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

A dense rain of arrows poured down from the city, knocking Zhang Hai off his horse.

"Enemy attack! A spy has infiltrated Jeju!"

The defenders on the city wall were horrified when they saw this and immediately sounded the alarm.

A moment later, hurried footsteps and shouts were heard everywhere, obviously reinforcements coming to support.

Yang Ling frowned as he looked at Zhang Hai who was trapped outside the city, and thought to himself: No wonder Zhang Hai insisted on not surrendering, it turns out he had already sent someone to inform us.

Jeju is an important town with strict defenses. There are at least 5,000 elite soldiers stationed outside the city, which can be said to be impregnable. Although Yang Ling has more than 30,000 elite soldiers, he dare not attack the city easily, otherwise there will be heavy casualties.

After a brief thought, Yang Ling made a prompt decision and ordered, "Everyone, prepare to charge. We must break through the enemy's encirclement and rescue Deputy Commander Zhang!"

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

"Brothers, follow me and kill!" Yang Ling rode his horse and raised his sword, charging forward first, with the rest of the generals following closely behind.

"Kill!" Thousands of brave soldiers brandished steel swords, rushed forward bravely, and pounced on the Jeju city wall like wild beasts.

"Shoot!" Seeing this, Cao Wende on the city wall gave instructions in a stern voice without fear.

Countless arrows shot towards Yang Ling and others like locusts.

Yang Ling and others raised their swords to block and smashed the oncoming arrows.

The two sides quickly engaged in a desperate fight outside the city.

The soldiers under Yang Ling's command were all elite soldiers, brave and good at fighting. After a brief stalemate, they gradually gained the upper hand.

Yang Ling caught a glimpse of the fire in the distance, and hope suddenly rose in his heart. He shouted, "Brothers, reinforcements are nearby. As long as we hold on for a few more minutes, reinforcements will arrive. Everyone, work harder!"

"The commander is mighty, work harder and annihilate the enemy army!"

"kill!"

Yang Ling led his troops to fight bravely, constantly forcing the defenders on the city wall, and the situation became increasingly clear.

Upon seeing this, Cao Wende considered retreating. He knew that Jeju City might be lost today, so he immediately ordered the archers on the city wall to stop shooting arrows, and issued an order that all the defenders would not be killed if they surrendered after the city was broken.

"Kill!" Yang Ling led his troops forward and beheaded Cao Wende.

"The Marshal is mighty!"

After Yang Ling climbed up the city wall, the defeated soldiers in the city knelt on the ground one after another, expressing their willingness to surrender.

"Marshal, what should we do? Continue to attack Jeju?" asked the deputy general next to him.

"Jezhou is an isolated city. There is no benefit in capturing it. Besides, there are still 180,000 people in Jezhou. Attacking it is tantamount to massacring the whole city. We only need to take the cities on both sides of the Jishui River and the Yangtze River, which will be enough to deter the enemy army and make them dare not act rashly." Yang Ling said in a deep voice.

After hearing this, everyone immediately agreed.

Next, Yang Ling ordered the prisoners to be escorted back to Jeju City, and Li Zhong, the garrison commander of Jeju City, was responsible for pacifying the people.

Jeju City, on the banks of the Jishui River.

"Reporting to the commander, a large number of bandit fleets have appeared on the other side of the Jishui River. Judging from the flags, they should be the fleet of the Huanglongfu Yellow River Gang."

Yang Ling had just finished dinner when his trusted deputy general Liu Xing rushed in and bowed to report.

"Huanglongfu Yellow River Gang!" Yang Ling's face changed slightly. The thing he was most worried about finally happened.

The Yellow River Gang is the largest bandit gang in Jeju, with a large number of gang members, a total of six to seven thousand people.

The Yellow River Gang was composed of hundreds of bandits who lurked in Jeju and along the Ji River, robbing passing merchants and travelers. Some of the daring enough bandits had even conquered the city, looted Jeju Prefecture, and killed innocent people. They were truly guilty of a heinous crime.

Sun Wenyuan, the magistrate of Jeju, once wrote a letter to the court to impeach the Yellow River Gang, but not only did he fail to gain any favor, he was demoted by the court.

Yang Ling didn't stay in Jeju for a long time and didn't have any grudges with the Yellow River Gang. He never expected that the Yellow River Gang would actually attack Jeju. It's really a narrow road for enemies to meet.

"Order the garrison in Jeju City to prepare. If the situation becomes critical, retreat immediately."

Yang Ling took a deep breath and ordered.

The Yellow River Gang is huge and powerful, and Yang Ling doesn't think that Jeju City can stop them.

What made Yang Ling feel even more depressed was that there were still 20,000 to 30,000 bandits on the banks of the Yellow River in Jeju. This was a difficult problem for Yang Ling.

Jeju is too close to Xuzhou. If the bandits take the opportunity to cross the Yellow River and take Xuzhou directly, it may not be a big deal. The key is that Xuzhou is the seat of Yanzhou. Yanzhou Governor Chen Gui has always been known for his benevolence and filial piety. Yang Ling does not believe that he will sit idly by and watch the Yellow River Gang capture Xuzhou.

