Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

News of the Xingfu Army's occupation of Xinzhou spread to all sides within a few days.

Jin Shenghuan from Nanchang: The Zheng family's Xinzhou City has actually been occupied by some kind of Restoration Army. That Restoration Army... came from Hubei and even defeated the garrison on the north bank of Jiujiang. This Restoration Army is probably the army of the rebel Li Zicheng. Oh well, this will give the Zheng family a headache. Wang Tizhong in the north city is very powerful and we have to be wary of him.

Quzhou Circuit Intendant Huang Dapeng: What Restoration Army? From Hubei? That's probably the rebel army. Let them fight like dogs with the Jiangxi rebels. The Qing army is powerful, and I, Huang, will defend Quzhou to the death!

The one who reacted the most was Shi Fu of Fenshui Pass. After all, he had been in Xinzhou City not long ago. He thought that after reaching an agreement with various forces in Jiangxi, Xinzhou City would be safe for the time being. Who would have thought that before he had left for long, his home was raided by that so-called Restoration Army.

"General Shi, it is said that the Restoration Army only has three thousand men, but their fighting strength is not bad," said Zheng Zhibiao, the supervising officer beside him.

Zheng Zhibiao, judging from his name, is a member of the Zheng family from Fujian. In fact, he is a cousin of Zheng Zhilong. He was sent to Fenshuiguan to monitor and control Shi Fu.

In response to Zheng Zhibiao's words, Shi Fu replied: "Their general is named Li Chengming. He was not well-known before, and we do not know which faction he belongs to. But it is said that he came from the Jingzhou area of ​​Hubei. He is probably a general under the rebel army."

"If he were leading three thousand elite rebel troops, it wouldn't be surprising if he could capture Xinzhou City. After all, what remained in Xinzhou was just a detachment of our forces, mostly newly recruited soldiers from Jiangxi, with little combat strength!"

Zheng Zhibiao nodded and asked, "What are General Shi's plans?"

Shi Fudao sneered, "We have 30,000 elite troops stationed at Fenshui Pass. I have already planned to dispatch 5,000 elite troops to retake Xinzhou City. The rebel Li Zicheng has brought disaster to the country, and everyone has the right to kill him."

Although Duke Pingguo (Zheng Zhilong) has ordered us not to rashly move the troops at Fenshui Pass, there has been no movement from Nanchang recently. We have enough time to retake Xinzhou before Nanchang sends troops to arrive!

Zheng Zhibiao frowned and said, "If it really is 3,000 elite troops from the rebel army, and they are on the defensive, then sending only 5,000 men might not be enough!"

Shi Fu said, "Commander Zheng, don't be anxious. The rebel army is an elite force, but our Zheng army is no less so!"

As you know, Xinzhou City, though not small, has relatively low walls. I also plan to send three cannons northward. You know these cannons are formidable siege weapons, not to mention our army has many Western muskets. This time, I also plan to send five hundred muskets to attack Xinzhou City, aiming for a swift and decisive victory!

Upon hearing that Shi Fu was going to deploy three cannons and five hundred muskets, Zheng Zhibiao breathed a sigh of relief and no longer objected to Shi Fu dividing his forces to retake Xinzhou City!

Zheng Zhibiao had witnessed the power of the Hongyi cannons and Western firearms, and could only say that: mortal bodies could hardly withstand them!

Therefore, seeing that Shi Fu did not underestimate the Xingfu Army, he felt at ease letting him go and take back Xinzhou City!

......

Almost all factions speculated that the Restoration Army was the rebel army, and even the people in Xinzhou City thought so.

Everyone was secretly discussing whether Li Zicheng had become too complacent, actually sending troops all the way from afar to occupy Xinzhou City...

Li Chengming didn't explain, letting them guess. Even if he clarified, others might not believe him, so he simply ignored it.

While other forces were paying attention to Li Chengming, Li Chengming was also watching the reactions of other forces.

In particular, scouts were dispatched to keep a close watch on Zheng Jun, led by Shi Fu, recently!

This scouting team was even personally led by observer Yan Huidong.

