Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

While implementing the new policies in villages near Xinzhou City, Li Chengming also planned to expand his living space.

After pondering for a long time while looking at the map, I decided to first head north and capture Yushan County as a bridgehead for future entry into Zhejiang.

As is customary, before capturing a city, observer Yan Huidong would be sent to conduct reconnaissance of the enemy situation.

After a day of reconnaissance, Yan Huidong returned and reported: "Yushan City is much smaller than Xinzhou City. The city wall has a circumference of about 2,600 meters and an average height of 3 meters. The city has a population of about 10,000 and a garrison of 700."

Most importantly, the county government in Yushan City is fully staffed, with the magistrate, assistant magistrate, and registrar still present. While they have nominally surrendered to the Qing, their attitude is ambiguous, and there is no sign of any surrender within the city. They are likely opportunists, siding with whoever is stronger.

After listening to Yan Huidong's report, Li Chengming nodded and asked machine gunner He Mingqiu and sniper Chen Shaoping, "What do you two think?"

The task of capturing Yushan County was assigned to He Mingqiu and Chen Shao, who were responsible for the specific tactical implementation.

After all, the other commando members were either building factories, producing goods, or conducting drug trials, and none of them had time to spare.

Observer Yan Huidong was originally working on a hand-made motor, but in order to capture Yushan County, he had to stop what he was doing and make a special trip to Yushan County.

The only two people who can spare the time right now are He Mingqiu and Chen Shaoping.

He Mingqiu said, "One thousand soldiers are enough!"

Chen Shaoping also said, "Back then, we were able to take Jingmen City with less than a thousand men, and now I can take Yushan City with just a thousand men!"

He Mingqiu and Chen Shaoping sounded very confident.

Li Chengming said, "Tell me your siege plan."

He Mingqiu said, "It's the same old story. Most of the garrison in Yushan City are part-time soldiers who farm in peacetime and come to fill in when it matters. The magistrate of Yushan County isn't a tough nut to crack either. As long as we suppress them with our rifles and fire our cannons, I believe they will open the city gates and surrender soon!"

Li Chengming shook his head: "We cannot place our hopes on the enemy's weakness."

Chen Shaoping said, "Then we'll use cannons to blast open the city gates, then suppress the defenders on the city walls with rifles, and finally send cavalry to quickly storm in and capture the city towers!"

Li Chengming shook his head again, saying, "Those cannons are inaccurate. Out of ten shots, they might only hit the mark once or twice. By the time you breach the city gates, the county magistrate and his clerk will have already packed up and fled!"

As everyone knows, Li Chengming values ​​these civil officials highly, specifically their governance capabilities.

If the civil officials can surrender voluntarily, that is the best strategy; if they can be captured, that is the middle strategy; and if they escape or die, that is the worst strategy.

Chen Shaoping scratched his head and said, "Should we ask Liangzicheng to modify this cannon again? The time is too short. The burrs in the barrel haven't been polished off yet. I'm really afraid it will explode after firing a few shots."

Time was indeed of the essence. Just as Li Chengming was about to attack Yushan County, the steel mill started producing molten steel. So Li Chengming ordered Liangzicheng to cast two cannons in order to capture Yushan County.

Liang Zicheng immediately melted down a captured Hongyi cannon, removed impurities, reduced the carbon content, and refined it into molten steel. He then used some of the molten steel to cast the cannon.

The weight was reduced by half, but the caliber and structure were exactly the same as the original Hongyi cannon, and the projectiles of the original Hongyi cannon could be used directly.

The test shot went well; it fired and carried out, and the power was pretty good, but the accuracy was a bit disappointing.

It's usable, just passable.

There wasn't enough molten steel left to cast another cannon, so only this cannon was cast.

Liang Zicheng was no longer willing to open the furnace to cast cannons. He wanted to improve the steelmaking process and patted his chest, saying that once the process was improved, he would be able to cast even better cannons.

Li Chengming was only thinking of attacking the small Yushan County, and one cannon would suffice.

