Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 216 Gathering the Army under the City of Yangzhou (Sixth)
The battle of Peixian, which annihilated Zhunta, was the last local battle of the Guards before the decisive battle with the main force of the Duduo Department of the Qing Army.

In this battle, the First Cavalry Battalion of the First Guards Army and the Second Corps participated in the battle with more than [-] casualties, the second cavalry battalion suffered more than [-] cavalry casualties, and the first infantry battalion suffered one casualty.

The enemy's more than [-] iron cavalry were wiped out, and the main general Zhunta was captured alive!
The ratio of casualties between the guards and the cavalry of the Qing army reached 1:10, which is even better than the Battle of Mengcheng and the Battle of Dingyuan.
Of course, this has a lot to do with the aggressive advance of the Zhunta Department underestimating the enemy. Five thousand cavalry went straight into the hinterland of Shandong, and they would be repelled even if they were not wiped out. After all, the Ming army at this time was no longer the Ming army in Liu Zeqing's period.

On the second day, just after dawn, tens of thousands of boatmen who had already prepared all kinds of boats came to the ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River. More than [-] people from the Wuying Battalion began to cross the river. The rest gathered together and headed south quickly.

At this time, Nikan, who had just experienced a new defeat in Dingyuan, brought more than [-] cavalry remnants to meet Duduo in Linhuai, and informed Duduo of the defeat in the battle of Dingyuan:

"My lord, I am incompetent. The Ming army in Dingyuan City is astonishingly powerful. I have never seen it in my life. The firearms are particularly sharp and the military discipline is very strict. From my point of view, I am afraid that they are the elite of the Ming army."

"The elite of the Ming army, and the elite of the Ming army, how can there be so many elites of the Ming army! Where is the king of Huaishun, Geng Zhongming?" Duoduo slapped the table angrily, and asked.

"The lower official withdrew in a hurry, I don't know whether he was killed in battle or captured alive," Nikan knelt in front of Duoduo and replied.

"Bastard! It's impossible for the Ming army to be in Mengcheng and Dingyuan!" Duoduo cursed, and didn't say anything, but directly sat in the first place and meditated.

Although Doduo was in a depressed mood, especially with the loss of a deputy capital commander and a Han prince, he was still clear-headed at this time, realizing that the Ming army in Jiangnan might not be the Ming army he met in Henan. Like the army, even from the time when dozens of white armor soldiers were lost under the city of Kaifeng, he already had this awareness.

"Mr. Zhang, you were a cabinet scholar in the Ming court. Do you know the strength of the guards trained by Zhu Youjian and where most of them are stationed?"

Duoduo couldn't help asking Zhang Shenyan. After all, among the officials who surrendered to the Qing court, Zhang Shenyan had stayed in the Ming court for the longest time, and at this time, only Zhang Shenyan, an official who surrendered to the Ming court, was by his side.

Although Zhang Shenyan is a cabinet scholar, he was not involved in the Ming military affairs from the beginning, so he didn't know the reality of the Ming guards, but now that Duoduo asked him, he naturally couldn't say that he didn't know, after all, he also Knowing that this is an opportunity for him to make contributions in front of Duoduo.

"Returning to the lord, although the minister is only in the cabinet and has not participated in the affairs of the Grand Marshal's Mansion and the Ministry of War newly established by Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, but I have also heard that Zhu Youjian has trained hundreds of thousands of recruits since last year. The first guard army was stationed in Shandong, the second guard army was stationed in Nanjing, and the third guard army was stationed in Fengyang."

As soon as Zhang Shenyan finished speaking, Kong Youde, the king of obedience, interrupted Zhang Shenyan: "But we have never encountered any decent resistance near Fengyang Mansion. Where is the Third Guards Army?"

"Dingyuan and Mengcheng have encountered elite Ming armies successively, and they all have sharp weapons. From this point of view, the second and third guard armies may be the armies of these two places." After Duoduo said, he hurriedly asked Zhang Shenyan : "There may be a garrison in Yangzhou!"

Zhang Shenyan naturally didn't know, but in order to reflect what he said earlier, he shook his head instinctively, and said, "However, Zhu Youjian trained soldiers in Yangzhou and Huai'an, and often went to this area."

