Chapter 1353: Breaking through Qiantang

Chapter 1353: Breaking through Qiantang

The battle continued below Qiantang City, and the defenders on top of the city began to arrange their defenses in an orderly manner and prepare to meet the enemy.

The past few days of fighting have made them very familiar with this process. Even by observing the opponent's formation and the number of people participating in the battle, they can judge the intensity of today's battle and how long it will last.

After all, Qiantang City is backed by the river and has a steady stream of support from the rear. No matter how fierce the Tang army's offensive is, it will be difficult to capture the city. The defenders had no worries. The battles in the past few days had eliminated their fear of the Tang army, and now they felt quite confident.

But today's situation is different from usual. There are tens of thousands of Tang troops coming from the south, more than double the size of the previous few days. It seems that they are going to attack again today.

However, after these Tang Army soldiers arrived at the city, they did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, they separated a small team of 100 people from the large army and rode towards the city on horseback.

Seeing this scene, the defenders on the city couldn't help but feel curious. They stretched their heads and looked down. Soon, some sharp-eyed sergeants suddenly stared and exclaimed: "That person in the team seems to be General Xiao." !”

"General Xiao? Which General Xiao? Could it be that the remnants of the Liang family who defected to the Tang Dynasty are here to invade the homeland?"

After the sergeants on the city heard this, they all asked.

At this moment, the distance between the enemy cavalry and the enemy cavalry was getting closer, and those with sharp eyes saw it more clearly, and their tone became more frightened: "No, it's not the remnant of the Liang family, it's the Lord Xiao, the Lord of our city. He is being held hostage by the enemy. Come this way!”

"What nonsense! How could the city lord be attacked by the enemy..."

After hearing this, a group of sergeants nearby began to yell at each other, but the voices soon stopped abruptly, because as the enemy troops under the city quickly approached, more and more people saw the face of the person clearly, and were killed by the Tang Army sergeant. They gathered around a tall but haggard-looking man in the middle, who was none other than their city lord, Xiao Mohe.

"Why did City Lord Xiao get captured by thieves when he arrived outside the city?"

After a moment of silence, there was another uproar on the city. These ordinary soldiers naturally did not know what was going on. They had not seen the city lord in the past few days and thought they had returned to Kuaiji to recuperate. However, they did not expect that they were now outside the city with the Tang army. , this is really shocking and hard to accept.

Soon this group of Tang Army knights arrived at the city, and then a sergeant among them shouted to the city: "Let me tell you all the disciples in the city, the Kuaiji thieves sneaked into Wuxing a few days ago to disturb the countryside. They were picked up by the righteous people of Wuxing Township and were killed by the king. The master is extinguished! The traitor general Xiao Mohe was taken into custody. He was grateful and repented, so he surrendered to the king's master and urged you and other followers of the old righteousness to abandon their weapons and surrender quickly. This is the right plan!"

While these sergeants were shouting, Xiao Mohe, who was wearing a cloth robe and unarmed, was also led to the front of the team, but when he looked at the familiar city head and the surprised soldiers on the city head, , I couldn't help but feel a sense of shame in my heart, and the words of persuasion that had been brewing for a long time were hard to say out.

"Bang the drum, beat the drum, don't listen to evil talk! Xiao Maha is greedy for life and afraid of death, and has betrayed his kindness and righteousness. Now that he has surrendered to thieves, he still has the shamelessness to come back and disturb the morale of our army. He is really guilty of a heinous crime!"

At this time, another angry shout came from the top of the city. It was Lu Zilong, the guard of Beicheng.

Before, he was only responsible for defending one corner, but after Xiao Mohe left the city, the newly arrived Pei Zilie was not familiar with the military in the city, so he was able to control more of the city's defenses. He was responsible for all the defense arrangements at the top of the city during the recent battles between the two sides. When he learned that such a shocking change had occurred outside the city, he hurried over and ordered the drums to be used to suppress those words of persuasion to surrender.

Xiao Mohe was originally feeling embarrassed, ashamed and speechless, but when he saw Lu Zilong, the complicated emotions in his heart were immediately replaced by anger.

Especially when he heard Lu Zilong scolding him, he became even more angry. The anger and grievance of being excluded and persecuted suddenly came to his heart. When he no longer needed the urging from the Tang Army sergeant next to him, he himself Then he opened his mouth and shouted: "Listen carefully to the words of a man in the city. I was sent by the Marquis to guard Qiantang. I have tried my best and not been afraid of strong enemies. Even if I have no achievements, I can still appreciate my efforts!"

