Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Nearly half of the people in Xinzhou City fled after hearing the news, but the other half stayed behind!

Before the battle, Li Chengming's first military order to the Xingfu Army was: the Xingfu Army should go door-to-door in groups of squads to inquire about suspicious persons and non-residents of Xinzhou City. If any suspicious persons or non-residents of Xinzhou City were found, they should be immediately dragged out of the city and driven out. Then, every household should be notified that everyone should stay at home the next day and not go out. If anyone is found wandering on the street, they should be killed on the spot!

With a major battle about to begin, we can't afford to have trouble in our own backyard. A large number of people are coming and going in Xinzhou City every day, so we have to be wary of enemy spies who may appear in the city!

Next, Li Chengming led the assault team to each company to boost morale.

"Commander Li, the company commander said you have an iron bird that can fly up into the sky and see what every enemy soldier is doing. Is that true?" a new recruit asked Li Chengming.

The company commander corrected him, "That iron bird belongs to Commander Yan."

The new recruit laughed and said, "What's the difference? Doesn't Commander Yan also have to listen to Commander-in-Chief Li?"

When the company commander saw the new recruit's joking and laughing face, he wanted to reach out and pat him, but Li Chengming stopped him with a look.

Li Chengming said, "That iron bird is called a drone, and it can indeed see the enemy's movements."

"Wow, that's amazing!" The new recruits exclaimed in amazement when Li Chengming personally acknowledged the existence of the "Iron Bird".

Another recruit asked, "Commander Li, I also heard from the company commander that you have a musket that can kill people from a thousand feet away without them even noticing. Is that a magical weapon?"

Li Chengming glanced at the company commander and recalled the time when he sniped an enemy general during the Jiujiang Campaign. This company commander had been by his side then. At that time, the company commander was just a squad leader. Because of his bravery in that battle, he caught Li Chengming's eye. At that time, Li Chengming had even instructed his company commander to take good care of him.

Li Chengming patiently answered the new recruits' questions, saying, "Musical guns are man-made, not some kind of magical weapon, and they can't kill people from a thousand feet away."

The recruit continued, "The company commander said he saw it with his own eyes. At that distance, a person looked smaller than an ant, and you took down a general with a single shot!"

Li Chengming smiled and said, "Whether it's possible or not, it doesn't matter. Even if it is possible, one gun can't kill many enemies. Ask your company commander how many enemies he personally killed in that battle. That's more than the number of people I killed with my musket, right?"

Remember, what determines victory or defeat on the battlefield is not some magical weapon, but people!

It takes many brave warriors like you to decide the outcome of a war!

"Good! Commander-in-Chief Li is right!" someone immediately shouted.

Li Chengming and his assault team went from company to company, saying a few words to boost morale, showing concern for the soldiers at the grassroots level, and answering their questions.

Most new recruits, and even company commanders, would ask the assault team members about rumors surrounding drones and rifles that could kill from thousands of feet away. The assault team members would answer them one by one, but they would usually gloss over the questions or give a humorous, ambiguous answer.

Using drones and assault rifles in front of so many people is impossible to hide. Letting ordinary soldiers know can boost morale, but detailed information must not be leaked to prevent the enemy from being prepared for the next battle.

After visiting all the companies, Li Chengming and his commando team accompanied the Fuxing Army soldiers to dinner before returning to the government office.

As night fell, observer Yan Huidong sent back a message: The enemy has set up camp by the river, 35 kilometers from Xinzhou City!

"Captain, how about we organize a night raid?" Liang Zicheng asked.

"A night raid?" Li Chengming said with a wry smile, "Does the Restoration Army have the capability for a large-scale night raid? Unless we personally go into battle! But even if we do go into battle, is there a difference between day and night? It's still one bullet to take down one enemy."

Night combat requires tight organization, a high degree of intelligence control, and good use of night combat weapons. If veteran soldiers are selected, they can barely meet these requirements.

However, there was a fatal problem that Li Chengming could not solve: most of the soldiers in the Restoration Army suffered from night blindness, some mild and some severe.

Or perhaps it's because of long-term malnutrition that most people in ancient times suffered from night blindness.

This problem cannot be solved in a short period of time.

