Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 423 Wang Lin's Surprise Attack

Hefei.

All the gates on the city sides have been closed.

The soldiers in the city were busy on the city walls. They were constantly planting flags on the walls, one flag after another being erected in various places.

Many militiamen were called together at this moment. They were divided into different teams and then, under the leadership of officers, walked back and forth on the city wall. They had no other tasks and were not given armor or weapons. They just had to walk back and forth.

On the northern city wall, the young and burly general of the State of Chen was staring outside, observing the enemy's movements.

The deputy general looked back at the preparations he had made.

"General, will this really work?"

If you look from a distance, you can see flags everywhere and crowds of people on the city wall, as if there are tens of thousands of troops stationed there.

But only they themselves knew the details. Although Chunyu Liang made corresponding deployments before leaving and gathered different troops from all over the country in key cities, the military strength was still not enough.

Hua Jiao launched a rebellion with the strength of two states. To defeat him, thirty or forty thousand troops would be enough, but unfortunately, the Zhou people were behind him.

After being defeated by Liu Taozi, Yuwen Yong started to go "crazy" in the country.

At least that's what the Chen people think.

He actually began to target domestic temples and big families. Using members of the royal family as his minions, he launched a fierce attack on these old forces across the country. At this time, Yuwen Yong's past innovation of using military officers as attendants came into play. These grassroots officers regarded themselves as the emperor's guards and followed the lead of the royal family to actively do their work.

With the combination of military power and imperial authority, century-old temples and thousand-year-old clans are suddenly no longer a concern.

Liu Taozi's war against the State of Zhou even catalyzed its effect. The old forces of the State of Zhou suffered too many casualties in the war with the State of Qi. Many dukes were killed or injured. Their power and voice were far less than before. They could only bow their heads and allow themselves to be manipulated by Yuwen Yong.

At first glance, this situation is exactly the same as when Yuwen Tai was still alive! !

At that time, it was because the Eastern Wei defeated the Western Wei so badly and too many of the old forces died. On the one hand, the country was in urgent need of new forces, and on the other hand, the opposition was not as strong as before. So the Western Wei hurriedly began to reform, and the equal-field system and other systems began at that time.

The Zhou Kingdom experienced it again.

The results in other areas have not yet been seen, but the national treasury has indeed improved, and a lot of food has been looted.

The number of troops sent by the Zhou people this time will definitely not be too small, and the State of Chen will have to prepare more troops accordingly. They cannot just fight a naval battle and ignore the enemies on land.

Therefore, Chunyu Liang took away many elite troops from the Lianghuai area, and the number of people left behind was less than 40,000. 40,000 may seem like a lot, but these 40,000 were defenders, distributed in cities and checkpoints in various places. They did not seem to be a lot, and there were almost no field troops that could be deployed.

Before Chunyu Liang left, he repeatedly told them not to send out troops and to focus on defense.

When the garrison commander Xiao Mohe heard the man's question, his expression was quite calm. "I don't know. The general has arranged it this way. Just listen to him."

"If the enemy really comes to kill us, then we will fight them."

Xiao Mohe had followed Wu Mingche to participate in the war and luckily survived. After that, he was in depression for a while, but was promoted again. He then made contributions in the pursuit war and now serves as a general in Huai.

The deputy general knew the reputation of his general.

In the army, he is the best fighter and everyone respects him.

Maybe fighting is one thing, and fighting a war is another. No matter how good you are at fighting, you can't defeat the Northern Hu army of tens of thousands of people, right?
Just when the deputy general was feeling uneasy, the enemy cavalry finally showed up.

Half a day ago, they received news that enemy scouts appeared on the official road and even captured the hill in front, so they began to prepare to meet the enemy.

Although he was well prepared, when the deputy general actually saw the cavalry rushing out from the official road in the distance and approaching the city, he was still a little afraid.

He was about to order the soldiers to be on alert when Xiao Mohe stopped him.

"It's just a scout. Don't make a fuss."

