Chapter 1328: Sword Pointed at Kuaiji
Conquering Jiangdong is definitely the most important step in the great cause of unifying the world, and its significance is even greater than conquering Northern Qi.
After all, the division between the East and the West lasted much shorter than the division between the North and the South, and the East and the West are of the same origin. As long as some stubborn elements in the upper ruling class of Northern Qi are eliminated, the integration of the middle and lower classes will be much smoother.
However, the situation in the north and the south is just the opposite. There are many people in the upper class of the Southern Dynasty who can judge the situation or change their course with the wind, but the middle and lower classes are more stubborn about Jiangdong's autonomy, and have an instinctive resistance to the power of the Northern Dynasty. The Hou Jing Rebellion a few years ago further aggravated this demonized cognition and stereotype.
Li Tai took it as his responsibility to unify the world, and naturally had a series of ideas about conquering Jiangdong, including conquering it by force. However, he did not regard the Chen regime in the south of Jiangdong as a hostile foreign country. All he thought about was to pacify Jiangdong with the least casualties.
Previously, he supported Chen Chang to return to Jiangdong to succeed the throne, which was also one of the measures taken under this idea. He hoped that the Southern Chen regime headed by Chen Chang could maintain a superficial peace in Jiangdong, and that the Tang Dynasty would gradually infiltrate and increase its influence on the current situation in Jiangdong with the help of the Southern Chen court, so as to reduce the resistance of the people in Jiangdong.
This plan was relatively smooth in the early stage. The Tang Dynasty and the Southern Chen Dynasty were strengthening cooperation in all aspects, and the flow of personnel and materials between them was also very smooth. They got along very happily.
However, as the situation developed, the drawbacks of this model were still revealed. The Tang Dynasty's influence on the Jiangdong region in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River has always been concentrated in its capital Jiankang area, and it has been difficult to radiate to other regions, especially the three Wu regions in the core of Jiangdong. Instead of deepening their understanding and goodwill towards the Tang Dynasty, they have become more and more resistant and resisting.
This situation is largely due to Chen Chang's incompetence, especially his repeated indulgence of Chen Qian, or his complete inability to control him. The close alliance between the Tang Dynasty and the Southern Chen Dynasty not only failed to resolve the hostility of the people of the Three Wus, but also became a tool for Chen Qian to stir up trouble and gather forces in the Three Wus.
Since the Tang Dynasty still had to maintain its alliance with the Southern Chen Dynasty, it was difficult to bypass the Southern Chen Dynasty to directly intervene in the affairs of the Three Wus, which made the anti-Tang atmosphere in the Three Wus increasingly strong. This alliance and cooperation between the two sides was not only useless, but also became a burden.
So when the turmoil in Lingbiao affected the personnel arrangements of the Tang Dynasty on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Tang Dynasty simply borrowed the name of the Southern Chen Dynasty for help and returned Nanchuan to the Southern Chen Dynasty in exchange, and gained space for independent activities in Guizhou, Lingbiao.
However, in addition to maintaining an alliance with the Southern Chen Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty could not find a better channel to intervene in the current situation in Jiangdong for the time being. Especially after the war in the north came to an end and the overall state affairs entered a stage of recuperation, the conditions for direct large-scale use of troops in Jiangdong were not yet mature.
As the monarch of Southern Chen, Chen Chang, although he was deeply dependent on the Tang Dynasty, still maintained necessary vigilance and precautions against the Tang Dynasty from his own standpoint. It was impossible for him to completely abandon his bottom line and allow the Tang Dynasty's forces to enter Jiangdong and stir up trouble.
Under such circumstances, if the Tang Dynasty did not directly send troops across the river, it would be difficult for the Tang Dynasty to find a new way to intervene in the situation in Jiangdong. And Xu Du, the military leader of Southern Chen who was stationed in an important town on the Jiangbei side, chose to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, which undoubtedly provided an excellent choice.
If Jingkou was controlled by the Tang Dynasty, then basically a series of defense lines of the Yangtze River from upstream to downstream would be under control, and the Tang Dynasty would therefore enjoy absolute strategic and tactical initiative. It was no longer a problem to pacify Jiangdong, the only difference was sooner or later.
Of course, this incident will inevitably cause vigilance and even some overreactions from Chen Chang and the Southern Chen court. Apart from other things, Chen Chang's father Chen Baxian had previously marched westward from Jingkou to kill Chen Baxian. Now that the Tang Dynasty bypassed the Southern Chen court and directly controlled Jingkou, what exactly was it trying to do? It was simply unimaginable!
So this incident will definitely affect the diplomatic relations between the Tang Dynasty and the Southern Chen Dynasty. However, compared with the more tactical options obtained after controlling Jingkou, there is no need to worry too much about how Chen Chang and his ministers react to this.
Especially now that Li Tai has received the big rockets from the Buddhas, he has the confidence to further use force, and his ability to respond to subsequent changes in the situation in the Southern Chen Dynasty has also improved. The rhythm can naturally be faster, and there is no need to make too many considerations.
So after knowing this, Li Tai did not blame Ruo Feng for his self-assertion. After all, Jingkou, a major town in the Southern Dynasty, is in front of him. It is difficult to ignore anyone who has any intentions for Jiangdong.
