weaving

Chapter 1543 Linqing in Danger

Linqing is an ancient city with a history of thousands of years, located at the junction of Hebei and Shandong provinces. It was established as a county as early as the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty. In the first year of Jianping of the Later Zhao Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Sixteen Kingdoms period, the city was renamed Linqing because it was adjacent to the Qinghe River, meaning "adjacent to the Qinghe River".

Since the Yuan Dynasty, thanks to the opening of the Zhangwei Canal, it has become a vital transportation hub, where goods from the north and south are exchanged and traded. Merchants gradually gathered here, eventually turning it into a prosperous commercial port.

During the Ming Dynasty, especially after the excavation and completion of the Huitong River, the economy flourished to its peak thanks to the developed Grand Canal, making it an important circulation hub and a well-known commercial metropolis.

Linqing City is a unique city built with a mixture of brick and earth.

Its brick city is located in the northeast corner. The entire city is covered with bricks and has four gates. The north and east gates are the outer gates, while the west and south gates lead to the earthen city.

For example, the prefectural government office, county government office, military affairs office, Linqing garrison office, grain depot, Ministry of Works brick factory office, waterway, official granary, etc. were all located within the brick city.

The earthen city is located to the southwest of the brick city, surrounding the west and south walls of the brick city. Its area is nearly three times that of the brick city. The Zhangwei Canal and the Huitong River both flow through the earthen city.

Linqing Tucheng has four city gates and three water gates. The famous Linqing Customs House is located on the Huitong River inside the Tucheng. Merchants and warehouses are mostly located within the Tucheng.

Places like the Horse Market, Pot Market, White Cloth Lane, Bamboo Market Lane, and the most bustling overpass are all located within this earthen city.

It can be said that the brick city of Linqing was the administrative seat and an important place for storing grain and fodder for the imperial court, while the earthen city was the commercial center of Linqing.

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Due to the Yellow River changing its course and breaching its banks many times throughout history, the Linqing area has accumulated a large amount of silt, forming a topography of hills, slopes and depressions. Riverbank highlands, sandy river channels, breach fan-shaped areas, gentle slopes, shallow depressions between rivers and back river channel depressions are all present.

The main force of the Jurchen army in the south, led by Abatai, camped on the north and west sides, occupying the riverbank highlands outside the city in advance and gaining a geographical advantage.

On the south and east sides, only a few groups of enemy cavalry were sent out to patrol outside the city gates to prevent the soldiers and civilians in the city from fleeing out.

On the 11th, Abatai did not launch a major offensive, but only made two probing attacks in the afternoon to explore the number and strength of the defending troops in the city before halting the offensive.

Through two rounds of feint attacks, Abatai discovered that the garrison in Linqing was not very strong. However, he did not want to attack the city under cover of darkness, lest unforeseen circumstances occur. Therefore, he ordered all battalions to rest on the spot and to launch a full-scale attack on the city at dawn the next day.

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In fact, Liu Zeqing, the general of Shandong, originally had several thousand troops stationed in Linqing Prefecture to defend against the Jurchens. However, for some reason, the imperial court issued a proclamation ordering him to lead troops north to defend the emperor.

At this moment, although Liu Zeqing was once again ordered to lead his troops back to Linqing, his generals were all terrified in the face of the powerful field battle force of the Jurchen cavalry. They were afraid to fight the Jurchens in the field and had reached the point of seeing enemies everywhere.

On their way back to reinforce Linqing, they encountered several dozen Jurchen cavalrymen and mistook them for the Jurchen army. Disregarding orders, the rear of the army fled westward.

Not long after, Liu Zeqing was separated from the central infantry battalion again, leaving him with less than 1,500 cavalrymen. Although he rushed back, he was still a step too late.

Seeing that enemy cavalry were everywhere outside Linqing City, Liu Zeqing dared not fight them, nor could he enter Linqing City to reinforce them. Helpless, he had no choice but to lead his troops away.