Xiao Mohe was not afraid. He moved forward and carefully observed the cavalry on the opposite side.

The news was correct, they were indeed elite.

This cavalry unit numbered about 300 people and was a standard scout team. After arriving here, they quickly began to separate and search for favorable terrain around.

Xiao Mohe's face became a little gloomy.

This is heading for the city.

But even if there were only a few hundred people on the opposite side, Xiao Mohe could not leave the city to drive them away. He could only watch them conduct reconnaissance around him and prepare for the siege.

After conducting reconnaissance, the group quickly gathered on the high ground in the west, seemingly leaving a mark there.

Not long after, a cavalry group appeared again in the distance. They headed straight for the high ground, and then Xiao Mohe saw them start to set up camp on the spot.

Xiao Mohe's eyes were full of anger.

If he had his old temper, he would never have watched the enemy set up a camp right under his nose and would have led his men to fight back long ago.

However, after the last battle, Xiao Mohe has become much more stable.

In the past, he was just a fierce general, but now, he is getting closer to a general.

Chunyu Liang once praised him, believing that he would become the backbone of Dachen in the future.

Xiao Mohe suppressed his anger and began to judge the direction of the enemy's attack.

There are more and more enemies outside.

At this moment, in the temporary tent outside the city, several officers were looking at Gao Yanzong with bewildered expressions.

Gao Yanzong, wearing heavy armor, was making arrangements for the siege.

The officers became more and more frightened the more they listened.

"General."

"We are just making a feint, not really going to attack the city. General Wang told us so before we set out."

"I know."

"Isn't this just a feint?"

"Ah, but you are building a camp and talking about siege tactics."

Gao Yanzong glared at him fiercely. "Chun Yuliang is a famous general. When he left Lianghuai, the troops he left behind must be elite. If we don't believe that we are here to attack the city, how can we convince the enemy?!"

The officers suddenly came to their senses and dared not say anything more, and they all got into the state.

Gao Yanzong began to think with everyone about how to capture Hefei City.
Their current military strength seems to be slightly insufficient. If they attack by force, they are afraid that the damage will be too great. There should be enough food and grass in the city, and it is difficult to say whether they can lure the enemies in the city out?

Gao Yanzong sent people to investigate the situation of the defenders in the city, and then began to deploy the siege.

The next day, Gao Yanzong brought only seven or eight cavalrymen to the city to challenge the enemy.

He mentioned Xiao Mohe's name, "Back in Qinzhou, I heard that you were a coward, abandoning the commander outside, snatching a small boat and escaping, which led to Wu Mingche's death. Why do you want to continue to be a coward now? Why don't you come out and fight me?!"

"Are you worthy of being called Jiangdong's Tiger General? I think you're more like Jiangdong's Rat General!!"

"Xiao Moha! Come out!!"

Gao Yanzong ordered the messengers to curse together.

Xiao Mohe on the city wall looked coldly at the enemies outside the city. This time, even his deputy general was a little annoyed and suggested shooting arrows in the direction of the enemy to force them back, but Xiao Mohe was not in a hurry.

"The enemy has found the city difficult to attack and wants to provoke me to go out and fight."

"If I'm not mistaken, the enemy is already prepared to attack the city. As soon as the gate is opened, they will start the attack directly."

"Go find some loud-mouthed messengers and come here to fight that guy!"

Thus, the Battle of Hefei entered its second stage. Gao Yanzong sent people down the city wall to curse Xiao Mohe, and Xiao Mohe sent people up on the city wall to curse Liu Taozi.

Both sides racked their brains to curse each other, and the family members of either side were not able to escape and were all among those being cursed.

Not only Hefei, but other places also suffered enemy attacks one after another.

Gao Yanzong and Yao Xiong each led their cavalry and charged into the territory of the State of Chen, and then began to break through the checkpoints. Many checkpoints were poorly guarded and were directly captured by them. If they encountered a large city like this, they would change their strategy and attempt to attack the city in other ways.

The entire Huaibei region began to enter a defensive state.