Yan Huidong said, "I've seen that cannon. Saying it has burrs or something is an exaggeration. But it's normal for it to have accuracy issues. It's a muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon, and it uses solid shot from the Hongyi cannon. How high can its accuracy be?"

Li Chengming also said, "If you let the artillerymen move forward a bit to fire the cannons, the accuracy will be improved. The only concern is that the defenders might throw stones or shoot arrows. If you let the artillerymen wear armor and have shields for cover, they can fire as many cannons as they want until they blast open the city gate!"

Then you should also station several platoons at the other city gates to guard them, so the magistrate doesn't escape.

He Mingqiu and Chen Shaoping both nodded and said, "The captain is the best; let's do it this way!"

Li Chengming: "Approximately how many bullets do you need?"

Chen Shaoping said, "This small town can be penetrated with a single shot, there's no need to use a sniper rifle. Captain, give me your precision rifle, one magazine is enough, no need to carry extra bullets!"

He Mingqiu: "Me too, one rifle and one magazine are enough!"

Li Chengming nodded, and the tactical issue was thus settled.

Previously, Liang Zicheng suggested that Li Chengming should keep all the guns and ammunition in a unified manner, and then distribute rifles and bullets according to actual needs when needed!

The proposal was unanimously agreed upon by the commandos.

So the commandos left behind their pistols and a magazine of bullets, and handed over all the other bullets and rifles to Li Chengming for safekeeping.

Everyone understood Liang Zicheng's deeper intentions, but they also thought it was a good suggestion, so no one objected.

Several commandos even suggested handing over their pistols to Li Chengming for safekeeping, but Li Chengming refused.

This can't go too far; the assault team members always need to keep some weapons for self-defense.

Once the matter was settled, one of Chen Shaoping and He Mingqiu had to make the final decision.

Li Chengming directly instructed, "Chen Shaoping is the commander-in-chief this time. You all discuss matters together. If you agree, listen to He Mingqiu; if you disagree, listen to Chen Shaoping; if the differences are too great, send a message to me, and I will make the decision for you. Do you understand?"

Chen Shaoping: "Yes!"

He Mingqiu: "Yes, I heard you!"

After making the decision, Chen Shaoping and He Mingqiu decided that it was better to act sooner rather than later.

We must muster our troops today, and tomorrow they will set off with five days' worth of provisions, attacking the city in the afternoon!

Just to be on the safe side, the two also took the cavalry company with them.

The cavalry company's training is showing initial results; they are now capable of basic melee combat and have little problem dealing with infantry.

Originally, Li Chengming did not want them to take the cavalry company with them, but considering that it was Chen Shaoping and He Mingqiu's first time leading troops into battle, he agreed to let them take the cavalry company with them as an extra layer of insurance.

Li Chengming also told them to bring the cavalry company back as soon as they took Yushan City, as he had other important uses for them.

the next day...

They got up early in the morning to cook breakfast, and after breakfast, Chen Shaoping and He Mingqiu led their troops to Yushan City.

The distance from Xinzhou Prefecture to Yushan County is about fifty kilometers; one can depart in the morning and arrive at noon.

Since both cities are located on the banks of the Xinjiang River, where the terrain is flat, the march was not difficult, and they arrived outside Yushan City before noon.

Chen Shaoping dispatched four companies to block the four city gates.

Seeing that his soldiers were still full of energy, He Mingqiu advised Chen Shaoping that speed was of the essence and they should attack the city immediately!

But Chen Shaoping said that the soldiers who were transporting the cannons were too tired and needed to rest for two or three hours. They would attack the city after everyone had lunch!

The two disagreed, and Chen Shaoping was unwilling to easily exercise his final decision-making power, so they began to argue.

Finally, the two reached an agreement: they would set up cannons and fire two shots to intimidate the city, then rest for two hours before attacking!

So they built a simple gun emplacement more than 200 meters away from the city wall of Yushan.

After the Restoration Army set up the cannons, they fired one shot, which made a huge noise, but it did not hit the city wall.

The artillerymen planned to adjust their positions and continue firing.

Unexpectedly, a white flag was raised on the city wall, and then the city gate was opened.

Yushan County has surrendered!