Chapter 1356: The Three Wus are completely settled

Chapter 1356: The Three Wus are completely settled

The reason why Chen Qian was able to leave the front line of river defense before the enemy situation changed was that he was not referring to the enemy situation at the mouth of Qiantang River, but the situation in Zhejiang West upstream.

The situation in Zhejiang West deteriorated very quickly. When Qian Daoji led his troops to Xiahuai, he could already see many refugee teams from Dongyang. When he asked about the latest situation in Dongyang, these people also had different opinions. In short, they were very pessimistic.

Qian Daoji did not dare to neglect this and hurriedly reported the relevant situation back. Chen Qian asked Liu Zhenchen about this. According to him, when he left, the situation in the county was already quite dangerous, but it was not out of control. The people in the county were still fighting against the Tang army under the unity of their fathers and brothers. It can be seen that the refugees fled after he left.

Liu Zhenchen might have concealed something in order to attract reinforcements, and the truth that Qian Daoji saw was that a large number of refugees were fleeing to the east from Dongyang. Considering that the refugees were originally slow to perceive information and moved slowly, it was very likely that Dongyang had already fallen!

After making such a speculation, Chen Qian's mood became even heavier. If Zhejiang West was lost, then Hou Andu would have no meaning to stay on the front line of Jiangfang and confront the Tang army along the Qiantang River. Instead, he would fall into an embarrassing situation of being attacked from both sides.

Even if Dongyang was still holding on, the overall situation was not optimistic.

The Tang army in Wuzhong was pressing southward, the war in Lingbiao had ended, and the Tang army there was attacking back here, which meant that most of Jiangdong had fallen into the control of the Tang army.

Although the Tang army's military operations in Jiangdong are still carried out in the name of attacking Hou Andu, and the Southern Chen court is still the nominal master of Jiangdong, this is just the stupid Chen Chang. Moreover, the facts are changing rapidly now. How long can these superficial things last?

It can be said that the Tang army is now in Jiangdong. Even if Kuaiji continues to resist, the possibility of getting a turnaround is very small. Staying here will only make the situation more and more dangerous, and the room for counterattack in the future will be smaller and smaller.

So after weighing the pros and cons, Chen Qian decided to continue to move southward to further extend the Tang army's supply line, so as to obtain more possibilities for turning around.

But he did not intend to communicate his decision with Hou Andu, because Hou Andu might not agree with his opinion.

It should be noted that he has invested a lot of effort in the Qiantang River defense line and has great expectations for it. He is also stubborn and will not easily change his mind about what he has decided. Once there is a dispute between the two sides, according to Hou Andu's usual domineering style, it is very likely to evolve into an actual conflict.

If the situation really evolves to that point, the alliance between Chen Qian and Hou Andu will no longer exist, and it will be impossible for him to implement his plan. After all, at the moment, the power controlled by Hou Andu on the river defense front is still far greater than his.

So Chen Qian plans to hide it from Hou Andu for the time being, and leave the river defense front on the pretext of going to Shanyin City to visit his family. Anyway, Hou Andu has always been reluctant to let him intervene in the river defense affairs. In the case that the changes in western Zhejiang are not clear, he is also worried about the loss of Qiantang City. As long as he does not obviously leave the country and flee, Hou Andu will not care too much about his movements.

The process of leaving the Jiangfang Camp was smoother than Chen Qian had expected, and when he learned that Hou Andu was still planning to continue to defend the Qiantang River defense line and wait for the opportunity to counterattack, his mind changed again.

Now that Zhejiang West was not defended, the Tang army was about to attack along the Qiantang River. Continuing to stay here would only end up with the annihilation of the army, but Hou Andu was stubborn and refused to listen to different opinions. Instead of letting these Kuaiji divisions that had finally gathered together lose all in a battle here, it would be better to take the opportunity to gather some personnel and continue to move southward as a force for future counterattacks.

So after returning to Shanyin City, Chen Qian immediately ordered his troops to send invitations to the big families in the city, inviting them to gather at Lanting Villa outside the city.

