Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Upon observing that Zheng Jun was advancing towards Xinzhou City from Fenshuiguan, observer Yan Huidong immediately reported to Li Chengming.

"Five thousand soldiers, three cannons, five hundred musketeers, and two hundred archers. Shi Fu really thinks highly of us. Zheng Zhilong is also quite wealthy, acquiring so many Western goods." After receiving Yan Huidong's report, Li Chengming fell into deep thought.

Li Chengming then immediately gathered his comrades to discuss countermeasures and informed the other assault team members of the message sent back by the observer.

Correspondent Zhou Lei analyzed, "Zheng Jun set off today. Fenshuiguan is about 80 kilometers away from here. Transporting such heavy and cumbersome equipment as the Hongyi cannons, they probably won't arrive until tomorrow!"

Commando Liang Zicheng said, "Judging from the Zheng army's troop deployment, they are much stronger than the miscellaneous troops in Jiujiang. Their combat strength is also above average among the Ming army. Our Xingfu Army's current training level is still relatively low. If we were to face the Zheng army in open field battle, we wouldn't have much of an advantage!"

Sniper Chen Shaoping continued, "What's particularly different from before is that this time Zheng's army is equipped with a large number of firearms. Although the accuracy and power of muskets in this era are not very good, they pose a great threat to unarmored soldiers!"

Li Chengming asked, "How is the training of our cavalry company and archers going?"

If you want to deal with musketeers, pure infantry is far from enough. The best way in this era is to use cavalry for a quick raid or to bombard them with a large number of bows and arrows!

After entering the city, the cavalry was trained by Liang Zicheng, a shock troops. Liang Zicheng replied, "They are far from meeting the standards of cavalry. Right now, they can only be considered infantry-cavalry. They can barely ride horses, but they are no good at mounted combat, let alone mounted archery!"

Sniper Chen Shaoping was in charge of training archers. Chen Shaoping said, "Drawing the bow and shooting arrows is no problem, but the accuracy of the arrows is another matter."

Li Chengming shook his head with a wry smile. He knew that training skilled cavalry and archers required not only a lot of resources but also a lot of time!

The training level of these cavalry and archers can be imagined from the fact that they had only been in Xinzhou for about ten days.

Li Chengming slowly said, "How about this? After Zheng's army arrives tomorrow, they probably won't launch an attack immediately. We will then form ranks to meet them and take the initiative to strike!"

Sniper, find an opportunity to take out their commander and general!

As soon as their musketeers and archers finished forming ranks, I would have the observers use drones to drop grenades to disrupt their formation.

Then our assault team went up. This time we planned to use more than two hundred rounds of ammunition, specifically to target their archers and spearmen, and to suppress their artillery. Anyone who moved those three cannons would die!

Then the cavalrymen went forward, dismounted in front of the enemy lines, and fought by stabbing their musketeers and archers with long spears.

Finally, the archers lead the charge, followed by the infantry for cover. The archers just need to draw their bows and fire arrows, firing as many as they can, without worrying about accuracy. Ideally, all of the thousands of arrows should be fired!

Training as usual today, and after a good meal and plenty of water tomorrow, we'll be ready for battle!

When the other assault team members heard that Li Chengming planned to use more than two hundred rounds of ammunition, they knew how much importance Li Chengming attached to Zheng Jun this time!

Li Chengming was usually very frugal with bullets, calculating their usage on his fingers.

The two battles at Jiugong Mountain consumed only about a hundred bullets.

More than thirty bullets were used in the attack on Jingmen City.

The encounter at Jiujiang: seven sniper bullets!

This time, less than thirty bullets were used to capture Xinzhou City!

Therefore, in order to deal with Zheng Jun, Li Chengming did not hesitate to use two hundred bullets, or even more!

This also shows Li Chengming's emphasis on archers, musketeers, and artillery!

Before each operation, Li Chengming would usually put forward a rough battle plan, which would then be supplemented and improved by other assault team members. This time was no exception!

After understanding the intention behind Li Chengming's plan, Liang Zicheng said, "Captain, you value their archers, musketeers, and artillery so much, are you planning to wipe them all out?"

