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

Chapter 231 The Defense of Baoning Prefecture (Thanks to the guild leader '立根在破岩中' for the alliance leader)

After more than two months of training, a cavalry battalion of 2,500 men was finally formed at the end of October.

As the messenger brought the message back to Baizhang Pass, the moment Jiang Han had been waiting for—the final assault—had finally arrived.

Although it was already early winter, we really had to wait until winter to attack Baoning Prefecture.

The main reason is that Baoning Prefecture has a very special geographical location.

Located on the east bank of the middle reaches of the Jialing River, it is surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on one side, forming a natural defensive pattern of relying on mountains and water.

To the west and south are the main channels of the Jialing River, with the widest part of the river reaching a hundred zhang (approximately 33 meters), making it the most difficult natural moat to cross.

Jiang Han had no navy to mobilize, so he could only wait for the dry season in winter before launching an attack on the city.

Jiang Han's troops marched south from Baizhang Pass and quickly captured Cangxi County, north of Baoning Prefecture, successfully joining forces with Shao Yong's western route army.

The two forces were quite large, and although they consisted mostly of militia and newly surrendered peasant rebels, they still numbered a total of 35,000.

Even with their superior numbers, Jiang Han and his group were still stunned by the terrain before them when they arrived outside Baoning Prefecture.

(Baoning Prefecture during the rainy season)

Outside the city walls, the Jialing River forms a giant U-shape, winding around the city.

Although it is already the dry season, the river is estimated to be 30 to 40 zhang wide.

On the river, more than a dozen warships of varying sizes were patrolling back and forth. Judging from their design, they should be small Cangshan boats and sand boats.

Looking across the river from the telescope, the riverbank is covered with dense fortifications such as deer antlers and barricades.

The city walls were heavily guarded, with banners flying everywhere.

"It seems that old man Zhang Ling has staked everything on this prefectural city."

"He's really a tough nut to crack."

Jiang Han put down his telescope, looked at the heavily guarded city before him, and muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, on the city wall of Baoning Prefecture.

Zhang Ling, the deputy commander of the Northern Sichuan Army, was also very troubled by the sight of the endless mass of enemy soldiers on the opposite bank.

"Didn't this band of rebels only number over eight thousand when they entered Sichuan?"

"How come so many troops have suddenly appeared in less than a year?"

Zhang Ling was from the Yongning Pacification Commission and was an old general over sixty years old.

In a way, he was also a former rebel.

When She Chongming rebelled in the first year of the Tianqi reign, he was the general under his command.

But what She Chongming didn't expect was that Zhang Ling was actually loyal to Liu Bei while serving Cao Cao.

Later, Zhang Ling led his people to surrender to the Ming court. In a fit of rage, She Chongming slaughtered Zhang Ling's entire family and even dug up his ancestors' graves to vent his hatred.

Zhu Xieyuan, then governor of Sichuan, submitted a memorial praising Zhang Ling for his dedication to the country and requesting the court to promote him with preferential treatment.

Zhang Ling then transformed himself from a rebel into a military officer of the Ming Dynasty, and later rose to the rank of deputy commander-in-chief due to his merits.

Zhang Ling, who came from a chieftain's rebellion, couldn't understand why these bandits from the Northwest could muster so many troops in such a short time.

Although the An She Rebellion was a large-scale event, it was actually just a rebellion in the border regions, a minor ailment.

However, this mob of starving people managed to break through a province in a short period of time and wreak havoc in the Central Plains, clearly aiming to undermine the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's rule.

These people are the real threat to the Ming Dynasty.

In Zhang Ling's view, the Ming Dynasty, which had been passed down for more than two hundred years, was the legitimate dynasty of the world.

But now, war rages everywhere, and rebels are everywhere.

Not to mention the Central Plains, even in his remote northern Sichuan, the bandits could easily muster 20,000 to 30,000 troops.

