This situation was not changed until the advent of breech rifles, because at that time the tactics of the troops also changed from line tactics to skirmisher tactics, and the line tactics were completely abandoned during the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War.

So much so that thousands or even tens of thousands of people are densely packed together, and the neat and tight formation can only be seen on performances, such as drills and military parades.

But even so, even in modern times, a neat formation is the foundation of the army, not because the neat queue is good-looking, but because the queue training can cultivate the most basic and important quality of the soldiers' obedience to orders.

These Ming troops on the head of Liping Mansion, especially those civil and military officials, regardless of whether they know military affairs or not, but everyone can see from the neat queue of the pseudo-Tang thief army outside the city: these pseudo-Tang thief army is really not in vain!

Last month, they heard that Song Zhiwen of Xingquan Mansion had gathered nearly 10,000 troops to suppress the encirclement and suppression of the puppet Tang thief army, but they suffered two consecutive defeats in Lanjiang, not to mention the loss of troops, and even the city of Xingquan Mansion was lost.

But who would have thought that it was still true, especially when they saw Song Zhiwen fleeing to Liping Mansion in embarrassment, they had to believe that the pseudo-Tang thief army had become a climate, and they could not be regarded as ordinary bandits.

Seeing these pseudo-Tang thieves with their own eyes in this way also once again confirmed that their approach was right: fortunately, they had transferred their families and gold and silver out a few days ago, whether it was to go to Zhuangzi in the countryside or to other state capitals or provincial capitals, it was better than staying in Liping Mansion.

Originally, they were only two or three out of ten confident that they could hold the city, but after they saw the puppet Tang thief army with their own eyes, the confidence that there was only two or three out of ten was completely gone.

I'm afraid this city can't be defended, the only question is how long they can hold out under the offensive of the puppet Tang thief army.

As long as they can hold out for ten days and half a month, then they can wait until the army on the other side of the provincial capital arrives, and then they will be saved, and they will even be promoted to make a fortune because of their meritorious service in defending the city.

But if they don't make it to the arrival of reinforcements, the officials present will not be much better.

If they surrender, their families will die, and if they don't surrender, they themselves will die.

As for escaping, you try to escape, Song Zhiwen's fate is your fate!

Speaking of Song Zhiwen, after he walked alone from the city of Xingquan Mansion, he fled to Liping Mansion with the only remaining ten or so guards, and asked Liping Mansion to prepare for the puppet Tang thief army, he said, if you can't block the offensive of the puppet Tang thief army in Liping Mansion, I'm afraid it won't be long before not only the provincial capital is in danger, but also the puppet Tang thief army may even harm thousands of miles of land.

For the first time, the officials of Liping Mansion really knew the truth of the puppet Tang thief army, and in the past, they thought that the puppet Tang thief army was just the same as ordinary bandits.

However, Song Zhiwen didn't stay in Liping Mansion for long, because he was soon taken away by the people sent by the governor for the reason of 'inquiring about Li Zhiwen', and anyone with a discerning eye knew that this Song Zhiwen was afraid that he was going to be unlucky, and he was also unlucky.

After all, any one of his charges was enough to cut off his head ten times.

For example, under his rule, there was a group of rebels and thieves in Xingquan Mansion, a pseudo-Tang thief army, what does this mean, this means that the level of his Song Zhiwen's governance of the place is really rotten, what a stupid official must be to be able to cultivate a rebel army with thousands of soldiers in a mansion with only more than 300,000 people.

Secondly, the three consecutive fiascos not only wiped out the thousands of soldiers of their Xingquan Mansion itself, but also the troops of Liping Mansion and several surrounding state capitals were also consumed, you must know that among the more than 10,000 people that Song Zhiwen has assembled twice, several thousand are the troops drawn by the governor Yamen from the neighboring state capitals, among which the troops on the side of Liping Mansion are even worse, and the troops of several guards in the palace that were originally used to suppress Tusi are basically drawn out of the young and strong backbones, and only some of the old and young are left.

Song Zhiwen cut off tens of thousands of people on the Lanjiang River, and almost the entire western region of Guizhou lacked the strength to resist the puppet Tang thief army in a short period of time.

And the negative impact of Liping province is even greater!

And who is the one responsible for all this? It's Su Jiakang, it's Song Zhiwen, but Su Jiakang heard that he was captured by the puppet Tang thief army, and even defected to the puppet Tang thief army, but he didn't know if it was true or not.

Then Song Zhiwen, who escaped alive, naturally became the biggest person responsible, so Song Zhiwen was just called by the governor to go to the provincial capital, and this person was still passive, and the civil and military officials on the side of Liping Mansion had already collectively folded it, ready to miser him.

Now that the news has spread, I'm afraid that Song Zhiwen's recital has already flown to Jingshi like snowflakes.

What happened to him next can be imagined by everyone, it won't be long before a Qin cha escorts him to Beijing and is thrown into prison, and at the same time, his family will not be spared, confiscating his family property and being exiled is only the lightest, and even adult men may be beheaded, women and children will be charged into the sect department, and an official family will be completely wiped out.

But thinking of the tragic end that Song Zhiwen was about to face, the officials in Liping Mansion couldn't help but chill in their hearts, because if one didn't do it, Song Zhiwen's fate would be their end.

Once Liping Mansion is breached, their best fate is a dead word, if they don't want to die and dare to abandon the city and flee, it is a matter of minutes to raid their homes and destroy their clans.

Therefore, after seeing the momentum of the puppet Tang thief army outside the city, the civil and military officials of the Ming army at the head of the city frowned, and many people even showed despair.

What's going on, that's what disaster said from the sky, it's obviously his Song Zhiwen and Su Jiakang's doing, why do you have to bear this pot?

Hao Bonian naturally didn't care about the thoughts of the civil and military officials of the Ming army in the city, he commanded the troops to prepare for the attack step by step.

The whole morning was spent preparing, and by the afternoon, the soldiers who had a rich lunch began the official siege of the city.

The first to speak was to strengthen the artillery corps of the First Infantry Corps, which fired three 500-pound guns on a fort about 350 meters from the city wall.

With the rumbling sound of cannons, one after another solid round iron bullets flew towards the city wall of Liping Mansion on the opposite side!

If there is a cannonball that just falls on the battlement, it will even smash the battlements directly, so that the sand and gravel are splashed, and a few cannonballs flying in the direction of the city gate tower are even more than half of the city gate tower collapsed, because there happened to be a cannonball that broke one of the load-bearing wooden pillars, which caused a small area of collapse.

This shelling alone, although it did not cause many actual casualties, but seeing the continuous cracks in the city wall still made the defenders in the city worried, if this wall was blown down, what would they do!