Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Shi Fu has been very distressed lately. As the commander-in-chief of Xinzhou Prefecture, he has lost the city of Xinzhou.

What's even more frustrating is that they sent 5,000 elite troops to try to retake Xinzhou Prefecture, but unexpectedly, all 5,000 troops were wiped out under the walls of Xinzhou Prefecture.

When the news reached Fuzhou, Zheng Zhilong berated Shi Fu for incompetence and wrote him a letter that utterly vilified him.

Because he lacked loyal and capable subordinates, Zheng Zhilong, despite harshly criticizing Shi Fu, ultimately only removed Shi Fu from his position as the commander-in-chief of Xinzhou Prefecture, demoted him by one rank, and reassigned him as the commander-in-chief of Fenshui Pass, but his real power remained unchanged.

After much painful reflection, Shi Fu gathered intelligence, summarized his experiences, and wrote a detailed memorial to the throne, sending it to Fuzhou in hopes of gaining Fuzhou's support in sending 20,000 troops to completely defeat the Xingfu Army and capture Xinzhou City!

Although Zheng Zhilong held military and political power in the Longwu Dynasty, he lacked ambition, was afraid of risking his life to accomplish great things, and had no ambition to conquer the world.

Zheng Zhilong only wanted to guard his small territory in Fujian and had no intention of expanding his territory. Therefore, he rejected Shi Fu's proposal and ordered Shi Fu to guard Fenshui Pass well and not to launch an attack without orders!

Zheng Zhilong gave the order, and Shi Fu had no choice but to endure it, no matter how unwilling he was. However, thinking about the loss of five thousand elite soldiers under the walls of Xinzhou, and the inability to avenge them in the short term, he was so angry that he couldn't eat for a long time.

Shi Fu had no choice but to focus on the Fenshui Pass area. After making numerous arrangements, he believed that the Fenshui Pass was impregnable and that even if an army of 100,000 from Nanchang attacked, he was confident that he could hold it.

Not to mention the small city of Xinzhou.

.....

South of Zheng Jun's garrison in Ehu Town, the sky was just beginning to lighten. The Restoration Army had already reached the outer perimeter of Zheng Jun's garrison.

As the Restoration Army approached, the sentries on the watchtowers of Zheng's camp also noticed something.

It wasn't until the sentries could clearly see a grim army emerging from the hazy darkness that they realized this army, dressed in blue-gray uniforms, with its orderly ranks and ghostly silence, was likely not friendly forces from Fenshuiguan, but enemy forces!

Zheng Jun's sentry quickly issued a warning, but it was too late!

The Xingfu Army's eight new cannons were already deployed 300 meters away from Zheng's army camp. The cannons' bases and wheels were made of molten steel, making them extremely sturdy, so they could be fired directly without the need to build gun emplacements.

Move some bricks and stones to weigh down the gun mount, adjust the firing angle, and the loader puts the shells and prepared gunpowder into the cannon, leaving the fuse out, and locks the breech!

With a command from the artillery battalion commander, the artillerymen pulled the rope, which in turn pulled the trigger, compressing the spring. Once the spring was compressed to its limit, it popped out, striking the flint and generating sparks that ignited the gunpowder.

Eight cannons fired in succession, the tremendous sound shattering the calm before dawn.

The shells hit Zheng Jun's camp, which was built with wooden planks. The shells exploded, and for a moment, the Zheng Jun camp was filled with explosions, flying iron pellets, and screams of pain.

Zhang Zhongliang, the garrison commander of Ehu Town, was stationed at a relatively far camp, but he was still awakened by the loud artillery fire. After sitting there for a while, he exclaimed: "Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!"

Zhang Zhongliang deduced from the sixteen consecutive cannon shots (eight shots fired and eight shots exploding) that they were not fired by his own side, and the only remaining possibility was an enemy attack!

After the first round of shelling was completed, the Restoration Army artillerymen immediately loaded shells, and half a minute later, the second round of shelling began.

The cannonballs ignited Zheng's army camp, and the fire spread. The Zheng soldiers in front were thrown into chaos, and they all fled in panic.

After several rounds of shelling, Zheng's troops, who were not shelled from the rear, also attacked from the flanks with small breech-loading cannons and tiger-squatting cannons!

Li Chengming had already learned of the enemy's movements through drones and secretly admired the enemy general's calm and decisiveness. He abandoned the enemy camp that was being bombarded in front and chose to take a side road to bypass it.

Li Chengming had already guessed the enemy's intentions when they set out, and had already sent troops to intercept and kill their firearms units on the way!

