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

After waiting for a moment, Yang Ling looked towards the east again. Sure enough, there were thick black shadows moving in the distance. These were the Tibetan cavalry galloping towards him.

The fighting power of the Tibetan cavalry was much better than that of the rebels, especially against infantry. The cavalry could often easily tear through the rebel formations. Because the rebels had poor riding skills and were clumsy in their movements, they were unable to organize any resistance when they encountered the Tibetans.

"I hope I can hold on." Yang Ling took a deep breath and muttered to himself.

He knew that the most feared thing in war was collapse. The collapse of troops was like a landslide or a tsunami, which could not be stopped by anyone and the final outcome was often very tragic.

Yang Ling once personally commanded a large-scale field battle, and saw many defeated soldiers trampling each other to death on the battlefield. There would even be large-scale massacres, because the enemy's pursuit of the defeated soldiers would make their own formation become loose sand, making them easy to be surrounded or defeated.

This is a situation that Yang Ling absolutely does not want to see.

"Marshal, the Tibetans are coming!"

"Get ready to meet the enemy!"

Accompanied by screams and shouts, dozens of Tibetan cavalrymen galloped from the official road on the west side towards the east city gate. The horses under their crotches were covered with heavy iron armor, and they held spears in their hands, which shone dazzlingly coldly under the sunlight.

"Archers prepare!"

Yang Ling shouted and ordered.

The archers who had been prepared immediately raised their bows and arrows and aimed at the Tibetan cavalry.

"Fire arrows!"

In an instant, countless arrows flew out, covering half of the sky like locusts, and pounced on the Tubo cavalry with a shrill whistle.

Countless arrows pierced the Tibetan cavalry, blood spurted out and dyed their clothes red, but the Tibetan cavalry did not stop at all and continued to rush forward.

Several sharp arrows pierced the chest and abdomen of the leading Tibetan cavalryman, and he fell off his horse with a groan.

Immediately afterwards, another seven or eight Tibetan cavalrymen were shot by arrows and fell off their horses.

The remaining cavalry did not dare to slow down at all. They gritted their teeth and urged their mounts to rush towards the East Gate.

"Shoot!" Yang Ling ordered the archers to continue shooting arrows.

However, the remaining Tibetan cavalry were obviously well-trained. When the rain of arrows came, they all lay down to avoid the arrows.

Although this resulted in heavy losses, it allowed the Tibetan cavalry to effectively close the distance between themselves and the defenders on the city walls.

"The trebuchet is ready."

Several catapults were pushed to the top of the city wall. Each of them weighed more than 600 kilograms. Such a large object required the joint efforts of more than ten strong men to carry it. However, due to the lack of wood, these catapults could only be piled on the edge of the city wall.

Dozens of craftsmen carried huge logs and placed them in front of the catapult.

Yang Ling used a telescope to observe the movements of the Tibetan army in the distance, and then gave the order: "Shoot!"

Dense arrows rained down on the Tibetan cavalry. Some Tibetan cavalry were unable to dodge and were hit by arrows and fell off their horses.

However, some Tibetan cavalry dodged the arrows and continued to charge towards the city wall.

"put!"

Yang Ling gave the order again.

The archers in the Tibetan cavalry pulled the triggers one after another, and arrows flew towards the top of the city. However, due to the cover of the city walls, most of the arrows missed the target, and the occasional ones that hit the target were not enough to pose a threat.

"Archery!"

The defenders on the city wall also began to shoot arrows, and Tibetan cavalry were repeatedly hit by arrows and fell off their horses, but the Tibetans did not care at all and continued to charge.

Soon, the Tibetan cavalry arrived at the city wall.

"Get the catapult ready!" Yang Ling shouted.

The strong man next to the catapult threw the loaded stones into the city.

There were several loud noises, and rocks fell heavily on the Tibetan cavalry. The Tibetans were caught off guard, and many were injured or killed. The Tibetans' charge was temporarily curbed.

The defenders on the city wall also took advantage of the cover of the catapults and quickly drew their bows, continuously shooting arrows at the rushing Tibetan cavalry. The Tibetan cavalry also began to fight back, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle under the city wall.

However, the defenders were outnumbered after all. The Tibetan army gathered in larger and larger numbers and soon overwhelmed the defenders on the city walls, forcing them to retreat into the city.

The Tibetans became excited upon seeing this, and they all rushed into the city gate on horseback.

"Shoot!" Yang Ling gave the order again. This time, the defenders on the city wall came out in full force, and arrows rained down like a curtain of rain.

The few Tibetans who were charging in the front immediately fell in a pool of blood.

The people behind hurriedly stopped, not daring to move forward. At the same time, they shouted loudly in Tibetan, as if to remind their companions around them.

"Damn it!"