The generals followed Chunyu Liang's instructions, stayed inside and defended with all their strength, even if it meant giving up the farmland and some cities outside, they had to defend the key locations from falling. At this moment, the enemy's navy in the Huai River also quickly began to move.

These naval forces wandered left and right along the Huai River. Their main responsibilities included monitoring the enemy's movements, attacking the enemy's food routes, and also serving as a troop transport.

The State of Chen was particularly strong in terms of its navy. The Huai River was a large river, and the Huai River region had abundant water resources and a wide distribution of water flows. These major cities were often located near the water flows, and the navy could play a huge role under this terrain.

After the State of Chen conquered the Huai River region, it mobilized the Jiangshui navy and added part of the Jiangtang reserve navy to create a Huaishui division with good overall strength.

The Huaishui Division has more than 30 water forts on the water. The reason for so many is that the Huaishui River is too long. From east to west, there are places for the navy to rest along the way. At the same time, they also store a lot of good things. These water forts allow them to replenish supplies in various places and then go into battle again.

Hai'an (now Liancheng, Lianshui, Jiangsu).

Hai'an County is currently in the hands of the Han Kingdom, but the Hai'an Dashuizhai located in Hai'an County is still in the hands of the Chen people.

Hai'an is located at the junction of the Huai River where it flows into the sea and leads to Youshui. Its administrative center is Liankou, which is only fifty miles away from the water fort.

On the northern bank, the Han State set up a military camp, and the two sides just stared at each other.

This really meant that the land belonged to the Han State and the water belonged to the Chen State.

In the Hai'an camp on the opposite bank, many ships of the State of Chen were anchored.

Liu Dao, the commander of Chen Guohai's Anshui Camp, was standing at the bow at this moment, holding a small bowl in one hand and a wooden stick in the other, cleaning his teeth.

The main thing is to use a wooden stick to remove the dirt from the teeth, then rinse your mouth with salt water or tea, and finally spit it out.

Liu Dao was wearing underwear and cleaning his teeth lazily, spitting his saliva directly overboard.

He took out a bronze mirror from the side, checked his beautiful beard, and then nodded with satisfaction.

"kill!!"

The shouts of the Han army were heard in the distance. Liu Dao felt helpless. He put down the bronze mirror and looked into the distance boredly.

It’s not very clear from here, but the faint shouting and screaming can still be heard from the distance.

Soon, the deputy commander walked quickly to the bow with clothes in his hand.

"Commander, please put it on first. It's so cold outside."

The organization of the navy is different from that of the army. The navy is often based on ships. If it is a small boat, the captain is called the ship chief officer, which is simple and clear. He is responsible for all affairs of the ship. If it is a large warship, he is called the ship commander, who is responsible for the dispatch of the navy.

Above that, the position was called commander, which should be one of the sources of many official positions such as commander-in-chief. He was in charge of multiple ships and had a regular staff of 500 soldiers.

The five hundred only count the navy, not the sailors. The State of Chen was different from the north. The sailors and navy of the State of Chen were counted separately, just like the army and auxiliary troops on land, and the same as the knights and servants of the State of Qi.

Liu Dao put on his coat, looked into the distance, and asked, "Is that group of northern barbarians starting again?"

"Yes, we started the drills at daybreak."

"Speaking of which, it's no wonder they fight so bravely and train so frequently. A few days ago, I saw them riding horses and shooting at moving targets. It was the first time I saw a wooden target that could move."

"Oh? Can you still move?"

"Yes, I asked someone to get closer and ask loudly, and they said: This is called Pegasus, and it is used for horseback archery training."

Liu Dao laughed, "This Beihu really has something new."

"It's a pity that these people don't do trade. Otherwise, they would make a fortune by selling those weird things to the south!"

The distance between the two sides was too close. The Chen people could hear clearly the sounds made by the Han army every time they trained. At first they were very scared, but later they were not afraid anymore and simply got closer to watch. As the two sides got along for a long time, they would shout to each other from time to time, and some soldiers even secretly exchanged things.

