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

Guo Ye led five hundred elite soldiers and lined up outside the city.

As expected, the other party did not run away. He looked at him from a distance and both sides cursed at each other!

Without Guo Ye's order, the five hundred soldiers drew their swords in unison. Guo Ye stood at the front, brandishing his sword and shouting angrily: "Enemy soldiers, listen to my order, surrender and you will be spared!"

The enemy general Zhang Hu laughed loudly, "Li, have you ever been kicked in the head by a donkey? Do you think I will surrender and let you slaughter me?"

"Then let's see who lives and who dies!"

"Don't waste your words on him!" Zhang Hu shouted, "Archers, get ready, shoot!"

Sharp arrows from all over the mountains shot towards the walls of Li's mansion.

Guo Ye couldn't help but gasp when he saw this. Even their elite troops didn't dare to take on this level of attack! He immediately shouted, "Shields, prepare the kerosene tanks!"

The kerosene tank is a powerful weapon for defending the city. Guo Ye specifically asked Yang Ling to prepare it, and it is now useful.

The civilians behind them rushed over carrying a giant kerosene can and placed it under the tower. Then they lit it with a match and poured it under the city wall. In an instant, thick smoke billowed, covering the sky and the sun.

Yang Ling shouted: "Throw stones and smash them to death!"

Guo Ye shouted, "No! We can't smash them to death."

"What?"

"Killing the enemy is not worth it, injuring them is the goal."

"I see!"

Yang Ling shouted, "Get your trebuchets ready! Aim at Zhang Hu!"

"put!"

Dozens of huge stones whizzed out of the city, making Zhang Hu look miserable.

"Release! Shoot Li Dexin to death!"

"Release! Shoot Guo Ye to death!"

Zhang Hu, Wang Ergou and others turned their spears and shot arrows at Guo Ye.

Yang Ling commanded his soldiers to resist with all their might. He shouted, "Shieldmen, cover!"

The shield bearers held up their heavy shields to block the attacks of Zhang Hu and others, buying them a precious moment to catch their breath.

Seeing that Yang Ling and the others had temporarily stabilized their position, Guo Ye took advantage of the chaos and quietly slipped into the city gate.

As soon as he entered the city gate, Guo Ye was stunned by the scene in front of him!
The entire city of Xiangyang had been burned to the ground, with corpses piled up like mountains all over the city.

He asked in surprise, "What's going on?"

Yang Ling smiled bitterly and said, "What else could it be? Zhang Hu and his men burned our granary last night."

"How is that possible? We have enough food and fodder to defend the city for half a month. Are they crazy?"

"I'm also wondering. Judging from their posture last night, they were determined to break the city at all costs. There's no way they would give up Xiangyang City and turn around and withdraw. Could it be that they have some powerful reinforcements?"

"That's not the case. According to my guess, they must have known that there was an ambush in the city, so they changed their minds at the last minute."

Guo Ye sighed, "These rebels are really smart. If we hadn't made arrangements in advance, this battle would have been a big problem."

"That's right." Yang Ling said, "General, you didn't see how tragic it was last night. Although the enemy didn't take back the granary, it also cost the defenders a huge price."

"Oh? What's the specific situation?"

Yang Ling counted on his fingers and said, "Last night, we lost nearly a thousand soldiers. Excluding those who died, there are still more than 2,800 people left, and the casualties are over 60%."

"So high?" Guo Ye was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

Yang Ling sighed, "That's not all. We also captured nearly 10,000 prisoners last night, and lost more than 7,000 of them. Adding it all up, the death toll is almost 4,000. This doesn't even include the costs of the deceased's dependents, pensions, etc. In short, the loss is not small."

Guo Ye said: "Fortunately, we discovered it in advance. If we had waited until they burned down the granary, our losses would have been even greater."

Yang Ling said, "That's right. Everyone thought Zhang Hu and Wang Ergou wanted to fight to the death, but they found out that they wanted to escape and burned down the granary. They couldn't bear it anymore and decided to fight to the death."

"Hmph, no matter what Zhang Hu and Wang Ergou's intentions are, we are sure to win this time! Send a message to the entire army, and do your best to stop the enemy from crossing the river."

"Here!"

Just as the two sides were fighting fiercely, suddenly there was a sound of shouting and killing from afar, followed by a cloud of dust.

Zhang Hu said, "It's over. Brother Li is chasing us. This is terrible. We can't escape. Brothers, run for your lives!"

"Boss, we have followed you for these years and have made a lot of money. Now we have to run away, where should we go?"

