Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

The morning sun shines on the ancient city of Jingmen, casting countless rays of light across the city. The golden glow reflects off the blue bricks and gray tiles, giving this historically rich city a warm veil.

The four city gates of Jingmen have been completely taken over by the new army!

Some small-scale battles occurred when the south and north gates were captured, but they were quickly quelled.

The vast majority of the defending troops surrendered, and only a small number were killed in battle.

The enemy suffered the most casualties when they captured the East Gate. It is possible that Li Chengming's new army acted too quickly, leaving the East Gate defenders no time to react and surrender.

As for the casualties of the new army, three died and more than a dozen were wounded. The deaths and injuries of the new army soldiers were all caused by arrows.

Because the new army lacked armor, they were easily killed by arrows, which was a major weakness of the new army!

Also, because the enemy had bows and arrows, the assault team used rifles when attacking the south and east gates.

It took several shots to intimidate the archers of the defending army, ultimately forcing them to surrender!

Having just captured Jingmen, Li Chengming first emphasized military discipline:

Anyone who trespasses on private property shall be executed!

Thieves and robbers, behead them!

Those who rape, murder, and humiliate shall be executed!

After two weeks of living, eating, and training together, witnessing the awe-inspiring power of modern weaponry and the stunning capabilities of drones, the successful capture of Jingmen City was finally achieved.

This brought the commandos' prestige to its peak within the new army!

Every soldier in the new army looked at Li Chengming with immense awe.

The soldiers strictly obeyed Li Chengming's military orders, and no incidents of disturbing the people occurred.

One military order after another was relayed from Li Chengming:

Give a proper burial to the fallen soldiers and comfort and treat the wounded soldiers;

The new army took over the city defense from the original garrison, and then took turns resting and recuperating.

Organize soldiers to patrol and maintain order within the city;

The supplies and property of the original garrison troops and generals were sealed off, pending inventory.

Li Chengming ordered some silver to be taken from the carriage of the former garrison commander Zheng Liuwei to buy breakfast for the new army soldiers.

I promised the soldiers that we would have breakfast in the city after we captured Jingmen, and I will definitely keep my promise!

Jingmen City originally had a county magistrate, but the original magistrate was killed when the rebel army occupied Jingmen. Now, the person in charge of civil affairs is the former county assistant magistrate, Guo Yonghang.

Li Chengming went directly to Guo Yonghang, the county magistrate, wanting him to continue managing civil affairs and maintaining order in the city.

Guo Yonghang was quite straightforward, saying that as long as Li Chengming agreed not to disturb the people, he could continue to maintain order in the city.

Li Chengming agreed and instructed Guo Yonghang to continue as before.

Seeing that the new army did not deceive or harass the people, the people in Jingmen City gradually opened their businesses after cautiously testing the waters.

People from outside the city also began carrying or loading goods into the city to trade!

Gradually, the warmth of everyday life returned.

People's lives must go on. No matter if it's the Ming army, the rebel army, or the Qing army that occupies the city, as long as it allows the people to live a good life, it's a good army.

It doesn't matter who you pay taxes to!

The people of Jingmen City are fortunate so far, although the taxes are relatively heavy and they often face extortion by officials.

However, unlike the cities in the Central Plains, which were swept away by Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, it is not facing a massacre by the Qing army like the Jiangnan region is now!

Life is still manageable, albeit with difficulty.

This balance may be broken in time...

Let's deal with the future later. Right now, looking at this ancient yet vibrant city, Li Chengming also felt a slight urge to settle down.

In a peaceful and prosperous era, how comfortable it would be to be a city lord!

Unfortunately, this is a chaotic world. The peace and tranquility of a small corner will sooner or later be broken by the general trend of the world. No corner of China can escape this chaos!

By the time everything in the city had stabilized, it was already afternoon.

After arranging everything, Li Chengming took a short rest at the residence of the former garrison commander Zheng Siwei, when he was awakened by the assault soldier Liang Zicheng:

"Captain, the supplies tally is in!"

