station, all of whom were the elderly, the weak, and the sick of Qingshui Station.

When they heard that the defenders of Qingshui Station were going to abandon the city and beg for mercy, they immediately rushed out of the houses, taking their families and property and fled towards the south gate of Qingshui Station in an attempt to escape from Qingshui Station.

But the defenders were well prepared. They had ambushed in every corner of the woods. When the civilians rushed out, they began to shoot crazily without mercy. In just a short moment, the woods on the east side of Qingshui Station were littered with corpses and blood. Hundreds of civilians were hacked to pieces.

The battle in the woods on the east side of Qingshui Station attracted a lot of attention from the defenders, leaving the defense on the south side of Qingshui Station empty, which bought precious time for Yang Ling's Iron Pagoda.

The terrain south of Qingshui Station is relatively flat, and is a place suitable for cavalry raids. The Qingshui Station garrison has more than 2,000 defenders deployed here, but their main task is to guard the east and west walls of the stockade, because Yang Ling's cavalry has only 20,000 people. If they are scattered on both sides, they will inevitably be attacked from both wings by Yang Ling's cavalry, so the defenders can only concentrate their elite troops to defend the stockade walls on both sides.

The main force of the Qingshuiyi garrison was stationed at the south gate, so there were only about a thousand defenders here, relying solely on two walls for defense.

When Yang Ling's troops were twenty meters close to the village wall, Yang Ling ordered the Iron Pagoda soldiers to stop advancing and then took out the matchlock cannon from behind.

"Let go!" Yang Ling yelled.

The artillerymen behind Tiefutu immediately ignited the gunpowder barrels and then slammed them against the wall of the village.

After the loud noise, the wall of the village collapsed instantly, and countless rubble rolled down. The Qingshui Station defenders guarding the wall were caught off guard and were buried alive one after another, and screams and wails continued to ring out.

"Quick, rush forward while you can!"

Yang Ling was encouraged by this and immediately urged his cavalry to charge, while Tiefutu followed behind him to provide protection.

The Iron Pagoda's attack speed was extremely fast. The two walls of Qingshui Station were occupied by the Iron Pagoda in the blink of an eye, and the Iron Pagoda's cavalry provided cover from behind.

The defenders of Qingshui Station quickly collapsed under the charge of Yang Ling's cavalry. They fled in panic, trying to get rid of Yang Ling's cavalry's pursuit.

Yang Ling's cavalry maneuvered on both sides of Qingshui Post Station, using the horses' agility and super-fast movement speed to set up checkpoints on both sides of Qingshui Post Station to intercept and kill the fleeing enemy, and finally eliminate the defenders on the south side of Qingshui Post Station.

"Haha! It's great, brothers. Beat those bastards up hard. No mercy. Kill them. Let this group of traitors know our strengths and weaknesses." Zhang Xian shouted excitedly.

"Kill! Kill these bastards for me!" Niu Gao and other cavalrymen screamed and whipped their horses, wreaking havoc among the fleeing people like wolves pouncing on their prey.

Although the defenders of Qingshui Station had the advantage in numbers, their armor and weapons were no match for the Iron Pagoda, so they quickly collapsed and were killed, leaving their armor and weapons unarmored, and fled into Qingshui Station one after another.

Qingshuiyi is the throat of the Qingchuan River. Because it guards the mouth of the Qingchuan River, because of its key terrain, and because it is across the Qingshui River from the Qingchuan River, it has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Because it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it can be said to be a battleground for military strategists.

Yang Ling had already considered that Qingshui Station on the Qingchuan River was the key to his capture of Qingshui Station, because Qingshui Station was an important town that could only be reached by crossing the Qingshui River. It was also for this reason that the number of defenders in Qingshui Station far exceeded that of other cities in the Beihai Kingdom, with a total of eight or nine thousand people.

Now Yang Ling's cavalry easily took down the two wooden fences on the south side of Qingshui Station, leaving the defenders on the south side without any resistance, so the defense system of Qingshui Station was completely destroyed.

Yang Ling led the cavalry to cut down trees in the woods on the south side of Qingshui Station and built a temporary camp. At the same time, he sent people to report the victory to Li Long and asked Li Long to dispatch troops to support Qingshui Station.

When Li Long heard the sad news of the fall of Qingshui Station, he couldn't help but sigh that he had made a wrong judgment. He had thought that Qingshui Station was a well-defended fortress, but he didn't expect that it would be taken down so easily.

However, Li Long was a veteran general after all. Once Qingshui Post was captured, he immediately ordered troops from all locations to quickly withdraw their forces, and at the same time organized the people to evacuate Qingshui Post to avoid being affected.

While Li Long was commanding his troops to rescue food and supplies, Yang Ling personally urged the defenders of Qingshui Station on the south side of Qingshui Station to step up their vigilance to deal with possible raids at any time.

