Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Zheng Jun's reinforcements waited until the afternoon, and finally couldn't resist launching a probing attack on the city.

The artillerymen on the city wall were smoking from the sun and had long harbored the desire to strangle Zheng Jun.

Seeing Zheng Jun charging in, attempting to attack the city, the artillerymen of the Xingfu Army were all excited, thinking: We've been waiting for this moment for so long!

The artillerymen of the Restoration Army were no strangers to the Hongyi cannons. Before the new cannons were cast, the Restoration Army had also practiced with the captured Hongyi cannons.

The cannonballs were already loaded, and they were just waiting for Zheng's army to come and attack the city!

Seeing that Zheng Jun had charged to within four or five hundred meters, the Xingfu Army artillery could not contain themselves and fired their weapons early.

Five Hongyi cannons fired simultaneously, creating a deafening roar as solid cannonballs flew rapidly toward the charging Zheng army.

However, the accuracy of the Hongyi cannons was too poor. They lost their aim at 400 meters away. The shells landed with a cloud of dust, which was frightening, but not a single one hit the target!

Although the Hongyi cannons missed their targets, their sheer size and the terrifying sound frightened Zheng's army into halting their advance.

The artillery battalion commander ordered the loading of grapeshot and that the artillery should only fire when the enemy was within 300 meters!

To everyone's surprise, Zheng Jun stopped and did not go any further.

Then... Zheng's army retreated!

Commander Zhou Xiaobing of Zheng Army was also helpless. He had previously sent the message back to Fenshui Pass by fast horse, waiting for General Shi Fu to make a decision.

Then Shi Fu only replied with four words: "Act according to the situation!"

Zhou Xiaobing wanted to curse when he heard Shi Fu's order. After thinking it over, he realized that he only had 3,500 troops. Due to the hasty deployment, he did not bring cannons or siege equipment. Going to attack Qianshan City like this was no different from sending himself to his death.

But such a retreat would be too humiliating and difficult to explain to Shi Fu, so he came up with this terrible idea:

Pretend to attack the city. As long as the city wall makes a counterattack, even if it's just firing one arrow, stop advancing, turn around, and retreat!

That way, I can at least consider myself worthy of the military pay I receive!

The Restoration Army was speechless: "You should at least have some backbone! Just now you were shouting and yelling so loudly that we thought you were really going to attack the city, but you retreated without even hurting a single person?"

Li Chengming watched this scene unfold and chuckled: "The commander of this Zheng army is a smart man; he wouldn't joke around with the lives of his men."

It's good that they retreated. Although it's a pipe dream for Zheng's army to capture the city with its limited strength, Li Chengming didn't want the Xingfu Army to suffer any more casualties.

The Restoration Army dispatched 4,000 troops. After three battles, 236 were killed, more than 400 were seriously wounded, and many more were slightly wounded.

Some soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Ehu Town did not even have their remains recovered.

After continuous fighting, the soldiers of the Restoration Army need some time to rest and recuperate.

Li Chengming will need to put in some effort to restore order in the city.

After capturing Qianshan City, Li Chengming, in addition to taking stock of his own casualties and arranging for the treatment of the wounded, immediately took stock of the people and supplies in the city.

Apart from the garrison soldiers who died or were wounded in the battle and a small number of garrison soldiers who fled the city early when the situation turned bad, the rest of Zheng's army were basically captured.

More than two thousand Zheng soldiers were captured!

In addition, the grain stockpiled in the city, enough to feed 7,000 Zheng soldiers for half a year, also fell into the hands of the Restoration Army.

More than 49,000 taels of silver were looted from Zheng Jun's military camps, prisoners, officers' residences, and Zheng Jun's warehouses, and all of it fell into the hands of the Restoration Army!

Li Chengming ordered that each fallen soldier of the Restoration Army be given thirty taels of silver as a pension. Those who left a will should give the silver to the person named in the will or to their relatives and friends. Those who did not leave a will or have no relatives or friends should have their names recorded and given to their relatives when they are found.

The other soldiers of the Restoration Army were each given two months' salary as a reward for this battle, and the wounded soldiers received additional subsidies.

For Li Chengming, the most pleasant surprise was the grain piled up in the warehouse. The newly restored army had always been conservative in expanding its forces, largely because it was troubled by the lack of food.

