Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1348 The stalemate
"This was the enemy's main attack point, but the equipment and crossbows they were equipped with were insufficient. I repeatedly sent out messages for help but no one showed up, which allowed the enemy to break through and attack the top of the city. After a life-and-death battle, we were lucky enough to repel the enemy, but the situation will become even more serious. General Xiao, please quickly dispatch troops to replenish our lost troops and consumed equipment!"

Because the city defense line where he was stationed was breached by the enemy in the first round of siege, Lu Zilong felt a little guilty and restrained his attitude, but he still refused to admit his mistakes. He was also heartbroken about the losses of his own troops, so he asked Xiao Mohe for compensation shortly after the battle.

After a fierce battle, Xiao Mohe's physical strength was greatly consumed, and he was almost shot to death on the top of the city wall. He was inevitably exhausted. He was leaning on the top of the city wall to catch his breath and rest. Hearing what Lu Zilong said, he said unhappily: "The enemy has just retreated not long ago, and all the troops have suffered heavy losses. We need to take a serious inventory. We will talk about this later!"

As he spoke, he walked towards another part of the city wall. Fearing that his troops would not receive timely and effective reinforcements, Lu Zilong shouted behind him, "If our troops are not replenished, we may not be able to fight with all our strength later!"

After hearing this, Xiao Mohe just snorted coldly and left without looking back.

After the battle, the defenders in the city successfully resisted the attack of the Tang army, but they also suffered heavy casualties and material losses. In particular, arrows, which were the most effective in stopping the enemy, were mostly consumed, so that the entire Qiantang City was covered with a layer of arrows, which were dense and eye-catching.

Xiao Mohe wanted to send a team of soldiers out of the city to pick up the arrows and reuse them, but there were Tang cavalry patrolling not far away, obviously guarding against the defenders taking the opportunity to clean up the battlefield. While maintaining deterrence, they gradually cleaned up from the periphery of the battlefield to the inside. Without sufficient mobility, you will be controlled by others in war.

After counting the supplies in the city, Xiao Mohe secretly calculated in his mind that the remaining supplies were obviously not enough to sustain a war of the same intensity as before.

Especially when the two sides really came into close combat, the defenders in the city were obviously at a disadvantage. Just during the period when the northwest corner of the city wall was breached, nearly a thousand people were killed and wounded. That's why Lu Zilong felt so distressed that he lost his composure, because most of the casualties were his troops.

"We still need to send a batch of supplies to the South Bank as soon as possible, and the wounded should also be transported to the South Bank for treatment and recuperation. Leaving them in the city will only dampen morale!"

After taking stock of the war, Xiao Mohe secretly made calculations in his mind.

Qiantang City was built by the water, so communication with the rear was naturally very convenient. When the battle was fierce just now, two large ships were sailing in the Qiantang River, waiting for reinforcements immediately when the battle in the city was unfavorable. So the Tang army seemed to be only attacking Qiantang City, but in fact it was fighting with the entire Kuaiji area on the south bank of the Qiantang River. As long as Qiantang City needed it, the rear would continuously transport personnel and supplies.

Xiao Mohe used flag signals in the city to notify the large ships on the river to approach, and then informed the generals on the large ships of the situation in the city, asking them to send the wounded away and then quickly transport a batch of urgently needed supplies across the river.

When the large ship was approaching Qiantang City, a team of Tang army knights came galloping towards it and tried to approach the large ship. However, the large ship was anchored in Qiantang Ship Market, where the river was wide and a deep water area was artificially dug out, with rafts directly connected to the Qiantang City water gate. Before capturing Qiantang City, it was difficult to pose an effective threat to these ships on land.

When this situation was reported to the Tang army camp, the commander-in-chief Shi Ning could not help but frown, realizing that this battle to break through the Qiantang River might be more difficult than he had imagined.

Since the Tang army was attacking from land, and the waterways in Wuxing were in the dry season, it was difficult for large warships to sail into the Qiantang River. And if they relied solely on the offensive on land, they would not be able to break through the river defense line.

Moreover, the Qiantang City defenders in front of them were also very tenacious, and they still gritted their teeth and endured the powerful offensive of the Tang army. It should be noted that even the Tang army could not carry out such a high-intensity siege frequently in a short period of time. Even if the consumption of materials and casualties were not considered, it would be difficult to sustain it with pure physical strength.

"It seems that we can't just attack head-on, we still need to use other means!"

Shi Ning knew very well that there were many problems and shortcomings that could not be overcome by sheer willpower, but had to be faced and dealt with correctly. The enemy had fully utilized the Qiantang River to build a defense line, and the Tang army must also strengthen its ability to fight on the waterways and successfully break through the obstacles.