In any case, Qingshuiyi is an important town along the Qingchuan River. It is not easy to attack because Qingshuiyi is located at the confluence of two Qingchuan Rivers, with dense water networks and fast-flowing rivers. If Yang Ling's Iron Pagoda cannot gain a foothold in Qingshuiyi, he will definitely suffer if he acts rashly.

The defenders of Qingshui Station on the south side of Qingshui Station quickly discovered the enemy's traces and prepared for battle.

"Look, the enemies are in the forest to the south, and they are coming!"

"Fire arrows!"

The sentry's reminder awakened the defenders of Qingshui Station. Almost at the same time the order was given, several arrows streaked through the sky and rushed towards the Iron Pagoda.

Tiefutu immediately raised his shield to block the arrows, but several arrows hit the shield with a clanging sound, but failed to hurt Tiefutu. Instead, Tiefutu used this force to accelerate again and quickly pressed towards Qingshui Station.

The Iron Pagoda was getting closer and closer to Qingshui Station. The archers of the Qingshui Station defenders immediately drew their bows and shot arrows at the Iron Pagoda. In an instant, arrows rained down.

The Iron Pagoda had superb tactical skills. Although the cavalry in the front row tried their best to block the arrows, many of them were shot and fell off their horses.

"Bang! Bang!"

Iron Pagoda's warhorse suddenly leaped into the air, threw the cavalryman off the horse, and then fell heavily to the ground, splashing dust all over the ground. Iron Pagoda's cavalryman also fell to the ground one after another, but they quickly got up and continued to charge forward, regardless of their own safety.

The bravery and tenacity of Tiefutu deeply moved the soldiers defending Qingshui Station. Seeing Tiefutu's fearless attitude, they became extremely angry and followed Tiefutu with gritted teeth to continue advancing towards Qingshui Station.

"General, Qingshui Post has been lost. The cavalry of the Iron Buddha has invaded Qingshui Post and our army has suffered heavy losses!"

Inside the Qingshuiyi garrison camp, a scout hurriedly ran into the tent and reported to Li Long.

"What? The Iron Pagoda attacked Qingshui Post?!" Li Long's face turned pale after hearing the scout's words. His lips trembled as he asked, "Are you sure it was the Iron Pagoda that attacked Qingshui Post?"

"I dare not deceive the commander. The Iron Pagoda has already invaded Qingshui Station and is burning our granary!" The scout replied while kneeling on the ground. "It's over!"

After hearing the scout's report, Li Long suddenly collapsed in his chair, as if he had lost his soul.

"Marshal, Qingshui Station has been lost. What should we do with those people?" the adjutant next to him asked anxiously.

Li Long slowly raised his head and looked at his adjutant, muttering, "They have no other options left, so the only option left is to surrender to the Han people. Let them surrender."

"Marshal, this is probably not appropriate. We must not do this. The people of Qingshui Station are all the families, the elderly, the weak, women and children of our army. If we let them surrender, the people of Qingshui Station will definitely resent our army in the future, and they may even become the eyes and ears of the enemy, which will be detrimental to our army." The adjutant advised.

"I know very well that the people of Qingshui Station are the families and the old and young of our army. But now we have no choice. If we don't let them surrender, Qingshui Station will be captured by Yang Ling's cavalry sooner or later, and our army will be defeated. So we have to let them go temporarily and then concentrate our forces to deal with Yang Ling. Once Yang Ling is eliminated, the world east of Qingchuan River will be ours!" Li Long said gritting his teeth.

The Cheongcheon River on the south bank of the Cheongcheon River is vast, and it is extremely inconvenient to land and fight from here. Li Long was worried that Yang Ling would use the navy to block the Cheongcheon River, so he came up with a strategy to lure the enemy to land and fight. As long as the defenders of Qingshui Station could delay the enemy, Li Long could take the opportunity to take the main force to attack Yang Ling's cavalry.

However, Li Long never expected that Yang Ling's cavalry was so cunning. After conquering Qingshui Post, they immediately retreated to the forest in the south to rest. At night, this group of cavalry quietly bypassed the forest, made a detour to the vicinity of Qingshui Post, and suddenly launched an attack on Qingshui Post.

"But." The adjutant was still a little worried.

"No buts. Pass on my order to move all the food, weapons, equipment, and wealth from Qingshui Station and hide them in different places. The troops remaining at Qingshui Station should withdraw to the north bank!"

"As ordered!"

Seeing that Li Long had made up his mind, the adjutant had no choice but to follow his orders.

After resting in the southern forest for more than half an hour, Yang Ling's cavalry set out on the journey again and charged fiercely towards Qingshui Station.

Li Long watched helplessly as the Iron Pagoda crushed the obstacles along the way like a steel torrent, eventually breaking through the fence outside Qingshui Post Station, then rushing into the post station and setting fire to the granary, burning all the valuable gold and silver treasures, and even looting all the food, eventually razing Qingshui Post Station to the ground.