Li Chengming need not worry about Yan Huidong taking action.

Li Chengming is now focused on recruiting and training soldiers for the Restoration Army.

The recruitment process is now basically complete, with approximately 2,500 people recruited and organized into eight battalions. The new recruits are being trained by veterans.

This expanded the Restoration Army to five thousand men, comprising fifteen battalions!

The rapid expansion of the military also has its drawbacks. The most direct problem is that there are not enough junior officers available all at once.

Suddenly promoting a veteran to platoon leader or company commander was not only difficult for him to adapt to, but his abilities also couldn't keep up. For a time, Li Chengming felt that his command was not going smoothly.

If there were enough time, none of this would be a problem, but the observers reported that Zheng Jun's army at Fenshuiguan was stirring and might send troops north to attack Xinzhou City, so we had to be on guard.

Li Chengming was also at a loss, seeing how quickly the combat power of these 5,000 men could be improved and feeling anxious.

In addition to assigning each assault team member to oversee the training of two battalions, Li Chengming also summoned all the battalion commanders.

"You will train separately. I don't care what methods you use, you only have three days. You must ensure that the entire battalion follows orders and operates in perfect unison!"

As battalion commanders, you train the soldiers during the day and come here for unified training, meetings to summarize experiences, and exchanges with each other. If you have any problems, please raise them in time, and I will find a way to solve them!

At the same time, you can delegate tasks to the company level, so that the company commander also takes responsibility!

For the next three days, the Restoration Army deployed its troops outside the city and underwent rigorous training!

Li Chengming and the other assault team members recorded the problems they encountered and then discussed how to solve them.

For the past three days, Li Chengming and his comrades have devoted themselves entirely to the training of the new recruits.

At Fenshuiguan...

Shi Fu summoned Zhou Ziyi, the adjutant general, and instructed him, "Ziyi, you've been with me for quite some time now. What do you think of the Restoration Army that has occupied Xinzhou?"

Zhou Ziyi: "I heard that the Restoration Army is the same as the rebel army. They are very powerful and have been recruiting soldiers recently, planning to occupy Xinzhou City for a long time!"

Shi Fu sneered, "You guessed right. According to the news from our scouts, this gang of bandits seized a small amount of military supplies in Jiujiang and transported them to Xinzhou City to massively expand their army!"

Zhou Ziyi nodded: "It seems they have big ambitions!"

Shi Fu asked, "If I were to appoint you as the commander-in-chief for this attack on Xinzhou, what would you intend to do?"

Although Shi Fu did not say it directly, Zhou Ziyi knew that the troop mobilization and preparation in the past few days was for the purpose of launching an attack on Xinzhou City!

When Zhou Ziyi heard that Shi Fu wanted to appoint him as the commander-in-chief, he was not surprised. In the army, apart from Shi Fu, Zhou Ziyi had the highest prestige. Who else could be chosen as the commander-in-chief?

Of course, Zheng Zhibiao is an exception; he is a special case.

Zhou Ziyi replied, "Xinzhou City has a large amount of grain stored up, so it is not suitable for us to besiege and attack the city. Instead, we should fight a quick battle!"

To achieve a swift victory in a siege, we cannot adhere to conventional methods. Fortunately, we possess cannons and a large number of rifles. A single cannon can be equivalent to thousands of elite soldiers in a siege, and a rifleman is no less capable than an archer. If we have enough cannons and rifles…”

Shi Fu interrupted Zhou Ziyi, saying, "I can provide you with three cannons and five hundred muskets, how about that?"

Zhou Ziyi was overjoyed: "Thank you, General! Then there's no problem. With five thousand elite troops, three cannons, and five hundred muskets, I dare to challenge not only the small city of Xinzhou, but even Nanchang!"

Shi Fu laughed and cursed, "Nonsense! There are plenty of cannons on Nanchang's walls. You can't take Nanchang without 100,000 troops!"

The next day, Zheng Jun of Fenshuiguan was fully prepared and led 5,000 elite troops towards Xinzhou by Assistant General Zhou Ziyi!