Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1353: Breaking through Qiantang
The battle continued outside Qiantang City, and the defenders on the city walls began to arrange their defenses in an orderly manner and prepare to meet the enemy.

The battles over the past few days have made them very familiar with this process. They can even judge the intensity of today's battle and how long it will last by observing the enemy's formation and the number of people participating in the battle.

After all, Qiantang City was backed by the river and had constant support from the rear. No matter how fierce the Tang army's offensive was, it was difficult to capture the city. The defending soldiers had no worries, and the fighting in recent days had eliminated their fear of the Tang army. Now they had a fearless mentality.

But today's situation is different from usual. The Tang army coming from the south has tens of thousands of troops, more than twice the size of the previous few days. It seems that they are going to launch another fierce attack today.

However, after arriving at the city, the Tang army soldiers did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, they separated a small team of about a hundred people from the main force and rode their horses towards the city.

The defenders on the top of the city wall couldn't help but feel curious when they saw this scene. They stretched their heads to look down. Soon, some sharp-eyed soldiers suddenly stared and exclaimed: "That's it, the man in the team looks like General Xiao!"

"General Xiao? Which General Xiao? Could it be that the remnants of the Liang clan who defected to the Tang Dynasty are now coming to invade our homeland?"

After hearing this, the soldiers on the city wall began to ask questions.

At this moment, the enemy cavalry was closer, and those with sharp eyes saw it more clearly, and their tone became more terrified: "No, it's not the remnants of the Liang family, it's City Lord Xiao, our City Lord, he is being held hostage by the enemy and is coming here!"

"What nonsense! How could the city lord be captured by the enemy..."

After hearing this, a group of soldiers nearby started to shout, but soon the voices stopped, because as the enemy troops under the city quickly approached, more and more people could see the face of the person who came. The man with a burly but haggard face who was surrounded by the Tang army soldiers was none other than their city lord Xiao Mohe.

"How come City Lord Xiao was captured by the thieves even though he was outside the city?"

After a moment's silence, there was another uproar on the city wall. These ordinary soldiers naturally did not know the inside story. They thought that the city lord had returned to Kuaiji to recuperate after not seeing him for a few days. However, they did not expect that he would be outside the city with the Tang army now. This was really surprising and hard to accept.

Soon, this group of Tang army knights arrived at the foot of the city, and then a soldier among them shouted to the city: "Tell all the people in the city, the bandits from Kuaiji sneaked into Wuxing a few days ago to disturb the people in the city, but they have been reported by the righteous people in Wuxing and have been wiped out by the royal army! The bandit general Xiao Mohe was also captured. He was grateful and repented, and then surrendered to the royal army. I urge all of you old righteous people to quickly throw down your weapons and surrender, which is the right thing to do!"

While these soldiers were shouting, Xiao Mohe, who was dressed in a cloth robe and unarmed, was also led to the front of the team. However, when he looked at the familiar city wall and the group of astonished soldiers on the wall, he couldn't help but feel ashamed, and the words of persuasion to surrender that he had been brewing for a long time could not be uttered for a while.

"Beat the drum, beat the drum, don't listen to evil words! Xiao Moha is greedy for life and afraid of death, treacherous, and now surrendered to the enemy and shamelessly returned to disturb our army's morale. This is really a heinous crime!"

At this time, another angry shout was heard from the top of the city wall. It was Lu Zilong, the defender of the North City.

Before, he was only responsible for defending a corner, but after Xiao Mohe left the city, the new Pei Zilie was not familiar with the city's military affairs, so he was able to control more of the city's defense. In recent days, he was responsible for the defense dispatch of the city's top where the two sides fought. When he learned that such an amazing change had happened outside the city, he hurried over and ordered the use of drums to suppress those words of persuasion.

Xiao Mohe was originally feeling embarrassed and ashamed, unable to speak, but when he saw Lu Zilong, the complex emotions in his heart were immediately replaced by rage.

Especially after hearing Lu Zilong's scolding against him, he was furious. The resentment and grievance of being excluded and persecuted suddenly surged in his heart. He immediately shouted, "Listen carefully to my words, my friends in the city. I was sent by Lord Hou to guard Qiantang. I did my best and was not afraid of the strong enemy. Even if I didn't achieve anything, I still deserve praise for my efforts!

