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

To be honest, Yang Ling was not pessimistic about the fall of Jeju City, but rather gloated over it. His idea was to minimize the loss of the people. If he could successfully capture Jeju City, Yang Ling would be happy, but if he could not, Yang Ling did not want the people of Jeju to work for the government.

"Marshal, in that case, I will lead the troops to charge out and fight these bandits to the last!" Zhou Tieniu said in a deep voice, clenching his fist.

"Don't be impulsive!" Yang Ling stopped Zhou Tieniu.

Zhou Tieniu stared at the four corpses angrily and said with gritted teeth: "General, the Jizhou County Government and the two militiamen outside the city gate are all our people."

Yang Ling sighed and said, "At this time, it is worth sacrificing more people! After the fall of Jeju City, the food, property and money in the Jeju County Government must be distributed to the people. Although we suffered heavy losses this time, we have gained a lot, enough to provide relief to our brothers and the people. As for the more than 2,000 militiamen, I will find a way to rescue them."

"Ugh!"

Yang Ling ordered again: "Tie Niu, send someone to inform Han Shizhong, Xu Ji and others immediately, and tell them to prepare for retreat. We will leave tonight!"

Zhou Tieniu clasped his fists in agreement and quickly ran away to convey Yang Ling's order.

Yang Ling then said to Shen Tieniu beside him: "Old Shen, my archery skills are pretty good, right?"

Shen Tieniu nodded and said, "Not bad, you are indeed recognized as a sharpshooter. Marshal, what do you want to do?"

Yang Ling said calmly: "You will be responsible for covering me later. I will use the crossbow to deal with the enemy first, and then take the opportunity to seize the nearby positions and strive to break through the enemy's encirclement as soon as possible."

"Marshal, aren't you afraid of death?" Shen Tieniu asked.

"I'm scared! That's why I need your protection, because the hope of survival is even slimmer. If we all die, there will be no one to avenge you!" Yang Ling said gently.

After Shen Tieniu heard this, he showed shame on his face, bowed his head and said, "I understand!"

"Old Shen, I know you are an excellent martial artist, but I still suggest you bring 500 elite soldiers with you. It will be easy for the three of us to break through, but if more than one person tries to break through, it will definitely cause huge chaos, and the entire army may be wiped out!" Yang Ling reminded.

"I will remember the Marshal's teachings!" Shen Tieniu said solemnly.

Yang Ling nodded slightly and said, "Old Shen, I believe you!"

"I will definitely not let you down!"

Then Yang Ling turned around and told his men to move forward, and as they walked, he reminded them, "When we encounter the enemy later, everyone should be careful to hide and not expose their target!"

"Here!"

The team quietly climbed up the hillside and hid in the dense grass.

Yang Ling held his breath and waited for the enemy to arrive. The rest of his men also held their breath and crouched close to trees or bushes.

Yang Ling raised his right hand, slowly stretched it towards the bushes on the left, and then swung it down suddenly. His movements were clean and neat, without any delay.

I saw hot blood coming out of the grass on the left, two hideous heads flew into the air, and bright red blood sprayed out.

"There is an ambush, hide quickly!" The bandits in front were suddenly panicked and dodged.

Several feather arrows flew in from all angles, killing seven or eight people in an instant. The remaining bandits were frightened out of their wits and retreated in a hurry.

"Shoot!" Yang Ling drew his sword, pointed to the west and shouted.

Dozens of sharp arrows shot out, and the bandits in the front row fell to the ground one after another, screaming in agony. The bandits were not numerous to begin with, and now they had lost many more, so they were immediately routed.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the bandits turned around and ran south, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"The handsome man is mighty!"

"The handsome man is mighty!"

All the subordinates were delighted and applauded. In the previous battle, Yang Ling defeated the enemy with fewer troops and killed more than 20 enemy soldiers. This battle was a beautiful victory.

Yang Ling put away his sword and ordered, "Send someone to contact Xu Ji immediately and ask him to lead his troops for reinforcements and escort the captured bandits to Jeju City."

Jizhou was more than ten miles away from Linxiang County. Yang Ling estimated that he would have to break out and hold off the enemy troops in Jizhou before midnight at the latest. By then, Xu Ji should have led his troops to arrive. No matter how powerful the guards in Jizhou were, they would definitely not be able to stop the soldiers who outnumbered them by several or even dozens of times.

"Yes, sir!" Shen Tieniu agreed.

Soon, the news of Yang Ling's surprise attack on Jeju reached Linxiang County. Chen Xilin was overjoyed when he heard the news and immediately summoned all his advisers to discuss countermeasures.

"My lord, this is a godsend opportunity. Yang Ling has gone deep into the heart of Jeju alone and is now trapped in Jeju City. We can send cavalry to chase him from the direction of Jeju and we will surely capture Yang Ling alive!"