It would be fine if it were normal times, but Yang Ling is in urgent need of food supplies, and Yanzhou is short of food. If this continues, Yanzhou will probably be in danger sooner or later.

Yang Ling now has no choice but to take the risk of Yanzhou's survival. After all, Yanzhou City is the capital of Yanzhou. If it falls, it will have a huge impact on Yanzhou.

Of course, Yang Ling could not rule out the possibility of the Yellow River Gang. When absolutely necessary, he had to resort to extraordinary measures.

"I will obey your orders!"

Yang Ling nodded and said, "Immediately send someone to contact the Yellow River Gang in Xuzhou and tell them not to act rashly. Once we have dealt with the bandits outside of Jeju City, we will immediately return to Yanzhou."

"I obey your command!" Deputy General Liu Xing agreed and hurried away.

After wandering around Jeju City for a while, Yang Ling found Li Zhong who was cleaning up the mess.

"I greet the commander-in-chief!" When Li Zhong saw Yang Ling appear in front of the city gate, he hurriedly walked forward to salute.

"Excuse me, Magistrate Li. How is Jeju's defense situation?" Yang Ling asked.

Li Zhong shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Alas, I am ashamed to live up to the expectations of the commander-in-chief. There are less than 5,000 defenders left in the city, and the food in the city has been consumed. Now we can only rely on tree bark and grass roots outside the city to fill our stomachs."

Yang Ling sighed and said, "I just led my men to attack Jeju City, and the enemy army attacked. This shows that the enemy army is very familiar with the defense of Jeju City. You were indeed negligent in your defense."

Li Zhong felt ashamed when he heard this, he knew he had a great responsibility.

"Does the commander have any good strategy to resist the bandits?" Li Zhong asked.

“Not yet, but I will never give up Jeju City. Jeju City is my fiefdom, the place where I make my living, and I must take it back. However, Jeju City has too few troops. If we want to defeat the Yellow River Gang, I’m afraid we’ll have to ask Wang Bodang to come out.” Yang Ling said.

"It's a pity that Wang Bodang is not in Xuzhou. He led a large army to pursue the main force of the Yellow River Gang and has not returned yet." Li Zhong said regretfully.

Yang Ling frowned and asked, "Who is Wang Bodang?"

Li Zhong introduced: "Wang Bodang is the nephew of Wang Yun, the governor of Xuzhou. Because he is good at riding and shooting, he was appointed as the general of the guard. Wang Bodang led the army to pursue the bandits, and they have not turned back yet."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ling thought to himself, "In that case, let's keep Jeju City for now. I will send someone to notify Wang Bodang and ask him to come back to support before noon tomorrow." Yang Ling immediately ordered someone to write a letter to Wang Bodang, ordering him to return to Jeju City as soon as possible.

Afterwards, Yang Ling convened officials at all levels to discuss specific measures for the defense of Jeju, and made plans and arrangements for guarding the city.

The next day, it was still dark.

The north gate of Jeju City slowly opened, and Yang Ling led his troops out of Jeju City and advanced eastward.

Jeju City is located on the north bank of the Jishui River, across the Yellow River from it, and is the bridge for crossing the Yellow River to the north.

The Yellow River Gang stationed tens of thousands of troops outside Jeju City, and they were obviously planning to rob the granary in Jeju City.

Although a large amount of food was stored in Jeju City, the supply was not timely because Yang Ling's granary had a limited storage capacity and it was attacked last night, so most of the food in the granary was burned.

Because of the food shortage in Jeju City, the gentry and powerful people in Jeju City fled into the city for refuge, leaving the city empty. Yang Ling's army easily occupied Jeju City.

Outside Jeju City, the Yellow River Gang's troops had already lined up outside the city waiting.

The Yellow River Gang’s headquarters is at the Yellow River Wharf on the east bank of the Yellow River, where there are several canal ships.

There are several large and small warships moored in the dock of Jeju Port, and a lot of food and cloth are piled up in the dock, which were all donated by the people of Jeju City.

The Yellow River Gang had looted as much as 80,000 to 90,000 shi of grain in the past few years, which, combined with their own grain reserves, was enough to arm 50,000 to 60,000 troops.

However, the Yellow River Gang did not dare to cross the river to rob rashly. They were afraid of being blocked by government troops from Xuzhou on the banks of the Ji River, because it was impossible for all of the Yellow River Gang's troops to cross the Ji River.

The Yellow River Gang set up camp on the banks of the Ji River to rest, waiting for nightfall, and then looking for an opportunity to cross the Ji River and rob Jeju City.

The Yellow River Gang’s lair is on the east bank of the Yellow River, but they do not have a fixed lair. Whenever the Yellow River changes its course, they will set up their lair on the bank of the Yellow River.

When Yang Ling's army arrived at the northern outskirts of Jeju City, he looked around and suddenly discovered that there seemed to be many enemies hiding in the nearby woods.

Yang Ling observed carefully for a moment, then waved his hand to signal his subordinates to be on guard.

