This situation did not change until the emergence of breech-loading rifles, because at that time the tactics of the troops also changed from line tactics to skirmishing tactics, and the lines were completely abandoned during the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War.
tactics.
As a result, thousands or even tens of thousands of people are packed together in neat and tight formations, which can only be seen in performance occasions such as exercises and military parades.
But even so, even in modern times, neat formations are the foundation of the army. This is not because neat formations look good, but because formation training can cultivate the most basic and important quality of soldiers obeying orders.
These Ming troops at the top of Liping Prefecture, especially the civil and military officials, no matter whether they understand military affairs or not, everyone can tell from the neat formation of the pseudo-Tang rebels outside the city: these pseudo-Tang thieves
The army really deserves its fame!
Last month, they heard that Song Zhiwen of Xingquan Prefecture had assembled tens of thousands of troops to suppress and suppress the puppet Tang rebels. However, they suffered two consecutive disastrous defeats in Lanjiang, not to mention the loss of troops and generals, and even the city of Xingquan Prefecture was defeated.
They all lost it, and at first they thought someone was joking.
But who would have thought that it was true, especially when they saw Song Zhiwen fleeing to Liping Mansion in a state of embarrassment, they had to believe that the puppet Tang bandits had become so popular that they could not be treated like ordinary bandits.
.
Seeing these pseudo-Tang thieves with their own eyes once again confirmed that their approach was right: Fortunately, they had moved their families and gold and silver items out a few days ago, whether they were going to the countryside or not.
Zhuangzi, it would be better to go to other state capitals or provincial capitals than to stay in Liping Prefecture.
They originally had only 23% confidence in being able to defend the city, but after they saw the puppet Tang rebel army with their own eyes, the confidence that was only 23% out of 10 was completely gone.
This city may not be able to be defended. The only question is how long they can hold out under the offensive of the puppet Tang rebel army.
As long as they can persist for ten days and a half, they can wait until the army from the provincial capital arrives, and then they will be saved. They may even be promoted and make a fortune because of their merits in defending the city.
But if they had not been able to persist until reinforcements arrived, the fate of the officials present would not have been much better.
If you surrender, your family will die; if you don't surrender, they themselves will die.
As for escaping, try escaping. Song Zhiwen's fate will be your fate!
Speaking of Song Zhiwen, after he left the city of Xingquan Prefecture alone, he took the remaining ten or so guards and fled all the way to Liping Prefecture, and asked Liping Prefecture to be prepared to guard against the puppet Tang rebel army. He said,
If the offensive of the puppet Tang rebel army cannot be stopped in Liping Mansion, I am afraid that not only will the provincial capital be in danger in a short time, but the puppet Tang rebel army may even cause harm to several provinces and thousands of miles away.
It was also the first time that the officials of Liping Mansion truly knew the reality of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army. In the past, they thought that the Puppet Tang Bandit Army was just like ordinary bandits.
However, Song Zhiwen did not stay in Liping Mansion for long, because he was soon taken away by people sent by the governor on the grounds of 'questioning Li Nishi'. Anyone with a discerning eye knew that this Song Zhiwen was probably going to be unlucky, and he was still
The unlucky kind.
After all, any one of his crimes would be enough to chop his head off ten times.
For example, under his rule, Xingquan Mansion actually had a group of traitors and traitors, such as the Puppet Tang Bandit Army. What does this mean? It means that Song Zhiwen's level of governing the place is really bad. How stupid is this?
Only officials can cultivate a rebel army with thousands of soldiers in a mere mansion of more than 300,000 people.
Secondly, three consecutive disastrous defeats not only wiped out all the thousands of soldiers in Xingquan Mansion, but also depleted the troops of Liping Mansion and several surrounding prefectures. You know, Song Zhiwen twice
Of the more than 10,000 people gathered, several thousand were troops mobilized by the governor's yamen from neighboring prefectures. Among them, the troops in Liping Mansion were the most powerful. The several guards in the government that were originally used to suppress the chieftains basically had all the troops.
The young and strong backbone has been drained away, leaving only some old and young weaklings.
Song Zhiwen sacrificed tens of thousands of people on the Lanjiang River, leaving almost the entire western Guizhou region short of troops to resist the puppet Tang rebels in a short period of time.
Liping Prefecture was even more negatively affected!
And who was the person who caused all this? It was Su Jiakang or Song Zhiwen. However, I heard that Su Jiakang had been captured by the puppet Tang rebels and even surrendered to the puppet Tang rebels. I don't know whether it was true or not.
So Song Zhiwen, who escaped alive, naturally became the biggest responsible person. So Song Zhiwen was just called by the governor to go to the provincial capital, and this person was still on the move. The civil and military officials in Liping Mansion were already there collectively.
Zhezi, prepare to give him a hard copy.
Now that the news has spread, I'm afraid Song Zhiwen's memorial has already flown to the capital like snowflakes.
Everyone can imagine what will happen to him next. It won't be long before imperial envoys will escort him to Beijing and be thrown into a prison. At the same time, his family will not be spared. Having his property confiscated and being exiled is only the lightest one. It may even be an adult male.
Everyone was beheaded, the women and children were transferred to the Jiaofangsi, and an official family was completely extinct.
But thinking of the tragic fate that Song Zhiwen was about to face, the officials in Liping Prefecture couldn't help but feel cold in their hearts, because if they didn't do anything, Song Zhiwen's fate would be their fate.
Once Liping Mansion is breached, their best fate is death. If they don't want to die and dare to abandon the city and flee, their homes and clans will be confiscated and exterminated in a matter of minutes.
Therefore, after seeing the momentum of the puppet Tang rebels outside the city, the civil and military officials of the Ming army on top of the city all frowned, and many even looked desperate.
What is this? This is what people say when misfortune comes from the sky. Song Zhiwen and Su Jiakang were obviously responsible for this, so why should he take the blame?
Hao Bainian naturally didn't care what the civil and military officials of the Ming army in the city thought. He commanded the troops step by step to prepare for the attack.
The whole morning was spent making preparations, and in the afternoon, the soldiers who had had a rich lunch began the official siege of the city.
The first person to speak was the artillery team that was reinforced for the First Infantry Regiment. The artillery team's three 500-pound artillery fired from a fort built about 350 meters away from the city wall.
Accompanied by the rumble of cannons, one solid round iron bullet after another flew towards the wall of Liping City on the opposite side!
Thick solid cannonballs hit the city wall, and the huge impact was enough to shake the city wall. If a cannonball happened to land on the battlements, it would even smash the battlements directly, causing sand and gravel to fly, and several shells flew towards the city.
The cannonballs that hit the city gate tower even collapsed less than half of the city gate tower, because a cannonball happened to break one of the load-bearing wooden pillars, causing a small-scale collapse.
Although this shelling alone did not cause many actual casualties, the sight of cracks in the city wall still made the defenders in the city worried. What would happen if the city wall collapsed!