Although most of the able-bodied soldiers in Kuaiji were now forcibly pulled by Hou Andu to garrison along the Qiantang River, he still did not dare to offend some of the real famous families in the territory easily. As a famous family in the Southern Dynasty, the Xie family of Chen County settled in Shanyin, Kuaiji, and other places. There were also aristocratic families such as the Yu family in Kuaiji, and many of their clansmen still stayed in Shanyin City.

After Chen Qian came to the south, he had many contacts with these families. After learning that Chen Qian had returned from the front line of Jiang defense and sent an invitation, everyone rushed to meet him and inquire about the situation on the front line.

In the face of everyone's inquiries, Chen Qian did not hide anything and said frankly that the current situation was not optimistic. Qiantang City in the north had just fallen, and Dongyang in western Zhejiang was attacked by the Tang army. Soon the two divisions of the Tang army would meet in Kuaiji.

When everyone heard that the situation was so critical, their faces became nervous, and they hurriedly asked King Linchuan if there was any way to save the dangerous situation.

"When I returned from the front, Lord Hou was still leading his army to resist stubbornly by the Qiantang River, vowing to fight the enemy to the death. This was truly magnificent, but Lord Hou was helpless. The Tang army came to attack with the intention of conquering them. The rest of the people might have room to retreat, but Lord Hou was not so calm. This disaster was a matter of life and death, and there was no other way."

Chen Qian sighed and said, seemingly praising Hou Andu's generosity, but in fact she was pointing out to everyone present that this military disaster was all directed at Hou Andu, and everyone was affected by it. This is an unreasonable disaster. If you continue to stand with him, the end will be just as miserable.

"Yes, the Tang army came here to conquer Hou Gong and Andu! They were arrogant and arrogant, which angered powerful enemies. On the contrary, our people in Kuaiji have never been in contact with the Tang people, and we have no hatred or disputes with each other. The reason why we are enemies with each other now is It's just because Andu lives in the local area. If someone just needs to draw a clear line with them and stay behind closed doors, what reason does the Tang army have to harm the locals? "

There are always people who are lucky in this world. The more people have a big family and a big business, the less courage they have to face the difficulties and choose to fight and fight when danger comes, because their situation is too comfortable and comfortable. Once they choose to fight against the situation, what they have to do is The gap between what is lost and what will be endured is greater and greater.

Chen Qian gathered everyone together not to make them cowardly but to unite them around her. Therefore, after hearing this, she immediately slapped the table and shouted: "This statement is really ridiculous! I, Wu, a few days ago Nakagogi is not without such delusions, he just thinks that he can be safe by staying behind closed doors.

However, after the Tang army took control of the countryside, they abused them even more. They took away all their property, men lost their lives, and women lost their virginity. The old and the young howled at the door, and chickens and dogs ran into the wild. There was no peace in Wuzhong, and the land was forever lost. order! You must have heard about the chaos in Wuzhong. Do you still have any unrealistic illusions about the Tang Army? "

To a certain extent, Chen Qian's words are not false. Recently, the powerful people in Wuzhong have been complaining constantly about being punished by the Tang army. Especially the typical families such as the Shen family of Wuxing have suffered very severe punishments.

It's just that the people of Wuxing Township who have benefited from this are far more than the powerful people who have been harmed. However, these powerful people from the Kuaiji family are obviously more able to embody the tragic situation of the powerful people in Wuxing. Therefore, after hearing what Chen Qian said, they all trembled. The voice said: "According to what the king sees, how can a certain class save themselves from being persecuted by the Tang army?"

"At present, the powerful forces of the Tang Army are about to join forces here, but the villagers in the territory are still gathered by the Qiantang River by the marquis. If you want to meet the enemy in the territory and defend the country, you are already beyond your capabilities. If you are still stubborn, you will inevitably My father and I are both dead, and all our property is lost!”

