Chapter 2843

The last inspection site of Baikes and his party in the Jinzhou area was the most famous local Isthmus Defense Line. It only takes less than an hour to take a carriage from the Jinzhou Camp to the Isthmus Defense Line. And in order to facilitate the transportation of combat supplies, this section of the official

The road was widened and pavement hardened a few years ago. The road condition is very good, and the horse-drawn carriage does not feel too bumpy.

The narrowest part of the Jinzhou Isthmus is only about ten miles wide. It can be said to be the land chasm at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula. The fortifications built here are one of the most important military facilities in the entire Jinzhou region.

After the Haihan Army seized this important pass from the Manchus in 1636, they launched a military confrontation with the Qing Army here for more than ten years. During this period, no less than a hundred major and minor battles broke out around the isthmus defense line, and both sides invested heavily.

The resources are even more incalculable.

However, due to the gap in military strength between the two sides, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties organized multiple counterattacks and failed to recapture this important military area. Haihan relied on this line of defense and firmly defended the southernmost point of the Liaodong Peninsula with a relatively small number of troops.

This small area effectively contained the Qing Dynasty's momentum to attack the Ming Dynasty and North Korea.

For a long time in the past, the Jinzhou Isthmus was the northernmost point of the Haihan territory, and the battle line formed by it was the actual control border between Haihan and the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In the huge territory ruled by Haihan

, this can be regarded as one of the areas with the highest density of fighting.

Because of this, the Jinzhou Isthmus not only has important military value to the Northern Region, but is also an object of great concern to all levels of the Haihan Army. Every major victory achieved by the Haihan Army here will be reported in the official newspaper

Make detailed reports. For people of the generation like Bai Letong and Ning Zijing, in the textbooks they learned when they were young, there are articles about the heroic battles of the Haihan Army in the Jinzhou Isthmus. It can be said that these people who grew up under the double-color banner of Haihan

Within a generation, there is almost no one who does not know the place Jinzhou Isthmus.

Therefore, for these young people who came to the Jinzhou Isthmus for the first time, the significance of this trip was not just an inspection, but also a kind of pilgrimage.

However, Chen Pingliao, who acted as a guide, was obviously not among them. When he first started to remember, he had been led by his father across the Jinzhou Isthmus. After he grew up, he would follow Chen Yixin on inspections here every year to learn about the defense line of the Isthmus.

He is very familiar with it inside and out. In almost every position, he can introduce its origin and famous battle examples in detail.

"After our army's front advanced northward, the combat tasks undertaken by the isthmus defense line gradually decreased. In order to maintain smooth traffic between Jinzhou and the northern region, some of the defenses on the main roads have also been dismantled. However, more than 80% of the areas are still

The wartime settings have been retained, and some troops are still stationed here, but they are mainly performing training tasks such as soil engineering and defense."

Chen Pingliao pointed to a nearby semi-underground fortification and said: "This tunnel may not look inconspicuous, but it is actually one of the main ammunition depots at the northern end of the Jinzhou Isthmus, and the space inside may be larger than you think.

In wartime, the ammunition reserves here can provide five to seven days of combat needs for the fourteen forts and one infantry battalion in the nearby area. There are ten frontline ammunition depots of this size along the entire isthmus defense line.

.”

The Jinzhou side of the isthmus defense line is full of various logistics facilities, barracks, ammunition depots, field hospitals, canteens, warehouses, headquarters, etc. During wartime, there may be more personnel stationed in these facilities than there are soldiers fighting on the front line, and Almost all of them are semi-permanent fortifications made of masonry. When necessary, they can be transformed into fortresses on the spot to form a group of fortifications that protect each other.

In front of these logistical facilities is the tall Isthmus Great Wall. Although this wall fortification across the entire isthmus is only more than ten miles long, its defensive power is far beyond that of the traditional Great Wall. To be precise, this is the Dozens of large and small fortresses are connected in series with city walls to form a permanent line of defense.

Under the leadership of Chen Pingliao, everyone walked up to the city wall of the isthmus defense line. They immediately noticed that the city wall did not extend in a straight line, but had multiple obvious protrusions. The entire defense line was scattered and scattered like canines. On the ground, it is more like multiple fortresses connected together than a line of defense.

Outside these bastions, there are defensive positions extending hundreds of feet outward, including traditional fortifications such as trenches, horse-proofing, deer villages, and horse traps, as well as small bunkers, barbed wire, tunnels, and other unique defenses unique to Haihan. Facilities. According to Chen Pingliao, mines were also laid near these fortifications during wartime.

The defensive positions composed of these various types of fortifications can effectively prevent large groups of enemy infantry, cavalry and horses from directly attacking the isthmus defense line. The extended defensive positions are all within the coverage of the firepower of the city wall, forming a three-dimensional defense from top to bottom. Once the enemy is in this area If the offensive in the area is blocked, the firepower of the city wall can be used to attack the dense enemy formation from a high position.

Bai Letong couldn't help but sigh: "With so many methods, it must have been a headache for the Qing army when they attacked the isthmus defense line back then!"

Chen Pingliao responded: "I only know that in every major battle, the Qing army lost tens of thousands of people. They tried almost all combat methods, but they never failed to break through our defense lines."

Speaking of this topic, Chen Yixin also added: "The commander-in-chief of the Qing army changed seven or eight times, and all tactics were tried. However, the gap in strength between the two sides is clearly on the table. If you can't beat them, you can't beat them."

Bai Letong said: "If this is the case, then why do the Qing army still admit death and attack this place?"

Chen Yixin said: "The reason is very simple. If we occupy Jinzhou, it is equivalent to having a foothold in Liaodong. We can send troops to attack any coast in Liaodong at any time. If the Manchus want to change this passive situation, they must take back Jinzhou , to drive us out of Liaodong. And they have no way to project their troops through the sea, so they can only concentrate their firepower on attacking the Jinzhou Isthmus. This is our preset battlefield, waiting for the Qing army to take the initiative to attack Already."

The location of Jinzhou completely restricted the Manchu and Qing Dynasty's military defense in the entire Liaodong Peninsula, but corresponding to this was the extremely small defense zone on the Haihan side. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties had to fortify everywhere along the thousand-mile coastline. The other option is to break through Jinzhou and drive Haihan back to Shandong. In comparison, the latter plan is obviously more proactive and has more substantial benefits.

It's just that Haihan was not the Ming Dynasty, and the combat power of the Haihan army was far superior to that of the Ming army. Relying on the Jinzhou Isthmus, it blocked the Qing army to the north and was unable to cross the border for more than ten years.
Chapter completed!