So he sent another order to the rear, dispatching part of the fleet from the Yangtze River to the south by sea, bypassing the Qiantang River, cooperating with the main force's land offensive, and striving to break through the blockade in one fell swoop and enter the Kuaiji area. Before that, the main force must of course continue to maintain the offensive to continue to increase pressure on the enemy, hoping to get a turnaround. Not to mention Shi Ning's calculations here, when the news that the battle in Qiantang City had come to an end reached the south bank, Chen Qian and Hou An, including a group of soldiers, were all overjoyed. As long as they can intercept the Tang army north of the Qiantang River, it means that they are already invincible. Next, they need to continue to hold on and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

"I once said that Xiao Mohe is Jiangdong's most valiant general. Today, he led the army and fought vigorously, successfully blocking the Tang army on the north bank and cutting off their vigorous military momentum that was advancing southward. Do you believe it now, Your Majesty?"

Feeling proud, Hou Andu looked at Chen Qian and said with a smile. He was not a generous person, and still had some concerns about the past. Now that he had defeated the enemy with the Qiantang River defense line he had arranged and the soldiers under his command, he naturally couldn't help showing off.

"I know that Lord Hou is brave, and I can see how good he is at judging people!"

When Chen Qian heard these words with implicit sarcasm, there was no displeasure on his face. Instead, he looked towards Hou Andu with even more joy and admiration, as if he was sincerely convinced.

After hearing this, Hou Andu laughed again: "Your Majesty, please rest assured when you enter here. Gathering the people and soothing the people are your business. Military affairs along the river and stopping the enemy are my business!"

These words were said even more bluntly, as if to say that Chen Qian had no ability to deploy troops and fight the enemy. Although Chen Qian could still keep a smile on his face, the generals behind him were already very angry.

"Since the enemy has been blocked outside and their momentum has been greatly weakened, we should now seize the opportunity to pursue them and use offense instead of defense! I would like to lead a division to sneak across the river to the north at night, attack the enemy camp, and strive to recover Wuzhong as soon as possible. I beg the king to grant my permission!"

Several generals including Han Zigao were unwilling to let Hou Andu's subordinates enjoy the victory alone, so they all clasped their fists and asked for battle.

"You, the followers, are indeed loyal and brave. You should carefully plan and act decisively when it comes to destroying the camp!"

Chen Qian first looked at his confidants with an approving look and said, then turned to look at Hou Andu and asked with a smile: "According to Lord Hou, is this feasible?"

Hou Andu naturally knew what these people were thinking, but those who requested to go to war were Chen Qian's subordinates. If they succeeded, it would be great, but if they failed, he would not suffer any loss. In fact, because of the loss of troops and generals, Chen Qian might even become more dependent on him. Therefore, Hou Andu did not object and immediately arranged for boats to send Han Zigao and his party north at night.

Shi Ning had been stationed in Yingzhou for several years, so he naturally knew that the southerners were accustomed to using the tactic of attacking the camp, so he attached great importance to the camp defense. However, since the Tang army brought a large number of vehicles, horses, armor and supplies, the scope of the camp was also very large. In addition, the enemy took a detour upstream to quietly cross the river, and then launched a night attack from the side. Although the camp gave a timely warning and quickly launched a counterattack to drive the enemy out of the camp, several camps were still breached and some supplies were lost.

After checking the casualties in the early morning and weighing the pros and cons, Shi Ning decided to retreat a dozen miles and set up camp, while the soldiers rode back and forth on horseback to attack the city.

As for Han Zigao and his men's successful attack on the camp, they naturally caused cheers and celebrations after returning to the other side, and made the people on the south bank feel more and more that the Tang army was actually nothing special. As long as they used appropriate tactics and fully utilized their own advantages, the other side was far from being an invincible and powerful opponent.

In the next few days, the Tang army continued to attack Qiantang City during the day. Although the offensive was not as fierce as at the beginning, it also put a lot of pressure and damage on the defenders in the city. At night, they retreated to the north and were on guard. Although the south bank arranged several night attacks on the camp, they were unsuccessful. Instead, they lost some soldiers due to the long journey.

But no matter what, the momentum of the Tang army's advance was finally intercepted in the north of Qiantang River, and the battle situation between the two sides turned into a stalemate along the Qiantang River.

However, this situation did not last long, because new changes soon occurred. Some people in Wuxing in the north could not bear the harsh abuse of the Tang army, so they sent people south to deliver a message, hoping that King Linchuan could launch a counterattack as soon as possible.