Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Li Chengming still dispatched troops according to the original plan, heading straight for Ehu Town!

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Before the Zheng army at Xianxia Pass could launch an attack on Xinzhou City, and before the troops at Fenshui Pass could be dispatched, Li Chengming was determined to quickly occupy Ehu Town so that he could advance or retreat as needed!

Li Chengming led 2,500 members of the Restoration Army and crossed the Qianshan River in a shallow section downstream.

Since he was no longer as worried about Qianshan City sending troops as before, and the journey from Fenshui Pass to this location was much longer than the journey from Qianshan City, Li Chengming had more time to attack Ehu Town this time.

Just like last time, the attack was launched from south to north.

While bombarding the south with new-style cannons, a thousand-man squad composed of musketeers, archers, and spearmen, led by the valiant general Feng Erlei, broke in from the enemy's right flank and directly attacked the enemy's Hongyi cannon positions.

Li Chengming personally led a team of 500 men, breaking in from the enemy's left flank and heading straight for the enemy general's camp.

Zhou Xiaobing, the garrison commander of Ehu Town, noticed the Xingfu Army as soon as they crossed the river and realized that the Xingfu Army had less than three thousand soldiers.

The Xingfu Army's strength was less than half that of Zheng's army, and they were on the offensive.

Even so, Zhou Xiaobing did not dare to take the initiative to deploy his troops in open battle against the Xingfu Army. Instead, he relied on the defensive fortifications at his post and urgently ordered the muzzles of the Hongyi cannons to be turned south, in preparation for a cannon-fire exchange with the Xingfu Army.

At the same time, Zhou Xiaobing arranged a large number of other firearms units in formation on both sides, waiting for the new cannons of the Restoration Army to bombard the Hongyi cannons. He then ordered the firearms units to advance, attempting to concentrate superior forces to annihilate the Restoration Army's artillery.

Li Chengming had a clear view of Zhou Xiaobing's troop deployment using a reconnaissance drone modified from a self-destructing drone.

That's why Li Chengming planned to divide his forces and attack Zheng's army from its weakest point. Zhou Xiaobing also didn't expect that Li Chengming, with less than half his own strength and on the offensive, would dare to launch a separate attack under such circumstances.

When the Restoration Army set up its cannons and opened fire, Zheng's troops lay prone in the makeshift trenches protecting the cannons, waiting for the Restoration Army to reload its ammunition before launching a counterattack.

At this time, Zheng Jun's five Hongyi cannons had also turned their muzzles around, ready to fire at the Xingfu Army.

Just then, Feng Erlei led a thousand-strong restoration army to the scene. They first used muskets and bows to fire alternately to clear out the surrounding miscellaneous soldiers, and then the spearmen pressed forward and easily occupied the Hongyi cannon position.

Once the Hongyi cannons were fixed in their positions, they were difficult to move; otherwise, Feng Erlei would have really wanted to use them to bombard Zheng's army positions.

Although they could not use the Hongyi cannons directly, they were able to successfully capture Zheng's artillery positions, eliminating a major threat to the Xingfu Army.

Feng Erlei overturned the Hongyi cannons to the ground, smashed the gun emplacements, and then led his men to continue their assault into Zheng's army camp.

On the other side, Li Chengmin personally led five hundred Xingfu soldiers, wielding broadswords and spears, and charged in from the weak point on the left flank of the Zheng army.

Under Li Chengming's leadership, the five hundred Xingfu soldiers fought with unparalleled ferocity and fearlessness. They stormed into the Zheng army camp as if it were empty, slaughtering Zheng soldiers like tigers among sheep!

Thus, the two restoration armies ran rampant in Zheng's army camp!

By the time Zheng Jun's garrison commander Zhou Xiaobing reacted, it was too late. Zhou Xiaobing reacted quickly, desperately trying to organize his troops to block the two Xingfu Army forces that had stormed into Zheng Jun's camp.

However, a large portion of Zheng Jun's troops were defeated soldiers who had been terrified by the Restoration Army that day. They were so intimidated that they would be too scared to even stand in front of the Restoration Army, let alone fight them. Therefore, Zhou Xiaobing sent several groups of men to intercept them, but to no avail.

