This is not the first time that the bastion of the Tang Dynasty has been used in actual combat. Since the Datang Empire took the lead in adopting the bastion defense system in the past few years, the Fleet of the Datang Western Company has become the first imperial armed force to take advantage of this.
In the early days, they built two bastions in Banten and Luzon. The bastion in Luzon was attacked by more than 3,000 pirates. In the end, it withstood the pirate attack and allowed the pirates to stay.
There were hundreds of corpses.
In the next two days, the imperial military also began to apply the bastion defense system on a small scale. At first, it built small bastions on the northern border. These bastions were generally not large, and in order to save costs, they were also to prevent enemy artillery shells.
Secondary casualties, such as ricocheting bullets, occurred when hitting masonry walls. Therefore, most of the structures of these newly built bastions are actually made of soil. Even the parts with masonry structures need to be covered with a thick layer of soil.
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The structure of a large amount of soil layer may not sound like much, but the actual effect is good. At least the advantage of low cost is enough, not to mention that the soil layer can absorb the kinetic energy of artillery shells well and avoid secondary damage.
The bastions on the northern border are mainly small-scale bastions. There are usually only a few hundred soldiers stationed there, and there are not many artillery deployed.
The only real large-scale bastion currently is Jiayuguan Pass, which is still under construction. As the westernmost bridgehead of the Tang Dynasty, Jiayuguan Pass cannot be overemphasized!
As for the other areas on the northern border, it's not that they are unimportant, but the enemies that the Tang Empire faced in the north were the Tatars. They were nomadic people and they used cavalry. Who would be stupid enough to attack your fortress?
More often than not, people just choose a gap at random, and then the cavalry roars past and goes directly into the hinterland of the Central Plains.
Therefore, in response to this situation, the Tang Empire's defense strategy on the northern border was actually to adopt proactive attacks coupled with defense in depth!
Take the initiative to attack, needless to say, when you sense danger, launch an attack first. Although the number of cavalry in the Tang Empire is not large at present, it is much better than a few years ago. If you squeeze it together, tens of thousands of cavalry are still
Those who can be squeezed out are fully capable of implementing assault tactics to seize the opportunity.
As for defense in depth, if you are unable to take the initiative, you will need to conduct strict surveillance on the Great Wall defense line, patrol and deploy small castles with small forces. The purpose of this is not to block the enemy, but to prevent the enemy from breaking through.
The Great Wall defense line received news at the first moment.
Then the armies stationed in the main bases in the rear, such as Xuanhua and other places, can move around, either to defend the fortified city, or to directly send troops to intercept, or to cut off their food routes, escape routes, etc. The main thing is to fight on the move.
defense.
Stupidly hoarding all the troops on the Great Wall at the front line is an act that is absolutely seeking death. Even those generals with weak legs in the former Ming Dynasty knew not to do this.
Naturally, a large number of officers in the Army of the Tang Dynasty, who came from a professional background and received many years of military education in martial arts schools and imperial schools, would not do the same.
Against this background, the Tang Army's main strategy on the northern border was to establish a strict patrol and monitoring system, with heavy troops stationed in many important cities. When the enemy invaded, they would kill them as soon as possible, rather than just stupidly.
Deploy heavy troops in every city and then wait for the enemy to attack. Not to mention that the Tang Army would not have so many field troops, and besides, the enemy would not come at all!
Because no matter how stupid Anda Khan is, he will not take the initiative to attack a city like Xuanhua with his cavalry!
As a result, the Tang Army's use of bastions on the northern border mainly tended to be small-scale bastions, rather than building super-large castles that could station thousands or tens of thousands of people.
In the domestic mainland, the places where such large-scale fortresses are actually being built are not at the border, but in the hinterland of Jiangnan, or to be more precise, in Wusong!
The purpose is to prevent enemies from attacking from the sea and entering the Yangtze River to threaten Gyeongsang Province. It is also to protect Songjiang Prefecture and even the entire Jiangnan area, an economically prosperous place.
Therefore, the Army and Navy of the Tang Dynasty worked together to expand and upgrade the Wusong Naval Base, preparing to build it into the Navy's first naval base in the mainland. It was also built into a super fortress in the coastal areas of the mainland to block all enemies from attacking from the sea.
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Wusong Fortress, leaving aside the construction of naval bases, port facilities, etc., is a pure defensive fortress that is prepared to deploy more than a hundred large-caliber artillery, with a permanent force of more than 10,000 people, a large amount of food and spare weapons, and ammunition.
Not to mention.
According to the plan, the defensive capabilities of this fortress need to be able to hold on for more than five years when faced with an attack by 50,000 enemies. Five years actually does not mean that it was breached by the enemy, but that the food stored in the fortress will be able to hold on for more than five years.
It can only sustain about 20,000 people for five years.
And these 50,000 people are not just a bunch of enemy troops, but the Tang Army itself.
In fact, in addition to Wusong Fortress, there are actually several small fortresses surrounding Jinling City, but most of them are not announced by the military. For example, Jiujiang is the west gate of the military-controlled Gyeonggi Province, where forts and barracks are built.
fortress.