"kill!"

Seeing that the Iron Pagoda had successfully occupied Qingshui Station, Yang Ling immediately raised his arms and shouted, leading 5,000 Iron Pagoda to continue advancing forward, attacking the rear of the Qingshui Station defenders.

The news that the Iron Buddha had just captured Qingshui Post spread immediately everywhere. After hearing the bad news, the civilians and gentry who had been fleeing stopped running and rushed back home, ready to fight the enemy. In fact, they all knew that in this situation, the only way to survive was to fight to the death or beg for forgiveness from the Tang army, otherwise they were destined to become prisoners.

"Quick! Quick! Quick! Quick!"

Liu Wenzhen, the commander of the Qingshui Post garrison, was leading his men on the city wall observing the enemy. When he saw the Iron Pagoda break through Qingshui Post with great ease, he was immediately frightened out of his wits and hurriedly urged his soldiers to reinforce the fortifications and prepare to meet the enemy's siege.

Since the city wall of Qingshui Station was relatively low and not very strong, the defenders only built two chevaux de frise trenches at the city gate. Because they were worried that Yang Ling would send infantry to attack, they filled the chevaux de frise trenches with rolling stones and battering rams to prevent Yang Ling's infantry from approaching.

Then a moat several meters wide was dug in front of the chevaux-de-frise trench. The moat was covered with silt, and the city wall could only be climbed through the moat. Therefore, the moat of Qingshui Station also became a protective barrier for the defenders of Qingshui Station.

Although the Iron Pagoda's attacks were sharp, they were simply unable to cross this moat.

……

On the other side, Yang Ling was sitting in the commander's tent of the cavalry camp drinking tea, looking at the intelligence in his hand and shaking his head secretly. This intelligence recorded the detailed information of Qingshui Post on the south bank of Qingchuan River.

"It seems that Liu Wen is determined to be a prisoner." Yang Ling muttered softly.

Yang Ling looked at the intelligence in his hand with shock in his heart. The intelligence showed that the Qingshui County Magistrate and the garrison commander of Qingshui Post on the north bank of the Qingchuan River had surrendered. Li Long personally led 3,000 cavalry to raid from the mountainous area in the south, intending to launch a surprise attack on Yang Ling's main force on the west bank of the Qingchuan River, and then attack Yang Ling's main force from behind.

"As expected of the famous general Li Long, this strategy is very powerful. If it were an ordinary warlord, he would definitely be caught off guard by Li Long. But now it's our turn to turn the tables and attack Li Long's retreat. Haha, it feels so good!" Yang Ling thought that the Qingshui County magistrate and the garrison commander on the north bank of the Qingchuan River had already surrendered, and he immediately smiled and felt that he had a sure win.

"Someone, help me change my clothes!"

As Yang Ling's order was given, several guards took out clean military uniforms, helped Yang Ling take off his armor and helmet, and then helped him change into military uniforms.

Yang Ling, surrounded by several personal soldiers, left the tent and headed towards the bank of the Qingchuan River.

On the bank of Qingchuan River, Yang Ling camped with two thousand cavalrymen.

"Commander Yang, the enemy on the west bank of the Qingchuan River has discovered us and is now moving towards us. It is estimated that they will reach us soon. You should retreat to the rear first." Zhang Guozhong was worried that the enemy on the west bank of the Qingchuan River would pose a threat to Yang Ling, and could not help but remind Yang Ling.

"You don't have to worry. Since I dared to come here, I expected to be ambushed by the enemy on the west bank of the Qingchuan River. But I want to see what tricks Li Long has." Yang Ling said loudly without fear.

As soon as Yang Ling finished speaking, he saw dust flying in the distance and countless smoke rising into the sky. It was obvious that the enemy was rushing towards this side at a very fast speed. In a moment, they had arrived less than 50 meters away from Yang Ling and others.

"Archers, prepare to shoot, swordmen and shieldmen, form up!"

Seeing this, Zhang Guozhong knew that the enemy on the west bank of the Qingchuan River had discovered him and his men, and immediately gave the order.

In front of Qingshui County Government Office on the west bank of Qingchuan River.

Liu Wenzheng was convening the county magistrate, the registrar, and other officials to discuss countermeasures when he suddenly saw smoke and dust filling the sky ahead. His face changed slightly, and he quickly stopped several officials and asked, "Have you seen the enemy appear?"

"Your Excellency, it seems that we saw some cavalry appearing in our sight. The distance was too far and we were not sure which cavalry they were." The county magistrate next to him answered respectfully.

Liu Wenzheng's brows furrowed when he heard this, and he felt very annoyed. Their scouts had just found out that Yang Ling's cavalry were crossing the river on the south bank. Why did cavalry appear at this time? Could it be that Yang Ling had already guessed that they would set a trap, so he laid bait in advance to lure them into the trap, but the result disappointed him. (End of this chapter)