There was just one thing that made him feel quite happy. He had never met Xu Du, but he had already followed Chen Baxian for many years, so he must be quite old. Now he was on friendly terms with Ruo Ruo Feng. Li Tai couldn't help laughing when he thought of that scene.
Putting aside these jokes, in order to avoid further changes in the situation, Li Tai quickly made decisions and made various arrangements.
He first sent his men to Guangling to inform Ruo Ruo Feng to deepen the interaction with Xu Du, and on the premise of both sides being open and honest, he would dispatch troops and horses as soon as possible to actually occupy Jingkou. After occupying Jingkou, there was no need to take any further actions for the time being, and he waited for further instructions from the court.
At the same time, in order to prevent Jiankang from overreacting or taking extreme actions, Li Tai sent a letter to Quan Jingxuan, the governor of Hezhou, to lead the upstream fleet to the south of Dongguan and station at Ruxukou, so as to maintain military deterrence against Jiankang in the upstream.
Although Li Tai was not very clear about the deployment of Jiankang's troops, he had already drawn out some of Jiankang's troops by returning Nanchuan. In addition, Chen Chang had previously sent Wu Mingche to lead troops to Wujun to quell the rebellion, so the garrison in Jiankang would not be too many, and the possibility of the Southern Chen court directly using force to resist was not great.
Li Tai did not want to completely break off relations with the Southern Chen court at the moment, so after making arrangements for the crossing of the river and military deterrence, he arranged for envoys to go to Jiankang to inform Chen Chang and his ministers that the series of actions of the Tang Dynasty were not aimed at the Southern Chen court, but had another target, that is, Hou Andu, the governor of Dongyangzhou of the Southern Chen who was now in Kuaiji.
Hou Andu had an old grudge against the Tang Dynasty. During the previous peace talks between the East and the West, he violated the contract and attacked the Qi army, which added twists and turns to the peace talks. Later, Chen Baxian placed Hou Andu in Kuaiji, and Li Tai did not investigate further at that time.
There are many anti-Tang voices in the Southern Chen Dynasty, and Hou Andu is one of the more active ones among them. Moreover, Kuaiji where he is stationed is connected to Wuzhong in the upper part and Fujian and Zhejiang in the lower part. He is also one of the founding members of the Southern Chen Dynasty's first lord Chen Baxian. Once the battle to pacify Jiangdong begins, he will also be a more difficult target.
So now Li Tai will first regard Hou Andu as the first target to be attacked, and designate him as the target of this series of military operations.
The reason why Chen Qian was not designated is that Li Tai had said before that he would forgive Chen Qian after the Nanchuan incident, and as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he could not go back on his word. Moreover, Wuxing, where Chen Qian was entrenched, was relatively sensitive and should not be directly targeted by military strikes. However, if Kuaiji was targeted, Wuxing would not be able to escape, and the rhetoric would be easier to accept.
So Li Tai sent an envoy to Jiankang to inform Chen Changjun and his ministers that Hou Andu had a deep hatred for the Tang Dynasty. He had already committed many bad deeds before, and now he had taken in and sheltered the remaining Northern Qi bandits in Qingzhou, and also ordered his soldiers to intercept and plunder the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty traveling to and from Lingnan. He was really guilty of a heinous crime, and the Tang Dynasty would send troops to kill him!
I don’t know whether Chen Chang believed this reason or not, but even if he didn’t believe it, it didn’t make him happy.
The Tang Dynasty has no way back from the attack, and is bound to push this military action to the end. Even if Chen Chang completely turns against the Tang Dynasty, he can't expect the royal army from the Three Wus. These people even hope that Chen Chang will fight the Tang Dynasty to death, so that they can legitimately follow Chen Qian and continue to fight against the Tang Dynasty.
At the same time, targeting Hou Andu can effectively divide the resistance forces in the Three Wus. Not everyone understands the principle of lips and teeth being cold. At present, Hou Andu has been constantly courting death, thus angering the Tang Dynasty, causing the Tang army to attack in a large scale and vow to put him to death. What kind of friendship do you have with Hou Andu that is worth risking your life for this?
It can be imagined that as this situation spreads to the Three Wus, it will inevitably cause a split in public sentiment. Of course, it is not ruled out that some people have seen through the Tang Dynasty's sinister intentions and realized that the Tang army's goal is the entire Jiangdong instead of just Hou Andu. The only way out is to unite and resist to the end. But there will definitely be people who are lucky enough to resist, and even want to offer Hou Andu to settle the matter.
For the Tang Dynasty, this incident can be used to identify who can be won over and united, and who is the diehard who must be eliminated in the process of pacifying Jiangdong!
Of course, this is not just a simple reason, but also a plan that the Tang Dynasty will implement next. Li Tai did not choose to cross the river directly to attack, but first built momentum to intensify the contradictions within the Southern Chen, and at the same time further integrate the forces that can be invested in Jiangdong.
He also sent a message to Li Xun, who was fighting in Guizhou, Lingbiao, to stop trying to go deep into Lingnan after ending the Guizhou war, leaving a part of the troops to cooperate with Li Qianzhe, the governor of Xiangzhou, to guard Guizhou, and the rest of the troops quickly returned to the vicinity of Ganjiang River, and joined Shi Ning, who was still staying in Jiangzhou, to go east along Zhejiang along the northern foot of Wuyi Mountain to attack Kuaiji.