Chapter 1349: Hope for a Counterattack
"The Tang army was domineering, disrespectful to the scholars, relied on its majesty, abused others and used its power, causing great harm to our hometown. Knowing that it would not last long, some of them endured humiliation and lived in hiding, waiting for the king to return..."
The tone of the letter was very sad, but Chen Qian was very happy when she saw it, especially when she saw that the signature at the end of the letter was Shen Zhong, who he had repeatedly recruited in Wuxing Township before but refused to come. The smile on his face became more and more cheerful: "I think I am very skilled in planning, but I am stubborn and refuse to work with me. Now I am being intimidated and intimidated by the Tang Dynasty. I am really suffering from my own consequences!"
Although he has fled to Kuaiji now, he still has channels to get information about Wuzhong. Naturally, he also knows clearly that the Tang army is now aggressively raiding the powerful people who gathered under his command in Wuxing.
After learning about this situation, Chen Qian's mood was quite complicated. On the one hand, he is heartbroken at the loss of these personnel. As the Tang army intensified its raids in Wuxing, many powerful men who were hostile to it were eliminated. Even if he led his troops back to Wuxing in the future, the nostalgia forces in the country would probably be wiped out. It will also change its appearance.
On the other hand, he was still vaguely gloating in his heart. When he chose to evacuate Wuxing before, he had also persuaded some powerful people to lead his troops to follow him south in order to preserve their strength and wait for opportunities to counterattack. However, most of these powerful people were still attached to their old nest. , unwilling to abandon home and follow.
They may have thought that after the Tang Army arrived, they would be tolerant and compassionate to them and would not kill them. In this way, they could temporarily protect themselves. However, they did not expect that the Tang Army would be so fierce and wanted to uproot them. remove!
As a result, those powerful people who refused to follow Chen Qinan would naturally suffer. Even if the counterattack is successful in the future and the Tang army is driven out of Wuzhong again, the damage to personnel and materials suffered in the attack by the Tang army is real, and it will be difficult to obtain compensation. In the future rural order, it will inevitably Being in a disadvantaged position may even lead to the decline of family fortunes and the collapse of the family.
Such a vicious approach by the Tang army not only severely hit the local forces in Wuzhong, but also the powerful people who had remained neutral and just wanted to protect themselves were inevitably frightened and fearful of the rabbit dying and the fox pitting themselves.
For example, Shen Zhong who passed the letter here, Chen Qian sent people to visit Zhengpi many times before, but Shen Zhong always refused.
Because he had experienced the fall of Jiangling in the past year and saw that Emperor Li Boshan of the Tang Dynasty treated the people of Jiangling with great preferential treatment, he had illusions and believed that even if the Tang army occupied the land of Sanwu, it would not be a big deal, so he refused to fight against the Tang army. .
However, this time Tang Jun's actions when he entered the country broke his fantasy. Wuzhong's powerful men were often attacked and abused by those arrogant and powerful generals. Even if Shen Zhong's family had not been affected for a while, Tang Jun's domineering nature had already been revealed. In the future, only The situation will continue to get worse. In order to save himself, Shen Zhong can only take the initiative to send a letter to contact Chen Qian, who he refused to rely on before, hoping that she can quickly lead his army back to Wuxing and drive away the Tang army.
"What do you think of this? Is it time to fight back?"
After receiving a secret letter from Shen Zhong and some other powerful men in Wuzhong, Chen Qian summoned her confidants to discuss the matter.
Shen Ke, whom he relied on most before, was captured by the Tang army because of his slow retreat, and was later brutally killed by the rebels. Other civil and military subordinates were also separated or died in battle. Now the talents of his subordinates are not as sufficient as before.
Most of the people who are still following Chen Qian are military generals. They can't provide her with any pertinent and insightful advice. They just raised their hands and said: "If the king wants to launch a counterattack, I will follow you to the death!"
Although the loyal attitude of these people is commendable, a simple statement is not enough for Chen Qian to refer to. He couldn't help but sigh, and then said with emotion: "If Shen Changshi is still here, you can discuss the plan with me. Now I want to plan big things, but there are no people to talk about it!”
Naturally, these words made several people present feel a little embarrassed, and they all lowered their heads. Only Han Zigao, relying on his close relationship with his lord, said: "What the king is worried about is whether the intentions of Shen Zhong and others are trustworthy, and whether the remaining manpower in Wuxiang is still available. . But when it comes to the plan to attack Wuzhong, it has to be done. The only difference lies in how to grasp the opportunity.
Nowadays, the Tang army is trapped in the north of Qiantang River, and its momentum is no longer as strong as before, but its power is still strong. If you underestimate its numbers and rashly test, I am afraid that it will still inevitably suffer heavy casualties if it fails. It's a good idea to save myself from harm. "
After hearing the words, Chen Qian nodded, looked at Han Zigao with approval and said, "What Zigao said is exactly what I am concerned about. Shen Zhong and others are not my confidants and cannot be fully believed, but what they said is very reasonable. Nowadays, Wuzhong Township is often raided and attacked by the Tang Army, but I am hiding in the south of Qiantang. If I don't take any action, I am afraid that no one will respond when I return home in the future. However, I am now alone and in a hurry, and I will be attacked by the Tang Army again. Failure will probably further dissipate the power..."
