Chapter 1345 Qiantang is mocked
Qiantang River is also known as Zhejiang, from which Zhejiang Province was named in later generations. It is also famous all over the world because of the Qiantang Tide.
Nowadays, the Qiantang River and its tributaries are an important water system south of Taihu Lake. In ancient times, it was the dividing line between Wu and Yue lands, with Wu in the north and Yue in the south. It also has great strategic offensive and defensive value.
This value may not be reflected in normal times, but once there is turmoil in the Sanwu area, the presence of the Qiantang River in the war will be highlighted. Putting aside the Wuyue struggle for hegemony in the pre-Qin period, the Tianshi Dao rebellion in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in modern times, the rebel army and the imperial divisions fighting against the rebellion repeatedly fought in the north and south of the Qiantang River.
Therefore, when Xu Du, the general at Jingkou, defected to the Tang Dynasty and the river defense fell, Chen Qian, Hou Andu and others who were hostile to the Tang Dynasty all used the Qiantang River as the most important line of defense against the Tang army.
Especially now that Wuxing has also been lost, the Qiantang River has become the last lifeline that these people rely on. So after Chen Qian gave up guarding the Great Wall, she went straight to Qiantang.
Fortunately, his previous attitude of resolute resistance paralyzed the Tang army, making the Tang army mistakenly believe that it would require a hard battle after entering Wuxing, and did not immediately mobilize the main force to attack Changcheng County. In addition, the pursuing division and brigade had little access to Wuzhong's water and land transportation. Familiarity enabled his troops to successfully evacuate to Qiantang.
Qiantang is located on the north bank of the river, which is where the Qiantang River gets its name. Long before the arrival of Chen Qian and his party, Hou Andu of Kuaiji had already sent soldiers to cross the water and march north to occupy Qiantang City, repair and strengthen the city defenses, and use this as an offensive and defensive stronghold on the north bank.
This kind of arrangement is also very common in military arrangements that use rivers as lines of defense. Although the river defense line has the effect of impeding the enemy, it also limits its own actions. If a strong stronghold can be established on the other side in advance, it can greatly restrict and threaten the enemy's activities on the other side, making it impossible for the enemy to Launch an offensive at will on the other side, and at the same time have a steady stream of reinforcements from the rear. When the enemy is unable to attack for a long time and becomes discouraged, they can wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack, thus switching from defense to offense.
Key points in the city, such as Guangling and Liyang on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and Fancheng across the Han River from Xiangyang, can have such an effect in terms of tactical arrangements. Hou Andu sent a division and brigade to Qiantang City, which was also a relatively active defensive posture.
The general guarding Qiantang was Xiao Mohe, a brave general under Hou Andu. When he learned that King Linchuan and his entourage had arrived, he led his subordinates to the city to greet him. After seeing Chen Qian, he raised his hands and said, "I have been ordered by Duke Hou to guard Qiantang." , dare not leave lightly, and although the previous envoys arrived, they did not say anything clearly, and they did not know the victory or defeat of the enemy and ourselves, so they did not dare to lead the troops to go far to meet the king. Fortunately, the king did not lose the favor of heaven and evacuated safely. I also ask for your understanding. Don’t take it as a sin to be disrespectful.”
After Chen Qian heard this, she couldn't help but frown slightly. He himself knew in his heart that the retreat was hasty and the poor response from the rear was inevitable. He did not care about it in his heart. However, after Xiao Maha said it, his meaning seemed to have changed, and it seemed that there was a faint trace of it. There was a hint of sarcasm.
However, he had heard about Xiao Maha, and knew that he had a warrior temperament and was not good at words, so saying this might not really give him any eye candy. Moreover, my group had indeed given up on Wu Xing to come to the other side, and the retreat had been smooth, so there was no point in criticizing the other side for not being polite enough.
So he nodded slightly, indicating that he didn't mind, and then looked at Qiantang City and said to Xiao Mohe: "The defense of Qiantang City is very regular, far from usual. It can be seen that Duke Hou really knows people and makes good use of them, and Xiao Lang is here to fulfill his duties. Even if a powerful enemy attacks you, you can respond to them without fear.”
Qiantang is located at the junction of Kuaiji and Wuxing, and is an important port for inland shipping and maritime transportation on the Qiantang River. In its heyday, there were even thousands of boats of all sizes moored at the ship market port, making it one of the most prosperous areas in the Sanwu area.
Because of this, the business atmosphere in Qiantang County is extremely strong. Many buildings and facilities are built around the ship market to provide services for business, but their military functions are very weak. There is naturally a certain conflict between commerce and the military. Commerce requires people to circulate freely and conveniently, while the military pays attention to orderly advancement and retreat, and movement and movement in a controlled manner. All kinds of personnel and materials have strict regulations and restrictions.
For example, there is a boat market on the side of Qiantang City. There are many boats parked there every day, and there are also rivers and canals crisscrossing them connecting the nearby Hangdai. Once the Tang army attacked and captured the ship market, they could use the ships inside to cross the Qiantang River defense line and go straight to Kuaiji to invade.
However, there are very few ships parked in the ship market nowadays. The most eye-catching ones are several large warships carrying shooting poles. Once the Tang army has the intention of approaching the ship market, it will inevitably be strongly blocked by the large ships. At the same time, the ditches connecting the left and right channels were also filled up, which not only blocked the free passage for boats to enter and exit the Qiantang River, but also ensured that the water volume in the main channel would not be diverted and reduced.