Only after defeating the enemy, improving the training level of the restoration army, and then selecting soldiers without night blindness or with only mild night blindness for specialized night combat training, can an army capable of night combat be built.

As for now, it's not possible.

"Let's wait and see. Let the enemy deliver their weapons and supplies to our doorstep. They want to retake Xinzhou City, and I want to seize their weapons and supplies just as much."

After Li Chengming finished speaking, the other assault team members also laughed.

......

By noon the next day, Zheng Jun's vanguard of about a thousand men had arrived near Xinzhou City.

On the city wall, demolition expert Huang Longkun looked through his binoculars and said, "Captain, only a thousand enemy soldiers. Should we wipe them out?"

Li Chengming: "They dare to come with only a thousand men? They look down on us. But they're just foot soldiers, nothing to worry about!"

Two hours later, the rest of the army caught up, and by then, Zheng's army had all arrived.

Observer Yan Huidong also returned to the team at this time. Seeing Yan Huidong's tired expression, Li Chengming patted him on the shoulder: "You've worked hard. Take a break during this break. The big battle is about to begin. We'll need you to scout the overall situation and grasp the battlefield situation later."

Yan Huidong nodded and handed the tablet to Li Chengming, saying, "The images taken by the drone are all here. Captain, take a look first, and wake me up later. Oh, and the drone is out of power."

As he spoke, he took off the drone he was carrying and handed it to the sniper Chen Shaoping next to him. Then he walked to the corner, pulled over two wooden planks, made a makeshift bed, lay down, and fell asleep.

"Find two soldiers to crank the generator to charge the drones," Li Chengming instructed Chen Shaoping before turning on his tablet.

Seeing the footage captured by the drone, Li Chengming gained a more intuitive understanding of Yan Huidong's previous enemy situation report.

"Look at this marching formation, it's nothing special. They call themselves elite troops," said machine gunner He Mingqiu, leaning closer to look at the screen on the tablet.

Commando Liang Zicheng said, "Although it sounds like self-praise, armies in this era are all pretty much like this. Look at their archers and musketeers, they are much stronger and their marching formations are more orderly."

Li Chengming nodded and said, "Judging from this footage, their infantry is no match for our Restoration Army, even though most of the Restoration Army are new recruits. The only ones who are difficult to deal with are their artillery, spearmen, and archers."

On the other side, the enemy commander Zhou Ziyi also came to the front of the battle. He looked at Xinzhou City through binoculars and said softly, "I never thought that I, Zhou, would return to retake Xinzhou City. What a miscalculation. Such an important city was lost so easily."

Zhou Ziyi also had complaints about Shi Fu. When Zheng Zhilong ordered Shi Fu to move the entire army to Fenshui Pass, Shi Fu actually carried it out without question, leaving only three thousand new soldiers in Xinzhou City.

Zhou Ziyi tried to dissuade him, but Shi Fu hesitated for a moment before making that decision anyway.

Zhou Ziyi was also helpless. He knew Shi Fu's predicament, and his loyalty to the Zheng family forced him to do so!

But now that we're back, the important thing is to take Xinzhou City swiftly and decisively!

Zhou Ziyi said to his deputy, "Pass down the order: rest in place for half an hour, then begin the attack!"

The lieutenant's expression changed, and he said urgently, "General Zhou, we have been marching for most of the day, and we are attacking a city, while the enemy is waiting in ambush. This is a cardinal sin in military strategy!"

Zhou Ziyi glared at his deputy general: "We already found out about the enemy's situation several days ago. Most of them are new recruits, they have no cavalry, and their archers are newly formed and they can barely even draw their bows. Once the Hongyi cannons breach the city walls, what will the Xingfu Army use to resist us?"

The lieutenant's expression changed, but he could only reply, "This subordinate obeys!"

An hour later, on the city wall of Xinzhou, just as Li Chengming ordered the Xingfu Army to launch a proactive attack, he suddenly saw movement on the enemy's side. Looking through his binoculars, he saw that the enemy was in formation, with three Hongyi cannons pushed at the front, followed closely by five hundred musketeers and two hundred archers.

Li Chengming was taken aback: This Zheng army is not here with good intentions!