However, the King of Linchuan was domineering and unkind, jealous of talents and talents, fearful of the enemy, abandoned Wuxing and left. He was cowardly and disgusting! Because he was disgusted with my meritorious service in resisting the enemy, he forced me out of the city. Although I was held by the Tang army, I realized that Master Wang was benevolent and righteous. I have received this kindness, and I would like to tell all my disciples not to be loyal to evildoers, return to righteousness as soon as possible, and save my life to go home and support my parents..."

"Beat the drum, beat the drum! Shoot this beast for me! You sergeants, don't listen to evil words. The Tang army is cruel. If the city is destroyed, both soldiers and civilians will die! Only by resisting to the end and repelling the enemy can there be a chance of survival!"

Under Lu Zilong's stern orders, a hail of arrows fell from the top of the city. Coupled with the rumbling of military drums, it was difficult to hear the shouts from below the city, so this group of Tang troops could only lead Xiao Maha retreats for now. The large troops in the rear were already ready for the attack, and launched a fierce attack while the defenders in the city were still frightened and worried.

The damage caused by Xiao Mohe's persuasion to surrender to the morale of the defenders in the city is obvious. Although the defenders on the city are still busy resisting the Tang army's attack, the counterattack is not as fierce as the previous few days. Somewhat negative.

After all, this change was really shocking to everyone. The general who had been carefully deploying defenses and fighting bravely with the enemy suddenly stood on the enemy's side in the blink of an eye. This also directly shook the beliefs of the sergeants. What's the point of making them wonder if they continue to fight and resist?

Once a person's mind becomes confused, all kinds of actions will become less resolute, especially in this already very difficult and dangerous war. The wavering of will will magnify the difficulties several times, until finally they can no longer bear it and directly collapse.

However, Qiantang City also has an objective advantage that is very important, that is, the Qiantang River behind it can receive a steady stream of assistance from the rear, which can alleviate the negative impact of the defenders' low morale on the war to a certain extent.

Soon the news that Xiao Mohe was captured and surrendered to the enemy spread to the rear. After learning about this, Hou Andu, Chen Qian and others were all shocked.

In particular, Hou Andu was originally forced to send Xiao Maha out to the north of the city. Now facing such a result, he couldn't help but feel very upset. He said bitterly: "It must be that Wu'er was short-sighted and frightened by the enemy and sent false information." They deceived our troops to go north and sell them to the Tang army. Otherwise, why would Xiao Mohe be captured so easily? These treacherous Wu'er deserve to die!"

Chen Qian on the side felt a little harsh after hearing this. He immediately snorted coldly: "Ignoring the situation in the north, this Xiao Mohe has no intention of keeping integrity when he is in danger. Instead, he returns to the front line with the Tang army to shake things up. Military morale, his crime should be punished!

A few days ago, the important task of Qiantang River defense was entrusted to this disciple. You can also imagine how dangerous it is. If the war goes wrong, the river defense may have been lost at this time. The Tang army came south and vowed to capture Duke Zhi. Didn't this disciple know that? Now that the morale of the army is shaken and Jiang's defense is unstable, we should make quick repairs! "

Hearing what Chen Qian said, Hou Andu suddenly became more confused. He no longer cares about pursuing Chen Qian for forcing him to send troops. The most important thing now is to consolidate Jiang's defense. If Jiang's defense is really breached, then he will be in serious danger.

So Hou Andu ordered the warships parked by the river to once again be loaded with personnel and supplies to go north. As soon as he noticed that the war in Qiantang City was unfavorable, he immediately carried out additional rescue operations. At the same time, he returned to Shanyin City with his troops, and led Xiao Mohe's wife, children, and family members to Qiantang City to be killed on the front line, so that these soldiers could see the consequences of betraying him!

At this time, on the north bank of the Qiantang River, the Tang Army general Shi Ning also seized the opportunity of the enemy's morale being shaken, and gradually transferred the main force back to the front line to fight. He maintained high-intensity siege operations, and the Tang Army soldiers also frequently broke through. Although they were recaptured by the swarming defenders soon after, this phenomenon undoubtedly showed that the city defense was no longer as tenacious as before, and perhaps any breakthrough would cause the entire line to collapse.

Warships on the river constantly shuttled between the two banks, sending soldiers from the south bank into Qiantang City. Reinforcements continued to pour into the city to maintain the city's defense line from being breached. However, the huge casualties still caused huge psychological pressure on the defenders in the city. Some reinforcement sergeants even jumped off the boat directly on the river, refusing to enter the city to die. The order of the defenders was already on the verge of collapse.

