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

Everyone understood that Yang Ling was worried that the soldiers might cause trouble, so they expressed their support. Yang Ling then continued, "In the past two months, we have made great achievements, but as our troops have gathered more and more, food and grass have become a problem. I would like to ask everyone to help think of a way to solve the food and grass problem."

Everyone started discussing in low voices upon hearing this. They all knew that since Yang Ling had raised this issue, there must be a solution.

Yang Ling continued, "Now our army has a total of more than 40,000 people, plus the original 3,000 people, the total force has exceeded 50,000. With so many people eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, the amount of rice consumed every day is not a small amount. If there is not enough food, it will be difficult to maintain such a large army."

Although Yang Ling's words were straightforward, they were impeccable. To feed tens of thousands of people, a huge amount of food was indeed needed, and this was a problem that no one could ignore.

Li Dequan hesitated and said, "My Lord, we have 30,000 dan of wheat in our granary now, and more than 20,000 dan of corn left."

Yang Ling shook his head and said, "Not enough!"

Li Dequan asked quickly: "What is your lord going to use as a replacement?"

Yang Ling pondered for a moment and said, "The best option now is to use beef, mutton, and vegetables as a substitute."

When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized that, yes, there were refugees all over the north and wasteland everywhere. As long as they could get cattle, sheep and vegetables, they could exchange them for enough food.

However, cattle and sheep are expensive and ordinary farmers simply cannot afford them, so it is rare to see oxen working the field even around Beijing, let alone in Henan and other places.

Yang Ling continued, "In addition to this, we also need to get iron tools, armor and other things. Otherwise, the bows and arrows we have alone will not be able to stop the enemy's charge!"

Li Dequan thought of what Yang Ling had said before and couldn't help asking, "My lord, do you want to form a mixed cavalry army?"

Yang Ling smiled and nodded, "Cavalry is the foundation of our army's heavy armament. Now our army has reached 60,000 to 70,000 people. If we don't form cavalry, then these 60,000 to 70,000 people will be dragged down."

Cavalry is different from infantry. Due to the lack of training and combat opportunities, its combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of infantry. It will be even worse when encountering a strong opponent.

Therefore, the cavalry often plays a pessimistic role on the battlefield, and may even become bait. If there is not enough protective equipment, the cavalry will be killed or captured quickly.

Yang Ling's goal is to make this army invincible. He doesn't want to see the territory he has worked so hard to build be snatched away by the enemy.

After hearing what Yang Ling said, Li Dequan immediately patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, my lord. I am willing to go and look for horse herders in Guannei and Jizhou to find enough good horses for us!"

Yang Ling nodded and said, "Okay, if you have reliable information, remember to tell me in time. As for the horse herders, I don't ask them to tame the war horses, I just ask them to find as many good horses as possible."

Li Dequan agreed and then asked, "So what should we do now?"

Yang Ling pointed at the map and said, "The enemy is now accumulating heavy troops outside the city. Our army must defend the city and resist the enemy's attack. Because the enemy will definitely have more than just this amount of reinforcements, their main force will definitely be sent outside the city in the near future."

At this point, Yang Ling continued with a serious expression: "So we must set up a solid stronghold outside the city, use our familiarity with the terrain to build fortifications, and strictly prevent the enemy outside the city from invading."

After hearing this, the generals present all agreed deeply. If not for this, they would not have gathered here to discuss how to retake Linyi City.

Seeing this, Yang Ling continued, "I now have more than 3,000 infantrymen under my command, including more than 8,000 foot soldiers. If we follow the conventional deployment and stay alone to guard Linyi County, it will obviously be inappropriate. How about this, I will transfer all the infantrymen to assist you in the defense, and you will command the remaining troops, divided into 12 groups, each with about 3,000 people, and take turns to station around the county to guard against the enemy's night attack!"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone clasped their fists in unison.

Yang Ling turned to Chen Jishi beside him and said, "Brother Jishi, your troops are responsible for helping to defend the city. You must defend Linyi City and do not risk engaging the enemy to avoid excessive damage."