"I agree too!"

"No! Absolutely not! This is a conspiracy. We cannot rashly send troops to intercept it. If anything goes wrong, our army will be attacked from both sides and will surely be defeated!"

"In my opinion, Yang Ling has deployed a large number of secret sentries in Jeju City before, and he has obviously noticed the danger of Jeju. If we don't seize the opportunity to launch an attack, I'm afraid they will escape tonight, and then we will have a hard time catching up with them!"

The counselors were arguing fiercely. Chen Xilin was upset and waved his hand to stop the quarrel. After a moment of silence, he said, "Everyone, let's hold our troops for now and see what Yang Ling chooses."

"Your Excellency is wise!" Everyone praised in unison.

"Report, urgent news from Jezhou, Yang Ling has occupied Jezhou County!"

Chen Xilin and others were quite surprised when they heard this. Yang Ling actually captured Jizhou County before the arrival of the government army reinforcements. It seemed that he was well prepared.

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Xilin said, "If Yang Ling captures the city, the government troops will be furious, and Jeju will probably be in big trouble. Let's send someone to persuade him to surrender. If Yang Ling surrenders to the government, we can deal with him in time, otherwise it will be a big trouble!"

"Well! Let's act according to your advice. We will send someone to persuade them to surrender immediately!"

As a result, the officials of Linxiang County began to get busy. Since Jizhou County was relatively close to Linxiang County, the task of sending people to persuade Yang Ling to surrender fell on Liu Bingxian.

Liu Bingxian and several staff members came to the north gate of Jeju, stood on the north wall and looked at the brightly lit Jeju County in the distance, muttering: "Jeju County has fallen into the hands of bandits. Regardless of whether Yang Ling is willing to submit to the government, we can only try our best to stabilize his mind and eliminate his worries."

"Best regards, sir!"

"So when are we going to send someone there?"

After a brief thought, Liu Bingxian said, "Since we want to stabilize Yang Ling's resolve, we must first let him feel the sincerity of the government. Pass on my order to immediately mobilize 500 civilians to build a floating bridge overnight, and send people to persuade Yang Ling to surrender tomorrow morning."

"As ordered!"

The next day, Yang Ling and others were resting in the tent.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. Yang Ling got up quickly. Then he saw Shen Tieniu coming in with the curtain lifted, saying, "General, the government troops have sent people to persuade us to surrender!"

Yang Ling frowned and asked, "Who is coming?" Shen Tieniu said, "According to the scouts' report, the person coming is Liu Bingxian, the county magistrate of Linxiang."

After a moment of silence, Yang Ling turned to the commander of his personal guards, Huang Chang, and said, "Commander Huang, gather your men immediately and follow me into battle!"

"Marshal, are you going to go into the tiger's den alone?!" Huang Chang said worriedly.

Yang Ling shook his head and smiled: "Although the tiger's den is dangerous, it is our only way out. If we can't successfully break out of the siege, we can only be trapped and die in Jeju City!"

"Yes!" Huang Chang replied.

"Marshal, we swear to live and die with you!" When the personal soldiers around Yang Ling heard that Yang Ling was actually planning to break out alone, they all shouted in indignation.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Yang Ling raised his hand to suppress the discussion of the soldiers, and said seriously: "This time, my attempt to break out is very risky, so I need you to protect me. I will lead away the pursuers later, and you can take the opportunity to break out of the encirclement immediately."

As Yang Ling finished speaking, the shouting and screaming outside the tent became closer and closer.

"Marshal, the government troops are coming, let's go quickly." Huang Chang urged anxiously.

"No, I must stay and stop the pursuers to buy you time to escape!"

"How can this be possible? It's too dangerous!"

Yang Ling shook his head firmly and said, "I have already made up my mind. You should set off immediately and run along the eastern forest. Our cavalry must be waiting on the road."

"Commander, what about you?"

Yang Ling sighed and said, "Jezhou has fallen into the hands of the bandits. The defenders of Jezhou City will definitely not dare to open the city gates to meet the enemy easily. Because we have no food supplies, the granary in Jezhou City can't last for more than a few days. The defenders of Jezhou City know that Jezhou cannot be defended, so they can only defend the city to the death."

Everyone nodded in sudden realization.

At this time, the tent was opened, and two teams of soldiers in bright armor and holding weapons rushed in one after another.

"Those of you who lay down your weapons and surrender will not be killed, but those who resist arrest will be killed without mercy!" the captain in the middle shouted.

At this time, Liu Bingxian and his staff came in and breathed a sigh of relief. They were worried that Yang Ling and others would resist. After all, the strength of the two sides was too different. If Yang Ling persisted, they would be helpless. Now it seems that Yang Ling is not a reckless person and actually planned to surrender.