The situation against the enemy has improved during this period, but Chen Qian's mood has always been bad. He regrets that he retreated too early. Of course, fighting the enemy in Wuxing is somewhat disadvantageous, especially since there is no such important river as Qiantang River. The defense line is strong, but if you are determined to resist the enemy, even if you lose, you can calmly evacuate with the support of Qiantang's divisions and brigades, which is better than giving up Wuxing without a fight.
Although the situation is improving now, the relationship with Chen Qian is not big. It is mainly due to the solid defense line of Qiantang River, and these personnel are all controlled by Hou Andu.
Although they are close allies, as time goes by, their hearts can't help but have their own thoughts. Hou An was not very happy to let Chen Qian intervene in military and political affairs in Kuaiji. He just wanted him to stay here obediently and use it as a tool to unite all parties. And Chen Qian was not someone who wanted to be inferior to others. If he was willing to be a puppet, he would If you can't express your own ideas and ambitions, then you might as well just stay in Jiankang and accept the mercy of the Tang people!
Precisely because each of them has such thoughts, the relationship between them is no longer as harmonious as it was at the beginning. Although they haven't broken up yet, some unhappiness has accumulated in their hearts.
For example, recently Hou Andu has been proposing that Chen Qian go to Shanyin City to live with his family instead of staying on the front line. He said that he hoped that he could reunite with his family, but in fact he did not want Chen Qian to continue to stay. Get involved in military affairs here. They persuaded him to go to Shanyin City, probably with the intention of putting him under house arrest.
Chen Qian also deeply felt the bitterness of being dependent on others, so if possible, he also hoped to launch a counterattack as soon as possible and return to Wuxing where his power was.
"Now Andu is resorting to military violence in Kuaiji, which has caused a surge of public dissatisfaction. He still needs to rely on the king to calm down the public sentiment, so he still needs help from the king. Our divisions and brigade cannot be moved lightly now. It is better to order Andu to send troops to test whether the time for counterattack has come."
After Han Zigao was encouraged, he continued to speak.
After Chen Qian heard this, she smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Andu has been very wary of me and is secretly alienated from me. He is afraid that I am closely connected with the forces of Kuaiji and he is stubborn and arrogant. I am afraid that he will not easily listen to my orders and test the enemy's situation for me."
"Your Majesty, you may wish to send a letter about this township to Andu, and tell his people that you will go to western Zhejiang and central Fujian to gather rural rebels to counterattack Wuzhong. Now that the Tang army is coming to attack Andu, they will be worried that your Majesty will leave and make him As the Tang army alone, he would not dare to respond to the suggestion at that time, so he ordered Xiao Maha of Qiantang City to lead his army to the north to test. If he could counterattack, he could follow the trend. If still not, he would use Lu Zilong to seize the defense of Qiantang City secretly! By then, all military forces in the north of Qiantang River will be under your control, and it will be up to you to decide when to counterattack!"
Seeing that Chen Qian still had a sad look on her face, Han Zigao added another word.
Chen Qian frowned when she heard this, and after thinking for a long time, she said: "Although An Du has a stubborn temperament, his heart to resist the enemy is pure and ardent. If I plan this, I'm afraid I will be unfriendly, and it will be difficult to do so in the future." We can work together to fight the enemy.”
"Is it possible that he is working together with the king now? Looking at his behavior, he is greedy for power and tyrannical. The so-called eagerness to resist the enemy is nothing more than fear of death. In the final analysis, if the resistance against the enemy is not good this time, everyone can surrender, but he will die, not He is unwilling to fight against the enemy!"
At this time, Qian Daoji and others also spoke. They all felt that the attack by the Tang army was all due to Hou Andu. Now that their power was greatly damaged, they still had to suffer ridicule and ostracism from Hou Andu and his confidants. They were all filled with dissatisfaction and hoped to regain the initiative if given the chance, so they all agreed with Han Zigao's strategy.
Hearing all her subordinates advising her in this way, Chen Qian's mind was gradually moved, so she said in a deep voice: "This plan is all for the sake of the family and the country. To force the enemy to force me, the powerful will use force, and the wise will use wisdom. Resisting the enemy and defending the country is not a privilege exclusive to anyone, Andu should also understand this situation and should not regard it as a struggle for power!"
So he then invited Hou Andu to his big tent, and as Han Zigao said, he presented the letters from the villagers to Hou Andu to read. After reading them, Hou Andu couldn't help but laugh and said: " The Tang army is arrogant and domineering, claiming that it relies on the strong to bully the weak, but now the frontline divisions and brigade have been unable to break through, and the resentment among the people behind them is boiling, and defeat is not far away! "
"My husband and I have the same plan, and we should plan a counterattack now! It's just that the former retreated hastily and left many soldiers behind in Wuzhong. Now even if he wants to counterattack, he has no troops available, so he wants to go to the western Zhejiang and Fujian provinces to gather volunteers and march north. Counterattack!"
Chen Qian looked at Hou Andu again and said with a smile.
"This, this... this matter still needs to be considered in the long term! Although the Tang army's offensive has been blocked, its decline is still not revealed. It is indeed gratifying that the soldiers from the countryside sent a letter, but if it is just based on this, I am afraid that it will not be able to defeat the enemy quickly. Your Majesty, it is better to temporarily defeat the enemy. Stay here and be careful not to move lightly!"
Sure enough, when Hou Andu heard that Chen Qian had this plan, his expression suddenly changed, and he shook his head repeatedly to persuade Chen Qian to give up the idea.