Chapter 1155 Although the Tang Dynasty is vast, no inch of land is allowed
Bandan City is right on the edge of the strait. The Tang Dynasty Western Company chose to build the city here not only because it was the original capital of the Bandan Kingdom, but also because it had a traditional trading port and could still control the Sunda Strait.
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The Sunda Strait is so important and the city of Banten is so important. It is no wonder that the Portuguese encouraged and supported the natives and pirates to attack the city of Banten!
The overall area of Wandan City is not large. In normal times, only government agencies, military and commercial offices are stationed there, and the number of people is mostly maintained at a thousand people.
Because this place is not a city in the traditional sense, but a fortress specially designed for war. The heavy artillery on top of the city is the main force used to block the Sunda Strait!
This is a bastion. There are actually not many people on weekdays. It was only during the war that more people hid in. Now there are about 3,000 people in the entire Bandan City, but there are only 500 troops and 300 militiamen.
, the others are women, children, old and weak.
This is not to say that there are no young people who have immigrated to the Bandan area, but that young people have already been incorporated into the militia!
The small city of Wandan actually had a strength of 500 militia troops before. Two hundred militiamen accompanied the army in the eastern region, and there were 300 defense troops in the city.
But no matter how powerful the bastion is, with only a few hundred troops, it is difficult to withstand the siege of 20,000 enemies!
Wandan City was besieged. It was no longer a matter of a day or two, but half a month ago. Half a month ago, a large number of fleets suddenly appeared on the sea. At that time, the civil and military personnel of Wandan City were aware of the danger.
The officials immediately retreated to Wandan City.
The result was as expected. This huge fleet began to land gradually, and then rushed towards Wandan City. At first, they tried to attack the city directly, but in a hurry, how could they possibly attack the city with a total of five hundred people?
Army soldiers, and more than 300 militiamen guarding the bastion!
After these indigenous people who came out of nowhere failed to attack the city, they began to besiege the city!
Time flies, half a month has passed!
Now, the natives and pirates outside the city are almost ready. They are about to launch a general attack. How can Zhu Jiaxiang not be anxious, but there is no need to worry. He can only ask his officials to cooperate with the military as much as possible.
defense work.
As he said this, Zhu Jiaxiang gradually fell asleep!
After seeing Zhu Jiaxiang sleeping, military medical officer Ji Dingping stepped forward to check, and then whispered to everyone: "My lord just fell asleep, nothing serious!"
Everyone looked at each other, and then Cheng Zhizhai, the co-president of Wandan Mansion, lowered his voice and said: "Let's go out first and let you have a good rest!"
After everyone went out, they sat down one after another in the living room next door.
At this time, Zhu Jiaxiang, the highest-ranking official in Wandan City, fell into a coma and was unable to actually preside over affairs. The corresponding authority was naturally extended to Cheng Zhizhai, the co-president of Wandan Prefecture.
Of course, this authority does not include military command authority!
Although Banten Prefecture is an overseas territory, and prefects like prefects have far greater authority than local prefects, the separation of military and government is still strictly enforced.
According to the current relevant rules and regulations of the empire for overseas territories, in view of the fact that some overseas territories are far away from the mainland and have communication difficulties, the empire will grant local local administrative officials partial authority as appropriate. This authority is relatively large, and there are no strict regulations.
It mainly depends on the specific assignments of the leaders of the overseas territories.
For example, Zhu Jiaxiang, the prefect of Wandan Prefecture, has a relatively complicated title. First, he is his official position, "Prefect of Wandan Prefecture," and then his rank: fourth grade, and then there are special assignments that are not available to ordinary prefects in China: "
Acting for the military and political affairs of Banten Prefecture'.
To a certain extent, Zhu Jiaxiang is actually the Governor of Wandan. Of course, it is impossible to give him the title of Governor, and in the Tang Empire, there is no such dispatch or control as a Governor. On the contrary, in the Datang Western Company,
A Governor-General of India was appointed.
In order to avoid objections to the specific meaning of "acting for the military and political affairs of the Banten Prefecture" and causing confusion in terms of authority, the cabinet has a very detailed explanation of this term, covering more than ten pages!
In addition to the authority to handle civil affairs, this mission also has some authority over diplomacy, declaration of war, conclusion of treaties, etc. However, this authority also has clear restrictions, that is, it only targets affairs within its jurisdiction, that is, the Banten Prefecture.
Matters beyond the jurisdiction will not be allowed.
For example, regarding the Portuguese, Zhu Jiaxiang, the governor of Banten Prefecture, did not have the authority to directly conclude a treaty with the Portuguese or start a war against the Portuguese, but he could do so to the indigenous people within the jurisdiction of Banten Prefecture.
At the same time, this authority to declare war and conclude treaties does not include military command authority.
To put it simply, Zhu Jiaxiang, the governor of Banten Prefecture, can declare war on the indigenous forces near Banten Prefecture and even the surrounding areas, and give local garrisons, namely the Banten Garrison, Banten Squadron, Banten Militia and other armed forces,
The company fleet of Datang Western Company even issued relevant orders to let them carry out relevant military operations!
The specific method of fighting is a matter for the military!
