Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Xiao Gongchen was also greatly surprised by the strength of the Xinzhou garrison. He had always thought that the so-called Xingfu Army was just a branch of the rebel army. Although Shi Fu's intelligence repeatedly emphasized that the rebel army was no less powerful than the most elite Ming army, Xiao Gongchen thought that was just Shi Fu making excuses for his incompetence.

Upon meeting him today, Xiao Gongchen felt that Shi Fu was being too conservative. He had already learned that the strongest Xingfu Army was the one that had been taken away by the bandit leader Li Chengming. Most of the Xingfu Army left in the city were new recruits, and their strength was far inferior to that of the Zheng army.

Xiao Gongchen was greatly surprised that the Restoration Army left in Xinzhou City was able to withstand the Zheng army's siege and inflict heavy casualties on them.

Xiao Gongchen plans to launch a main attack on the two city gates tomorrow, with the entire army pressing forward to quickly capture Xinzhou City, lest things get complicated.

Both sides in the battle between Ehu Town and Xinzhou City are preparing for the next day's fighting.

......

The next day, Xiao Gongchen's Zheng army launched the first attack on Xinzhou City. This time, there was no probing; they went straight for the big moves.

Liang Zicheng and three others led the Restoration Army to fight back, and for a time, the attacking and defending sides were locked in fierce combat.

Yan Huidong launched a drone into the sky, overlooking the entire battlefield.

Yan Huidong called out to Chen Shaoping, "Shaoping, how much longer until you get here? The situation here is not optimistic."

Chen Shaoping replied, "In order to avoid being discovered by Zheng's army, we are stationed quite far away. We are currently about three kilometers away from Xinzhou City."

Yan Huidong said, "Alright, once you arrive, intervene from the northeast and attack Zheng's rear. At that time, Zheng's siege troops at the north gate will be thrown into chaos!"

Chen Shaoping said, "Okay, I'll be there in half an hour!"

After hanging up the call, Yan Huidong asked worriedly, "Without Shao Ping's support, how long can we hold out?"

Liang Zicheng shook his head and slowly said, "The enemy's arrows and crossbow bolts are too dense. Without support, I am confident that I can hold out until today, but the casualties will be heavy. It is hard to say whether we can hold out tomorrow."

The east and north gates were under heavy attack, and Liangzicheng transferred manpower from the southwest gate to the northeast gate to help defend the city.

He Mingqiu and Song Yourong were responsible for mobilizing the people, getting the able-bodied men to help carry cannonballs and stones, or to arm themselves to participate in the defense of the city.

In siege warfare, the people inside the city are also a great help, often playing an important role.

For the past two months since the Restoration Army occupied Xinzhou City, the people of the city have witnessed its actions. The Restoration Army has reduced taxes for ordinary people and encouraged the development of industry and commerce. At the same time, it has cracked down on fraud, theft, and swindling, as well as unscrupulous merchants and street thugs, making Xinzhou City a rare place of stability and prosperity in this chaotic world.

People were grateful for the good deeds of the Xingfu Army, so when they heard that Zheng's army was attacking, they all volunteered to go up to the city wall to help defend the city.

Seeing that their forces were stretched thin, Liang Zicheng and the others mobilized the civilians who wanted to help defend the city.

With both sides giving their all, the situation reached a delicate balance, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

However, both sides' commanders knew that this fragile balance could not last long. Either the city would fall because the Xingfu Army could not hold out, or the Zheng Army would retreat due to heavy casualties.

It all depends on who can endure it.

But at this point, the Restoration Army had gained a new layer of confidence.

Restoration Army: I'm waiting for reinforcements, what are you waiting for?

Half an hour later, Chen Shaoping finally arrived. Guided by Yan Huidong's drone, he quickly cut in from the northeast along the Xinjiang River, taking advantage of the cover of the reeds, and headed straight for Zheng's army attacking the north gate.

