The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 225 Attacking Baizhang Pass

With Jiang Han's command, the two armies, one to the south and one to the north, swept towards Baoning Prefecture simultaneously.

Because there were many passes and cities along the northern route, Jiang Han personally led a team of 5,000 elite troops, including the artillery battalion and the central army, from the Qingchuan Garrison Command and headed straight for Jianzhou.

The southern route, led by Lieutenant General Shao Yong with 3,000 men, marched towards Zitong County, the western gateway to Baoning Prefecture.

The force wasn't large, but it was more than enough to attack Baoning Prefecture at this time.

Thanks to the efforts of Ma Xu, Yang Ping, and others, the territory of Baoning Prefecture was engulfed in flames of war, with rebels everywhere. Even the resistance organizations hiding in the Xiaobashan area joined this massive uprising.

The government's relentless demands for taxation ignited public resentment, and the slogan of "equal land distribution and tax exemption" spread throughout the fields of northern Sichuan.

Jiang Han's two armies encountered almost no significant resistance wherever they went.

Along the way, countless people in villages and towns, driven to desperation by the government, rose up in rebellion. Some even killed local gentry and bullies, opened their gates, and welcomed the royal army with food and drink.

The entire battle situation presented a completely one-sided defeat.

When Shao Yong of the Southern Route set out from Jiangyou, he only had three thousand men. But as he marched, more and more teams came to join him, and soon the number of men surged to more than twenty thousand.

The mere Zitong County could not withstand the siege of 20,000 men. It was captured in just three days. County Magistrate Meng Zhize committed suicide by self-immolation, and County Assistant Gong Minghui surrendered.

After capturing Zitong, Shao Yong did not linger. He left only a portion of his troops behind and then marched south along the Zijiang River, his forces heading straight for the Yanting area, attempting to sever the connection between Baoning Prefecture and Tongchuan Prefecture.

The entire heart of central Sichuan was shaken.

Meanwhile, the Northern Route Army's progress was equally smooth.

Jiang Han's main force marched eastward with great momentum, and with the help of the people along the way, they easily captured Jianzhou with almost no effort.

After Jianzhou fell, Jiang Han immediately turned north, broke through Jianmen Pass all the way, and reoccupied Guangyuan County.

Before Zeng Rui, the magistrate of Guangyuan County, had even completed a full year in office and hadn't even warmed his seat, he was ambushed at the county government office by Cao Er and his team.

Zeng Rui never imagined that the bandits would arrive so quickly.

The position of magistrate of Guangyuan County was the first official post he received after passing the imperial examination. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Personnel sent him to the front line.

When his classmates at the Imperial Academy heard about this, they sent three or four letters to Zeng Rui, advising him not to go to Guangyuan County to join the fun, because the bandits there were not like the roving bandits, but were all the rebels from the Nine Border Regions.

The previous magistrate of Guangyuan County died at the hands of these people.

But Zeng Rui was ultimately just a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. If the previous magistrate hadn't died in battle, he wouldn't have been able to get this vacancy.

Since the bandits have already breached Guangyuan, they probably won't turn back.

With this hopeful mindset, Zeng Rui still gritted his teeth and went to Guangyuan to take up his post.

But the thieves didn't play by the rules at all, leaving him with no choice but to surrender with his entire family.

Jiang Han didn't make things difficult for Zeng Rui. It was the first time for a scholar-official and county magistrate to surrender.

It would be better to keep this person alive for now; perhaps more court officials will surrender in the future.

After capturing Guangyuan, Jiang Han only rested briefly before continuing eastward to conquer Zhaohua County, where he made contact with Ma Xu, Yang Ping, and others who were active in the area.

Upon meeting the legendary "General Jiang" in person, Yang Ping was very excited and immediately bowed down, expressing his desire to follow the General and serve him to overthrow the Ming Dynasty.

Jiang Han neither confirmed nor denied this.

Yang Ping and his group were, to put it bluntly, just a bunch of farmers. Although they had some strength, they hadn't received any proper military training.

Although Ma Xu had been intentionally training the men's courage and combat skills after taking command, the results were minimal in the short term.

These people are still a long way from being farmers to soldiers.

Yang Ping understood this principle, and he suggested that his subordinates first follow the main army, starting as auxiliary soldiers, and gradually become familiar with the battlefield.

And so, the two forces joined together and marched in a grand procession toward the last pass on the northern route, Baizhang Pass.

Baizhang Pass, which is the location of the later Wangcang County, is 160 li east of Guangyuan County.

Baizhang Pass is located on the upper reaches of the Jialing River. The main stream of the Donghe River can be directly connected to Chongqing by waterway and flows into the Yangtze River. By land, it is a transportation hub of the Shu Han Dynasty and an important pass on the Micang Ancient Road. It has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times.

Once Baizhang Pass is captured, the eastern gateway of Baoning Prefecture will be completely open to Jiang Han.

Taking Baizhang Pass was no easy task. The city was four miles in circumference, surrounded by walls on all four sides, and a moat five feet wide encircled the walls.