"I know where to run, but as long as you are alive, there is hope. You should run for your lives. Remember to keep my and Wang Ergou's bodies safe. When we are out of trouble, Wang Ergou and I will avenge you!"

"Take care, boss. We'll be brothers in the next life!"

When Zhang Hu's followers heard their leader's order, they immediately scattered like birds and beasts and fled eastward.

Guo Ye was overjoyed when he saw this. He was originally worried about not being able to find the hostages. Now that Zhang Hu and the others had escaped, he could save himself a lot of trouble!
Zhang Hu's side had just withdrawn, and Yang Ling's main force had already arrived at the city.

Guo Ye ordered: "Bowmen, listen up, shoot! Don't let anyone escape!"

"promise!"

"put!"

Arrows poured down from the sky again, and Zhang Hu and his men were forced to retreat again.

Zhang Hu gnashed his teeth and said, "Guo, I'm not playing with you! I don't believe that with so many of us, we can't defeat your mere 30,000 infantrymen! Hold on!"

"Kill!"

Zhang Hu's troops began to counterattack.

Guo Ye sneered, "Don't say we only have 30,000 people, even if there are 3 million, I am not afraid. Brother Yang, get your archers ready! Wait until they are about 50 steps away, then shoot. Don't rush to shoot them, shoot them first to reduce the pressure on our army."

"As ordered!"

Immediately, Guo Ye's troops also began to counterattack.

The two armies engaged in a fierce battle. Yang Ling's archers showed their power and suppressed Zhang Hu's troops so that they could not raise their heads.

The two sides fought each other, and blood flowed like a river. Many people died due to lack of medical conditions, and even the bodies could not be found, and they could only be hastily buried.

The two sides fought until noon, and Zhang Hu's troops suffered heavy casualties. Zhang Hu and Wang Ergou were both captured.

Yang Ling ordered: "Bring them up here."

Zhang Hu gnashed his teeth and said, "Guo, we lost because we didn't burn all the food. If we had burned all the food, we wouldn't know who would win. If you dare to touch us, aren't you afraid of destroying your own relatives for the sake of justice?"

"Haha, what you said is really hilarious! I, Guo Ye, led my army here and your granaries have all been burned down. What's the point of talking about sacrificing relatives for the sake of justice?"

"Humph, you don't dare to kill us, which proves that you have a weak spot in our hands. You have to think carefully, Wang Ergou and I are not worth dying. If you dare to be rude to us, we will kill all your wives, concubines and children immediately!"

Guo Ye laughed loudly and said, "Zhang Hu, oh Zhang Hu, you look down on me too much. I, Guo Ye, am a great general. How could I be coerced by others? I advise you not to have such wishful thinking."

"Then let's just wait and see!" "Just wait and see, I'm going to kill you all today! Come on, chop off their heads and hang them on the flagpole for public display!"

"Here!"

The heads of Zhang Hu and Wang Ergou were chopped off and inserted into the flagpole.

Guo Ye said: "Give these two heads to Brother Yang."

"Thank you, Marshal!"

"You're welcome. Our common enemy now is Li Mi, so let's not bother about these little grudges. But you have to be careful, Li Mi is not as merciful as me."

"You will finally understand."

Yang Ling took the heads of Zhang Hu and Wang Ergou and said, "We don't want to keep these two heads. After we capture Xiangyang City, we will present them to Li Mi to appease the people."

"good!"

Yang Ling said: "Since Xiangyang City has been taken, let's continue marching. When it's evening, we can rest and prepare to fight Li Mi."

"Here!"

Guo Ye's troops were divided into two groups and attacked Xiangyang City from different directions.

As Xiangyang City was easy to defend but difficult to attack, Yang Ling was worried that the defenders in the city would come out to harass them, so he specifically ordered the troops to bypass the city as much as possible to avoid encountering them.

If we encounter an attack on Xiangyang City, we can go straight to Huanglong, break through the city wall, and then go straight into the city.

Of course, if Li Mi sent people to reinforce Xiangyang City, he would also have to take contingency measures and not fight head-on.

As for the heads of Zhang Hu and others, Guo Ye didn't care at all and just threw them outside the camp without paying any attention. The only thing he cared about now was the inventory in the granary.

The food was being consumed too quickly. According to Yang Ling's estimation, the stored food would be gone in less than half a month.

This problem was very difficult, and Yang Ling had no way to solve it. After all, he had no skilled craftsmen or officials familiar with farming.

After much thought, he decided to seek help from Guo Ye, an aide to the Duke of Qin's Mansion.