As Li Chengming's restoration army drew closer, Zhou Zibing finally realized something was wrong: Could they be after me?

It wasn't until Zhou Zibing heard the shouts of the Restoration Army that he finally realized: his guess was right, they were coming for him!

Zhou Xiaobing panicked completely and immediately tried to move to a different position, emerging from his tent surrounded by his personal guards. Just then, Li Chengming, who had been waiting for Zhou Xiaobing to show himself, saw him emerge from the tent, raised his already loaded precision rifle, aimed, and pulled the trigger!

The gunshot was barely noticeable, masked by the deafening roar of artillery fire in the distance.

At a distance of less than 200 meters, Li Chengming could almost guarantee a 100% hit rate as long as he fired!

As expected, after Li Chengming fired the shot, a burst of blood immediately appeared on Zhou Xiaobing's chest. The bullet pierced through his chest, tearing out a large patch of flesh.

After the gunshot, Zhou Xiaobing collapsed to the ground and died under Li Chengming's gun!

Not only Zhou Xiaobing, but also the two officers dressed as generals in his company, Li Chengming, were not spared. Two more shots rang out, sending the two men to their deaths!

Seeing that Zhou Xiaobing was dead, Li Chengming's restoration army had already figured out what to do next.

Li Chengming led the Xingfu Army forward, shouting in unison, "Commander Zhou is dead! The Zheng family army has been defeated!"

The fact that Zheng Jun's commander-in-chief was killed in broad daylight in full view of everyone was an extremely serious blow to the morale of Zheng Jun's officers and soldiers!

In addition, Li Chengming led five hundred warriors, and Feng Erlei led a group of elites, who almost completely pierced through Zheng Jun's camp.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Li Chengming fired a signal flare and ordered a halt to the artillery fire, launching a general offensive!

Zheng Jun had 7,000 troops in Ehu Town. Although the number was large, nearly half of them were defeated soldiers who had been routed by the Xingfu Army. They were gathered by Zhou Xiaobing to defend Ehu Town. Now that their commander Zhou Xiaobing was dead, Zheng Jun's morale was completely lost. Under the full-scale attack of Xingfu, the army was defeated like a house of cards!

Zheng's army suffered a complete defeat, and Xinglin's army quickly occupied Zheng's camp like autumn leaves being swept away by the wind!

Li Chengming didn't need prisoners in this victory, nor did he have much time to manage them. Those who had escaped were lucky and he didn't pursue them. Those who resisted were simply killed.

After Zheng Jun searched the man who knelt to surrender, he made a cut in the tendon of his thumb and was released.

This insidious trick was invented by medical worker Song Yourong. After being cut like this, the person's thumb will be unable to exert force, and they will not be able to grip a knife or gun tightly.

In this era, injuries to bones and muscles are basically incurable.

After capturing Ehu Town, Li Chengming ordered an inventory of the captured supplies and the reconstruction of the destroyed defenses in preparation for Zheng's army's next counterattack!

At Fenshuiguan, news soon arrived that Ehu Town had been captured again, and this time even the garrison commander Zhou Xiaobing had been killed in battle.

Upon hearing the report from his subordinates, Shi Fu flew into a rage once again, reportedly smashing his beloved jade tea table.

Shi Fu roared, "If I don't avenge this, I, Shi Fu, swear I'm not human!"

According to the original plan, Xiao Gongchen will begin attacking Xinzhou City tomorrow. The troops at Fenshui Pass have been reinforced from Fuzhou, and Shi Fu will also send 10,000 troops to try to recapture Qianshan County!

Unfortunately, Li Chengming unexpectedly captured Ehu Town once again, thwarting Shi Fu's original plan.

After his anger subsided and he calmed down, Shi Fu didn't want to be looked down upon, so he decided to send troops as planned, but the target was not Qianshan County, but Ehu Town!

This time, we must capture the bandit leader Li Chengming alive and tear him to pieces to vent our hatred!