To the west of Wuxi, Gaoqiao Town is at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Xicheng Canal.

At this time, on the canal, the fleeing gentry and scholars were traveling with their families on boats, one after another, heading towards Wuxi.

On both sides of the canal are poor people carrying large bags, carrying baskets, pushing wheelbarrows, and escaping their lives.

Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming led a 100,000 army and seven flag soldiers to carry out an offensive battle against Su Songchang.

Kong Youde's Zhenghong Banner and Geng Zhongming's Zhenghuang Banner are both old traitors. They are one of the most powerful flag troops among the Eight Banners of the Qing army. They are the vanguard of the Qing Dynasty's entry into the pass and have participated in the massacre of the Han people many times. Every flag clerk has committed many evil deeds, which can be said to be infamous.

Previously, Zhao Ming had ordered the people west of the Xicheng Canal to move to Susong and Taiwan, but many gentry and people were unwilling to leave their families and were lucky.

Now I heard that Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming sent troops to the two demon kings, and the Eight Banners soldiers of seven flags entered Changzhou, which made the people of Changzhou frightened and fled from their hometowns.

At this time, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's troops surrounded Wu and entered the city. While preparing to attack the city, they sent cavalry to collect them from all over Changzhou.

On the plains of Changzhou, there was no danger to defend. The Qing cavalry holding the Yellow Dragon Banner swaggered in the wilderness. In the green rice fields on both sides of the official road, the seedlings were covered with green waves, and there was no one figure for several miles.

Geng Jimao, Zhenghuang Banner Armor, wore the meticulous armor of the general of Zhenghuang Banner, held a sword, rode a strong horse, and led fifteen Niulu Zhenghuang Banner Armor soldiers, and were ordered to advance eastward.

The Ming army west of the Xicheng Canal retreated into Wujincheng, or retreated to the east of the canal to set up defenses. Most of the counties and towns west of Wuxi and Jiangyin were abandoned by the Ming army.

Geng Jimao's advance this time is undoubtedly like a trip compared to his previous battle to attack Changsha.

The main force of the Eight Banners was in the forefront. Even Zhao Zamao, the general who was the ever-winning pseudo-Ming, was already scared and was not a strategic location. He was abandoned. The Zhenghuang Banner Armored soldiers headed westward, and no Ming army was seen. The fifteen Niulu flag soldiers drove straight in.

As one of the Three Shun Kings of the Qing Dynasty, Geng Jimao, the son of Geng Zhongming, was born in the Qing Dynasty.

This made him extremely despise the Ming army, but after all, Geng Jimao was not proud and complacent after the generals. He was born in the generals and followed Geng Zhongming since he was a child. In fact, he was very careful in fighting. He sent a number of scouts to investigate, but he did not find the Ming army.

In the April sunshine, the armored soldiers of the Zhenghuang Banner sang and made rapid progress. The Triangle Yellow Dragon Banner fluttered in the wind. The economy in the south of the Yangtze River was well developed, and the waterways and official roads were well built. The cavalry of the Zhenghuang Banner could advance rapidly along the official roads.

Along the towns, some gentry and people fled eastward and entered the Susong area controlled by the Ming army. Some clever ghosts ran to the areas controlled by the Qing army and fled to the areas controlled by the Qing army. The last part of the gentry and people who were unwilling to leave their hometown changed into clothes and hats. The public sent out several gentry and presented gifts such as pigs and sheep to comfort the Qing army and soldiers, and asked Geng Jimao not to make things difficult for the people.

Su Song was often a fertile land in the world. The Qing court needed this wealthy land to provide taxes for the Qing Dynasty and carry out a unified war.

There is an order under the Manda Sea that those who surrender voluntarily shall not be killed, and those who dare to resist shall not be kept.

Geng Jimao kindly spoke of pacifying the gentry, and claimed that the army disciplines of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty were strict and would never beat, scold, harass the people. He also ordered the gentry and the people to elect the chief of the aristocratic chiefs and the village chiefs in order to maintain order, clean up the anti-Qing elements, and do their part to the peaceful country of the Qing Dynasty.

Geng Jimao marched eastward and steadily accepted the towns and villages along the way. The cavalry advanced along the Grand Canal. At the front was a team of elite green camp soldiers, led by Wang Jiaping, the former general of the Yu Qianfen of Zhejiang Province. They dressed up as refugees and mixed in the fleeing crowd and advanced forward.

Near Gaoqiao Town, the Ming army built a floating bridge on the canal, and a large number of refugees drove mule carts and carried loads and crowded onto the bridge.

For a moment, people shouted and neighed on the bridge, which was extremely noisy. The Ming soldiers who maintained order at the bridge were so busy that tens of thousands of people had crossed the canal in one day.

The Xicheng defense line starts from Jiangyin in the north and ends at Taihu Lake in the south, and is a hundred miles long. Zhao Ming mobilized ten battalions of infantry, thousands of navy troops, and nearly 40,000 people to defend.

Forty thousand people seem to be a lot, but if they are scattered on the entire line of defense, they will appear to be a little less and their troops will be dispersed.

However, this was also a helpless thing for Zhao Ming. The Qing army had the advantage of cavalry. If the defense line was a hundred miles long, the Qing cavalry could break into the Susong area without defense. At that time, the cavalry plundered the countryside and massacred it, and Susong would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, Zhao Ming could only set up defenses along the canal and prevent the Qing cavalry from breaking into the east of the canal. He had to disperse his troops to garrison.

At this time, the one stationed in Gaoqiao Town was the Jiazi Camp of the Shence Central Army. There were more than 3,200 soldiers in the entire camp, led by commander Yu Guowang.

Yu Guowang was from Zhejiang. After the Qing army attacked Jiangnan, the incident broke out in eastern Zhejiang. At that time, eastern Zhejiang had been occupied by the Qing army. Yu Guowang was worried that he would oppose Qing and spread the clans, so he first burned the ancestral temple, destroyed the genealogy, and then raised thousands of troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

During the Battle of Jinhua, Zhao Ming came ashore from eastern Zhejiang, and the rebels responded along the way. Yu Guowang defected to Zhao Ming at that time and became a member of Donghai Town.

At this time, Yu Guowang, wearing armor, pressed his sword in his hand and looked at the messy mass on the bridge. The crowd suddenly stopped moving, and couldn't help but frown and said, "Go and see!"

"Report to the commander, a carriage has its wheels sunk and blocked the road!" After inquiring, an official from a hundred households hurriedly reported.

Yu Guowang was furious, "My mother, the Qing army arrived every night. Isn't this delaying life?"

Yu Guowang pulled out his battle knife, led the armored soldiers and rushed over. When he arrived at the place, he saw a carriage full of treasures stuck on the suspension bridge and could not move.

The floating bridge is not wide and is blocked by a carriage. In addition, the refugees are all packed with big bags, and some are pushing the small carriage, so the floating bridge is blocked.

In the crowd, Wang Jiaping was carrying a load, followed by several men, with nervous expressions on his face.

"General, why don't you leave? Will you be discovered?" a Qing army said in a panic.

Wang Jiaping narrowed his eyes, "Don't panic, listen to my order!"

At this time, Yu Guowang looked at it and said impatiently: "Push the car into the river, you can't block the road."

"It's not possible!" At this time, a middle-aged man wearing silk and fat heads and big ears hurriedly stopped the soldiers who came forward and whispered: "General, there are Tartars!"

Yu Guowang was stunned when he heard the words, and immediately clenched the hilt of the knife, looked up, and immediately saw many suspicious figures wrapped in headscarves in the crowd, and his face darkened.
Chapter completed!