On the sixth day of the fifth month of the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, nearly 100,000 iron cavalry of the Qing army Duoduo Department had all arrived at Shangguan Bridge.

And here is less than 100 miles away from the capital of Yangzhou, and nearly 100,000 iron horsemen of the Duoduo Department can go straight to the city of Yangzhou in less than half a day.

However, Duoduo also learned at this time that a large number of Ming scouts had been found at Shangguan Bridge, which did make Duoduo suspect that the main force of the Guards might have arrived in Yangzhou City, so he stopped directly at Shangguan Bridge and sent more cavalry to continue the investigation.

At this time, the city of Yangzhou had begun to be under martial law, and two cavalry battalions, three infantry battalions, and one field artillery battalion of the First Corps of the Second Army of the Guards Army had all left the city and were arrayed under the city of Yangzhou.

After the establishment of the Guards was determined, the difference between cavalry and artillery and infantry was abolished because of the difference between cavalry and artillery and infantry, after all, there were originally two cavalry battalions in one corps, with a total of 10,000 cavalry.

At the same time, the artillery battalion has also abolished the distinction between A and B, and is divided into heavy artillery battalion and field artillery battalion according to different artillery functions.

At this time, almost all the main forces of the First Corps of the Second Army of the Guards Army, which had entered Yangzhou Capital City in advance, had already left the city to prepare for a decisive battle with the Duoduo Department and hold the gate of Yangzhou City.

However, more than 20,000 people from the three infantry battalions of the Second Army and the First Corps of the Second Guards Army, as well as the heavy artillery battalion and the troops directly under the corps, plus the troops of the Yangzhou Guard, totaled more than 50,000 people who were stationed in Yangzhou City and undertook the task of defending the city.

Zhu Youzhen did not think of relying on the walls of Yangzhou City to defend Yangzhou, so he naturally wanted to let the main force of the Guards Army fight against nearly 100,000 iron cavalry of the Qing Army's Duoduo Department outside Yangzhou City.

Not only that, the First Corps of the Second Guards Army will be outside Yangzhou City, but other corps of the Guards Army will also be lined up near Yangzhou City one after another, and fight a decisive battle with nearly 100,000 iron cavalry of the Duoduo Department in the field.

The three infantry battalions of the First Corps of the Second Guards Army lined up on both sides of the moat in Yangzhou, while the two cavalry battalions rushed back and forth in front of the infantry battalions, sometimes sending sentry cavalry to inquire about the situation, and sometimes sending sentry cavalry back to inform the latest movements of the Duoduo Division.

At the same time, the Second Corps of the Second Army of the Guards Army has also arrived from Wanshou Town, and on the field ten miles away from the west side of the gate of Yangzhou City, the three infantry battalions are also in a lined formation, lined up on the left side of the other side of the moat, and the two cavalry battalions are also galloping back and forth on the west side, rolling up the smoke and dust along the way, in addition to the heavy artillery battalion is still stationed in Wanshou Town, the field artillery battalion has also been stationed in Huangni Village, which is less than half a mile away from Yangzhou City.

At this time, the First Corps of the First Army of the Guards Army had also moved south from Shao Bo Town, holding on the field ten miles east of the gate of Yangzhou City, and six infantry battalions were also lined up in formation, lined up on the left side of the moat, and two cavalry battalions were also galloping back and forth on the east side, rolling up smoke and dust along the way.

The Second Army of the First Guards Army has moved south from Baimatang and is stationed on the south bank of Shaobo Lake, six infantry battalions are holding the left side of the north side of Yangzhou, two cavalry battalions are in the area of Baimatang and Shao Bo Lake on the north side, and heavy artillery battalions and field artillery battalions have been stationed on the south bank of Shao Bo Lake.

The Second Corps of the Third Army of the Guards Army was still stationed in Datongshan, and the First Corps of the Third Army of the Guards Army was still staying in Yeshan, waiting for the Duoduo Department to fully enter the Yangzhou Mansion City, and then officially moved closer to the Yangzhou Mansion City, and completed the siege of the nearly 100,000 Qing Army Iron Cavalry of the Duoduo Army.

