Chapter 1347: Fierce Battle in Qiantang

Chapter 1347: Fierce Battle in Qiantang

After many days, the Qiantang River became lively again. However, this time the bustle was different from the previous bustle of boats and cars, and the prosperity of commerce. Instead, it was a noisy scene of people shouting, horses neighing, and killing.

There were more than 30,000 troops coming from Xuancheng, and together with a part of the troops of the Eastern Army, more than 40,000 people advanced to the outside of Qiantang City.

Qiantang City was built by the water. To the north was a hilly area with a low altitude but undulating terrain. Although there were water and land passages connecting to other places, these water and land passages had been excavated and damaged to a certain extent before the arrival of the Tang army.

Therefore, after the main force of the Tang army arrived here, it was necessary to repair the land passages before the troops could be pushed to the foot of Qiantang City. Qiantang City itself was not tall, and even after a thorough repair and preparation, it was not a very dangerous and difficult target. Whether the city could be successfully captured mainly depended on the will of the garrison and whether the waterways from the rear could provide effective support and cooperation.

Therefore, the Tang army launched a very fierce offensive at the beginning. They used conventional siege equipment such as battering rams and ladders to attack Qiantang City from all directions. Tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed in a siege battle in order to suppress the morale of the defenders with this powerful offensive, and force out the mode and route of their water support, and then make targeted tactical adjustments.

Seeing that the Tang army's offensive was so fierce, the defenders in the city were also very nervous. Some soldiers were so frightened that they couldn't even hold their weapons. They just stood in the position between the battlements mechanically according to the orders of the generals with a stiff expression.

"Crossbowmen, cheer up, and only shoot when the enemy is close! Transport wood and stone to the city wall quickly, and send them to wherever the enemy attacks!"

Xiao Mohe, dressed in armor, ran around on the city wall, constantly commanding and dispatching the defenders to prepare for battle. The two personal soldiers in the back carried his combat weapons, which were not ordinary swords and spears, but very heavy long-handled hammers.

If this sledgehammer is swung and smashed down, even the heavy cavalry with armored horses and men will not be able to withstand it, and will end up with the death of both men and horses. It's a pity that this heavy weapon cannot be equipped in the entire army. Only brave generals with strong arms like Xiao Mohe can use it on the battlefield. But even Xiao Mohe will not use this weapon in his hand to consume physical strength before he really engages in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

Just as the defenders in the city were busy preparing for battle on the city wall, the battering rams and ladders of the Tang army also advanced to the bottom of the city wall and began to attack the city. Many archers in the battle formation kept throwing arrows above the city head, trying to gain the opportunity for the front division to get close to the city wall through long-range suppression.

The defenders on the city head were not to be outdone, and the crossbowmen pulled the trigger and shot down. Although the Southern Dynasty army rarely trained in horse archery, they were also good at controlling crossbows. Whether it was a bed crossbow with a long crossbow arm or a light and easy-to-carry single-soldier hand crossbow, it was equally powerful when used in battle, and was not inferior to horse archery in offensive and defensive positional battles that did not require mobility.

Although the Tang army's vanguard soldiers were equipped with infantry shields, when the soldiers were at the gates of the city, the various arrows pouring down from above still suppressed them so much that they could hardly move forward. Some soldiers' shields were even pierced and cracked by powerful crossbows, and when they were directly exposed to the enemy's field of vision, even if they had good armor, when the enemy's arrows fell like locusts, there were always places that could not be protected, and they were inevitably shot and rewarded, or even killed on the spot.

"The Tang army is dead, the Tang army is dead!"

Soldiers on the top of the city wall kept cheering like this. Seeing the casualties of the Tang army soldiers under the city, their panic gradually subsided. It turned out that the Tang army was not a god-like general. As long as they were attacked, they would also suffer casualties.

Because of the previous rumors and the psychological pressure brought by the continuous southward shift of the battle line, these defenders were full of fear of the Tang army. Now that they saw that the Tang army was still within their understanding, the fear in their hearts was naturally relieved, and they even ignored the fact that they also suffered heavy casualties under the attack of the Tang army, and began to participate in the battle more actively.

The rhythm of the defenders' bows and crossbows counterattack was slower, and the Tang army's vanguard soldiers quickly grasped the gap between their rhythms, and took advantage of this gap to advance forward. After the cloud ladder was placed on the enemy's wall, they rushed up quickly.

"Don't shoot randomly, follow the orders!"

Xiao Mohe saw that the soldiers on the city wall were so excited that their counterattack rhythm was a little messy, which was not enough to put pressure on the enemy's overall offensive, so he shouted loudly and asked these soldiers to obey his command.

It should be noted that this offensive and defensive battle is still unknown how long it will last. The soldiers on the city wall consumed a lot of the arrows stored in the city in a short period of time, which certainly caused great casualties, but once the arrows are exhausted, this intensity of counterattack will be difficult to maintain. Once there is no long-range counterattack, the enemy will rush to the city wall, and the battle will be much more intense and difficult.

