Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

The rout of Zheng's archers was even simpler and faster than Li Chengming had imagined, so much so that the assault troops didn't even have a chance to use their rifles to kill the archers.

Another thing that surprised Li Chengming was that after the enemy commander was killed, the chaos that he had imagined did not occur.

As they were about to engage Zheng Jun in close combat, Li Chengming shouted into the walkie-talkie to the sniper, "Sniper, how many enemy officers have you taken down?"

"Three," the sniper replied, "the enemy commander and two unnamed junior officers."

Li Chengming frowned and asked, "What about the enemy's deputy commander and the others?"

It has taken so long to kill only three enemy generals. According to the plan, by this time the enemy's main general, deputy general, and most of the generals should have been killed. Before close combat, the enemy's command system must be completely paralyzed so that the losses of the Restoration Army can be minimized!

"Without an observer to guide me, it's very difficult to find the target." The sniper was also frustrated. With five thousand enemy soldiers, there were many figures, and it was not an easy task to find one person among five thousand.

Although sniper rifle scopes are highly accurate, their field of view is limited, making it impossible to search for targets over a wide area. In order to travel light this time, no observation binoculars were brought, so the search for targets mainly relied on the guidance of the observer.

Upon hearing the sniper's reply, Li Chengming then called out to the observer: "Observer, observer please respond."

"Received." The observer's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Li Chengming questioned, "Why wasn't the target provided to the sniper?"

"Captain," the observer explained, "I was just about to report to you that something has happened in the city. There are spies from Zheng's army among the city's defenders, and several groups of people have emerged from different parts of the city, setting fires everywhere. I just figured out the situation and we are currently trying to find the spies and intercept the arsonists."

Li Chengming turned to look into the city and saw thick smoke rising. It seemed something had happened inside the city. However, he had made many preparations beforehand, and there were observers overseeing the situation. Hopefully, the losses could be minimized this time.

Li Chengming said to the observer, "You take charge of the overall situation within the city and make sure the losses are minimized. Xinzhou City is now in your hands!"

"Yes, received!" the observer replied loudly.

Li Chengming then said to the sniper, "The observers are responsible for matters within the city. You find your own targets first!"

The enemy troops had already charged up, and Li Chengming had to keep an eye on the Hongyi cannons; he didn't have time to worry about anything else.

Although it is unlikely that the enemy will fire again after close combat, the possibility of the enemy going crazy cannot be ruled out, so we must be on guard!

On the other side, after learning that his commander Zhou Ziyi had died, Deputy General Zheng Junmeng looked up at the drone hovering high in the sky and concluded that Zhou Ziyi's strange death was related to this "big bird".

Thinking of the thunderous bomb that "Big Bird" had just dropped, which killed and wounded hundreds of musketeers, Deputy General Meng felt a chill run down his spine. Although he was terrified, he knew he must not show it at this moment. If others knew he was afraid, he would have already lost the battle in terms of morale!

Deputy General Meng quickly came up with a solution: having such a "big bird" staring at you from the sky is unsettling, so hiding yourself is the most important thing right now.

Deputy General Meng immediately took off his armor, changed into the clothes of an ordinary soldier, and then handed over command to the commander-in-chief to begin directing the battle.

Upon handing over command, Deputy General Meng immediately ordered the artillery to open fire and the archers to launch an attack!

Then...

The artillerymen were suppressed by Li Chengming alone and dared not approach the Hongyi cannons. The archers lost their will to fight after being hit by two grenades from the drones, and were then defeated by the Xingfu Army's barrage of arrows!

At this point, Zheng's army had lost all its support and could only rely on its infantry to fight head-on to win.

Seeing the Zheng army soldiers' reactions, Deputy General Meng felt a sense of foreboding. The grenades dropped by the drones had not only destroyed the musketeers and archers, but had also greatly shocked the other Zheng soldiers. The sight of the drones still hovering overhead sent chills down their spines and filled them with fear. If the Zheng soldiers were to learn that their commander was dead, they would likely collapse without a fight.

