184: Chapter 184 Attacking Qingxuan City

"Over two million gold, over thirty million taels of silver, and a massive amount of other supplies—Heishui City is quite wealthy!"

Glancing at the inventory list in his hand, Yang Juncheng whispered to himself with a smile on his face.

After muttering to himself, Yang Feng gave instructions to the Chieftain of Heishui Bandit Stronghold and the other bandit leaders, then quietly left Heishui City and returned to Qingyan Town.

At noon, a messenger from Heishui City arrived at Qingyan Town to seek aid from the Militia Battalion, hoping that the Militia Battalion would send troops to drive away the bandits and reclaim Heishui City.

Upon receiving the letter from the Heishui City messenger, Yang Juncheng did not hesitate in the slightest; he immediately took the ninety thousand soldiers from the New Recruit Battalion and rushed toward Heishui City.

In just one day, the ninety thousand soldiers of the New Recruit Battalion arrived outside Heishui City and launched a fierce attack on the bandits within.

Faced with the overwhelming force of the Militia Battalion soldiers, the bandits in Heishui City collapsed at the first touch and fled the city, allowing the Militia Battalion soldiers to easily enter, take over the city's defenses, and dispatch patrols to maintain order.

Meanwhile, Zhao Hai, who had been prepared in advance, arrived at Heishui City with a dozen or so administrative experts to take over the city's administration, post notices, and appease the city's residents.

Afterward, Yang Juncheng dispatched a large number of personnel to set up numerous recruitment points in Heishui City and the nearby villages and towns to recruit soldiers on a massive scale.

For this recruitment drive, Yang Juncheng imposed no limits on the number of recruits; anyone who met the criteria could enlist and receive generous military pay and tax exemption benefits.

Tempted by the generous pay and tax exemptions, the impoverished and commoners of Heishui City, as well as a large number of young men from the surrounding villages and towns, actively enlisted, causing the size of the Militia Battalion under Yang Juncheng to grow rapidly.

In just half a month, Yang Juncheng had recruited a full five hundred thousand able-bodied men, causing the number of able-bodied men in Heishui City and the nearby villages to plummet.

Yang Juncheng placed great importance on the five hundred thousand newly recruited men, immediately organizing them into various New Recruit Battalions and dispatching elite veterans to conduct strict training.

During the training process, Yang Juncheng provided the five hundred thousand men with ample food and other supplies, allowing them to train without worry and without having to be concerned about material shortages.

At the same time, blacksmiths from Heishui City and nearby villages were conscripted and gathered together to forge armor, weapons, and other equipment for the soldiers of the New Recruit Battalions using an assembly-line method.

During this process, Yang Juncheng did not sit idle; instead, he ventured directly into the Qingxuan Mountain Range and, with absolute strength, conquered one bandit faction after another, incorporating them into his forces.

Among them, three bandit factions that had committed numerous evil deeds and held no value for incorporation were directly wiped out by Yang Juncheng; everyone was killed, leaving none behind.

Yang Juncheng's move to expand his army by five hundred thousand, bringing his total force to six hundred thousand, shocked the entire Qingxuan Prefecture. The leaders of the prominent clans and noble families of Qingxuan Prefecture spoke out one after another to condemn Yang Juncheng's actions and demanded that he immediately disband the Militia Battalion.

At the same time, the leaders of the prominent clans and noble families of Qingxuan Prefecture were also leveraging their connections to reach the border regions and report Yang Juncheng's actions to the high command of the Zhenbei Army. They wanted the Zhenbei Army to intervene, expel Yang Juncheng from the Zhenbei Army System, and ideally send troops to kill him and take over the soldiers of the Militia Battalion under his command.

However, the spies sent by the leaders of the prominent clans and noble families of Qingxuan Prefecture were all intercepted and killed by elite bandits secretly dispatched by Yang Juncheng, making it impossible for them to contact the Zhenbei Army.

"Since the prominent clans and noble families of Qingxuan Prefecture want to make a move against me, then don't blame me for being discourteous!"

"Pass on my order: have the bandit factions in all areas take immediate action and capture every city outside of Qingxuan City!"

Seeing the intelligence delivered by his scout, a fierce light flashed in Yang Juncheng's eyes, and he issued the order in a commanding tone.

"Yes, my Lord!"

The scout responded respectfully and quickly departed.

"Trying to assassinate me? You are simply courting death!"

After the scout left, Yang Juncheng snorted coldly, crushed the intelligence in his hand, and walked toward the Cultivation room to continue his closed-door Cultivation.

Soon, the major bandit factions that had received Yang Juncheng's orders mobilized one after another, launching fierce attacks on the major cities of Qingxuan Prefecture.

While these bandit factions were not very strong individually, when combined, they were extremely formidable and could not be resisted by those cities with lax military preparedness.

In just one day, apart from Qingxuan City, the prefecture capital, all other cities in Qingxuan Prefecture fell under the control of the bandits.

The prominent clans, noble families, and wealthy merchants within the cities were all killed by the bandits, and their land and property were all sealed up by the bandits, waiting for the Militia Battalion soldiers to take them over.

At this moment, Yang Juncheng, under the guise of suppressing the bandits, mobilized an army of six hundred thousand and marched toward the major cities of Qingxuan Prefecture.

In just three days, the bandits in the major cities of Qingxuan Prefecture were all routed by the Militia Battalion soldiers under Yang Juncheng's command and fled the cities, allowing the Militia Battalion soldiers to easily take over the major cities of Qingxuan Prefecture.

Afterward, Yang Juncheng put on a mask, disguised himself as a bandit chieftain, held a refined steel spear, and led one hundred thousand elite bandits as they rushed toward Qingxuan City.

Faced with the threat of one hundred thousand elite bandits, the prominent clans, noble families, and wealthy merchants of Qingxuan City did not sit idly by; they ordered their own guards to climb the city walls and assist the Qingxuan City garrison in their defense.

After all, the fact that every time the bandits captured a city, they would exterminate the prominent clans, noble families, and wealthy merchants within, made the major clans, noble families, and wealthy merchants of Qingxuan City extremely wary of the bandits; they dared not let the bandits breach the city.

Looking at the city walls, which were over three zhang high, and the densely packed, well-equipped defenders atop them, a look of disdain flashed in Yang Juncheng's eyes. He gripped a refined steel spear and charged toward Qingxuan City.

Seeing Yang Juncheng launch an attack on the city, the archers on the city walls immediately, under the commander's orders, drew their bows like full moons and poured sharp arrows toward Yang Juncheng, wanting to turn him into a hedgehog.

However, these sharp arrows were all swept away as Yang Juncheng brandished his spear; they could not touch him at all, let alone cause him any harm.

"A Blood Refining Realm Martial Artist!"

Watching Yang Juncheng rapidly approach while braving the dense rain of arrows, the commander of the garrison changed his expression slightly and muttered to himself.

"A mere Blood Refining Realm Martial Artist wanting to siege the city alone? He is simply courting death!"

Beside him, Li De, the head of the Li family of Qingxuan City, looked at the rapidly approaching Yang Juncheng, a look of disdain flashing in his eyes as he mocked loudly.

After his mockery, Li De ordered the three Blood Refining Realm Martial Artists of the Li family to step forward, ready to strike at Yang Juncheng at any moment.

Meanwhile, the other prominent clans, noble families, and wealthy merchants of Qingxuan City also dispatched their own Blood Refining Realm Martial Artists. Together with the Li family's three Blood Refining Realm Martial Artists, they formed an elite squad of twenty Blood Refining Realm Martial Artists, preparing to hunt down Yang Juncheng and kill this bandit chieftain who had ventured deep into enemy territory alone.