However, the King of Linchuan was domineering and unkind, jealous of talented people, and was afraid of the enemy's strength and abandoned Wuxing to flee. He was cowardly and timid, which was despicable! Because he was disgusted with my meritorious service in resisting the enemy, he forced me out of the city. Although I was captured by the Tang army, I realized that the king's army was kind and righteous, and did not punish me for my previous crimes, but was willing to spare my life for the sake of justice. I have received this kindness and told my followers not to be loyal and dedicated to the evil, but to return to justice as soon as possible, and save my life to go home and take care of my parents..."

"Beat the drums, beat the drums! Shoot this beast to death! Soldiers, do not listen to evil words. The Tang army is brutal. If the city is conquered, all the soldiers and civilians will die! Only by resisting to the end and repelling the enemy can we have a chance of survival!"

Under Lu Zilong's stern command, a hail of arrows rained down from the top of the city wall, and the sound of drums made it difficult for the people on the top to hear the shouts from below the city wall, so the Tang army could only lead Xiao Mohe to retreat temporarily. The large army in the rear had already prepared for the attack, and took advantage of the fact that the defenders in the city were still in a state of panic and uncertainty to launch a fierce attack.

The damage caused by Xiao Mohe's persuasion to the morale of the defenders in the city was obvious. Although the defenders on the city walls were still busy resisting the attack of the Tang army, the counterattack was not as fierce as in the previous few days and turned somewhat passive.

After all, this sudden change was too shocking for everyone. The commander who had been carefully arranging defenses and fighting bravely with the enemy suddenly stood on the enemy's side. This also directly shook the faith of those soldiers and made them doubt what was the point of continuing to fight and resist?
Once a person's mind becomes confused, all actions will no longer be resolute, especially in this already very difficult and dangerous war. The wavering of will will magnify the difficulties several times, until finally he can no longer bear it and collapses directly.

However, Qiantang City also has one very important objective advantage, that is, it can obtain continuous assistance from the rear on the Qiantang River behind it, which can alleviate the adverse effects of the defenders' low morale on the war to a certain extent.

Soon the news that Xiao Mohe had been captured and surrendered to the enemy spread to the rear. Upon learning this, Hou Andu, Chen Qian and others were all shocked.

Especially since Hou Andu was originally forced to send Xiao Mohe out of the city to the north, facing such a result, he could not help but feel annoyed, and said bitterly: "It must be the short-sighted Wu people who were frightened by the enemy and spread false information to deceive, luring our division to the north to take risks, and then sold them to the Tang army, otherwise why was Xiao Mohe captured so easily? These treacherous Wu people really deserve to die!" Chen Qian, who was standing aside, felt a little harsh after hearing this, and he snorted coldly: "Let's not talk about the situation in the north for now. This Xiao Mohe has no intention of keeping his integrity when facing danger. Instead, he colluded with the Tang army to return to the front line to shake the morale of the army. He deserves to be killed!

The important task of Qiantang River defense was entrusted to this person a few days ago. It is conceivable how dangerous it is. If the war goes badly, the river defense may have been lost. The Tang army came south to capture Hou Gong. Doesn't this person know? Now the army's morale is shaken, and the river defense is unstable because of this person. We should quickly remedy it! "

Hearing Chen Qian's words, Hou Andu's mood suddenly became even more confused. He could no longer care about Chen Qian forcing him to send troops. The most important thing now was to consolidate the river defense. If the river defense was really breached, he would be in great danger.

So Hou Andu ordered the warships anchored by the river to load up with personnel and supplies and head north again, and to provide reinforcements as soon as they realized that the situation in Qiantang City was not going well. At the same time, he ordered his men to return to Shanyin City, and lead Xiao Mohe's wife, children and family members to Qiantang City and kill them on the front line, so that these soldiers would see the consequences of betraying themselves!

At this time, on the north bank of the Qiantang River, the main general of the Tang army, Shi Ning, seized the opportunity of the enemy's wavering morale and gradually transferred the main force back to the front line to fight, maintaining a high-intensity siege operation. The Tang army soldiers frequently broke through the city defenses and jumped onto the city walls. Although they were recaptured by the defenders who swarmed in soon after, this phenomenon undoubtedly showed that the city defenses were no longer as tenacious as before, and any breakthrough might cause the collapse of the entire line.

Warships on the river kept shuttling between the two banks, sending soldiers from the south bank into Qiantang City, and maintaining the city's defense line through the continuous influx of reinforcements. However, the huge casualties still caused great psychological pressure on the defenders in the city. Some reinforcements even jumped off the boats directly on the river, refusing to enter the city to die. The order of the defenders was about to collapse.