Soon, the scouts of the Yellow River Gang rushed out of the woods. When they saw Yang Ling's army, they were so scared that they quickly dropped their weapons and surrendered.

"We are lying in ambush outside the city on the orders of the leader of the Yellow River Gang. Please spare our lives, Marshal." The scout fell to his knees and kowtowed for mercy.

Yang Ling snorted coldly: "How do you prove that you are from the Yellow River Gang?"

The scout quickly pointed to the woods nearby and shouted, "Look, Marshal, that's our sign."

Yang Ling looked at the mark in the woods and said in a deep voice: "Follow me, I want to see what the Yellow River Gang is up to!"

The scout quickly stood up, bent over, and carefully walked towards the depths of the woods under the leadership of Yang Ling.

Yang Ling and his companions successfully crossed the woods and came to the depths of the woods. What caught their eyes were more than ten large carts filled with various supplies and even a lot of silver and money.

"Are these grains, gold and silver the wealth of Jizhou City?" Yang Ling asked curiously.

The scout hurriedly replied respectfully: "General, these grains and gold and silver were all looted by me in the city. We, the Yellow River Gang, often plunder the people's manors and houses, and these properties were also looted by me and others."

"You, the Yellow River Gang, are so bold that you even looted the people's property. No wonder you were wiped out by the imperial court!" Yang Ling cursed angrily.

The scout turned pale upon hearing this, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and he begged with a trembling body, "Marshal, please spare my life, Marshal, please spare my life!"

The scout was not only afraid that Yang Ling would kill him, but he was also worried about being investigated by the imperial court because this matter was too serious.

"How could I kill innocent people?" Yang Ling glared at the scout and shouted, "I only want you to do two things. First, move the food to the city wall. Third, immediately notify the leader of the Yellow River Gang and tell him that I am waiting for him in Jeju City. Ask him to come to Jeju City as soon as possible."

The scout was stunned for a long while before he reacted. He did not dare to question Yang Ling's words, so he immediately agreed and left with the food and money.

Not long after the scout left, Wang Bodang rode up to Yang Ling on horseback.

"I greet the Marshal!"

"No need to be polite, just stand up." Yang Ling said with a smile.

"Thank you Marshal!"

Wang Bodang stood up and bowed to Yang Ling, apologizing, "I came to your rescue too late, causing you to suffer, I deserve to die!"

Yang Ling smiled and said, "I just happened to meet the Yellow River Gang and they were robbing Jeju City. It's not a big deal!"

"No matter what, I am suspected of dereliction of duty. Please punish me, Marshal!" Wang Bodang said sincerely.

Yang Ling waved his hand and said, "Forget it, forget it. You are my deputy and are responsible for supervising the battle in Yanzhou City. You are indeed to blame. I will forgive you this time. I hope you will be more careful next time and don't make the same mistake again."

"I will follow the Marshal's instructions!" Wang Bodang accepted the order solemnly.

Yang Ling then asked about the situation in Jeju City and asked Wang Bodang if he was ready.

The situation in Jeju City was much worse than Yang Ling had imagined. There was not much food left in the city. Unless someone delivered food, the city would not be able to hold out until the reinforcements arrived.

However, Yang Ling did not give up. He decided to personally escort the food and supplies to the west of Jeju City to prevent the Yellow River Gang from breaking through Jeju City.

Yang Ling set out with his soldiers in a mighty procession, moving along the Jishui River towards the west side of Jeju City.

As the walls of Jeju City were tall and steep, making them easy to defend but difficult to attack, the members of the Yellow River Gang did not choose to attack the city because they knew that attacking Jeju City would be futile and could easily bring disaster upon themselves.

The Yellow River Gang sent people to keep an eye on the actions of Yang Ling and others, and report to the Yellow River Gang's headquarters at any time.

After receiving the news, Tian Hu, the leader of the Yellow River Gang, couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yang Ling is really not a simple guy. Now he actually came here alone to die. I want to see how capable he is."

Tian Hu sat on the chair and closed his eyes to rest. After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth and ordered: "Pass the order down, order all the troops to assemble immediately and wait for my signal to act."

"Here!"

Thousands of Yellow River Gang bandits immediately gathered in the mountain strongholds and villages near Jeju City and stood by for orders.

Jeju City was only seventy steps away from the mouth of the Jeju River. Yang Ling and his companions galloped along the banks of the Jishui River. In less than two incense sticks of time, they arrived at the river bend and saw faint flickering lights in the distance.

Yang Ling tightened the reins and turned to look at the scout next to him: "Where have the Yellow River Gang set up camp? How many people do they have?"

"General, the Yellow River Gang has about a thousand men and they have set up camp on the riverbank."

Yang Ling raised his eyebrows a few times, and said thoughtfully: "Pass the order down, everyone stop advancing and set up camp."

There are two large camps in Jeju City, one belonging to the Jeju County Government and the other to the prefectural government. Yang Ling led his soldiers to the Jeju County Government and set up camp there.

When night falls and the moon rises, the lights in Jeju City are still bright. (End of this chapter)