Luo Rucai's troops, who came to the aid of the Earl of Yongning, were refused entry to the city by the officials and generals of Linqing. This was because Luo Rucai's troops had previously been bandits, and although they had now surrendered to the court and had a letter from the Earl of Yongning, Zhang Cheng, as proof, the officials and gentry in Linqing were still not at ease.

They worried that Luo Rucai's troops were still hard to change their thieving ways. If they were allowed into the city, and saw the prosperity of Linqing, they might be tempted to plunder and leave. What could they do then?
Therefore, the officials and gentry of Linqing replied that they could supply Luo Rucai with provisions, but dared not allow them to enter Linqing city to garrison. They only allowed Luo Rucai's troops to garrison outside the city to assist in the defense of Linqing.

At this moment, Luo Rucai only had four or five thousand cavalrymen by his side, and the main force of infantry was still far behind. Naturally, he dared not stay outside the city to fight against tens of thousands of Jiannu cavalry in the field, so he immediately led his troops back to Daming Prefecture.

As a result, only the deputy commander Duan Yinglong and guerrilla commander He Zan's more than 3,000 troops remained in Linqing City. If the old and weak under their command were eliminated, there would probably only be a little over 1,000 soldiers left who could fight.

Fortunately, Linqing City had ample funds and supplies, and soon organized five or six thousand militia to assist in the defense of the city. However, most of them were untrained, and although they were willing to risk their lives for money, it was hard to say how useful they would be.

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The 12th day of the intercalary 11th month of the 15th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming

While the Earl of Yongning was waiting in Suning to receive the imperial edict, the battle for Linqing had already begun.

Abatai commanded the Jurchens to blockade the north and east gates of the brick city, and sent a cavalry force to patrol and harass the south, while the main army attacked the north and west gates of the earthen city.

The siege began at dawn and lasted until noon.

The Jurchen artillery was even more powerful and accurate than that of the Linqing defenders. The cannonballs hit the rammed earth walls, leaving craters with each impact. Fortunately, the rammed earth walls were sturdy enough to withstand the morning's bombardment.

But the Jurchens' offensive intensified in the afternoon.

They concentrated all their cannons and bombarded the earthen wall in the northwest corner. As the cannonballs flew in, the crenellations on the earthen wall were almost completely destroyed.

Many soldiers and civilians defending the city were killed or wounded. Even He Zan, the guerrilla commander who was directing the operation, was hit on the head by a clod of earth. He didn't bother to bandage himself and went back into battle. It was under his bravery and fearlessness that the afternoon's offensive was barely held.

That night, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Duan Yinglong selected dozens of daredevils and sent them to Jinan Prefecture, Dongchang Prefecture, Daming Prefecture and other places to ask for help, carrying letters of appeal from the prefect and other officials.

At the same time, they persuaded the merchants and gentry in Linqing City to contribute money and grain, and recruited nearly three thousand community soldiers to make up for the losses during the day and prepare for the defense of the city the next day.

On the 13th, as Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, led the main force of the Western Route Army of the Loyal Army away from Suning and began his march towards Linqing, the battle to defend Linqing also began as scheduled.

The Jurchens continued to focus their attacks on the north and west sides of the earthen city, but today they deployed almost their entire army, seemingly determined to capture Linqing.

They continued to concentrate all their artillery fire on the rammed earth wall in the northwest corner, and also organized a large number of archers to suppress the defenders and militia on the wall, while simultaneously using ladders to scale the wall.

The rammed earth walls of Linqing Tucheng were indeed constructed without any shortcuts. Under the fierce bombardment of the Jurchens, they held firm for two whole days, only adding countless shell craters, without showing any signs of collapse.

However, faced with the Jurchens' powerful offensive, the defenders on the city walls could not hold out...

Linqing Tucheng fell at noon on the 13th day of the intercalary 11th month!