At this moment, a fast boat came quickly from the south bank, escorting Xiao Mohe's relatives to the top of the city wall. After denouncing Xiao Mohe for treason and surrendering to the enemy, they beheaded his wife, children and family members on the top of the city wall.

Such torture caused a great shock to the defending soldiers. After all, their families were still in Kuaiji in the rear. In order to prevent their families from following the same fate, the defending soldiers cheered up and continued fighting.

At this time, Xiao Mohe was not at the frontline. He was not free yet. When he learned that his family members were tied to the city walls, he pleaded to go to the frontline. When he was allowed to go, he saw the bloody scene of his wife and children being torn apart. He cried out in grief, "Chen Qian, Hou Andu, as long as Xiao Mohe is still alive, I will kill you!"

Witnessing the tragic death of his relatives, Xiao Mohe had completely given up hope. He took the heads of his family members that the soldiers on the front line had found for him, and couldn't help crying. He immediately knelt in front of Shi Ning and cried, "I will never coexist with the thieves. I beg the general to give me armor and a staff so that I can go into battle and kill the enemy to avenge my relatives!"

Shi Ning nodded after a brief pause. After Xiao Mohe obtained his armor and staff and entered the battlefield, he roamed around like a tiger out of its cage, looking for an opportunity to attack the city wall. Many of the soldiers guarding the city wall were his former subordinates, who had witnessed his tragic fate with their own eyes, so they could not bear to harm him and shot their crossbows into the air, forcing Xiao Mohe to wander around under the city wall.

"What are the crossbowmen doing? Quickly, quickly shoot this beast!"

Lu Zilong, who was supervising the battle on the top of the city wall, saw such a conspicuous target as Xiao Mohe wandering under the city wall, and immediately shouted angrily.

His roar quickly attracted the attention of Xiao Mohe below. Xiao Mohe was holding a long-handled battle axe and sizing up the distance between them. He immediately threw the long axe towards the top of the city wall with both hands, while shouting, "Die, you bastard!"

The long axe came whistling, and the broad axe back hit Lu Zilong heavily below his left shoulder. His whole body suddenly leaned backwards, and a large amount of blood foam gushed out of his mouth and nose. When his personal soldiers rushed forward, he was already twitching and unconscious.

"The enemy general is dead, the enemy general is dead, quickly attack the top of the city, kill the enemy and seize the city!"

After the soldiers on the front line noticed this scene, they immediately raised their arms and shouted, their faces full of joy. Encouraged by this, they rushed to the top of the city wall from the ladders even more fearlessly.

The soldiers on the wall were barely holding on, and when they saw their commander being smashed to death, they were all panicked. Without restraint and control, they subconsciously dodged to the left and right. At the moment, the Tang army was attacking the city from hundreds of directions, and any riots in any direction could not escape the eyes of the attacking soldiers. The chaos here was quickly grasped, and the nearby Tang army soldiers rushed up, waving their swords and guns to continue to expand the gap to both sides.

"This disciple is truly brave, worthy of being called a warrior of the Southern Kingdom!"

Shi Ning, who was supervising the battle in the rear, couldn't help but admire Xiao Mohe when he saw him kill the general guarding the city wall with a sword under the city wall. Then he ordered the war drums to be beaten to cheer for the soldiers attacking the city.

As the Tang army's offensive intensified again, large sections of the city walls were lost. Before this, Qiantang City had been maintained by relying on human wave tactics, and more than 20,000 soldiers were crammed into the city. Now that the city walls were lost, many soldiers crowded on the top of the city walls could hardly retreat and fell directly from the top of the city walls into the city.

There were generals in the city urging the soldiers below to continue to go up to the top of the city to fight. However, in this situation, even if the soldiers were willing to go forward, it was completely impossible to do so, and the riots quickly spread throughout the city.

As the Tang army soldiers attacked the city, they rushed into the streets and alleys from the top of the city wall, and the crowded soldiers in the city fled to the water gate in the south, hoping to escape. After the chaos, the city could no longer organize an effective resistance.

"The enemy is defeated, the enemy is defeated, quickly capture Qiantang City!"

The soldiers entering the city quickly opened the tightly closed city gates, and then the main force soldiers who had been waiting outside swarmed in and quickly swept away and repelled the defeated troops who were still running around in the city.

Under the fierce attack of the Tang army, more and more defenders were driven out of the city. A large number of defeated soldiers gathered at the water gate pier in the south of the city, begging the warships patrolling the river to quickly come to shore to pick them up. At this time, the battle flag of the Tang army had been erected in the city, and Qiantang City, which had trapped the Tang army for several days, was finally breached!