Seeing that the Zheng soldiers had lost much of their fighting spirit, Deputy General Meng urged the entire army to press forward, saying that everything would be fine after close combat. At the same time, he secretly ordered his men to prepare horses and be ready to flee at any time!

Finally, the infantry of the two armies clashed.

Although most of the soldiers on the Restoration Army side were new recruits, their morale was high and their momentum was unstoppable!

Because the soldiers of the Xingfu Army knew that the drones belonged to their side, they witnessed the drones dropping bombs on the enemy, saw the bravery of the infantry and cavalry, and saw the scene of Commander-in-Chief Li and his commanders killing the enemy with sharpshooters. Their morale soared at first glance!

On the other hand, Zheng Jun witnessed the rout of his own musketeers and archers, and his morale plummeted, leaving him demoralized and dispirited.

As expected, although Zheng's army managed to maintain its formation, it was no exaggeration to say that it collapsed at the first touch under the unified attack of the Xingfu Army.

Even with equal morale, Li Chengming was confident that the Xingfu Army's infantry fighting strength was no worse than Zheng's army, and that three thousand against five thousand would not be a problem!

As expected, the Zheng army began to show signs of fear in the fierce fighting. Although the Zheng infantry had shields, the Xingfu army was prepared and used large spears, each as thick as an arm and five or six meters long, wielded by two or three men, to pierce through the Zheng army's shield formation!

Zheng Jun's shield formation was broken, and the infantry formation finally began to fall into disarray. In contrast, the Xingfu Army not only maintained its formation, but even its footwork remained uniform, advancing steadily forward.

Finally, Zheng's army suffered increasing casualties, and its formation became increasingly chaotic. The Zheng soldiers at the front began to retreat, while those behind continued to advance. The Zheng army's indecisive advance and retreat were a harbinger of a complete collapse.

Having assessed the situation, Li Chengming summoned Liang Zicheng, a commando, and ordered him to lead cavalry, infantry, and a battalion to outflank Zheng's army from the rear.

That's right. Li Chengming put in so much effort and used up so much ammunition, he didn't even prepare a way out for Zheng's army.

Li Chengming's ultimate goal was to annihilate this Zheng army!

Before long, Zheng Jun's vanguard had fallen completely, and his rearguard hesitated to advance.

Seeing this, the Restoration Army quickened its pace of attack, advancing in orderly steps with hundreds of spears lined up in a row, and no one in the Zheng army dared to directly confront them.

Zheng Jun has begun to retreat!

Zheng's army has begun to retreat!

Zheng Jun's army has completely collapsed!

Zheng Jun has already been defeated.

From the moment Zheng Jun and Xingfu Army clashed in close combat to their final complete defeat, it only took a mere ten minutes!

At that moment, the observer's voice came through the sniper's walkie-talkie from the watchtower behind: "43.21 degrees south of west, 1342 meters away, dressed as an ordinary soldier, riding a gray-tailed horse, that's the enemy's deputy general."

The sniper was overjoyed. Following the observer's directions, he spotted Deputy General Meng, who was trying to escape.

The sniper had been holding back for a long time, unable to find a valuable target. In just that long, he only managed to snipe someone who looked like an officer.

The Zheng army officers were all very clever. Seeing the drones hovering overhead, they all changed into ordinary soldiers' clothes to make themselves less conspicuous.

This also greatly increases the difficulty for snipers to find valuable targets.

After taking aim at Deputy General Meng, the sniper decisively fired, sending Deputy General Meng, who was planning to abandon his men and flee, to his death!

After killing Deputy General Meng, the sniper asked the observer, "Have you taken care of everything in the city?"

"Solved," the observer replied. "Just a few cowards; they can't cause any trouble!"

Having learned that the situation inside the city had been resolved, the sniper breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the fleeing enemy troops, he asked, "Are there any other targets?"

"Not found," the observer replied. "This Zheng army is really strange. All the officers have changed into ordinary soldiers' clothes. If I hadn't been familiar with Deputy General Meng, I almost wouldn't have recognized him."

The observer, watching the battlefield outside the city through a drone, suddenly laughed and said, "There's no need to search anymore; the enemy has already been defeated."