Ensuring that every soldier in the Restoration Army had enough to eat was the source of the army's initial cohesion, but it also meant consuming a large amount of food.

Unable to plunder the people or levy heavy taxes, and with limited food supplies, Li Chengming never dared to easily expand his army.

Now that's great, with this batch of grain, the Xingfu Army can expand its ranks by several thousand more!

With so much grain stockpiled and the Zheng army's numbers far exceeding those of the civilians in Qianshan City, it seems that the Zheng army truly intends to build Qianshan City into an impregnable fortress.

However, the Restoration Army did not play by the rules. They used their sharp guns and cannons to blast open the city gates, suppress the defenders on the city walls, and then quickly broke in. Their infantry was also well-organized and extremely brave. After entering the city, they formed ranks and advanced steadily, quickly capturing the city gates!

As for slowly chipping away at the city walls, scaling them, and fighting on the walls... these tactics, which require a lot of time and manpower, were never used by the Restoration Army.

With a small but powerful force, it is suitable for a quick and decisive battle!

As for civil affairs...

The original county government officials in Qianshan City had long since disappeared. After Zheng's army entered the city, the civil affairs were managed by Han Demin, the grain transport official.

Han Demin had the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination) but failed the provincial-level examinations multiple times. Seeing that Zheng Jun was recruiting soldiers on a large scale, he decided to abandon his studies and join the army in order to make a living.

In those days, it was relatively rare for scholars to join the army, and Zheng Jun could not really put him on the front line as a common soldier. After joining the army, Han Demin first worked as a clerk in the army and was called "Han the Scholar". Later, he was transferred to Fenshuiguan to be responsible for transporting grain and fodder.

After Zheng Jun took full control of Qianshan City, Han Demin, being one of the few educated people in Zheng Jun's army, was assigned to Qianshan City to manage logistics and civil affairs.

Although Han Demin's military rank was still that of a grain transport officer, he was now effectively the chief civil official of Qianshan City, in charge of both logistics and civil administration, making him a rare administrative talent.

When Li Chengming approached Han Demin and asked him to join the Restoration Army, Han Demin initially refused, saying he was loyal to the Ming Dynasty and vowed never to follow the rebels.

Li Chengming laughed, a mocking laugh, and asked, "Are you loyal to Zheng Zhilong or Emperor Longwu? If you are loyal to Emperor Longwu, then why is your army called the Zheng Family Army instead of the Ming Army?"

Li Chengming bets that people like him, even if they are working for Zheng Zhilong, would not admit it; they would only deceive themselves by saying that they are loyal to the Ming Dynasty and to Emperor Longwu.

If one admits to being loyal to Zheng Zhilong, then one becomes a spineless, opportunistic villain, and it would mean that one can simply surrender to whoever is more powerful.

The more someone reads but doesn't understand something, the more they like to have both the ability and the desire to be something they don't.

Li Chengming was simply helping him to recognize the facts.

Li Chengming said, "The Ming Dynasty is finished. It's been finished ever since Emperor Chongzhen died for his country. You don't need to lie to yourself anymore. Just live well and do more for the people, that's what you scholars should do."

After saying this, Li Chengming turned and left, instructing his men, "Don't let him leave this room, don't let anyone say a word to him, including you. If he wants food or drink, bring him some; if he needs to relieve himself, give him a toilet, but no one else can touch him! Oh, and take away all the books and papers with writing on them in the room!"

You're just a mere scholar. We'll leave you hanging for a few days. If that doesn't work, we'll lock you in a dark room. If you're really a die-hard, we'll send you to a prisoner-of-war camp to teach you the hard way that every grain of rice is precious!

Qianshan City has been captured, but there is still Fenshui Pass between Qianshan County and Xinzhou Prefecture. Fenshui Pass can send troops to cut off the main transportation route between Qianshan City and Xinzhou City at any time, which makes Li Chengming feel as uncomfortable as if he has a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Therefore, we must go back and occupy Ehu Town to control Fenshui Pass, block Zheng's army at Fenshui Pass, and from then on, the situation in Jiangxi will no longer be related to Zheng's army!

Li Chengming used a walkie-talkie to send a message to Liangzicheng, who was still in Xinzhou: I need eight new cannons. After I send two thousand men to occupy Ehu Town, you send another one thousand troops to escort the new cannons over!