After listening to his narration, Guo Ye nodded slightly. It was not because Yang Ling's request was too much that he agreed to help.

He had long wanted to solve this problem.

Yang Ling said, "Sir, the food consumption is really too high. If there is no sufficient supply, even if we capture Xiangyang City, how long can we hold out?"

"This problem is indeed difficult to solve. If we had enough food, we would have conquered Xiangyang City and driven Li Mi's troops out of Jingzhou long ago. How could it have dragged on until now?"

After finishing speaking, Guo Ye said: "Let's put this issue aside for now. We will discuss it after we capture Xiangyang City. Brother Yang, your identity is sensitive, so the command of this city capture will be given to you, what do you think?"

Yang Ling shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying: "I'm afraid this is not appropriate. Although I am a military officer appointed by the court, I am only a staff officer. I can't command operations."

"What should we do? We can't change the generals in the middle of a battle, right? That would be even more troublesome."

Just as he was talking here, he heard someone report, "Your Excellency, the envoy of the Xiliang Army wants to see you!"

"What are they doing here again?"

"I don't know. But they keep saying they want to negotiate with you, sir."

"Negotiation? What are we talking about? What can I talk about with them?"

"I don't know about this subordinate."

"Tell them to go away. I don't want to see them."

"Yes!" The messenger turned and left.

Yang Ling sighed and said, "Sir, the Xiliang Army is a hot potato. Can you bear to ignore them?"

"It's true that they are hot potatoes, but they can also save lives. I am short of food now. If we can negotiate and cooperate with the Xiliang Army, we can save a lot of effort."

"You promised this yourself. If we don't agree to the Xiliang Army's request, it might lead to conflict!"

"So what? The situation is stronger than us now. Do we have any choice? Why not stabilize them first and then make other plans later."

Yang Ling pondered for a long time and sighed: "Alas, this is the only way at the moment. I hope these Xiliang troops will not let us down."

As he spoke, he led Guo Ye and his personal guards to the entrance of the military tent and said, "Generals, Yang has been ordered to guard Xiangyang. These Xiliang barbarians are ignorant and have repeatedly offended us. On behalf of the court, I ask all generals to take strict precautions. Do not underestimate the enemy!"

"I will obey the general's orders!"

"In that case, let's just wait here for good news."

Guo Ye and Yang Ling returned to the tent and sat down. Yang Ling asked, "Sir, do you think these Xiliang soldiers will really negotiate with us honestly?"

“I don’t think it’s optimistic.”

"Oh?"

"I just observed carefully that these Xiliang soldiers were quite respectful to Yang Ling, and even tried to curry favor with him. It's obvious that they are afraid of you and General Yang."

He stamped his feet and continued, "If these soldiers from Xiliang were sent by Li Mi to test our strength, I don't think they would dare to come. They have come from thousands of miles away. Even if they have the ability to see through the sky and the earth, it would still take them hundreds of miles to travel. After so long, Li Mi should have received the news and made preparations long ago."

"What do you mean, sir?"

Guo Ye said: "We might as well wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. If the Xiliang army does come to attack, we will make plans later."

"Well, that's the only way."

"Well, gather your troops immediately and be ready to fight at any time. Report any actions taken by the Xiliang soldiers to me in a timely manner."

"Yes!"

As night fell, the streets of Xiangyang city became unusually deserted, with only a few patrolling soldiers passing by occasionally.

In this situation, even ordinary civilians in the city hid and slept, unwilling to show their heads. The whole city seemed to be plunged into deathly silence.

Suddenly, several riders came galloping and stopped outside the city gate. Dust was raised and scattered by the footsteps of their horses, showing the extremely anxious mental state of their masters.

Immediately afterwards, the guards came out to ask questions.

"Stop, what do you guys want to do?"

The visitor said, "We are from the Xiliang Army, and we have been ordered to go to Xiangyang City to check. Don't worry, we will never hurt anyone!"

"No one will be hurt? That won't work. Everyone knows that Xiangyang City is full of rebels, and they have committed many murders and robberies. If we let you in, wouldn't it be like a sheep among wolves? You better leave now!"

The visitor was overjoyed and asked, "So you are willing to let us into the city?"

"Of course!" The soldier guarding the city nodded and said, "I advise you to retreat quickly, otherwise, if the fire at the city gate catches fire, everyone in the pond will be affected. Don't blame me for not reminding you."

"We are not afraid! We are not afraid!"

"Not afraid? Good thing you're not afraid. Then get out of here right away."

"Hey, general, you are not afraid of death, but we are. How about you open the city gate and let us enter the city?" (End of this chapter)