Chen Shaoping's 1,500-strong Restoration Army had been resting and preparing for a long time. As soon as they rushed into the unsuspecting rear of the Zheng army, they were like wolves among sheep, slaughtering them indiscriminately!

Moreover, Zheng's army lacked artillery, and most of the archers capable of long-range attacks were deployed to the city walls to besiege the city.

Therefore, once the Restoration Army had formed its battle formation, it would be difficult to break through their ranks even with several times the number of troops.

Zheng Jun's commander-in-chief, Xiao Gongchen, finally realized something was wrong and ordered, "The enemy reinforcements? Quickly repel them!"

Xiao Gongchen changed the rear guard to the front guard, intending to stop the advance of the Restoration Army led by Chen Shaoping.

Even with a large number of ordinary infantry, it would be difficult to stop the Restoration Army's advance.

As expected, Zheng Jun sent out several thousand-man squads in succession, all of which were defeated in front of the Xingfu Army.

Xiao Gongchen was decisive. Knowing that with this Restoration Army harassing them from behind, the Zheng army would have difficulty taking Xinzhou City. Therefore, he ordered the North Gate to stop attacking the city and recalled a large number of archers, intending to surround and annihilate this Restoration Army reinforcement.

Seeing Zheng Jun retreating at the north gate, Yan Huidong ordered Chen Shaoping to retreat to the southwest. The west was Zheng Jun's weak point. As long as they could get rid of Zheng Jun's entanglement, they could enter the city through the west gate.

Even if they couldn't shake off Zheng's army, they could still bring the Zheng army behind them into the range of the Ximen cannons, and take this opportunity to bombard the pursuing Zheng army with the cannons.

As expected, the Xingfu Army reinforcements retreated southwest, and the Zheng army behind them relentlessly pursued them.

Then, he finally led the Zheng army behind him into the range of the cannons at the west gate.

When the Xingfu Army reinforcements had created some distance between themselves and the pursuing troops, the cannons on the west gate city wall roared and bombarded the Zheng army pursuing troops.

When the pursuing troops were bombarded by the cannons and were in a daze, the Restoration Army turned around and slaughtered the Zheng army that was chasing them, making the Zheng army, who had not yet reacted, think they were dreaming!

Thus, while fleeing, they fought back and killed until Zheng's army dared not pursue them any longer. Only then did the Xingfu Army reinforcements calmly enter the city through the west gate.

Yan Huidong used drones to observe the battlefield situation, and with Chen Shaoping's perfect cooperation, they successfully relieved the danger at the North Gate.

Only Zheng's army at the east gate continued their siege.

The garrison at the East Gate was under the command of He Mingqiu. After the crisis at the North Gate was resolved, Liang Zicheng led 500 men to the East Gate to provide support.

The deployment of 500 troops to the east gate greatly reduced the pressure on He Mingqiu.

Xiao Gongchen was furious as he watched the battlefield situation being turned around by a single reinforcement.

But he also knew that with the help of this reinforcement, it would be difficult to capture Xinzhou City today.

Xiao Gongchen was a man who knew how to make choices. He knew that the situation was already decided. If he did not retreat, the newly arrived Restoration Army would definitely break out from the east gate. At that time, the Zheng army attacking the city would be divided in two and would easily fall into a passive position.

After careful consideration, Xiao Gongchen ordered the Zheng army to launch another fierce attack on the East Gate before retreating.

The fierce attack on the east gate resulted in dozens more corpses being left behind, but it also widened the breach in the city wall.

If Zheng Jun were to dig again, he could probably dig the East Gate down.

Seeing that Zheng's army at the East Gate had also begun to retreat, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the crisis had been temporarily resolved.

With the addition of Chen Shaoping's fresh troops, Liangzicheng's confidence increased greatly: after all, he was a veteran with a long training period. Although it was also their first time participating in a battle, they were much stronger than the greenhorns on Xinzhou City!

With Chen Shaoping's reinforcements, Liangzicheng decided to abandon its defensive posture and launch a counter-offensive.