Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1349: Hope for Counterattack
"The Tang army is arrogant and disrespectful to scholars. They rely on their strength to abuse people and use their power. This has caused great damage to the sentiments of my hometown. I know that they will not last long. We will endure the humiliation and live in seclusion until the king returns..."

The tone of the letter was extremely sad, but Chen Qian was delighted to read it, especially when he saw that the signature at the end of the letter was from Shen Zhong, who he had tried to recruit but refused to come to Wuxing Township. The smile on his face became even more cheerful: "You old man thought you were very experienced and stubborn and refused to work with me. Now you are threatened and coerced by the Tang people. You have really reaped the consequences of your own actions!"

Although he has now fled to Kuaiji, he still has channels to obtain information from Wuzhong. Naturally, he also knows clearly that the Tang army is now sweeping away the powerful people who had previously gathered under his command in Wuxing.

After learning about this, Chen Qian's mood was quite complicated. On the one hand, he was heartbroken by the loss of these personnel. As the Tang army's sweep in Wuxing intensified, many powerful people who were hostile to him were eliminated. Even if he led his troops back to Wuxing in the future, the local forces in the area would probably change.

On the other hand, he felt a little gloating in his heart. When he chose to evacuate Wuxing before, he also tried to recruit and persuade some of the powerful people to lead their troops to follow him south, so as to preserve their strength and wait for an opportunity to counterattack. However, most of these powerful people were still attached to their old nests and refused to abandon their homes and follow him.

Perhaps they were thinking that after the Tang army arrived, they would be tolerant and compassionate to them and would not kill them, so that they could temporarily survive and protect themselves. However, they did not expect that the Tang army would be so brutal and actually wanted to eradicate them completely!
As a result, those powerful people who refused to follow Chen Qiannan would naturally suffer. Even if they could successfully counterattack in the future and drive the Tang army out of Wuzhong again, the damage to personnel and materials suffered by the Tang army was real and difficult to compensate. They would inevitably be at a disadvantage in the future rural order, and even their family fortunes would fall into decline and they would never recover.

The brutal actions of the Tang army not only dealt a severe blow to the local forces in Wuzhong, but also made even those powerful people who had originally remained neutral and only wanted to protect themselves feel frightened and panic-stricken.

For example, Shen Zhong, who sent the letter here, had been visited and recruited by Chen Qian many times before, but Shen Zhong always refused.

Having experienced the fall of Jiangling the previous year and having seen that the Tang Emperor Li Boshan had shown favor and leniency to the people of Jiangling, he harbored illusions and thought that it would not be a big deal even if the Tang army occupied the Three Wus, so he was unwilling to fight against the Tang army.

However, the actions of the Tang army entering the country this time shattered his fantasy. Many powerful people in Wu were attacked and abused by those arrogant and powerful generals. Even if Shen Zhong's family had not been affected for a while, the domineering nature of the Tang army had already been revealed, and it would only continue to get worse in the future. In order to save himself, Shen Zhong could only take the initiative to send a letter to contact Chen Qian, whom he had refused to rely on before, hoping that he could quickly lead his army back to Wuxing and drive away the Tang army.

"What do you think of this? Is it time to fight back?"

After receiving secret letters from Shen Zhong and some other powerful people in Wuzhong, Chen Qian summoned his trusted men to discuss the matter.

Shen Ke, the man he relied on the most, was captured by the Tang army because of his slow retreat, and was later slaughtered by the rebels. Many of his other civil and military subordinates were also separated or died in battle. Now, the talents and strength of his trusted subordinates are not as sufficient as before.

Most of those who were still following Chen Qian were military generals, and they could not provide him with any pertinent and insightful suggestions. They just bowed and said, "If the king wants to launch a counterattack, we will follow him to the death!"

Although the loyalty of these people is commendable, their simple statements are not enough for Chen Qian to refer to. He couldn't help but sigh and then said with emotion: "If Shen Changshi was still here, he could discuss strategies with me. Now I want to plan big things, but there is no one to discuss with me!"

This naturally made the people present somewhat embarrassed, and they all lowered their heads. Only Han Zigao, who was confident of his close relationship with his lord, spoke up and said, "What the king is worried about is whether the intentions of Shen Zhong and his ilk can be trusted, and whether the remaining manpower in Wuxiang can still be used. But when it comes to the grand plan of returning to attack Wuzhong, it has to be done. The only difference is how to grasp the opportunity.

"The Tang army is now trapped in the north of Qiantang River. Their momentum is no longer as strong as before, but their power is still strong. If we underestimate their numbers and rashly test them, we will probably suffer heavy casualties if we fail. However, if we can first send other disciples to test the waters and test their strength, we can avoid being hurt. This is a good plan."

Chen Qian nodded after hearing this, looked at Han Zigao with approval and said: "What Zigao said is exactly what I am worried about. Shen Zhong and others are not my confidants and cannot be trusted, but what they said is very reasonable. Now the forces in Wuzhong Township have been swept and attacked by the Tang army, and I have taken refuge in the south of Qiantang. If I do not take any action, I am afraid that no one will respond to my return home in the future. However, I am already isolated and powerless now. If I make any rash actions and suffer another defeat by the Tang army, I am afraid that my power will be further weakened..."

