Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

For the past month, the Restoration Army has been consolidating its forces and waging war. Without military support, the implementation of new policies has also come to a halt.

The land surveys of more than a dozen towns around Xinzhou City have been completed. The new policy was halted halfway through its implementation. During the implementation of the new policy, many landlords and gentry were put out for public trial, and many of them were beheaded.

When the New Policy Work Team and the Restoration Army withdrew from Xinzhou City, they left behind a company of about a hundred people stationed in the towns and villages. The soldiers in this company were all from the lower classes and tenant farmers, who were the beneficiaries of the New Policy.

It was precisely because of the presence of this company that the landlords and gentry who wanted to launch a counterattack were deterred and dared not act rashly.

Even so, when news came that Zheng Jun had sent 20,000 troops to suppress the Xingfu Army, the landlords and gentry secretly celebrated their victory.

Everyone was waiting for the Restoration Army to be defeated, annihilated, or at the very least, driven out of Xinzhou Prefecture.

Very few people believed that the Restoration Army could defeat Zheng's 20,000-strong army. Although they did not know the exact strength of the Restoration Army, judging from the size of the army's camps and training scale, the number of troops could not have exceeded 10,000.

The passing caravans, the spies from various factions, and the people of Xinzhou Prefecture all watched the battle with indifference, or rather, they wanted to see how the Restoration Army would be annihilated or driven away.

What is Xingfu Army? It's a band of outlaws, a lone army unrecognized by any power, pushing through its ridiculous and impractical policies in Xinzhou Prefecture!

What was Zheng Jun? He was an official army, a legitimate Ming army, and the greatest reliance of the Longwu Emperor in establishing his dynasty. He had the financial and logistical support of the Zheng family in Fujian, and was well-equipped and well-trained!

This is precisely how the world views these two armies.

Even if the Xingfu Army defeated the Zheng Army under the walls of Xinzhou, people would only think that the Zheng Army underestimated the enemy. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, and the Xingfu Army only won by chance. The situation that the Zheng Army is strong and the Xingfu Army is weak will not change!

On the first day, Zheng's army failed to capture the city, which is normal. Taking a city is never that easy. Zheng's army has 10,000 troops, and they could easily besiege Xinzhou City!

The next day, Zheng's army suffered a setback in its siege, which was normal. Zheng's army still couldn't shake its habit of underestimating the enemy; they just needed to correct that.

On the third day, the two armies did not engage in large-scale battles, which was more normal. After a day of rest, Zheng's army was preparing to take Xinzhou City in one fell swoop.

On the fourth day, news came that the Zheng army under Xinzhou City had been completely annihilated. Not only that, the tens of thousands of Zheng troops dispatched from Fenshui Pass were also defeated.

The news of the Xingfu Army's victory over 20,000 Zheng troops caused a great stir, with some rejoicing and others grieving.

The common people of Xinzhou Prefecture were overjoyed and eagerly awaited the arrival of the Restoration Army to implement the new policies.

Merchants were also pleased, as a stable and prosperous place was beneficial for their settlement and survival.

Many people were unhappy, especially the landlords and gentry. When they heard that the Restoration Army had won such a great victory, their expressions were even worse than if their fathers had died.

Ignoring external reactions, Li Chengming steadily advanced the development of the Restoration Army.

Zhou Lei was stationed in Qianshan County, Chen Shaoping in Yushan County, and He Mingqiu and Yan Huidong in Ehu Town.

Liang Zicheng returned to Fenglingtou Town with the Restoration Army, prisoners, and craftsmen to continue his iron smelting and cannon casting business.

Huang Longkun stayed in Xinzhou City, where he mixed black powder and studied his new gunpowder.

Song Yourong stayed in Xinzhou Prefecture, where he researched antibiotics and was in charge of training troops.

Li Chengming arranged the tasks for his comrades, and then called Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong over.

The happiest people after the Restoration Army's victory were Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong.

Zhang Xiyan was forced to join the Restoration Army. He didn't know how long the Restoration Army would survive, so his joining was a gamble with no choice on his part.

Yang Xuedong was driven by ambition for officialdom, and after being misled by Li Chengming, he believed that the Restoration Army would eventually become a force to be reckoned with, so he willingly joined the Restoration Army.

Upon learning that the Restoration Army had launched a two-pronged attack and defeated Zheng's army of 20,000 men, the two were so excited that they were as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they worked from morning till night without feeling tired.

The Restoration Army has become a force to be reckoned with, no longer a power to be manipulated at will, and at least no longer needs to fear for its very survival.