Jiang Han led his troops to the outside of Baizhang Pass. Faced with such a formidable pass, he did not rush to order an attack on the city. Instead, he sent Zeng Rui, the magistrate of Guangyuan County, to try to persuade the defending soldiers to surrender.

Outside the west gate of Baizhang Pass, Commander Cao Er led Zeng Rui out into battle, raising rattan shields as they approached the moat.

Cao Er, gazing at the tightly closed city gate thirty paces away and the hastily assembled garrison on the city wall, shouted loudly:
"Listen up, you government troops inside! We are a strong and well-equipped force, with ten times the manpower of yours, and we also have heavy artillery for siege!"

"Those who know what's good for them should surrender quickly. My commander said that those who surrender will be spared death, and the people in the city will be safe!"

There were two generals stationed at Baizhang Pass: one was the garrison commander Guo Zhenchen, and the other was the commander Tian Shi.

Enraged by Cao Er's clamor, the two men took the bows and arrows from their personal guards and fired two arrows at Cao Er outside the city.

Cao Er held up the rattan shield calmly, while Zeng Rui, standing to the side, was terrified, fearing that he might be accidentally hit by a stray arrow and die.

Cao Er glanced at Zeng Rui behind him and frowned:
"What are you panicking for? How can he hit you while you're holding up your shield?"

"Quickly, come forward and use your position as county magistrate to persuade the garrison inside the pass to surrender."

Zeng Rui had no choice but to obey. He was already on a sinking ship and there was no way to get off.

“Listen up, garrison commander in the city. I am Zeng Rui, the magistrate of Guangyuan County. The commander-in-chief has specifically ordered me to persuade you to surrender.”

"Our army is not only well-trained and well-armed, but also equipped with firearms. Do not resist stubbornly, lest you lose your lives!"

"You have one hour to open the city gates and surrender, or your army will be at your gates, and it will be too late to regret it!"

Across the moat, the indigo blue flag bearing the character "Jiang" fluttered in the wind.

Looking at Jiang Han's troops not far away, with everyone wearing eye-catching blue floral cotton armor and a row of heavy artillery, Guo Zhenchen, the garrison commander, couldn't help but feel fear.

He could imagine the scene of dozens of heavy cannons firing at once, followed by the enemy soldiers launching a surprise attack.

The defenders on the city walls began to waver; some even lowered their heads, no longer daring to look at the enemy soldiers outside.

Upon seeing this, Commander Tian Shi immediately stepped forward to boost morale:

"Why panic!"

"The walls of Baizhang Pass are over four li in circumference and three zhang high, with more than a thousand crenellations. Could these bandits possibly have managed to breach the walls?"

"We have received the Emperor's grace for generations; how can we, like that treacherous scoundrel Zeng Rui, be ungrateful and surrender to the enemy?!"

"No one in the army is allowed to speak of surrender; anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

An hour passed quickly, and Jiang Han had no patience to wait for the city's garrison to change their minds. He stood on a pre-built earthen mound, holding a telescope, overlooking the entire fortified city.

"Order the artillery battalion to have Dong Erzhu fire the cannons to boost the morale of the defenders in the city!"

"Yang Ping's militiamen, get ready! As soon as the cannons fire, we'll lead our men forward and fill in the moat!"

boom!
At Jiang Han's command, the heavy cannons along the moat roared in unison, raining down shells on Baizhang Pass.

One of the seven-pound iron bullets, trailing a piercing whistle, struck precisely the eaves of the West Gate tower.

In an instant, tiles flew everywhere and wood chips flew in all directions. The huge impact made the entire city tower tremble. The soldiers guarding the city wall were covered in dust and dirt after being bombarded by a round of cannon fire, and they did not dare to stand on the city wall at all.

As the defending troops retreated from the city wall, a drumbeat immediately sounded from within the ranks.

"Fellow villagers, follow me! Throw your tools into the river!"

Yang Ping tied a red scarf around his head, carried a sack of sand, and led his peasant soldiers to charge forward.

Behind him, thousands of peasant soldiers, also wearing red turbans, carried sacks of earth, stones, and firewood as they surged toward the moat in front of them.

Seeing the bandits filling the river, Guo Zhenchen, the garrison commander on the city wall, was so anxious that he jumped up and down.

But faced with the barrage of cannonballs from the bandits, he could only watch helplessly, not daring to approach the city wall at all.

There's nothing we can do now but wait patiently until the enemy's cannons get hot before we can organize a counterattack.

Time passed second by second, and the cannon fire overhead finally began to gradually subside. Seeing this, Guo Zhenchen immediately led his personal guards to the top of the city wall, preparing to fire firearms to repel the enemy soldiers.

"put!"

With Guo Zhenchen's command, all sorts of firearms began to rain down from the city walls, including Divine Arrows, Bowl-Mouth Cannons, Hundred Tigers Galloping, and a Swarm of Bees.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, in order to deliver firepower over long distances, the Ming army used a wide variety of firearms, with no unified standard whatsoever.

Amidst a series of hissing sounds of gunpowder igniting, hundreds of rockets, trailing strange cries, shot wildly towards Yang Ping's troops below the city, like wildly dancing fire snakes.