Chen Jishi bowed and agreed, "I understand. I swear to live and die with Linyi."

After everyone finished their meeting at the county government office, they began to act separately.

Yang Ling led his troops from the north gate of the county town, then moved south, preparing to set up camp five miles away from the south gate of the county town.

Of course, Yang Ling still spent a lot of effort in selecting the site for the camp. He not only had people dig trenches and set up wooden fences, but also built anti-cannon holes along the way, and specially demarcated areas and prohibited civilians from crossing.

After everyone had set up camp, Yang Ling took everyone to inspect the troops' garrison area.

Yang Ling first introduced the stationing positions to the officers at all levels, and then asked everyone to carefully study the terrain and various situations. During this process, Yang Ling constantly gave guidance and reminded everyone what to pay attention to.

When he came to Li Dequan, Yang Ling stopped and warned him, "Dequan, your task now is very difficult. The defense of the city depends on you old generals. You must not allow any mistakes. I know that you usually cherish the lives of your subordinates. This time, I will trouble you to personally guard the city tower to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the opportunity to invade. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Li Dequan said solemnly. He also knew how heavy the responsibility on his shoulders was. If the enemy really attacked Linyi as Yang Ling said, the pressure to defend the city would be extremely great. The slightest mistake could lead to the loss of the city, and then the entire Ming Dynasty would be doomed.

Next, Yang Ling assigned tasks to the generals of each department before returning to the county government to rest.

The next day, Yang Ling got up early, washed, and then went to the parade ground to hold a military meeting.

Yang Ling looked around at the generals and said slowly, "Are you satisfied with the tactical deployment we made last night?"

"satisfy."

The generals said in unison that Yang Ling's command ability was obvious to all, and they never dared to question Yang Ling's judgment. "Then, the next defense work will be handed over to you to complete. I hope you can complete this task seriously and don't let me down."

"Please rest assured, my lord. We will never let you down." The generals stood up and promised loudly.

Yang Ling gently waved his hand to signal the generals to take their seats, then he groaned for a moment and said, "In this case, we will adopt an active defense strategy in the next battle, not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes."

Yang Ling turned around and ordered his attendants, "Come here, report the enemies outside the city in detail."

Several guards quickly came with a thick map and spread it out in front of Yang Ling.

"What is this?" Li Yunqing exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the map.

Yang Ling explained with a smile: "Yun Qing, don't underestimate this map. I spent a lot of money to ask someone to buy it from Liaoning Prefecture. Although Liaoning Prefecture has fallen, their drawing skills are still relatively advanced. Because their geographical location is relatively important and the terrain is low, the mountains and rivers in Liaoning Prefecture are very clear. The map we have now was drawn by them."

Everyone then realized that this was a map obtained from an enemy country. No wonder it was so precious!

Yang Ling then picked up a pen and circled the location of Linyi on the map, then said to the generals: "Please look, everyone, this is what I calculated last night. There is a canyon about ten miles outside the city, and this location just happens to be the throat of Linyi City. If the enemy attacks from here, unless they bypass this narrow section, they will inevitably be blocked by us in the canyon. As long as we can hold off the enemy for half an incense stick of time, I believe that our army will defeat the enemy with a force several times greater than the enemy's."

Li Yunqing frowned and asked, "What if the enemy abandons the vehicle and takes the land route? Or what if they come from somewhere else and launch a surprise attack?"

Yang Ling blurted out without thinking: "We can't stop them by land, we can only rely on the city wall of Linyi to defend. As for the water route, they can't succeed because both sides of the river are blocked by us, unless they have magic from the gods."

Li Yunqing heard Yang Ling's confident words, so he did not refute.

"Okay, now that you have decided to defend Linyi City to the death, I will assign you specific defense tasks and try to trap the enemy outside the city."

In the following period of time, after Yang Ling assigned the task of defending the city to the generals of various departments, he began to organize people to repair the city walls, build pontoon bridges, strengthen the city defense facilities, etc.