The more the two looked at Li Chengming, the more they felt he resembled a ruler, and the more they felt they had chosen the right person to follow.

Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong bowed to Li Chengming, and Zhang Xiyan spoke first: "Commander-in-Chief! You wanted to see us..."

"Sit down!" Li Chengming said, pointing to a chair. "You've all worked hard this past month."

Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong stood up together and said in unison, "It's our duty!"

Li Chengming waved his hand: "We don't care about these formalities here. I called you here mainly to discuss a few things!"

The first thing to do is logistics. Take stock of the remaining supplies and silver in the city. We need to know how much we captured and how much is left. Then allocate a batch of pensions and rewards for me. The soldiers of the Restoration Army fought bravely in this battle and deserve to be rewarded!

The second thing is to recruit soldiers. Xinzhou City currently has 5,000 soldiers, so there's no need to replenish them for now. However, Ehu Town only has 1,000 soldiers, so let's recruit another 2,000 from Xinzhou City and send them there.

The third matter is the most important: the new policies are about to be fully implemented. What are the opinions of Prefect Zhang and Assistant Prefect Yang?

Zhang Xiyan began by saying, "The new policy needs to be fully implemented. We need more work teams and personnel, and we also need the Revival Army to protect and support the new policy."

Li Chengming nodded and said, "You will be in charge of recruiting the work team and personnel, but they must have a clean background and not have any connection with landlords or gentry. Then I will send the Restoration Army to assist you in implementing the new policies."

Yang Xuedong has been appointed as the Assistant Magistrate of Xinzhou Prefecture, serving as Zhang Xiyan's deputy, and is mainly responsible for the specific implementation of the new policies.

Yang Xuedong then said, "Commander-in-Chief Li, we currently control Shangrao (the outer area of ​​Xinzhou Prefecture), Yushan County, and Qianshan County. There are four other counties that we do not yet control. These four counties..."

Li Chengming roughly understood Yang Xuedong's meaning and said, "You first fully implement the new policies in these three counties, and we will soon occupy the remaining four counties!"

Previously, the Xingfu Army had not yet established a firm foothold and lacked sufficient troops, so it did not intend to occupy all the county towns of Xinzhou Prefecture.

However, as the Xingfu Army grows stronger, it will eventually need to gain full control of the entire Xinzhou Prefecture.

Yang Xuedong hesitated for a moment, as if afraid of displeasing Li Chengming, and said, "The magistrate of Guangfeng County is an old acquaintance of mine. Today he sent someone to test the waters, wanting to join our Restoration Army..."

Yang Xuedong had been intentionally concealing the fact that the magistrate of Guangfeng was an old acquaintance of his, and he was afraid of displeasing Li Chengming by revealing it now.

"This is a good thing!" Li Chengming nodded repeatedly. This was an unexpected surprise. As for old acquaintances, the officialdom was complicated, and anyone you had met once could be considered an old acquaintance. Li Chengming didn't care.

Li Chengming said to Yang Xuedong, "You should reply to him that after joining the Restoration Army, he can still be the county magistrate, but he must accept all the policies of the Restoration Army, he must accept the implementation of new policies in Guangfeng County, and I will send a thousand Restoration Army soldiers to garrison Guangfeng County and take control of the county's defenses!"

Seeing that Li Chengming didn't ask any further questions, Yang Xuedong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded in agreement. His years of experience in officialdom had made him overly cautious.

Li Chengming felt that it was always a good thing for someone to surrender voluntarily, but he also had to accept the various policies of the newly restored army. It didn't matter if they didn't accept them; if they didn't agree to surrender, he would just send troops to take them down, which would only take a little more trouble.

In this way, the Restoration Army would have actual control over four counties. If the new policies were fully implemented in these four counties, they would collect a lot of money and grain, and recruit a lot of young men to join the Restoration Army.

Next, Li Chengming discussed the details of each matter with Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong. After a long while, Li Chengming watched the two of them leave.

"New policies, new policies..." Li Chengming shook his head. There is a shortage of talent now, and the new policies all depend on the two of them. In addition, the two of them can dispatch a small number of restoration troops, which gives them the power of life and death over the people!

As the territory controlled by the Restoration Army expands, the power held by Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong will also continue to grow, which is not a good thing!

Li Chengming came up with a solution that was not a solution at all: he instructed the company commanders of the Xingfu Army to keep an eye on Zhang Xiyan and Yang Xuedong's behavior while they were obeying their orders, to make sure they did nothing that would win the hearts of the people, and to report any major matters to their superiors!

As for a long-term and stable solution, we still need to rely on the Restoration Army to cultivate its own talent!