Xuzhou in the north is also an important defense area, as is Hangzhou in the south.
The above-mentioned areas all belong directly to the Zhili Defense Area and are garrisoned by various units of the First Army!
In the Tang Dynasty, the First Army, which had the most outstanding military exploits and the strongest strength, was not deployed in the north, northwest, or northeast, but was deployed in the Zhili area.
The First Army, plus the reserve divisions from Zhili Fourth Road and other places, with about 300,000 main troops and reserve troops, formed the main peripheral force to defend the capital.
Because the troops of the First Army are only deployed on the periphery, the defense of Jinling City and surrounding areas belongs directly to the Guards!
The Guards, numbering nearly 30,000, are stationed in Jinling City, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Dangtu, Liyang, Chuzhou and other places.
Although the Guards did not build any super large castles in the places where they were stationed, they also upgraded and renovated the barracks based on the style of the bastion to strengthen their defensive capabilities.
The Tang Empire's bastion defense system did not play a big role on the northern border. In the hinterland of the Central Plains, it was mainly used as a preventive measure. As long as there was no civil strife and no large-scale invasion by foreign enemies, it was actually of no use.
What really stood the test of war frequently were the three fortresses built by the Tang Dynasty Western Company: Wandan City, Luzon City, and Gehe City.
Although these three bastions, Bandan City and Luzon City have been handed over to the imperial officials, they were all built by the Tang Western Company in the early years. However, the scale of the castles built then was not as large as it is now. Later, the officials carried out
It has been expanded a few times.
These three bastions should be the more representative cities built by the Tang Empire in its overseas territories. Because the overseas territories are very far from the mainland, both the population and soldiers are relatively small, so they need colonies.
With excellent defensive capabilities, ordinary cities cannot bear such a heavy responsibility. Only bastions can bear such a heavy responsibility.
And today, Bandan City has also encountered the biggest war threat since its establishment!
A coalition of more than 20,000 natives and pirates launched an attack on this small colonial city!
In order to preserve their strength and avoid fearless sacrifices, the authorities of Bandan City had already abandoned the docks of the port and some ancillary buildings outside the bastion, and retreated directly to the real core of Bandan City, which has an area of only 30,000 square meters.
The bastion!
This bastion is an irregular castle, divided into two inner and outer cities. It is built on a hillside to reduce the amount of work. The outer city is shorter and rectangular. It is mainly used for residential areas, commercial areas and ordinary areas.
Next to the barracks is the inner city. The inner city is actually built on the top of a mountain. The other side is a cliff. The inner city is relatively small, only about 7,000 square meters. It is mainly the residential area for official agencies and important officials.
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This Bandan City of approximately 30,000 square meters can accommodate a population of 4,000 people!
Now, the side that these indigenous people attack is the east wall of the outer city. As for the north side, that is the side of the inner city. The cliff with dozens of meters of cake is the best defense measure. Those indigenous people are not afraid of the cliff attack.
To the east of the outer city, a large number of artillery were firing at this time. Five-pound and nine-pound cannons were firing continuously at the indigenous soldiers rushing up outside the city. At the same time, some light shotguns were also firing.
Fire at the natives who rush within a few dozen meters.
On the edge of the bastion wall, that is, on the breastwork, hundreds of meters of soldiers and militiamen were firing at a steady rhythm under the command of the officers!
Beside these soldiers, there were even many old, weak, women and children who spontaneously picked up their guns and then pulled the triggers on the natives below the city!
And more old, weak, women and children were constantly carrying artillery shells in the rear, and then under the command of the artillery, they loaded the artillery!
Among the people who controlled the more than thirty artillery pieces, only about fifty were real artillerymen, and the rest, especially those who assisted in transporting the artillery and loading the artillery, were actually civilians.
After entering the age of guns and artillery, the quality of people in war was polarized. On the one hand, the requirements for officers and technical arms were greatly increased, but at the same time, the requirements for musketeers and various auxiliary arms were greatly reduced.
An ordinary young man with up to standard physical fitness can basically carry a gun and go to the battlefield after a complete three months of training.
If it is a purely defensive operation like this, and our side has a castle that can be used, and the enemy does not have a huge artillery force to suppress it, and our side does not suffer too much threat of casualties, then this kind of defensive battle is actually a simple repetition.
It's just sexual labor. Even a woman or child can pick up a musket and fight after simple guidance.
Of course, the combat efficiency is definitely not as good as that of soldiers of the regular army!
But does it matter?
unimportant!
There are only a few soldiers in the city. It would be very difficult to defend the attack of more than 20,000 people with soldiers alone!
Therefore, whether they are civil and military officials, ordinary people, or even the elderly, weak, women and children, as long as they are able to move, they are basically participating in this defensive operation!
Even if these people work and fight less efficiently, they can still bring great positive effects!
In order to survive, the soldiers and civilians of Wandan City are participating in the defense of the city!