Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

The Manchu cavalry came into view.

One rider on two horses, clad in armor, and a hundred horses galloping in, his imposing presence was awe-inspiring!

This is an elite cavalry unit!

The cavalry paused briefly at the wounded scout, leaving two riders behind, while the rest charged toward the assault team.

"When cavalry charges, they usually accelerate at around 300 meters. Right now, they're not moving very fast. If they maintain this speed throughout, it means they're not planning a full charge, but rather trying to toy with us like a cat playing with a mouse!"

Li Chengming analyzed, "If they charge, we'll open fire when they're within 100 meters. If they don't charge, we can let them come closer before we take action!"

"Don't fire indiscriminately unless it's an emergency. We don't have resupply in this era; bullets are very precious!"

The commandos waited quietly for the cavalry to arrive. Through drone surveillance, they found that none of the cavalry were carrying muskets or cannons, and they hadn't even taken out their bows and arrows.

Clearly, this cavalry unit did not believe that the eight commandos posed a threat to them!

Their judgment is quite reasonable. In ancient times, infantry with roughly equal numbers would only be slaughtered when facing cavalry!

Not to mention that eight infantrymen against fifty-one elite cavalrymen, they didn't even have the right to challenge them!

When the Manchu cavalry entered the 300-meter range, they did not accelerate their charge.

When the Manchu cavalry entered within 100 meters, their speed actually decreased.

Once the cavalry entered a fifty-meter radius, their speed was barely faster than walking.

As the cavalry approached, the machine gunners and snipers retreated continuously, providing long-range support firepower to avoid being encircled by the cavalry.

The machine gunner and sniper were positioned outside the encirclement to prevent any accidents.

Li Chengming stared intently at the cavalry, and when they were within thirty meters, he shouted:

"stop!"

Sure enough, with a loud shout from Li Chengming, the cavalrymen reined in their horses and stopped advancing. Instead, they circled around to both sides, partially surrounding the assault team.

The commando silently released the safety on his rifle and chambered a round.

The machine gunners and snipers outside the encirclement were already aiming and ready to fire at any moment!

"A good target," the machine gunner said calmly.

The sniper standing nearby said calmly, "Your machine gun is a heavy bullet consumer, so don't fire it unnecessarily!"

The machine gunner said, "I know that. The captain let them get close to fire in order to minimize ammunition consumption!"

The sniper said, "We're just in case something goes wrong. If nothing unexpected happens, we won't have to fire a single shot!"

The cavalrymen with their coin-coated rat tails and the assault team members stared at each other, sizing each other up, less than thirty meters apart.

The cavalryman standing in the middle was burly and well-armored, a level above the other cavalrymen, and appeared to be the captain of this cavalry unit.

The captain looked at the assault team with disdain, spurred his horse forward a few steps, and sneered, "You bunch of southern barbarians are quite interesting, with your short-haired, shaved heads and strange clothes! You even have muskets, and their shapes are weird too. Where did you get them?"

The officer's accent was strange, but he was definitely speaking Mandarin, which was barely comprehensible to most people.

Because of the heat, the assault team members had all removed their heavy tactical helmets, revealing their clean-cut crew cuts. So what the Manchu cavalry saw was a short, crew cut that was out of place in this era.

Li Chengming stepped forward and said calmly, "Tell me what year it is, and I'll tell you where this gun came from."

"Hahahaha!" The captain and several other cavalrymen threw their heads back and laughed loudly. "I guessed right. You really are criminals who have been shaved. You don't even know which year it is. You were just released, right? Now the emperor wants you southerners to shave your heads and change your clothes. You don't need to grow your hair anymore. Just keep a braid."

(髠刑, an ancient form of punishment involving shaving one's head)

Shaving heads and changing clothes? Li Chengming thought to himself: It seems that the Qing army has only been in the pass for a short time.

Li Chengming asked, "Are you Manchu Eight Banner soldiers?"

The captain didn't answer, but instead stared down at Li Chengming: "You southern barbarian scoundrels, hand over your muskets, and we guarantee you'll live. How about it?"

Li Chengming said indifferently, "Not so much."

The cavalry captain repeatedly mocked them, calling them "barbarians," and even Li Chengming, who considered himself to have a good temper, sneered, "You bunch of rat-tailed devils are ugly enough; even if you jumped into the Yellow River, you couldn't wash away that Tungusic stench!"

The captain's expression suddenly changed. He had hit upon the deep-seated inferiority complex, and he roared menacingly, "You southern barbarian are certainly sharp-tongued, but I wonder if you'll kneel down and call me grandpa later!"

Although the Manchus relied on military force to dominate the world, they had a deep sense of inferiority in the face of the large population and advanced culture of the Chinese. Violence was their only means of support, which is why the massacre triggered by the forced hair-shaving and clothing-changing policy occurred!

Li Chengming turned to look at the town, now reduced to scorched earth, and shook his head, saying, "You can't do it, not because you don't want to, but because you can't!"