"Since the general has received his orders, of course he must fulfill his duties faithfully. Fortunately, it is late winter and early spring, and the ship market has not yet flourished, so it is possible to clear the ship market and strengthen defense."
Hearing Chen Qian's praise, Xiao Mohe did not boast smugly, but responded lightly. But in fact, it is obviously not easy to achieve the current quiet and formal situation.
Although the number of boats in the Qiantang Boat Market was greatly reduced due to the season, it was not easy to block the canals and channels. In order to prevent being easily dredged away by the Tang army, the Ding soldiers were forced to endure the biting cold and walk into the tidal flat to wedge the huge wooden iron pillars deeply into the soft river bed, and then use this as a fulcrum to continuously Fill with earth and rocks.
During this process, some soldiers were constantly being frozen to the point of having their hands and feet rotten, or even freezing to death directly. Therefore, there were so many people who died that they simply did not collect the corpses, but simply piled the bones as materials. Fill it in. In this way, the Tang army was prevented from seizing the navigation platform on the north bank and then entering the main channel of the Qiantang River by boat, limiting the scope of activities of its forces to land.
Long before Chen Qian evacuated, she had already sent her wife, children and family to Qiantang. Now the family can get together in the city for a short while, but since Qiantang will soon become the front line of the war, it is necessary to arrange for the family to stay temporarily in Shanyin City south of Qiantang River for a while.
At the same time, Chen Qian also wanted to go south to discuss the next strategy of facing the enemy with Hou Andu, so he took a short rest in the city and asked Xiao Maha to arrange a boat to send his party south.
She had been extremely nervous during her escape last night. After arriving at Qiantang, which was relatively safe, Chen Qian said goodbye to her family and then fell asleep. She slept until the evening when she was awakened by the noise outside.
"What happened? Why so much noise?"
Chen Qian stood up with some displeasure and shouted towards the door.
Not long after, Han Zigao, wearing a military uniform and holding a sword, walked in and said in a gloomy voice: "Your Majesty, the guard here is too domineering and wants to seize my armor, horse, and staff!"
"Is this happening? This Xiao Mohe is so brave!"
After hearing this, Chen Qian's face suddenly darkened, and she yelled angrily: "Bring me my knife, I want to see who gives this disciple such courage!"
When Chen Qian walked out with a sword, she saw a group of Qiantang defenders standing in the front courtyard of the mansion. Several of them had swords in their hands, and their expressions were slightly arrogant. He suddenly became angry again and stamped his feet. shouted: "Where is Xiao Mohe? Come in quickly!"
Not long after, Xiao Mohe, wearing armor, hurried in from outside. He first shouted back the armored soldiers in the vestibule, and then bowed his head to Chen Qian and said: "It is really rude to disturb the king's rest. The boats at the riverside ferry have already arrived. Be ready. Your Majesty can take the boat south at any time. Duke Hou has been waiting on the south bank for a long time."
"I heard that you want to send your soldiers to rob my armor, horse, weapon, and staff?"
Chen Qian raised the knife in her hand and pointed it at Xiao Mohe, and then said angrily: "The dog thief made his own decisions, or was he ordered by others?"
After hearing this, Xiao Mohe quickly lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, this is indeed true. The general is not being ordered by anyone, but he does have such a need. There are already visible enemy cavalry eyes and ears in the north of Qiantang, and all the people in the city are here. The prepared armor and horses are not enough, and the reserves of Kuaiji are also not large. The general's troops will be attacked here, but there are not enough armor and horses for use.
Since the king's troops are going south, their armor, horses, weapons, and staffs will be idle, so why not leave them here for warriors to kill the enemy. If the king is worried that these things may be obtained by the enemy, General Mo is willing to guarantee it with his life. Unless General Mo is killed here and Qiantang is destroyed by the enemy, he will never retreat to avoid the enemy and leave the enemy behind in the city! "
What he said here was decisive and powerful, but Chen Qian's face suddenly became more and more ugly after listening to it, and she shouted angrily: "We, the people of Wuxing, tried our best to stop the enemy and prevent the disaster for your Kuaiji group, but we were killed by the thieves." Ridicule! Capture this madman and let Hou Andu come here to see me!"
Han Zigao and others, who were already very angry, immediately walked forward after hearing this, wanting to capture Xiao Mohe. However, Xiao Mohe was the leading general in Jiangdong, even without a sword or staff in his hands. It swings like a hammer, making it difficult for anyone to get close to it.
"The dog thief still dares to resist. Could it be that he really wants to murder the king?"
When Chen Qian's soldiers saw this, they became even more angry. There were already soldiers on both sides with crossbows, waiting for an order to shoot them on the spot.
"Your Majesty has misunderstood, how dare you... I really didn't mean this!"
After Xiao Mohe saw this, he did not dare to resist anymore. He could only lower his hands and let Chen Qian's cronies come in to capture him. He then turned around and ordered his subordinates to cross the river quickly to inform Hou Andu of this. Condition.
When the officers and soldiers of the Qiantang garrison saw that all the generals were at a loss, they quickly withdrew from the mansion here, kept watch outside, and then quickly went south to report the news.