Li Chengming nodded: "We'll take all the equipment they brought, especially that batch of Western muskets. They're said to be the most advanced matchlock smoothbore muskets in the West. We can modify them into flintlock muskets, attach bayonets, and put them into use on the battlefield very quickly!"

"Captain, you're brilliant!" exclaimed machine gunner He Mingqiu. "An army equipped with flintlock muskets with bayonets is no less formidable than an equal number of elite archers!"

Li Chengming waved his hand and said, "We'll talk about that later. Now, let's all give our opinions on this battle plan and improve it!"

Sniper Chen Shaoping: "These five thousand soldiers, it will be quite difficult for us to wipe them all out. Like the Jiujiang garrison, which lacked both equipment and combat effectiveness, more than half of them fled after their rout. These five thousand elite soldiers..."

Li Chengming explained, "We don't need to take them all. The Hongyi cannons are too cumbersome; they can't take them with them after their defeat. Archers require too many soldiers and have too long a training period. We also don't need to capture too many prisoners. We just need to rout them and let Shi Fu know that Xinzhou City is not easy to conquer!"

Li Chengming and his comrades continued to discuss and rehearse the battle plan in detail.

But as everyone knows, the situation on the battlefield is constantly changing, and in reality, plans often can't keep up with changes.

Fortunately, the assault team had drones, which could provide immediate feedback on changes in the battlefield situation.

This is why observers do not participate in commanding operations, but instead focus entirely on operating the drones.

The role that observers played with drones was truly enormous!

......

News of the troops being dispatched from Fenshui Pass to attack Xinzhou City also arrived in the afternoon. If the message were delivered by fast horse, it would take half a day to reach Xinzhou City from Fenshui Pass!

Xinzhou Prefecture was located on a major waterway and land route, with the Xinjiang River to the north. Caravans and ships frequently passed through here. Before the Xingfu Army entered Xinzhou City, Shi Fu set up checkpoints on the main road and collected high tolls.

After Li Chengming captured Xinzhou City, he did not remove the toll checkpoints. After taking control of those checkpoints, he directly reduced the tolls to 40% of the original amount and strictly prohibited the soldiers collecting tolls from soliciting bribes.

Once this news spread, the caravans that had originally taken a detour gradually changed their route back to passing through Xinzhou Prefecture, testing whether the Restoration Army's propaganda was true!

When caravans discovered that the toll fees had indeed dropped to 40% of the original amount, and that the soldiers collecting tolls were not soliciting bribes, and that the cost of resting in the city had also decreased significantly, they finally believed the news announced by the Restoration Army and took the initiative to spread the word.

As more merchants and caravans came and went, prices in the city began to slowly decline in just over ten days.

Having personally experienced the benefits of the Restoration Army being stationed in Xinzhou City, both the city's residents and the merchants coming and going paid close attention to the Restoration Army's movements.

The Zheng family army set off from Fenshui Pass in the morning, and by the afternoon, news had reached Xinzhou City. Panic gripped the city, and the people were abuzz with discussion.

"Have you heard? Shi Fu's army is back!"

"I've heard that Shi Fu's army stretches for more than ten miles and probably has tens of thousands of men. The Restoration Army probably can't hold out."

"I think so too. Shi Fu's army has muskets and cannons bought from the Westerners. I heard that a single shot from those cannons can leave nothing but barren land dozens of feet away!"

"Those cannons were transported to Xinzhou City before. I even went to see them. They were enormous! I heard they weighed two or three thousand catties and required seven or eight oxen to pull them!"

"I think we should leave the city and take refuge for a while. My neighbor packed up and ran away as soon as the news came!"

"Once this battle starts, swords and spears won't have eyes; we'd better run away quickly!"

As evening approached, the people of the city packed up their belongings and fled Xinzhou City.

The remaining people rushed to buy supplies, especially grain, causing prices in the city to rise several times over.

The Restoration Army did not interfere; those who wanted to flee were allowed to leave with the city gates wide open, and those who wished to stay were not disturbed excessively.

Li Chengming knew that merchants, common people, and various forces were all watching this battle. Only by winning this battle decisively could the Restoration Army truly establish itself in Xinzhou City!