Li Chengming groggily opened his eyes and said, "Speak!"

Liang Zicheng held up a piece of paper and read aloud: "One hundred and forty-two taels of gold, nine thousand six hundred and thirty taels of silver..."

"How much, how much?" Li Chengming was fully awake.

Liang Zicheng read it again, adding, "This gold and silver was found in the residences of the former garrison commander, his deputy, and other officers, and also included five hundred taels donated voluntarily by County Magistrate Guo Yonghang..."

Li Chengming was stunned for a moment. He never expected that this small city of Jingmen could not only support a garrison army, but also plunder so much money. It is true that you can't judge a city by its appearance!

"Continue," Li Chengming said.

Liang Zicheng continued reading, "There are also 126,000 catties of military rations!"

The amount of grain seized was within expectations, but the money far exceeded Li Chengming's imagination!

In fact, Jingmen City is not a small city. It is not a lot to seize nearly 10,000 taels of silver from such a city. This time, Li Chengming was just naive!

After counting the spoils, Li Chengming proposed to take out a portion of the silver and give each new army soldier two taels of silver as a reward.

As for the original garrison?

Select some of the capable soldiers to form a new company, and give each of the remaining garrison soldiers travel expenses to return to their hometowns.

Liang Zicheng said, "And that deputy general, Wang Zhenhong, already knows we're not from the rebel army, and he keeps insisting on seeing you!"

Li Chengming was at a loss as to how to deal with these former officers. He couldn't bring himself to kill them all, as killing surrendered soldiers was considered unlucky.

They ransacked his house after he surrendered; that was really unethical.

However, Li Chengming's new army was extremely poor. The most direct reason for capturing Jingmen was to obtain supplies, so if this money could not be obtained from the people, it could only be obtained from these surrendered soldiers.

There's nothing we can do about it!

Li Chengming thought for a while and said, "Let him make a fuss. Keep an eye on him for now, and release him when most of the original garrison troops have been dismissed."

Liang Zicheng asked, "Let him go?"

Li Chengming nodded and said, "Yes, we'll release him. I promised him I'd make him the garrison commander of Jingmen. A man should keep his word, so we'll make him the garrison commander of Jingmen."

However, Li Zicheng was about to attack by then, and Jingmen was out of soldiers, money, and supplies. Whether it could be held depended on him!

Hearing this, Liang Zicheng couldn't help but laugh: "Captain, how come I didn't expect you to be so dark-skinned!"

Li Chengming had already decided that Jingmen would eventually fall to Li Zicheng, so he would leave him a city without any defenses, which would be equivalent to handing the city directly over to Li Zicheng.

Hopefully, considering that he took the city without losing a single person, he will treat the people of the city well.

Li Chengming had considered completely taking over the city, but he couldn't allow others to sleep soundly beside his bed.

Li Zicheng would not want to see Li Chengming occupy the city, and Li Chengming did not want to break ties with Li Zicheng at this time, so he had no choice but to withdraw!

Soon after, hundreds of thousands of troops from the rebel army and the Qing army will clash around Jingzhou City, turning the area into a vortex.

Historically, the rebel army lacked unified leadership, and although it numbered in large numbers, it was disorganized and its hundreds of thousands of troops were easily defeated by the Qing army!

Because of Li Chengming's interference in this life, Li Zicheng is still alive, and perhaps the situation would have developed differently!

In any case, leaving Jingmen City was a strategy that Li Chengming had decided on from the beginning, and it could not be easily changed.

There is no reason to change the strategy at the moment.

Next, the new army rested and reorganized in the city, purchased supplies, and recruited soldiers!

Li Chengming was still inquiring about various craftsmen in the city, hoping to recruit some craftsmen and technicians.

Li Chengming also needed skilled workers in this era. To develop handicrafts, a large number of skilled workers were needed, so he recruited as many as he could!

At the same time, they also sent men to monitor the movements of the Qing army and the rebel army, and planned their retreat routes in advance.