Knowing that most of these people still harbored luck and illusions, Chen Qian accentuated her tone to make the situation more serious, and then said in a deep voice: "The current situation is critical, and it is no longer advisable to think of both people and the earth. Either gather them together." Move to other places to temporarily avoid the enemy's edge and wait for a counterattack in the future, or continue to be trapped in the countryside and wait for death. When the Tang army comes, both people and land will be destroyed! Make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise we may not wait for the time!”

After everyone heard these words, there was a fierce struggle in their hearts. Of course they were unwilling to abandon their hometown wealth and move elsewhere, but the scene described by Chen Qian also made them shudder, especially Wu Xinghaoqiang. Our past experience also makes this statement by no means alarmist.

"I am willing to follow the king and fight elsewhere, leaving this useful body to defeat the powerful enemy and regain my homeland in the future!"

After a period of silence, someone stood up, waved his arms and shouted. They all thought very clearly that although they would suffer heavy losses if they temporarily left their hometown, the loss of some property was nothing compared to the loss of their lives. Moreover, the Tang army came for Hou Andu this time. After Hou Andu is killed, all kinds of turmoil will probably come to an end temporarily. It is a good idea to temporarily leave Kuaiji, the center of the dispute, and go elsewhere to watch the changes in the situation. A more sensible choice.

Now that someone has made a decision, fellow countrymen followed suit and chose to follow Chen Qian to avoid the crisis of war. In the end, there were some Shiliu who couldn't let go of their hometown. Seeing that they had become a stubborn minority, after some hesitation and struggle in their hearts, they also chose to follow Chen Qian.

However, where they would move after leaving Kuaiji, everyone present had two different ideas. One was to take a boat to Yuyao, Linhai and other places and go to the sea to live on an island temporarily to avoid the war. The other was to go by land. He fled southward to central Fujian, Lingnan and other places.

Regarding these two ideas, Chen Qian prefers the former. Taking temporary refuge at sea is a plan he had considered before when he was in Wuxing. But at that time, there was a better option like Kuaiji, so the group still chose to come south. Now that Kuaiji is about to fall, the various advantages of going to sea that were previously considered are highlighted again.

Moreover, judging from the trend of the Tang army heading south, the efficiency of its army's advance on land was too high. When they retreated on land, they could only passively face the enemy's force and panic like headless flies. It’s hard to get a chance to regain the initiative.

However, although the conditions for going to sea are more difficult, it is an area that the Tang army is not good at after all. Moreover, the sea is vast and there is no trace of comings and goings. There is no way to guard against it. The initiative to attack or take the initiative is completely in their hands. If coupled with The cooperation of the coastal people will definitely cause greater trouble and burden to the Tang army.

However, it would take a certain amount of time to prepare personnel, supplies, and ships to go to sea to avoid disaster. Chen Qian could not guarantee that they would be able to prepare all this before the Tang army broke through the external resistance and officially entered Kuaiji. Therefore, we can only tell everyone to gather the clan members as soon as possible and make preparations.

But they had just made the decision and were about to go home to prepare for relevant matters, when a new change occurred. A team of soldiers under Hou Andu hurried back to Shanyin from the Qiantang River front line, searching the city for Linchuan King Chen Qian. Along with them, there was also a shocking news sent back to Shanyin, that is, the Tang army also had a fleet and navy that had entered from the mouth of the Qiantang River, and was about to join forces with the land divisions to attack the Qiantang River defense line together!

After learning of this situation, Chen Qian and the Kuaiji soldiers were all shocked, but compared to Hou Andu who was ready to fight to the end, they were determined to leave. Although they were shocked, the main reason was that the news meant that they no longer had to prepare to escape by sea. It was the right plan to escape by land as soon as possible while the river defense had not been breached!

Although Hou Andu ordered the garrison in Shanyin City to detain the King of Linchuan in the city, Chen Qian had already reached a consensus with the people of Kuaiji and agreed to flee together. Moreover, the main forces under Hou Andu were still concentrated on the front line of Jiang defense, and only a few were left in Shanyin City.

When these remaining troops searched the city for Chen Qian, they were counterattacked by the various families in the city. Not only did they fail to control Chen Qian, but they became prisoners themselves, and the city was also controlled by Chen Qian and a group of big families in the city.