However, when the real battle is fierce, the control of the rhythm still depends more on the experience of the soldiers themselves to control and adjust. The issuance of various military orders only serves as a general instruction and guidance, but the specific combat conditions in each place on the battlefield are different, and naturally it is not the kind of overall regulation that can pay detailed attention to.

The combat experience and proficiency of the Qiantang defenders were obviously much worse than those of the Tang army. After all, experience can only be accumulated through personal experience, and combat proficiency can only be developed through long-term and high-intensity training.

Although Jiangdong has also had many wars in recent years, the intensity of the war is still not as strong as the previous experience gained by the east and west sides of the north, and the military construction of the Tang army is second to none in the world. Although there are many veterans of Lingnan who have followed Hou Andu to fight for many years in the city, the overall level is still far behind the Tang army.

So although the soldiers of the garrison are also trying their best to resist, using bows and crossbows, rolling wood and rocks, and swords and spears, they still can't avoid being torn open by the Tang army.

"General, the northwest corner of the city wall has been lost, and the Tang army has already rushed to the top of the city!"

A soldier hurriedly came to report the emergency, and Xiao Mohe was shocked after hearing it, so he handed over the coordination of the rest of the war to his generals, and personally led a group of armored soldiers to rush to the top of the city that was broken by the Tang army.

The Wujun Division led by Lu Zilong was in charge of this section of the city defense. After being summoned into the city by Chen Qian, he stayed in the city and did not follow Chen Qian to cross the river to the south. Therefore, the current Qiantang City defaulted to the defense of these two armies together.

However, the two sides did not cooperate in combat before, and lacked a tacit understanding between them. When a high-intensity battle occurred, this shortcoming of being unable to coordinate and synchronize was magnified, and was keenly noticed by the experienced Tang army, who then launched a fierce attack and directly broke through this section of the city defense.

When Xiao Mohe led his troops to this place, there were already hundreds of Tang army soldiers attacking on the top of the city, and they had occupied a section of the city wall. There were also Tang army soldiers climbing up from the cloud ladder below.

"Quick, kill this group of Tang army and don't let the city defense fall!"

Seeing that the situation was so critical, Xiao Mohe didn't care about blaming the guards anymore. He grabbed his long-handled sledgehammer and rushed straight to the Tang army soldiers who were bravely killing. He swung the hammer like a meteorite, and a fully armed Tang army soldier was hit on the left shoulder by it. The shoulder armor broke into pieces, and the soldier's entire left shoulder was also smashed down, and blood gushed out from the left side of his chest.

With Xiao Mohe leading his troops to reinforce, the war was temporarily stabilized. Especially after Xiao Mohe joined the battle, he was even more brave. In a very short time after he joined the battle, more than a dozen Tang army soldiers were killed by his hammer. Standing on the city wall, it was like a killing god descending to the world, so that other Tang army soldiers dared not to fight him anymore, and some were forced to fall directly from the city wall.

"Kill the thieves!"

Xiao Mohe raised the war hammer in his hand again, but suddenly his palms shook violently, and the hammer head was hit by a powerful arrow, so that the hammer head that was about to hit the Tang army soldiers fell on the city wall. At the same time, Xiao Mohe suddenly felt a sense of alarm in his heart, and he didn't care about swinging the hammer to kill the enemy. He lay down, and there was a sudden sound of wind beside his ears, and then the earlobe felt hot, and a powerful arrow passed by the side of his ear and was nailed into the gap of the city wall beside him.

Having escaped by chance, Xiao Mohe raised his hand and touched his face, which was already covered with blood. He hurriedly grabbed the helmet that someone had dropped and covered his head with it. He knew that he had been monitored by the enemy's sharpshooter. He did not dare to kill the enemy as ostentatiously as before. He leaned down between the battlements and looked down carefully. Soon he found several archers holding longbows below, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, quick, shoot the enemy's sharpshooters!"

Generally, soldiers often use the angle of projectile when attacking the city. The arrows are shot down in an arc, and the accuracy is not easy to control. The inertia of the stray arrows is used to hurt the enemy. However, there are also archers with strong arms who will hide in the front line with a strong bow of several stones, secretly shoot the enemy general with arrows and kill him. Xiao Mohe has obviously encountered this kind of shooting before.

Although he is brave, he is not really afraid of death. Before this kind of personal danger comes, he dare not expose himself in the opponent's sight for a long time and take any action.

At this time, the Tang army soldiers who had entered the city had been driven away, and a group of crossbowmen were summoned nearby to shoot at the city. The young general Wang Gui and several other archers who had quietly lurked in the city saw that the enemy commander had not shown up for a long time, so they knew they had no chance to shoot him on the spot, and could only retreat to the rear with the siege team to rest.