Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1339: Moving to Qiantang

In the Linchuan Palace, Qian Daoji, who had just withdrawn from the Songjiang front, entered the palace without taking off his military uniform and apologized. He knelt in front of the hall with a gloomy expression and bowed his head, saying: "I am incompetent and have failed the king's trust. The Tang army is fierce and far beyond our previous expectations. Their army attacked with all their strength. The Songjiang army resisted for less than two days before they were captured by the enemy..."

There were many people in the hall, but including Chen Qian, they all remained silent, frowning as they listened to Qian Daozhi's description of the battle.

After finishing his account of the battle, Qian Daoji still had no way to respond, so he could only bite the bullet and continue, "I have personally seen that the Tang army is well-armored and skilled in cavalry and archery. They are good at breaking through enemy lines and attacking from a distance. If you are facing them, you must not be careless, and you must rely on unexpected and dangerous tactics..."

"According to General Qian, is it true that the Tang army is invincible and our efforts to defend our country are in vain?"

Although the rapid breach of the Songjiang defense line was frightening and stressful, some people still felt indignant when they heard Qian Daozhi praising the Tang army so much, praising it like heavenly soldiers descending to earth, and they couldn't help but sneer.

The faces of the other people in the hall were also somewhat unhappy. Chen Qian also had a gloomy expression. He was also dissatisfied with Qian Daojie for boosting others' morale and making the crowd more frightened, so he said in a deep voice: "The Tang army is indeed strong, and everyone knows this. But to say that it is difficult to match is an exaggeration. As long as you are a human, you will always have shortcomings, shortcomings that are not as good as others, and you will make mistakes rashly. How can you say that you are invincible!"

In the battle of Songjiang, Qian Daojie was indeed a little dazed by the fierce offensive of the Tang army. He was traumatized and had a strong fear of the Tang army in his heart. He dared not fight them head-on again.

However, when he could not help but speak out his thoughts, he was criticized by the King of Linchuan, which made him even more nervous. He bowed his head and said, "I am not praising the enemy, nor am I afraid of the enemy. It's just that we need to be cautious when fighting with the Tang army.

The so-called strong camps and high walls are not enough to stop the enemy. Once they fight in the open, the Tang army's cavalry and archery will be more fierce. In previous battles with the northern barbarians, they could still rely on the fortifications of chariots and ships, and then counterattack when the enemy was weak, but now the Tang army's artillery and arrows are powerful and indestructible. Gathering a large number of people to fight is probably not a good idea.

In my opinion, we should disperse the soldiers in the villages, each of them should take advantage of the local conditions and occupy a place to divide the enemy army, so that the soldiers are scattered in the wild and cannot gather their strength, making it difficult to fight quickly and decisively. The soldiers and horses will be exhausted and the supplies will be exhausted after a long time..."

"This is getting even more ridiculous! Qian has cost our division and humiliated our military prestige. With a powerful enemy ahead, I will spare your life for now. Return to the camp quickly to reorganize your troops and wait for the opportunity to redeem yourself and make meritorious contributions!"

After hearing this, Chen Qian's face darkened again and he couldn't help but start to scold.

Gathering the Wuzhong township under his command had been his strategy all along, and he had been implementing it with all his strength. However, after Qian Daojie returned from his defeat, instead of reflecting on himself, he questioned and opposed his strategy, which naturally made him lose face and very annoyed.

After sending Qian Daoji away, Chen Qiancai looked at his subordinates in the hall who also had solemn and heavy expressions, and said in a serious tone: "Songjiang has been breached, and the enemy has no cover. The current situation is extremely difficult. Do you have any good plans to resist the enemy?"

This time he asked the crowd questions not to let everyone express their opinions and then make the final decision like he did last time, but because he was in a confused mood and had no idea what to do, and he really wanted to hear everyone's opinions in the hope that they would bring him some inspiration.

When everyone heard the King of Linchuan's question, they didn't know how to respond for a moment. At the moment, their moods were not much different from Chen Qian's, and they were even more confused.

Most of the people present had no experience of fighting against the Tang army. Their previous ideas and propositions were basically based on their positions and emotions. Now, at the beginning of the battle, the Tang army showed such powerful destructive power, which was beyond their previous cognition.

Now that the Songjiang defense line has been broken, the Tang army will arrive in a moment. On the eve of this huge danger, they have not even adjusted their mentality, let alone come up with any new strategies to deal with the enemy based on the changes in the situation.

Chen Qian looked around but didn't hear anyone answer. His eyes fell on Shen Ke who was nearby and he said in a deep voice, "Does the Chief Secretary have any advice for me?"

When Shen Ke heard that he was being asked, he could only stand up and said while pondering, "The collapse of the Songjiang defense line was indeed unexpected. But given the situation, there are actually some clues. After all, the Tang army is a new and cutting-edge army that has annexed powerful enemies. It crossed the river years ago and has been accumulating strength for a long time. Without such a record, people would doubt whether it is unworthy of its reputation.