The leader of the Tibetan cavalry was a man in his forties, with a sturdy build and a face full of flesh. He drew his scimitar and chopped at the fearful soldiers around him.

However, this approach did not bring any deterrence to the defenders. Instead, it aroused their anger. They turned around and poured arrows at the elderly general.

The Tibetan general's body was filled with arrows and he fell to the ground dead. However, other Tibetan soldiers had already broken through the city gate and rushed in. The defenders wanted to rescue him, but it was too late.

Yang Ling stood on the north city wall, staring coldly at the Tibetans attacking the city outside, his heart filled with worry.

He knew very well that the city was seriously short of troops and there was no way to fight a decisive battle with the Tibetans. If the battle was delayed too long, even if they won today, they would not be able to defend the city tomorrow.

"We must get rid of this group of Tibetans as soon as possible." Yang Ling thought to himself. Once this thought came to his mind, he couldn't get rid of it. He kept thinking about what to do.

At this moment, Yang Ling heard the scout's voice and quickly ordered, "Please speak."

"Your Excellency, the city gate was suddenly closed. The soldiers defending the city fought desperately, and our subordinates were unable to capture the gate." The scout reported.

"what?"

Yang Ling was very upset. Once the city gate was captured, they had no hope of defeating the Tibetans, let alone defeating the 50,000 troops sent by Songtsen Gampo to reinforce them.

The actual commander of this Tibetan army was Negro, the younger brother of the Tibetan king Zamp, and the most senior military commander in Tibetan history after Songtsen Gampo. The troops he led were all light cavalry, which were agile and good at climbing steep slopes. If Negro's cavalry could not be eliminated as soon as possible, the defenders guarding the city wall would not be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

“We must defeat Negro’s cavalry as soon as possible, otherwise the food and grass in the city will be exhausted. Even if we win, it will be a pyrrhic victory, and there will be endless troubles.” Yang Ling thought to himself.

The Tubo army set up camp near the city gate. Many of them had occupied houses near the city gate as temporary settlements. They left many corpses on the city walls, including those of Tubo soldiers and those of soldiers defending the city.

The Tibetan soldiers rested here, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. They didn't seem to be worried about the defenders in the city.

While Yang Ling was concentrating on thinking, a scout came running over, knelt on one knee and reported: "General, there is a letter from the front line, the Tibetan army is attacking our north gate."

"Oh? They're coming so fast!" Yang Ling frowned slightly. He pondered for a moment and ordered, "Let Zhang Delu lead his troops out of the city to meet them."

The Tibetan army outside the city was the elite main force under Songtsen Gampo, with a number of 20,000 people. The thousand or so remnants led by Zhang Delu could not stop the attack of the Tibetan army at all. So Yang Ling chose to let Zhang Delu go to rescue.

Zhang Delu organized people outside the north gate to block the gate.

The Tibetan army outside the city found that there were people blocking the road ahead, and immediately urged their horses to charge towards the city gate.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Delu immediately ordered the archers to shoot, but they did not have many bows and arrows, so the damage caused to the Tubo army was limited.

The Tibetans rushed onto the city wall under the cover of bows and arrows, but were quickly killed by the defenders.

Seeing that the defenders in the city refused to withdraw, Zhang Delu ordered his archers to set fire to the city gate.

The Tibetans had planned this in advance, so after lighting the gunpowder cans, they threw down the explosives and rushed to the city wall, trying to control the city gate. As a result, they were killed by the defenders, but they also successfully burned the oilcloth at the entrance of the city gate.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Zhang Delu led his troops out of the city from the west to fight against the Tubo army.

The Tubo army originally believed that the defenders had only a thousand men, and they were confident that they could annihilate the enemy even if Zhang Delu led his army to rescue them. However, the defenders were even more tenacious than they had imagined, and they soon fell into a fierce battle and eventually fled. Zhang Delu also returned to the city with the remaining soldiers and joined the defenders.

The outcome of this battle was already determined, and the Tibetan cavalry outside the city had been completely wiped out.

Looking at the blood and broken limbs on the ground, the defending soldiers felt numb.

The battle just now was too fierce and both sides suffered heavy losses, especially the Tibetans, most of whom were killed and only a small number escaped the battlefield.

"Sir, I have fulfilled my mission and have blocked the city gates. The food in the city is enough for us to hold out for three months."

Yang Ling looked at the devastated battlefield, shook his head and sighed, "This is the heartland of Tubo. The food shortage will become more and more serious. We can't hold out for three months."

Although hundreds of Tibetans were shot and killed during the siege, this loss did not affect their subsequent attacks at all.

The Tibetans stayed in this town for two days and then continued to advance eastward, conquering several villages near the city and collecting food and supplies. While collecting food and transporting equipment, the Tibetan army was attacked by local people and suffered heavy losses. The Tibetan army had to give up advancing further.