As Zheng Jun's artillery unit drew near to the main force of the Restoration Army, they were excited and their eyes were filled with ruthlessness. They thought they could be like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Their comrades suffered in front, but they could take revenge from behind.

Zheng Jun was still indulging in the fantasy of reviving the army and making great contributions, but he did not expect that at this moment countless arrows would fall from the sky.

Due to the urgency of the situation, the hundreds of Zheng army's firearms troops had not yet had time to put on their armor, nor were they accompanied by shield bearers.

Faced with the flying arrows made of fine steel, they could only rely on luck to dodge and use their bodies to withstand them. Zheng's army suffered heavy casualties and had no choice but to abandon their firearms and flee in all directions.

After shelling for more than ten minutes, the cannon barrel became too hot and shelling could not be continued for the time being.

On Zheng Jun's side, five signal flares were fired into the sky in succession, as if conveying some kind of message.

Li Chengming watched the light streak across the sky and knew that Zheng Jun had sent out a signal that he was under attack, so there was not much time left and they had to end the battle as soon as possible!

Li Chengming saw that the fences and makeshift fortifications had been breached, and the first few rows of Zheng's army camps had been reduced to ruins by artillery fire.

So he ordered the shelling to stop and sent infantry to advance!

Five hundred musketeers were divided into four teams and moved to the front.

Two hundred archers were divided into two teams and followed behind;

The shield bearers, holding shields in one hand and broadswords in the other, weaved through the ranks; the remaining spearmen, wielding spears, followed at the rear.

The Xingfu Army entered Zheng Jun's camp as if it were empty. The first few rows of soldiers had already suffered heavy casualties under the bombardment of the new cannons. The enemy soldiers who could still move freely had already fled back. The remaining wounded lay on the ground groaning, either wounded by stray bullets or burned by flames, looking horrific!

After the Restoration Army passed the first few rows of camps, the remaining Zheng troops, who had not been bombarded, had also completed their formation and were preparing to bombard the Restoration Army's formation with their few remaining muskets and tiger-squatting cannons.

Upon seeing this, the musketeers of the Restoration Army took the initiative and fired first.

For a moment, the gunfire was like firecrackers during the Lunar New Year, continuous and uninterrupted!

Once the first squad of musketeers finished firing, they retreated. Then the second squad stepped forward, and after the second squad finished firing, the third squad went in, and so on, until the fourth squad finished firing!

That's right, Li Chengming used a four-stage attack. Actually, the number of stages is not important. What's important is to ensure that the musket fire is continuous, so that the enemy has no time to react.

The accuracy of firearms in this era was negligible, but when multiple firearms fired in the same direction at the same time, the area damage was still considerable. If they could fire continuously, the damage to the enemy would increase exponentially!

The musketeers of the Restoration Army fired in one squad, prepared in another, and loaded ammunition in two other squads, in a continuous cycle, with the firepower output being continuous until the Zheng Army's musketeers and tiger-squatting cannons were completely decimated!

Zheng Jun's garrison commander Zhang Zhongliang had a grim face. He saw that Zheng Jun had suffered over a thousand casualties under the bombardment of the Xingfu Army, and that the firearms unit that had been urgently dispatched to launch a surprise attack had lost another two or three hundred men. In this round of musket fire, the remaining firearms unit had been completely destroyed!

If this continues, Zheng's army will collapse without a fight!

At this moment, the troops that Zhang Zhongliang had deployed on both sides of the camp also rushed up and engaged the two armies of the Restoration Army in a decisive battle!

In Zhang Zhongliang's view, the advantages that the Restoration Army has gained so far are all due to surprise attacks, relying on the advantage of guns to gain the upper hand, but this does not mean that the ordinary soldiers of the Restoration Army are also strong.

Before the contact battle takes place, it is not a real battle; guns and cannons are secondary. Only contact battle can truly determine the winner!

While the musketeers were firing at the firearms unit, Zhang Zhongliang ordered the main force to charge forward, hoping to close the distance and neutralize the musketeers' advantage, thus achieving a counterattack against the musketeers.

As Zhang Zhongliang had predicted, thanks to the heavy armor of the front-line soldiers, the volley of fire from Xingfu's muskets did not cause much damage to Zheng's heavily armored infantry.

As Zheng Jun's heavily armored infantry drew closer, the Xingfu Army's spearmen changed their formation. Instead of loading ammunition, the muskets in the rear were fitted with bayonets.

In close combat, the Restoration Army has never been afraid of any enemy!