At this time, in Shangguan Bridge, in the camp of the Chinese army of Duoduo, the prince of Jiannuyu, Duoduo was pacing non-stop, and now the news that had been transmitted back from various sentinels had clearly told him that the main force of the Guards had arrived in Yangzhou City, and he wanted to sneak attack Yangzhou City, and take the opportunity to attack Nanjing, causing chaos in the Ming Court, and then the plan to break the Guards failed.

And Duoduo will have to choose whether to fight the main force of the Guards under the city of Yangzhou.

Frankly speaking, the original Duoduo was not afraid of a decisive battle with the main force of the Guards, and even hoped to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Guards and destroy the last army support of the Ming Court in one fell swoop, but the two failed attempts of Mengcheng and Dingyuan made him feel that the Guards in front of him were not as easy to deal with as he had imagined before.

Duoduo is indeed a little entangled now, south of Yangzhou City is the core of today's Ming court rule, and it is the richest Jiangnan in the world, and his brother has already said that it is not enough to occupy the world if he does not take Jiangnan!

And now, the task of occupying Jiangnan is in front of him, Duoduo really wants to win this great feat, but he also knows that he may be defeated under this Yangzhou city, not only will he fail, but he is even likely to lose 100,000 troops in the Qing Dynasty, and his vitality will inevitably be seriously injured.

In that case, it will be difficult to recover in the next ten years, after all, the Qing Dynasty has not yet completely gained a firm foothold in the north, and if it fails to conquer Jiangnan, it is very likely that some people in the north will take the opportunity to make trouble and threaten the existing ruling foundation of the Qing Dynasty.

The choice of whether to fight or not to fight was in front of Duoduo, which could be described as the same taste, but there was no third way to go, and he could not hesitate a little, because once the Guards had completed the attack, he would have to fight without a fight.

Duoduo still can't figure out the bottom line of the Guards, whether he just wants to repel himself or eat his nearly 100,000 iron horsemen in one bite.

Zhu Youzhen was also thinking about such a question at this time, he knew that Duoduo at this time must have discovered his purpose, and he could also guess the two possible endings in the future, either defeat the main force of our Guards Army, capture Jiangnan in one fell swoop, and destroy my Ming Dynasty! Either he was eaten by the main force of our Guards, which made his cause of unification in the south of the Qing Dynasty fail, and the Ming and Qing dynasties divided the river and ruled it, and the two groups of the north and south entered a period of confrontation from then on.

However, unlike Duoduo who was struggling with whether to fight a decisive battle, Zhu Youzhen was thinking about how to make Duoduo make up his mind to fight a decisive battle with him.

Although Zhu Youzhen did not dare to be very sure that his guards could defeat the guards with absolute certainty, Zhu Youzhen believed that no matter how he compared, his guards would definitely be able to defeat Duoduo's nearly 100,000 iron cavalry, and even if they could not be annihilated, they could defeat their troops, after all, the battle between Mengcheng and Dingyuan had already explained everything, of course, as for whether Duoduo would survive in a desperate situation and still be favored by God, he naturally had no way to guess.

"Put all my Jinluan honor guards on the city again, and tomorrow at noon, I will go out of Yangzhou City to give a lecture to the three armies!"

Zhu Youzhen resolutely made such a decision, he wanted to use his imperial status to blatantly tell Duoduo that I am in Yangzhou City, if you dare to fight, you will come to fight, capture Yangzhou City, take my head, you Duoduo can make a contribution for your Qing Dynasty for eternity, if you admit cowardice, dare not fight again, and prepare to escape from Jiangnan before the siege of the Guards, then the people of the world will laugh at you Duoduo is a coward who retreats without a fight.

Zhu Youzhen stimulated Duoduo with his imperial dignity is undoubtedly tried, and Duoduo knew that the Ming Emperor Zhu Youzhen was also in Yangzhou, so he also decisively gave an order, and immediately sent troops to Yangzhou City, preparing for a decisive battle with the main force of the Ming Guards.

Of course, Zhu Youzhen, the Ming Emperor in Yangzhou City, was only a factor that prompted Duoduo to make a final decision, and more importantly, Duoduo also knew that he could only fight, and if he retreated without a fight, he would not be able to go back to the Qing Dynasty kings.

(End of chapter)