At the same time, Yang Ling also ordered people to gather all the people in the city on the city wall and let them visit his troops’ camp.

Because of the full publicity last night, the people in the city basically all knew that their troops would be stationed here. Because the living conditions of these people were too difficult, they could hardly even get enough food, so how could they have spare money to raise pigs and sheep, let alone cattle and sheep. Because raising livestock required too much food every year, even the rich could not afford it.

Now they finally had the chance to appreciate their troops' training up close, so they were naturally happy and ran over to gather around the city wall to observe.

At this time, Yang Ling walked to the front of the tower and said loudly to the people below: "Fellow villagers, thank you for your hard work. On behalf of everyone, I thank you!"

The people below immediately applauded enthusiastically, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Yang Ling continued, "To be honest with you folks, the difficulties we are facing now are caused by the blood of the soldiers on the front line. The sacrifices they made are far greater than we can imagine."

"The Marshal is benevolent and righteous, and the soldiers are loyal and brave. We are all grateful and cannot express any regrets." Someone immediately started to praise.

Yang Ling nodded and said, "Well, I know everyone must think so, but I must tell everyone that our army's sacrifice is not only for ourselves, but also for our country and the people of Ming Dynasty. So we must not only defend the city, but also protect our relatives, wives and children, and ensure that our dynasty is not threatened by Japanese pirates."

"Don't worry, Marshal. We will try our best to defend the city. We are not afraid of death!" A strong man straightened his chest and shouted.

"We are not afraid of death!" the people below roared in anger.

"Well, we are all men. No matter whether it's mountains of swords and seas of fire, or being cut into pieces, a real man is upright and will not be afraid of mere Tartars and barbarians. We must persist until reinforcements arrive, until we defeat the Tartars and show our military power!" Yang Ling gave an impassioned speech.

"Kill! Kill the Tartars!" The soldiers roared, and their morale reached its peak.

Yang Ling raised his hand and pressed it downwards. When everyone gradually quieted down, he continued, "Now I will assign new tasks to you soldiers. You should have noticed that there is a canyon here. The terrain on both sides of the canyon is very steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as our army firmly controls this pass, it is equivalent to strangling the enemy's neck, making it difficult for the enemy to move. If my estimate is correct, the enemy's vanguard cavalry will probably choose to attack the mountains and forests on both sides of the canyon. Of course, our army will be prepared for this situation, but we must be cautious. After all, the enemy's cavalry has the advantage in numbers. If we don't handle it well, we can easily cause casualties. Now I will give you three plans. The first plan is to use bows. "The second option is to fill the forests on both sides with obstacles such as chevaux deer horns, and then use gunpowder to blow up the land around the trenches, leaving the valley unobstructed. Then, we will build positions on this basis to prevent the enemy's cavalry from passing through. This option has a disadvantage, which is that the enemy can easily break through the trenches and pass through these obstacles. Finally, I will lead my elite troops along this valley and go deep into the enemy camp."

"Marshal, you are of noble status, you must not take risks lightly!" As soon as Yang Ling finished speaking, Han Shizhong jumped out and hurriedly advised: "I am willing to lead the troops to fight in the vanguard, and you only need to stay and command."

Yang Ling smiled and said, "I volunteered for this purpose. Everyone thinks this battle is too dangerous, but as the commander-in-chief, we have to take this risk. We want the people to see our determination to defend Linqu, and I hope everyone can understand my good intentions."

"I obey your order!" Han Zhong responded with a fist salute.

Yang Ling looked at the people below and said loudly: "This is Linqu. I am in charge of commanding the overall situation here. I hope everyone will cooperate."

"Yes!" A neat reply came from below.

"I require everyone to go to the city wall after daily training to familiarize themselves with the environment and the city's defenses we now have. This is a must."

Yang Ling paused for a moment and continued, "Now I officially announce that on the morning of the fifth day of this month, everyone will gather outside the city gate. I will lead my elite troops and take a boat out of the city from the small river in the north to Jining Prefecture."

At this point, Yang Ling turned around and ordered: "General Han!" (End of this chapter)