In other words, if the military does not approve or says it is unwilling to fight, it will actually not be able to fight!
But on the other hand, without Zhu Jiaxiang's order, the military would not have the authority to start a war even if it wanted to!
According to the relevant regulations of the empire, when the prefect is unable to actually handle affairs due to various reasons, the authority of the prefect will be transferred according to the high official position.
Therefore, this power is currently transferred to the hands of Cheng Zhizhai, the co-president of Wandan Prefecture!
This is also the reason why he is sitting on the main seat today. In fact, since Zhu Jiaxiang fell ill and was unable to handle affairs, Cheng Zhizhai has been handling affairs.
He is not good at fighting, but handling affairs in the city and providing logistics for the army are his job.
Cheng Zhizhai didn't understand how to fight against this coalition of natives and pirates who came out of nowhere. He was sitting on the main seat just because of his status.
So after everyone sat down one after another, he turned his attention to Colonel Yang Hong, the leader of the Wandan Garrison Regiment!
Originally, in the Banten area, the person with the highest military rank was Commodore Xia Zhiquan, the commander of the Banten Squadron. Since Bandan is far away from the sea and is an archipelago, the navy's voice has greater weight. Normally, the military affairs in the Banten area
, generally the navy is still the main force, with the army coordinating.
But now, Commodore Xia Zhiquan is leading the fleet on an expedition, and the main defensive force in the city is also the army, so Army Colonel Yang Hong has become the top military commander of Bandan City.
Seeing Cheng Zhizhai looking at him, Yang Hong sighed secretly in his heart!
In this situation, what else can he say? He is just holding on!
In the past half month, they have done everything they should do. Next, they just wait for the enemy to attack. If they can hold on, they can hold on. If they can't, they will be finished. It's that simple.
War is not that complicated!
But you definitely can’t say that, you still have to encourage and boost morale!
"My lords, don't worry too much. Our Bandan City is a bastion specially built for war. Its comprehensive defense capability far exceeds that of an ordinary city. Moreover, there are currently 500 soldiers of our army, 300 militiamen, and two dozen people in the city.
There are more than ten heavy artillery, more than ten field artillery, and dozens of shotguns. This kind of firepower can even resist the enemy's entire fleet, and there are sufficient ordnance and ammunition, as well as food, grass and water. This defense can
The city is not a big problem!”
"Of course, our manpower is still relatively tight now. Although we have many artillery, the number of ordinary gunners is seriously insufficient. I suggest that some of the people in the city be recruited to go to the top of the city to supplement the shortage of artillery!"
"Recruit the people in the city?" After hearing this, an ordinary civil servant in the crowd said: "But the young people in the city who can be recruited have already been recruited, otherwise the five hundred militiamen who came! What's left?
The more than a thousand people here are old, weak, women and children, what use can they do!"
Yang Hong said: "I, Yang Hong, are also aware of this situation. The purpose of recruiting them is not to let them directly go into battle and fight with the enemy. Our army is here. My idea is to let some people bear the responsibility of transporting and loading ammunition.
For things like artillery shells and things like aiming and firing, the gunner is naturally responsible for it!"
The civil servant was still a little worried: "I'm afraid this won't work. How can those old, weak, women and children withstand a fight? The enemy also has artillery. Now that there's an artillery battle, I'm afraid these ordinary people can't withstand it!"
Yang Hongdao: "There is nothing we can do about it. We are short of men, so we can't let a large number of soldiers serve as transport troops. In this case, who will be responsible for the fighting at the top of the city?"
Yang Hong said this, and several others nodded!
There are few people in the city, and the limited number of soldiers and even militiamen must be deployed on the top of the city to prepare for the enemy's attack. However, the number of gunners is not enough, and it is difficult to operate nearly forty artillery pieces and a larger number of scattered missiles.
In this case, the artillery can only be used by ordinary old, weak, women and children as transport troops with little technical content.
As for the danger, after all, it is not as dangerous as the infantry who want to participate in the battle on the city head!
After hearing this, Cheng Zhizhai nodded and said: "In that case, it's settled. After the meeting, we will start recruiting the old, weak and healthy women in the city!"
Yang Hong said: "The number doesn't need to be too large. Three hundred people are enough. More is useless!"
Having said this, he sighed deeply and said to Cheng Zhizhai with an apologetic look on his face: "Well, I also know that it is inappropriate to recruit old, weak and healthy women, but there is really no way... As long as there is
I won't let the old, weak, women and children go to the battlefield no matter what I do!"
Cheng Zhizhai waved his hand directly and said: "Colonel, you don't need to say more. In this situation, both the soldiers of the empire and ordinary people should have the consciousness to devote themselves to the empire and your majesty!"
Cheng Zhizhai said: "When the war breaks out, I will personally take officials from various yamen to the top of the city to help in the battle!"
At this time, Cheng Zhizhai had already stood up, fully letting everyone see what it means to be an imperial politician. He may not be able to do things, but he must be able to speak:
"Although we are not good at military affairs, we are still Chinese men, and we can still kill enemies with our swords!"
"I'm waiting to let those barbarians know that although our Tang Dynasty is vast, we can't give up an inch of land. Even though there are many people, not a single one of us is afraid of death!"