Yang Ling bowed to Liu Bingxian and said, "Your humble servant greets you, sir!"

Liu Bingxian nodded slightly and said, "General Yang, there is no need to be polite!"

"I will join you, sir!"

Others also knelt down and bowed.

Liu Bingxian signaled Yang Ling to stand up, and then said to the staff beside him: "You are responsible for recording and drafting the surrender document."

"Yes, my lord!"

Liu Bingxian pointed at Yang Ling and introduced him, "General Yang, this is my classmate, Linxiang County Magistrate Chen Xilin."

Yang Ling quickly bowed and said, "I greet Master Chen!"

"Haha, don't blame me, my dear brother. We did misunderstand your intention last night." Chen Xilin smiled and clasped his fists, saying, "My dear brother, you are a man of wisdom and wisdom. I am so glad to see you!"

Yang Ling smiled bitterly and said, "Lord Chen, you are too kind! I just couldn't bear to sacrifice my brothers' lives in vain, so I didn't attack Jeju City by force!"

Chen Xilin nodded in agreement and said, "General Yang is right. I am here today to persuade General Yang to surrender."

"Sir, please take a seat!"

"I dare not. I will just stand and speak!"

Chen Xilin sat down on the chair opposite Yang Ling, and then went straight to the point: "General Yang, I am here on behalf of the court to persuade you to surrender. Needless to say, I am sincere. I hope that General Yang will give up the dark and join the light, and submit to the court. I promise General Yang that after you lead your troops to cross the Huai River from Jeju to the north, you can go straight to Suining. When Suining City is captured, the court will definitely reward you generously, and even grant you a third-rank official position."

Yang Ling asked calmly, "Sir, can the court really keep its promise?"

"Well," Chen Xilin scratched his head awkwardly, "The court always keeps its word and will never break its promise to you."

Yang Ling snorted coldly, "These words may be enough to fool others, but they are far from enough to fool me. If the court really promised to reward me, why would they trap me to death in Jeju City, and why would they give the land that belongs to us to the thieves to cultivate!"

Although Yang Ling is ignorant of worldly affairs, he is not stupid. As long as he thinks carefully, he can basically guess the general idea of ​​many things.

"This." Chen Xilin was speechless.

Yang Ling snorted coldly, "Sir, I know you are just following orders, don't make it difficult. I have figured it out. Since the court cannot tolerate foreigners like us, we might as well raise the flag of rebellion. Then we can compete with the court openly!"

Chen Xilin's face suddenly changed after hearing this. He never expected that Yang Ling would come up with such a crazy suggestion. Although they were envoys sent by the court to pacify the alien race, they dared not make the decision on such a matter.

Just when Chen Xilin felt that the situation was extremely difficult, Yang Ling suddenly said, "Don't worry, sir. If the court is unwilling to give up, I am willing to lead the troops out of the city to fight!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xilin couldn't help but curse in his heart, "Fuck, I want you to lead your troops out of the city to fight!"

At this time, Yang Ling suddenly said, "Sir, why don't we evacuate Jizhou City first and make plans after arriving at Suining City?"

"No!" Chen Xilin flatly refused.

They were sent by the imperial court to pacify the foreign races. If they cowered in Jeju City or escaped halfway, they would become a laughing stock.

Yang Ling had expected the other party to refuse, so he tried from another angle: "Sir, Jizhou City is already a dead end, we can retreat to Suining City. There are still more than 3,000 defenders in Suining City. As long as we hold on for a few months, reinforcements will surely arrive. As long as the defenders of Suining City reinforce in time, Jizhou City will be impregnable!"

When Chen Xilin heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

If they could hold out until reinforcements arrived, they would certainly be rescued. If reinforcements were delayed, Yang Ling and his men would surely be defeated, and Jeju City would still be conquered by the government.

After thinking through all these points, Chen Xilin finally wavered and said, "General Yang is absolutely right. We should move as soon as possible to avoid any more trouble."

Liu Bingxian said with some concerns: "But General Yang, as far as I know, Yangjiabao is sixty miles away from Jeju City. Even if the horses gallop at full speed, it will take at least three days to get there."

"Three days?" Yang Ling pondered for a moment and asked, "Is there any water source in Jeju City?"

"Yes!" Chen Xilin replied.

Jeju is the largest seaside port in Jeju Bay, and there is a small salt field nearby. In autumn and winter, fishermen around Jeju Bay always go to the salt field to catch salt. Most of these fishing boats are used to transport food, vegetables and other supplies, and a small number of them go to the salt field to fish. Because most of the people in Jeju rely on salt to survive, there are salt lakes around Jeju Island, which can produce a large amount of food every summer, which is also the guarantee for the survival of Jeju Island. (End of this chapter)