The peasant army under Yang Ping had never seen such a scene before. They had only ever seen their own firearms bombarding people, and had never been targeted by the government army's firearms.

Many people were so frightened that their legs went weak, and they dropped the sandbags and scattered in all directions, causing chaos in their formation.

But the soldiers behind them, upon seeing the government troops' firearms, instead showed disdain.

These things are mostly just noise, enough to scare these unsophisticated farmers.

They used to use these kinds of random firearms, so how could they not know their true nature?
These things are ancient relics, probably from some distant past; they've likely been worn out for a long time.

Some of the bolder ones even stepped forward and, amidst the laughter of their comrades, grabbed the expired rockets and, as if catching a black snake, casually tossed them into the moat not far away.

"All of you, get back here!"

"What are you afraid of? The government troops' rockets are all show and no substance; they won't hurt you!"

The veterans' roars were like a shot of adrenaline, injecting a powerful dose of energy into the panicked peasant army.

Looking at this group of composed soldiers, the farmers, who were originally terrified, suddenly felt a strange sense of admiration and fanaticism.

Yang Ping originally intended to take the opportunity to lead his men, carrying ladders, to rush to the city wall and swarm up to scale it.

At this moment, Jiang Han ordered the peasant army to return and instead dispatched his own soldiers.

Yang Ping, somewhat puzzled by the order, quickly ran back to the central command post to find Jiang Han:
"General, why won't you let us go up?"

"Now is the perfect time to storm the city. Only by being tested on the battlefield can these farmers truly become qualified soldiers!"

Jiang Han rolled his eyes at Yang Ping after hearing this:
"You can't even carry your own armor, how are you going to attack the city?"

"Just watch closely. I'll let you have a chance to play later."

Yang Ping was getting anxious. It was just a few pieces of armor. These farmers who toiled in the fields all year round, how could they not have the strength?

Jiang Han shrugged, too lazy to explain further, and simply gestured for Yang Ping to personally check the equipment of his siege vanguard.

Yang Ping looked puzzled and led his men to the front line.

A group of tall, burly men were nervously checking their armor and protective gear, preparing to charge into the city.

The innermost lining was a pair of mandarin duck battle robes, followed by a layer of chainmail, then a layer of bright silver chainmail, and over that a thick iron-leaf cotton armor. There were three layers in total, making it completely covered.

In addition to the armor, there were also a full range of protective gear.

The forwards wore iron arm guards, and their throats, hearts, and armpits were protected with fine iron armor. They wore helmets with bowl-shaped designs on their heads, and their faces were covered with a layer of armor.

His equipment was much simpler: he carried a long sword weighing 2.8 jin in his right hand, a javelin weighing 3 jin on his back, and a rattan shield weighing 5 jin in his left hand.

After occupying Long'an Prefecture, Jiang Han's Armory went into overdrive, arming his elite vanguard to the teeth.

A siege vanguard with three layers of armor would be an absolute weapon of mass destruction in any dynasty or era.

Upon seeing the equipment on these men, Yang Ping finally came to his senses. It was no wonder the commander-in-chief looked down on his peasant army; with soldiers like these under his command, anyone would despise them.

These pieces of equipment must weigh at least 40 to 50 kilograms. It would take a lot of effort for an ordinary person to just walk around in them, let alone climb the city walls and ladders.

"Brothers, follow me and break through the city!"

With a roar from Cao Er, thousands of elite soldiers pushed more than ten siege engines and assembled wooden ladders, slowly advancing towards the city wall of Baizhang Pass.

Upon seeing the enemy's siege ladders, the defenders on the city wall quickly grabbed their weapons, attempting to stop the ladders from approaching the wall.

No matter how fiercely they bombarded the enemy with their bows and muskets, the bandits below remained unmoved, advancing step by step.

The protection of three layers of armor was enough for them to ignore the long-range firepower overhead.

The siege engine slowly approached the city wall. Several soldiers supported the main beams and hung huge wooden curtains in front of the ladders to shield them from arrows and cannon fire.

The wooden cloud ladder is very similar to the Lu Gong chariot from the Song Dynasty, but with some improvements.

The Lü Gong chariot was specifically designed for siege warfare, but it proved to be of little use on the actual battlefield.

Firstly, the Lü Gong chariot is huge and has a high center of gravity, making it very demanding in terms of terrain; it is prone to tipping over and overturning if not handled carefully.

Even before the advent of artillery, the defending army could easily knock down Lü Gong's chariot with catapults.

The wooden cloud ladder is different. First of all, it can be assembled, making it easy to carry and convenient for marching.

Cloud ladders can be assembled using simple mechanical structures, and then reinforced with wooden curtains in front to shield soldiers from arrows and bullets, allowing them to climb to higher ground with ease.

At that time, the wooden curtains at the front can be removed, which can both suppress the defenders on the city wall with firepower and allow people to jump onto the city wall from a suitable height to avoid being killed by the defenders' rolling stones and logs.

　There's no time to explain, I'm just posting this now, don't rush to read it! Wait until I finish revising it!!!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)