The Tubo army retreated to the city of Datong to rest and wait for reinforcements.

"Marshal, the Tibetans have retreated. Should we go out of the city and pursue them now?" asked the adjutant.

Yang Ling shook his head. The way the Tibetan army retreated was very strange. It didn't seem like a hasty retreat, because they killed many resisting farmers on the way. He guessed that the Tibetan army had a plan in place.

If he led his troops in pursuit, he would probably fall into the trap set by the Tibetan army.

“You take two thousand soldiers to pursue the Tibetan army. Remember, don’t take risks in pursuing the enemy. Be sure to find out their retreat route, find the ambush location, and then send a message to me.” Yang Ling instructed.

The adjutant clasped his fists and agreed: "As you command!"

Although the Tibetan army retreated to Datong Prefecture, Yang Ling did not dare to be careless. He sent scouts to scout everywhere, looking for ambushes that the Tibetan army might be hiding, ready to wait for an opportunity to ambush the enemy.

The whereabouts of the Tibetan army were very secretive. Yang Ling's scouts spent several days only gathering sporadic information. However, the Tibetan army did not attack again and seemed to be patiently waiting for reinforcements.

"General, this is not good! The fortifications built by the Tibetan army in Datong Prefecture are very powerful. We can't break in at all!"

Yang Ling's adjutant anxiously reported the situation to Yang Ling outside Datong City.

Yang Ling's deputy general was named Zhang Delu, who was in his thirties. He had a stocky build, broad shoulders, a round waist, and dark skin, and looked very much like a mountain man.

Yang Ling was very interested in the trenches, chevaux de frise, sandbags and fences built by the Tibetans outside the city. He personally climbed to the top of the city wall to observe the Tibetan army's defensive fortifications outside the city.

Yang Ling carefully examined the tunnels dug by the Tibetans and was surprised to find that these trenches could actually lead directly to the inside of the city wall. If the enemy used crossbows and catapults, it would definitely be able to deal a fatal blow to the city wall.

Yang Ling's deputy general Zhang Delu was standing nearby. Seeing Yang Ling checking the terrain, he could not help but remind him, "Sir, there may be ambushes in these pits. Don't get close!"

Yang Ling looked up at the trench in the distance, his face gradually turned cold, and he snorted: "If the Tibetan army dug so many earth pits under the city, I'm afraid they are planning to besiege us here. As long as our food is exhausted, they will break through the city gate, enter the city, and then massacre the people in the city. They want to completely destroy us."

Zhang Delu quickly explained: "I also think the Tibetans' behavior is strange, but they are indeed digging pits outside the city."

Yang Ling stared at the trench in the distance, his eyes narrowed, and suddenly asked: "What is the purpose of the Tibetans digging so many trenches outside the city?"

"Could it be..." Zhang Delu was shocked when he heard Yang Ling's words.

Yang Ling turned around and looked at Zhang Delu, and said solemnly: "Delu, immediately send people to mobilize the laborers to open up the fields outside the city. Since the Tibetan army wants to trap us to death in the city, I want to survive. Let's play hide-and-seek with them."

Zhang Delu was stunned. He never expected that Yang Ling would make such a crazy decision.

"General, what if we can't hold on in the city, or the Tibetans attack us? Wouldn't we be in even greater danger then?"

"That time won't come. It will take at least five days for the Tibetans to capture Datong Prefecture. Before we can hold on, reinforcements will surely arrive, and then we will definitely win!"

Zhang Delu still wanted to dissuade him, but looking at Yang Ling's determined expression, he finally chose to shut up.

Yang Ling inspected the city wall for a while, then returned to the military camp to summon all the civil and military officials to discuss matters.

Yang Ling first briefly explained his plan: "The Tibetan army wants to trap us to death, so we will play hide-and-seek with them. We must not take the initiative to attack before their food runs out, otherwise we will easily fall into their trap."

When everyone heard that they were going to reclaim wasteland outside the city, they couldn't help but whisper to each other, and it was obvious that they were quite skeptical about Yang Ling's plan.

Yang Ling knew that it was impossible to hide the truth from everyone at this time, so he simply said frankly: "Everyone, we have been trapped in Songzhou for two years. The national treasury is empty, the salaries of generals at all levels have been reduced, and the army has no food to support. Now that the Tibetan army has occupied Songzhou, we must expand our armaments if we want to win. If we want to defeat the Tibetan army, we must ensure that the soldiers have enough food. I plan to open up fields outside the city to increase military pay and train new soldiers at the same time."

Zhang Delu looked at Yang Ling who was talking eloquently and was full of admiration.

Yang Ling's idea was correct. There was very little food and grass left in Datong Prefecture. If production was not restored in time, everyone would starve. (End of this chapter)