Looking at Li Chengming's calm demeanor, the captain seemed to understand his reliance and said coldly, "Your muskets can't penetrate our armor, and at this close range, you probably won't even have a chance to fire. With just one charge from me, you'll be a corpse."

In the eyes of the Zuo Ling, the caliber of Li Chengming's muskets was too small, making it difficult to even shoot birds, and posing little threat to them.

Moreover, at such close range, they wouldn't even have a chance to fire in a single charge; the distance is simply too close.

If it weren't for the strange attire of these oddly dressed short-haired thieves, the sergeant wouldn't have even bothered to stop and talk to them.

The captain drew his saber, grinning maliciously at the assault team. In his eyes, these assault team members were a flock of lambs to the slaughter, and the firearms in their hands gave them unwarranted confidence.

We're going to crush these short-haired thieves' confidence, torture them slowly, and make them die in despair!

The cavalrymen on horseback had already drawn their sabers, and they looked at the assault team members as if they were prey!

The assault soldier raised his rifle. "Captain, can we fire now?"

Li Chengming nodded and said, "At such close range, there aren't many opportunities for target practice, so let's conserve bullets!"

Instead of using a rifle, Li Chengming drew his pistol and gave the order over the walkie-talkie: "Except for this lieutenant, kill everyone else!"

Half of the Manchu cavalry split off and began to circle the assault team at an accelerated pace, brandishing their sabers and yelling strangely.

This is one of their ways of toying with their prey!

One of the riders broke free from the circle, stepped into the stirrups, lowered his body, and charged towards Li Chengming, brandishing his saber.

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out suddenly. A bloody hole appeared in the forehead of the cavalryman charging towards Li Chengming, and a mixture of red and white matter spurted out from the back of his head. The cavalryman, who was hunched over in the stirrups, fell heavily to the ground.

One shot to the head!

The cavalryman lying on the ground was beyond dead!

Li Chengming gripped his pistol tightly in both hands, giving the stunned cavalry no time to react.

"Bang! Bang!" Two more shots were fired, and two more cavalrymen fell to the ground, both headshots!

Although it was a moving target, for Li Chengming, the gun was fast and accurate within 30 meters!

Seeing three men fall from their horses with heads blown off, the captain's heart skipped a beat. He finally realized, "It's muskets! Take them out of here!"

Only the captain noticed that Li Chengming's small musket had fired three shots in quick succession, without needing to reload or cool down. It was accurate and incredibly powerful, something never before seen!

Although the captain was surprised, he thought to himself: So what? It's such a short distance, I can get there in a few breaths. When the saber falls, everything will be fine!

The cavalry formation changed; instead of circling the assault team, the cavalry charged towards them.

At this point, the other assault team members also began to fire, some with rifles and some with pistols!

Gunshots rang out like firecrackers, weaving a symphony of death!

In this open environment, the cavalry became the perfect target, and a cavalryman fell after every shot was fired!

This cavalry unit was also fierce. Seeing their comrades being shot and falling from their horses one by one, they did not think of fleeing, but instead desperately spurred their warhorses to charge forward!

Their usual practice was that they must never retreat when faced with muskets or cannons, but only charge forward. Once they survived the first round of firing, it would be time for them to reap lives, and this time their approach was no exception.

Because ancient firearms required reloading for each shot, they could only fire two volleys at most against a cavalry charge. Their power was insufficient to penetrate armor, and their accuracy was highly unpredictable, relying entirely on luck to hit a target. Therefore, firearms were often less effective than bows and arrows.

The only exception is that modern firearms are incomparable to ancient firearms. Their rate of fire, lethality, range, accuracy, and convenience are unimaginable to the ancients. At a distance of thirty meters, before the cavalry could even get close, the assault team had already completed four or five rounds of precise shooting!

In less than ten seconds, all the cavalrymen charging towards the assault team had fallen. They were either killed before they even got off the ground or were killed after only a few steps of their charge!

The remaining cavalry who hadn't fallen were the other half who hadn't launched the charge, because in their view, this "hunting" game didn't need so many people; the others could just stand by and watch.

These "spectators" never dreamed that what they were seeing was a scene of cavalry being slaughtered by infantry. At such close range, the charging cavalry were all killed in a very short time!

This was far beyond their comprehension, and they were even unwilling to believe that firearms could do it; it must be some kind of sorcery!

The captain, his heart pounding, was the first to react. He hurriedly turned his horse around, brandishing his whip and shouting, "Retreat! We must retreat!"

Despite his fear and incomprehension, it did not prevent him from making the right judgment.

In the ensuing chaos, the other cavalrymen also whipped their horses, trying to retreat as quickly as possible.

But it was too late; the gunshots that symbolized death rang out again behind them.

With each gunshot, a cavalryman inevitably falls from his horse, a precise strike as accurate as the Grim Reaper's hand, and there is no disobedience!

The other cavalrymen who witnessed this scene were terrified, but fortunately they were not afraid for long and soon followed in the footsteps of the fallen cavalrymen!

In less than ten seconds, the remaining half of the cavalry, except for the captain, were all eliminated!

This is a case of modern weapons overwhelming ancient cavalry!