Northern Dynasties

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 prosperous commerce. Instead, it was a noisy scene of people shouting, horses neighing, and killing sounds filling the field.

There were more than 30,000 troops coming from Xuancheng, plus a part of the troops under Yufeng of the Eastern Army, a total of more than 40,000 troops advanced to the outside of Qiantang City.

Qiantang City is located by the water. To the north is a hilly area that is not very high in altitude but is undulating. Although there are water and land passages connecting to other places on the left and right, these water and land passages had been excavated and damaged to a certain extent long before the arrival of the Tang army.

Therefore, after the main force of the Tang army arrived here, they had to repair the land passage before they could push their troops to Qiantang City. Qiantang City itself was not tall, and even after sufficient repairs and preparations, it was not a difficult target to conquer. Whether the city could be successfully captured depended mainly on the will of the defenders and whether the waterways in the rear could provide effective support and coordination.

Therefore, the Tang army's initial offensive was very fierce. 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 one siege battle. The purpose was to suppress the morale of the defenders with this powerful offensive, force out all the modes and routes 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 followed the general's orders with stiff expressions and mechanically stood on the battlements.

"Crossbowmen, be alert. Shoot only when the enemy is close! Transport wood and stones to the city walls quickly. Send them wherever the enemy attacks!"

Xiao Mohe, dressed in armor, was running around on the city wall, constantly commanding the defending soldiers to prepare for battle. Two personal soldiers at the back were carrying his combat weapons, which were not ordinary swords and spears, but very heavy long-handled hammers.

If this kind of hammer is swung and smashed down, even the heavy cavalry with armored horses and men would not be able to withstand it, and both the horses and men would die. It's a pity that this kind of heavy weapon cannot be equipped in the whole army. Only brave generals with strong arms like Xiao Mohe can use it on the battlefield. But even Xiao Mohe would not use this weapon in his hand to consume his physical strength before engaging in real hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

Just as the defenders in the city were busy preparing for battle on the city walls, the battering rams and ladders of the Tang army also advanced to the bottom of the city walls and began to attack the city. Numerous archers in the battle formation continuously shot arrows above the top of the city walls, trying to gain a chance for the front division to get close to the city walls through long-range suppression.

The defenders on the top of the city were not to be outdone, and the crossbowmen pulled the trigger one after another and shot down. Although the Southern Dynasty army rarely trained in horse archery, they were no problem in operating the crossbow. 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 they were at the gates of the city, they were still suppressed by the various arrows pouring down from above, making it almost impossible for them to move forward. Some soldiers' shields were even pierced and cracked by powerful crossbows. When they were directly exposed to the enemy's sight, even if they had good armor, when the enemy's arrows poured down like locusts, there were always places that they could not protect, and they were inevitably hit by arrows or even killed on the spot.

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

Such cheers continued to burst out from the soldiers on the city walls. When they saw the casualties among the Tang army soldiers below the city, the fear in their hearts gradually subsided. It turned out that the Tang army was not some kind of divine army. As long as they were attacked, they would also suffer casualties.

Because of the various 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 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' counterattack with bows and crossbows was slower, and the vanguard soldiers of the Tang army quickly grasped the gaps between their rhythms and took advantage of them to advance forward. After the ladders were placed on the enemy's city wall, they rushed upwards swiftly.

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

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

It is important to know how long this offensive and defensive battle 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. However, once the arrows are exhausted, this intensity of counterattack will be difficult to maintain. Once the long-range counterattack is lost and the enemy rushes to the top of the city wall, 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. Various military orders are only issued to provide general instructions and guidance, but the specific combat conditions in each place on the battlefield are different, and naturally it is not the kind of overall control that can pay attention to the details.

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 been in chaos in recent years, the intensity of the war is still not as strong as the previous experience-sharing war between 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 fought with Hou Andu for many years in the city, the overall level is still far behind that of the Tang army.

So even though the defending soldiers tried their best to resist, using all kinds of means such as bows and crossbows, rolling logs and rocks, and swords and spears, they were still unable to avoid the Tang army tearing a hole in their city defenses.

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

A soldier came running to report the emergency, and Xiao Mohe was shocked after hearing it. He handed over the coordination of other battles to his subordinates, and personally led a group of armored soldiers to rush to the city wall that was breached 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, Qiantang City is now tacitly defended by these two armies together.

However, the two sides had not cooperated in combat before and lacked a tacit understanding with each other. When a high-intensity battle occurred, this lack of coordination and synchronization was magnified and was keenly noticed by the experienced Tang army. They then launched a fierce attack and directly broke through this section of the city defense.

When Xiao Mohe led his troops here, there were already hundreds of Tang soldiers attacking the city walls and occupying a section of the wall. There was also a steady stream of Tang soldiers climbing up from the ladders below.

"Quick, kill off the Tang army and don't let the city defenses fall!"

Seeing the situation was so critical, Xiao Mohe didn't care to blame the guards anymore, grabbed his long-handled sledgehammer and rushed straight at the brave Tang army soldiers. He swung the sledgehammer like a meteorite, and a fully armed Tang army soldier was hit on the left shoulder by it, and the shoulder armor was directly broken into pieces, and the soldier's entire left shoulder was also smashed and collapsed, and blood gushed out from the left side of his chest.

With the reinforcements led by Xiao Mohe, the war was temporarily stabilized. Xiao Mohe was especially brave after joining the battle. In the short time since he joined the battle, more than a dozen Tang soldiers were killed by his hammer. Standing on the city wall, he was like a god of death, so that other Tang soldiers did not dare to fight him anymore, and some were forced to fall directly from the city wall.

"Death to the thief!"

Xiao Mohe swung 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 instead. At the same time, Xiao Mohe suddenly felt a warning in his heart, and he didn't bother to swing the hammer to kill the enemy. He lay down, and there was a sudden gust of wind beside his ears, and then his earlobe felt hot. A powerful arrow passed by the side of his ear and was nailed into the gap of the city wall beside him.

Having narrowly escaped the disaster, Xiao Mohe raised his hand and touched his face, which was already covered with blood. He hurriedly grabbed a helmet that someone had dropped and put it on his head. He knew that he had been monitored by the enemy's sharpshooter, so he didn't dare to kill the enemy as blatantly as before. He leaned over the battlements and looked down carefully. Soon he found several archers holding longbows below, and shouted: "Quick, shoot the enemy's sharpshooters!"

Soldiers usually use the angle of projectile when attacking a city. The arrows are shot down in an arc, and the accuracy is not easy to control. They rely on the inertia of the arrows to hurt the enemy. However, there are also strong archers who hold strong bows of several stones and hide in the front line. They shoot arrows directly at the enemy generals and kill them. Xiao Mohe had obviously encountered this kind of shooting before.

Although he was brave, he was not really fearless of death. Before facing such personal danger, he did not dare to 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.