"Zhu Youjian wants to fight the king in Yangzhou." Duoduo couldn't help laughing: "The road to the south is nothing more than going to Mengcheng to Luzhou, Dingyuan to Chuzhou, and Yangzhou to Zhenjiang. Zhu Youjian set up heavy siege successively in Mengcheng and Dingyuan, just to let the king have to go south from Yangzhou to the south of the Yangtze River! Could it be possible that the Ming emperor could really guess what the king was thinking? !"

Duoduo did have the idea of ​​going to Yangzhou to attack Jiangnan. After all, the area from Yangzhou to Nanjing is the most affluent area in the south of the Ming Dynasty. Only by entering the south of the Yangtze River from here can it cause shocks in the south of the Yangtze River.

"My lord, why do you say that? Since Zhu Youjian deployed heavy troops in Mengcheng and Dingyuan successively, and what Mr. Zhang said just now, the First Guards Army is in Shandong. At this time, Yangzhou should be empty of troops!" Kong Youde couldn't help but Said.

"That's right, Yangzhou's troops should be empty at this time. What King Gongsun said is very reasonable. Now Mengcheng and Dingyuan have heavy troops, and since his First Guards Army is far away in Shandong, if this king speeds up immediately To attack Yangzhou City, as long as he can conquer Yangzhou before his army gathers, and then go down the river, Zhu Youjian's Jiangbei defense line will collapse instantly. There will be heavy troops from one side rushing to help the other, and the first guard army will also go south to help. At that time, our army will inevitably be surrounded. Instead of this, it is better to continue to rush to Yangzhou. He Zhu Youjian wants to block the king under the city of Yangzhou. no way!"

Duoduo said aloud, and ordered directly: "Decree, after half an hour, the whole army will immediately follow, except for the red-clothed cannons, all the looted people, food, cloth, and animals don't need to be brought, and immediately rush to the city of Yangzhou! "

Not long after Duoduo gave this order, nearly [-] Qing army cavalry immediately started to move, and immediately headed for Yangzhou like a gust of wind.

……

The First Army, Second Army, and Third Army of the Guards are also rushing towards Yangzhou City at this time.

Duoduo naturally also knew that once his army went to Yangzhou, under the investigation of Jin Yiwei and various spies, the Ming army in Mengcheng and Dingyuan would also leave for Yangzhou immediately, and fight him decisively under the city of Yangzhou.

This is an overt conspiracy with no cunning at all.

Zhu Youjian, who also rushed back to Nanjing at this time, also knew that with Duoduo's wisdom, he should be able to realize that no matter where he went south from, he would have to fight to the death with the main force of his Ming Dynasty Guards, and Yangzhou was undoubtedly the only situation under the current situation between the two sides. The best choice.

Duoduo hoped to take Yangzhou before the guards encircled him, so that he could break through the city of Nanjing and attack the main force of the Ming guards.

But Zhu Youjian hoped that the Ming Guards could stop Duoduo's offensive under the city of Yangzhou, and look for an opportunity to wipe out Duduo's troops.

After crossing the river, the Second Corps of the First Guards Army came directly to Hong County and Lingbi.The First Corps of the Second Guards Army had already rushed to Suqian under the leadership of Liu Zhaoji, and the next stop was Huai'an.

In fact, the First Corps of the Third Army of the Guards began to assemble and rush to Yangzhou after the Battle of Mengcheng was over, and arrived in Fengyang as soon as Duoduo arrived in Linhuai.

This has already been explained in the previous article, Zhu Youjian dared to do this, and it was a bet that Duoduo would definitely choose to go south from Yangzhou after he suffered setbacks in Mengcheng and Dingyuan.

The Second Corps of the Third Army of the Guards rushed to Lai'an immediately after the Battle of Dingyuan, and has now arrived in Liuhe.

The Second Corps of the Second Army of the Guards had already arrived in Jiangdu from Zhenjiang under the leadership of Qin Bangping, the brother of Qin Liangyu, the deputy commander.

A life-and-death struggle is destined to unfold under the capital of Daming, Yangzhou City, but at this time, Yangzhou City does not know that the war is approaching, and it is still singing and dancing.

Just like in the original history, the gentry and common people in Yangzhou City did not know that a massacre that could be called a nightmare was approaching.

(End of this chapter)