Therefore, there are many reasons for this defeat. The Tang army used up all its skills to win this victory, and our Wuzhong folks are newly gathered after all, and are not elite troops specializing in killing. There is indeed a gap in strength between each other, but as long as our folks defend their hometowns and lands with undiminished fighting spirit, the Tang army is not invincible, and we are not vulnerable!" In this situation, even if there is a good plan to defeat the enemy, it will eventually need to be implemented to test whether it is effective. Now that the people are frightened and their wills are low, the most direct way is to raise morale so as not to lose the courage to continue fighting.

After Shen Ke finished speaking, everyone's faces improved. The Tang army was indeed very strong, but it was not without reason. As long as we knew why the enemy was so strong and where the upper limit of their strength was, we could find a way to target them.

"Then may I ask, Chief Secretary, how should we fight next? The Heyang Cannon was seen in the previous battle in Wu County, and when the Tang army comes south, they will certainly not abandon this important weapon. With the current palace alone, it is probably difficult to..."

Although they felt a little relieved, they couldn't help but look worried when they thought about facing the Tang army soon. Putting aside these encouraging words, they still needed practical strategies to implement, so someone asked again.

Shen Ke nodded after hearing this: "Yes, it is indeed difficult for the current palace to withstand the enemy's offensive, so it is best not to continue to be stubborn about the previous plan, or we should make new adjustments as soon as possible."

Having said this, he glanced at Chen Qian who was sitting at the head of the group, and after a moment of hesitation, he continued, "General Qian has just fought against the Tang army and has deep feelings about it. What he said makes sense. At the moment, it may not be the best strategy to gather all the troops and line up to fight. Looking at the Tang army's momentum, it may not take just a few battles to force them back. However, if our army is at a disadvantage in the battle, there will be no more room for maneuver..."

The reason is simple. If both sides gathered their main forces for a decisive battle, even if the Tang army was defeated, they could temporarily retreat to the north and come back after a short rest. However, once their Wuzhong troops were defeated in the battle, the Linchuan Palace itself was not a strong city that could be defended for a long time, and their Wuzhong brigade itself was not very mobile. By then, they might not even be able to withdraw from the battle.

After hearing this, Chen Qian's eyes flashed, but he did not interrupt Shen Ke. It was not that he could not listen to different opinions, and the current situation was also very clear. It was indeed difficult to defeat the Tang army with just numbers, not to mention which side had more troops.

Previously, he advocated gathering the Wuzhong Division in Changcheng County, mainly to strengthen the control over the local situation. However, now that a truly powerful and fatal blow has arrived, the local situation in his hands seems to be difficult to match, so naturally he needs to make other plans.

Seeing that the King of Linchuan did not open his mouth to rebuke him, Shen Ke said, "The southern ships and northern horses each have their own strengths, but now the enemy is strong and we are weak, so we need to focus on our own strengths. Previously, the traitors surrendered to the enemy and the Yangtze River was lost, and the navy lost its place to use its strengths. The shallow water of Taihu Lake is not conducive to the navy's advance and retreat, and it is not conducive to disrupting the enemy's retreat.

The current plan is to temporarily avoid the enemy's attack and lead the elite troops to the south to Qiantang, while the rest of the villagers return to their hometowns. If the Tang army attacks urgently, they will be blocked by the Qiantang River. If they come to Wuxing for inspection, the villagers will resist them. We only need to delay the war until spring, when the spring tide rises and the rivers and canals are open, the enemy cavalry will no longer be able to gallop freely, and our troops can advance north by boat and gradually recover the lost territory! "

Shen Ke's strategy was similar to Qian Daozhi's. Both of them broke up the assembled Wuzhong troops and dispersed them throughout the countryside, so that the Tang army would be trapped by local forces and unable to win a quick victory.

The difference is that Shen Ke's strategy is more comprehensive, including the plan of moving the main force southward, waiting for the arrival of spring floods, and then relying on the navy to recapture Wuzhong. Of course, Qian Daoji may have similar ideas, but he didn't have the opportunity to talk about them.

"What the Chief Secretary said is indeed a prudent plan. It is really uncertain whether it will be good or bad if we hastily fight the enemy now. Moreover, the Tang army came south to conquer Kuaiji. Now our Wuxing is in a difficult position and we have to fight, but Kuaiji cannot stay out of it. Only by uniting the two places can we have a chance to defeat the powerful enemy!"

When Shen Ke finished speaking, everyone else present nodded in agreement.

They were indeed a little nervous about fighting the Tang army right now. If they could use the transfer in space to exchange for a turnaround in time, it would be a good choice for them.

Moreover, this time the Tang army was targeting Hou Andu in Kuaiji, but they were fighting desperately in Wuxing to stop the enemy for Hou Andu, while he was leisurely in the south of Zhejiang. It makes people feel a little unbalanced just thinking about it.

Chen Qian had been thinking of retreating in his heart. Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus, he nodded and said in a deep voice: "The enemy is so fierce that it is difficult to stop them. We have no choice but to move temporarily. But this temporary retreat is by no means a flight. After going south to Qiantang, you should also remember this humiliation and work hard to recover your homeland!"

Next, he quickly explained the evacuation. In view of the strong force of the Tang cavalry, he did not dare to relax and was complacent. He left Shen Ke and several other subordinates to clean up the mess, and led more than a thousand elite soldiers on horseback to Qiantang.