At this time, a fast boat arrived quickly from the south bank and escorted Xiao Maha's relatives to the top of the city. After denounced Xiao Maha for betraying his master and surrendering to the enemy, his wife, children, and family members were beheaded on top of the city. superior.

Such torture caused a great shock to the defenders. It should be noted that their families were still in Kuaiji in the rear. In order to prevent their families from following the same fate, the defenders cheered up and continued to fight.

At this time, Xiao Mohe was not staying at the front line, and he was still not free. When he learned that his family members were tied to the city wall, he begged and asked to go to the front line. When he was allowed to enter, he was Seeing the bloody scene of his wife and children's bodies being separated, his eyes were split open for a moment, and he cried out sadly: "Chen Qian, Hou Andu, Xiao Mohe, if there is one breath left, I swear to kill you!"

Seeing the tragic death of his relatives with his own eyes, Xiao Mohe was completely determined to give up. He took over the heads of his family members that the frontline soldiers had retrieved, and couldn't help but cry loudly. Then he knelt down in front of Shi Ning and cried: " The sinner and the thief swear to be incompatible, and I beg the general to give him the armored staff so that the sinner can go into battle to kill the enemy and avenge his relatives!"

Shi Ning pondered for a moment and then nodded. After Xiao Mohe obtained the armored staff and entered the battlefield, he wandered around like a tiger out of the gate looking for opportunities to attack the city. There was no shortage of soldiers guarding the city. His former relatives also witnessed his tragic experience with his own eyes. Now he couldn't bear to harm him and fired his crossbow arrows into the air, which made Xiao Maha wander under the city wall.

"What are the crossbowmen doing? Quickly, quickly shoot this beast!"

Lu Zilong, who was supervising the battle on the top of the city, saw such a conspicuous target like Xiao Mohe wandering under the city wall, and immediately yelled angrily.

His roar quickly attracted the attention of Xiao Mohe below. Xiao Mohe held a long-handled battle ax below and measured the distance between them. Then he threw the long ax towards the city head with both hands and shouted loudly at the same time. Said: "The dog thief shall die!"

The long ax roared in, and the broad back of the ax hit Lu Zilong hard under his left shoulder. His whole body leaned back steeply, and large groups of blood foam gushed out from his mouth and nose. When his own soldiers rushed forward, By that time, his body was already twitching and unconscious.

"The enemy is dead, the enemy is dead, attack the city quickly, kill the enemy and seize the city!"

When the soldiers on the front line noticed this scene, they immediately raised their arms and shouted, their faces full of joy. After being inspired by this, they became more and more brave and rushed from the ladder to the top of the city without fear of death.

The soldiers on the wall were barely holding on. When they saw their commander being killed on the spot, they were all panicked. Without restraint and control, they subconsciously dodged to the left and right. At the moment, the Tang army was attacking the city from hundreds of directions. Any disturbance in any direction could not escape the eyes of the attacking soldiers. The chaos here was quickly grasped. The nearby Tang soldiers rushed up, waving their swords and guns to continue to expand the gap to both sides.

"This disciple is really brave, worthy of being a brave warrior of the Southern Kingdom!"

Shi Ning, who was supervising the battle in the rear, saw Xiao Mohe actually killing the guard on the top of the city, and couldn't help but admire him, and then ordered the drums to be beaten to cheer for the soldiers attacking the city.

As the Tang army's offensive intensified again, large sections of the city wall were lost. Before this, Qiantang City had been maintained by human wave tactics. More than 20,000 soldiers were stuffed into the city. At this time, the city wall was lost, and many soldiers crowded on the top of the city could not retreat, and fell directly from the top of the city into the city.

There were also generals in the city urging the soldiers below to continue to fight on the top of the city, but in this situation, even if the soldiers were willing to go forward, they could not do it at all, and the riots quickly spread throughout the city.

As the Tang army soldiers who attacked the city rushed into the streets and alleys of the city from the top of the city one after another, the crowded soldiers in the city fled to the water gate in the south, hoping to escape. After the chaos, the city could no longer organize effective resistance.

"The enemy is defeated, the enemy is defeated, quickly capture Qiantang City!"

The soldiers entering the city quickly opened the tightly closed city gates, and then the main force soldiers who had been waiting outside swarmed in, quickly sweeping and repelling the defeated soldiers who were still running around in the city.

Under the fierce attack of the Tang army, more and more defenders were driven out of the city, and a large number of defeated soldiers gathered at the water gate pier in the south of the city, wailing and begging the warships cruising on the river to quickly dock and pick them up. At this time, the battle flag of the Tang army had been erected in the city, and Qiantang City, which had trapped the Tang army for several days, was finally breached!