After Chen Qian and others captured the city, they naturally did not want to stay here for a long time to operate, but quickly collected various human resources in the city. While Hou Andu was still holding on to the front line, they directly plundered the city, and then abandoned the empty city the next day and fled southward from Shanyin.

When Hou Andu, who was at the front line of the river defense, heard about the sudden change in the rear, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. However, he had no time to criticize Chen Qian's treacherous behavior of cutting off the firewood and breaking his promise. He could only concentrate all his energy on dealing with the huge pressure exerted by the Tang army.

Because Chen Qian deliberately concealed the changes in western Zhejiang, Hou Andu actually suffered much greater pressure.

Although there were still tens of thousands of soldiers on the south bank of the Qiantang River, the news that the King of Linchuan and the group of soldiers of Kuaiji had coerced people to escape privately in the rear had gradually spread, causing great chaos in the army. In addition, after the Tang army joined forces by land and sea, it was no longer blocked by the Qiantang River and attacked fiercely to the south.

Moreover, the warships of the Tang army carried many Qiantang City defenders who had been abandoned on the north bank before. They kept scolding and scolding Chen Hou Andu's brutal behavior, and publicized the benevolence of the Tang army, making the defenders on the shore even more confused and lacking in fighting spirit.

At this time, the Qiantang River defense line carefully arranged by Hou Andu had been pushed to the extreme. When a Tang army light cavalry ran all the way from Xiahuai in the upper reaches of the Qiantang River to the lower reaches and appeared behind the river defense battle formation, it immediately became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The soldiers fled one after another and the defense line completely collapsed!

"Don't run, don't run! Stop, stop and continue to kill the enemy!"

Hou Andu saw the collapse of the defense line, his eyes suddenly became bloodshot, waving the sword in his hand and shouting loudly, and ordered the soldiers beside him to go forward to supervise the battle and kill those fleeing soldiers, trying to stabilize the battle line.

However, the personal soldiers realized that it was powerless to save the situation, so they gathered around Hou Andu and advised loudly: "My lord, the situation is over, don't stay here and make futile efforts! Leave quickly before the Tang army enters here in large numbers. Although the situation here is exhausted, there is still room for Lingnan.

In the past, the first lord's army left Lingnan and could also establish the Jiangdong Kingdom. My lord is already a hero in Lingnan. Now he is fighting against a strong enemy. Although he is defeated, he is still glorious. If he returns home, his followers will definitely welcome him. It is still unknown whether he will come back again!"

"Time is not on my side, what can I do? Hateful, hateful!"

Hou Andu saw that the Tang army's ships had begun to approach the south bank one after another, and the soldiers on the south bank defense line were fleeing like ants encountering fire, so he could only sigh and hurriedly get on the horse with the help of his personal soldiers.

He was going to gather some defeated soldiers along the way as his troops to retreat to Lingnan, but those defeated soldiers could not stand the desperate pressure and would not follow him anymore. So in the end, Hou An could only evacuate the battlefield with hundreds of soldiers around him.

With the Qiantang River defense line breached, the Tang army could not stop going south. The captured boats were strung together on the Qiantang River to build a temporary floating bridge. Then Shi Ning led the army to the south, chasing the defeated soldiers on the river and heading straight to Shanyin.

When Shi Ning led his army to Shanyin, Tian Hong, who had returned from the battle in Lingnan to participate in the war, continued to march eastward after occupying Dongyang. The two armies met in Kuaiji, and then continued to sweep the surrounding areas with Shanyin as the center, and finally ended the conquest and pacification of the entire Three Wu before the military period issued by the court.

Since the Tang army had been stationed in the north for quite a while, they were well-equipped with supplies, and they still had enough resources to continue fighting after conquering Kuaiji.

So after Shi Ning met up with Li Xun, the commander of the western route, he decided to report the results of the battle to the court and ask the court to appease and control the Three Wus, while sending elite troops to continue pursuing the enemy along the route they fled to the south, in order to eliminate all the evil and conquer Jiangdong in one fell swoop!