The situation against the enemy has improved during this period, but Chen Qian's mood has been rather bad. He regretted that he retreated too early. It was indeed disadvantageous to fight the enemy in Wuxing, especially without the important defense line of Qiantang River. But if he was determined to resist the enemy, even if he was defeated, he could evacuate calmly with the support of the Qiantang divisions, which was better than handing over Wuxing without a fight.

Although the current situation has improved, it has little to do with Chen Qian. It is mainly due to the stability of the Qiantang River defense line, and all these personnel are controlled by Hou Andu. Although they are close allies, as time goes by, they can't help but have their own thoughts. Hou Andu is not very willing to let Chen Qian interfere in the military and political affairs of Kuaiji. He just hopes that he will stay here as a tool to unite all parties. Chen Qian is not a person who is willing to be inferior to others. If he is willing to be a puppet and cannot display his own ideas and ambitions, it is better for him to stay in Jiankang and accept the manipulation of the Tang people!
Because each of them has such thoughts, the relationship between them is no longer as harmonious as it was at the beginning. Although they have not yet broken up, some unhappiness has accumulated in their hearts.

For example, Hou Andu has been suggesting that Chen Qian go to Shanyin City to live with his family and not stay on the front line, saying that he hopes he can reunite with his family, but in fact he does not want Chen Qian to stay here and interfere in military affairs. He persuaded him to go to Shanyin City, probably with the intention of putting him under house arrest.

Chen Qian also felt deeply the bitterness of living under someone else's roof, so if possible, he also hoped to launch a counterattack as soon as possible and return to Wuxing where his power was located.

"An Du is now aggressively pursuing his military power in Kuaiji, which has caused a surge in public discontent. We still need Your Majesty to calm the public down, so we still need Your Majesty's help. Now our divisions cannot move lightly, so why not order Andu to send troops to test whether the time for a counterattack has arrived?"

After being encouraged, Han Zigao continued speaking.

After hearing this, Chen Qian smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "An Du has been on guard against me and has kept his distance from me. He is afraid that I will make a deep connection with the Kuaiji forces. They are stubborn and conceited, and I am afraid they will not easily obey my orders and test the enemy for me."

"Your Majesty, why not show this letter to Andu, and tell him that he will go to western Zhejiang and central Fujian to gather local volunteers to counterattack Wuzhong. This time the Tang army is attacking Andu, and he must be worried that Your Majesty will flee and leave him alone to fight the Tang army. If you make another proposal at that time, he will not dare to refuse! Let Xiao Mohe of Qiantang City lead the army to the north to test. If the counterattack is possible, they can advance accordingly. If it is still not possible, Lu Zilong will secretly seize the defense of Qiantang City. At that time, all military affairs north of Qiantang River will be under Your Majesty's control, and it will be up to Your Majesty when to counterattack!"

Seeing that Chen Qian still had a worried look on his face, Han Zigao spoke again.

Chen Qian frowned after hearing this, and after a long pause he said, "Although An Du has a stubborn personality, his will to fight the enemy is pure and ardent. If I were to do this, I'm afraid it would be a loss of harmony, and it would be difficult for us to work together to fight the enemy."

"Could it be that he is now working together with the king? Judging from his behavior, he is greedy for power and tyranny. His so-called enthusiasm in fighting the enemy is nothing but fear of death. In the final analysis, if the fight against the enemy is unsuccessful this time, everyone can surrender, but he will die. The only problem is that he is unwilling to fight the enemy!"

At this time, Qian Daojie and several others also spoke up. They all felt that they were caused by Hou Andu when they suffered the attack from the Tang army. Now that their power had been greatly damaged, they still had to endure the ridicule and exclusion from Hou Andu and his confidants. They were full of resentment in their hearts. If there was a chance, they still hoped to regain the initiative. Therefore, they all agreed with Han Zigao's strategy.

Hearing all his subordinates advising him in this way, Chen Qian was gradually persuaded, so he said in a deep voice: "This plan is all for the country. When a strong enemy forces us, the strong will use their strength, and the wise will use their wisdom. Fighting the enemy and defending the country is not a privilege enjoyed by anyone. Andu should also understand this and should not regard it as a struggle for power!"

So he invited Hou Andu to his tent, and as Han Zigao had said, he presented the villagers' letter to Hou Andu for him to read. After reading it, Hou Andu could not help but laugh and said, "The Tang army is arrogant and domineering, claiming to bully the weak with strength. Now the front-line divisions have been unable to break through, and the people in the rear are full of resentment. Defeat is not far away!"

"I have the same plan as Lord Hou. We should plan a counterattack now! But the former retreated in a hurry, and many soldiers were left behind in Wuzhong. Now even if we want to fight back, we have no soldiers to use. So we want to go to western Zhejiang, central Fujian and other places to gather volunteers and march north to counterattack!"

Chen Qian looked at Hou Andu again and said with a smile.

"This, this... this matter still needs to be carefully considered! Although the Tang army's offensive has been blocked, it is still not in decline. The letters from the locals are indeed gratifying, but if we only rely on them, I am afraid we will not be able to defeat the enemy quickly. Your Majesty should stay here for a while and be careful not to act rashly!"

Sure enough, when Hou Andu heard Chen Qian's plan, his face suddenly changed, and then he shook his head repeatedly, persuading Chen Qian to give up this idea.