Northerners look down on Southerners, and Southerners call them "Beihu".

But among the lower-level soldiers, there seemed to be no explicit hatred between the two sides. When those on a boat occasionally met those on horseback, they would stretch out their hands and say hello, even though none of them could quite understand what the other was saying.

Liu Dao didn't ask any more questions.

Sitting in the water fort is a rather boring thing.

Especially when we have to patrol the surroundings, walking on the water, and not being able to stop to rest for a long time, everyone feels like being trapped on an isolated island, which is not easy.

Moreover, riding a boat is as strenuous as riding a horse.

Liu Dao changed his clothes and began to patrol the water as usual.

That is to look for pirates and see if there are any strange ships, etc., but now, there are really no pirates to be found in the Huai River.

The main reason is that there are no merchant ships here, and pirates will starve to death if they come. Most of the pirates go to the other side of the river and specifically rob those passers-by heading to Jiangdong.

Or they might gather on islands in the East China Sea and rob merchant ships bound for Gwangju.

The trade of the State of Chen was extremely developed. Merchant ships could reach very distant places, and the people were keen on doing business.

Later, when He Ruobi and others destroyed Chen, they purchased a large number of Chen's warships. They were not small ones, but medium and large ones, even golden-winged warships. It can only be said that one dared to buy, and the other really dared to sell!
I don’t know what the generals of the State of Chen felt when they saw the exquisite warships with obvious Chen characteristics coming towards them.

Even now, the State of Chen and the State of Han are in a state of hostility, but private trade exchanges have not decreased at all.

A large number of southern merchants went to the Han Kingdom to purchase war horses and cavalry and sell food and ships.

This is how the four golden-winged ships in Old Man Wang's hands came from.

The trade in the south has formed a kind of monopoly. Merchants of commoner origin cannot participate in it. They can only engage in small-scale operations and there is the risk of being wiped out. Most of the trade is carried out by local wealthy families and temples, among which some members of the Chen royal family share the spoils, and there are even navy escorts.

This was a big business, and even the emperor did not dare to stop it easily, let alone investigate it in detail.

Where did the warships bought for the northerners come from? How did they reach Gwangju? How did they end up in the hands of the enemy?
No one dares to check this.

Besides, the emperor valued those great monks so much, how could he punish them just for selling some ships to the enemy?

Liu Dao also wants to do business, but he has no way to do it now.

The fleet is slowly patrolling the water.

Liu Dao called his deputy over again and discussed with him how to get in touch with the people in the Han city.

The Han army was obviously unwilling to trade, but the local officials of the Han State certainly still needed this kind of service.

I heard that they are short of a lot of things, and the location I'm in is so dangerous. If I can make some friends with them, wouldn't I become rich overnight?
The deputy had a similar idea, and the two began to discuss it seriously.

On the calm water surface, some fog appeared at some point.

The water fort was still very peaceful, and the ships responsible for staying behind were moored at the dock.

The sailors and officers were not willing to stay on the ship all day, so they gathered on the shore to play gambling or something else.

In the light mist, ripples suddenly appeared on the water surface.

A sturdy golden-winged ship suddenly tore through the thick fog and poked its head out.

On the watchtower of the water fort, two soldiers were talking about something. Suddenly, one of them saw the golden-winged ship suddenly appearing in the distance. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly wiped his eyes and looked for a while. Only then did his face become surprised.

"Where did this navy come from?"

"Master Jiang Shui is lost?"

The other person also looked over quickly and then hurriedly reported to the guard here.

The officer soon climbed to a high place and began to look around.

It’s true that Dachen’s golden-winged ships are there, but why would their own navy suddenly appear here?
"Raise the flag! Ask them why they are here!"

The flag order was quickly issued here.

Worried that the flag orders would not be discernible in the fog, he used drums and other war music instead and continued his questioning.

The other side also responded quickly.

'I have been ordered to come to support.'

The other party also used the standard Chen national flag order.

(End of this chapter)