In contrast, he only had a mere five thousand men at his disposal. Of these, more than three thousand were local garrison soldiers from Baoning Prefecture, who were utterly useless.

In order to preserve his troops, Zhang Ling abandoned the passes along the Jianzhou-Baizhangguan line long ago and focused on defending the prefectural city.

After the rebel army broke through Cangxi County in the north, he had already sent messengers to Hou Liangzhu in Mianzhou, Zhu Xieyuan in Chengdu Prefecture, and Qin Liangyu, the chieftain of Shizhu in eastern Sichuan, to request reinforcements.

His current task is to hold the line.

As long as he can keep the city intact for a month, he can wait for reinforcements from other places.

When the three armies converge, they will surely be able to annihilate the enemy troops in northern Sichuan!

To achieve this goal, Zhang Ling's defenses were extremely thorough.

He relied on the unique terrain surrounding the city to build a three-tiered, land-water integrated defense network, giving full play to the mobility of the navy and the barrier advantages of the rivers.

The first layer is the outer river defense, controlling the vital waterway.

Zhang Ling gathered all the usable warships near Baoning Prefecture to form a naval force.

The navy was further divided into three teams: stationed, patrolling, and emergency response teams, forming a tiered defense.

Among them, the garrison consisted of six warships, anchored in the core waters, and stationed in the deep-water section of the river in front of the city.

Each ship had twenty to thirty soldiers, and was equipped with several firearms and bows.

The main tasks of the garrison are:
When enemy troops are spotted gathering ferries on the gentler section of the river opposite, they quickly approach and use muskets and arrows to destroy the harassing enemy vessels.

As far as Zhang Ling knew, this band of bandits from the Northwest did not have a navy.

To cross the Jialing River, one must either take a boat or build a pontoon bridge in a secluded location.

The patrol team's main task was to monitor the surrounding river in sections to prevent thieves from secretly building pontoon bridges to cross the river at night.

Zhang Ling divided the area surrounded by water on three sides, such as the upper reaches of the Jialing River, the Fujiang River, and the confluence of the two rivers, into three patrol zones.

The patrol team was also divided into three groups, each with two speedboats, responsible for one area.

During the day, they patrol once every two hours; at night, this increases to once every two hours.

The speedboat was equipped with lanterns, gongs, and whistling arrows as signals.

If the enemy soldiers are found to be trying to build a bridge on the shore, immediately sound the alarm with whistling arrows and use rockets to notify the garrison along the shore and the anchored fleet to come to their aid.

Finally, there is the emergency response team, equipped with three fast boats, hidden and ready to provide rapid support at any time.

The emergency response team does not participate in routine patrols. It is only deployed to provide rapid support when an emergency signal is issued in a specific area, such as when the berthed fleet is attacked or the patrol team fails to intercept.

The second layer is shore defense coordination to avoid the navy operating in isolation.

Zhang Ling built many watchtowers along the banks where the water flow was relatively slow.

The arrow tower has three floors, each equipped with archers and musketeers.

Furthermore, he also built a thick earthen wall in front of the arrow tower as cover to prevent the enemy soldiers from easily breaking in and destroying the arrow tower.

In addition, Zhang Ling ordered his men to bury many sharpened wooden stakes and bamboo poles on the shallows along the shore to prevent the enemy soldiers from landing.

The final layer was to reinforce the city's defenses and prevent enemy troops from attacking by land.

With the three sides surrounded by water secured, Zhang Ling deployed heavy troops to defend the only gate not directly on the water, the North Gate, Weide Gate.

He placed almost half of his troops at the north gate.

Zhang Ling devoted himself wholeheartedly to defending this prefecture.

He used almost every method at his disposal.

The rest is up to fate.

　Thanks to the guild leader, Li Genben, for making 10,000 points today!

　　I'll post two chapters, each 2 words, first, then I'll finish this while I have a meal! I won't sleep until I've finished writing!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)