Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 564 Siege (XVI)

[Margit Island]

Ignoring the deserters who were staggering and looking terrified, Raymond Montecuccoli ran wildly through the trench until he reached a sentry post less than twenty meters away from the explosion site.

The "rebels" were so close that Montecuccoli could not only hear the "rebel" soldiers shouting at each other, but he could even see the faces of the rebel soldiers on the boat in the dim moonlight.

That's right, a boat.

When did the "rebels" have ships?

Why didn’t the scouts notice it?

You must know that before the "fence stakes" were erected, the Southern Front Command never stopped sending scouts outside the city, and even took away the officers' horses and gave them priority to scouts leaving the city.

But why didn't anyone notice that the "rebels" had transported so many ships to the front line?

Montecuccoli lay by the trench, counting the small boats passing by on the river, and his teeth itched with hatred.

What the artillery lieutenant colonel didn't know was that the Southern Front's scouts had done everything they could, and even many of the "rebels" admired their tenacity and bravery.

But unless the scouts of the Southern Front could rush into the rebel transport team, lift the cloth covering the carts, and escape the pursuit of the "rebel" cavalry, and bring the intelligence back to the Castle of the Kings alive...

Otherwise, the Southern Front Command would never have known that the rebels already had ships.

In order to save transportation capacity to the greatest extent possible and to avoid being discovered by the frequently dispatched scouts of the Southern Front, an artillery major in the rebel army specifically ordered the removal of all the carriages and guardrails, and then fixed the small boats collected in the rear directly to the beams of the carriages, filled them with supplies, covered them with tarpaulins, and transported the boats and supplies to the front line without anyone noticing.

"Suddenness is the key to gaining combat advantage," a student from the artillery department firmly remembered the knowledge points taught by the teacher.

But at the moment, Montecuccoli had no time to be proud of himself.

To his left, there was a bustle at the Domoncus Monastery—Colonel Lodewijk's troops were mobilizing.

In front of him, the "rebel" landing point was unusually quiet.

The sounds of gunfire, metal rattles, and the wails of the dying came from further south.

Montecuccoli judged that after the rebels broke into the coastal defense line, they did not rush to advance towards the Bishop's Castle, but instead pointed their spearhead to the south.

It appears that the "rebels" are clearing out their own strongholds and defense lines at the southernmost tip of Margit Island.

In contrast, the actions of the "rebel" follow-up troops, although insignificant, were more dangerous in the eyes of the artillery lieutenant colonel:

The rebels in small boats were frantically destroying the water fence on the south side of the explosion site;

At the same time, on the other side of the river, the lights were bright and people were crowded, and a floating bridge was extending towards Margit Island at a speed visible to the naked eye.

  Raymond Montecuccoli immediately realized that the "rebels" were not in a hurry to rescue the remaining soldiers in the Bishop's Castle, nor did they expect to capture Margit Island in one fell swoop with a small number of elite troops;

The "rebel" commander who planned this offensive was a guy who couldn't be more steady;

His plan was to establish a landing site, a bridgehead, and a beachhead on the southern end of Margit Island, first to gain an invincible position and then pursue victory.

Just then, the sound of splashing footsteps was heard in the trench behind him.

Montecuccoli subconsciously touched his thigh and found that he had no weapons.

Fortunately, the people who came were our own people - the adjutant of the artillery director, the guard, and the officer on duty of the battery, each holding a loaded spring-wheel pistol, and they came over carefully.

Montecuccoli's movements were so fast that before the three young men could react, the middle-aged man had already disappeared from their sight. The rebels were just outside the trench. Montecuccoli made a gesture to keep quiet, and the three young men nodded immediately.

The four men squatted in the trench. Montecuccoli pulled his adjutant to his side and whispered in his ear, "Go to Domoncos Monastery immediately and find Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk. Tell him that the rebels are attacking the defensive positions in the south with all their might. Tell him not to hesitate and attack the rebels' landing point immediately."

The adjutant nodded, stepped back a distance, climbed out of the trench quietly and went to the monastery.

"Go back to the battery," Montecuccoli pulled the battery officer to his side again, "Call all those who can take up arms, engineers, artillerymen, my men, Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk's men... everyone! And the cannons, push the cannons over..."

"What about the Bishop's Castle?" asked the officer on duty.

"Even if the rebels in the Bishop's Castle come out, don't bother with them!" Montecuccoli gritted his teeth, "The pontoon bridge is the key. Once the pontoon bridge reaches the shore, we're all finished!"

He pulled the officer by the collar, wishing he could engrave his words into the ears of this poor young man, "Remember! The cannon, even if you have to lift it with your arms, you have to bring the cannon over here..."

As he was speaking, a series of crisp gunshots suddenly came from above his head.

In the direction of the Domoncos Monastery, Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk's troops occupied the earthen slope on the shore and fired a volley of gunfire at the "rebels" landing point.

Then came the second round, the third round...

Lead bullets fell like hail, and the "rebel" soldiers on the riverbank jumped into the trenches one after another.

Most of them did not carry muskets, so they could not fight back and could only stick to the inner wall of the trench to avoid the fire from the island.

But the "rebels" showed no signs of panic, and a powerful voice echoed in the trenches, ordering the "rebel" soldiers to collect the defenders' muskets.

The "rebel" soldiers who heard the order immediately took action.

The three Montecuccoli in the trench also heard the rebel commander's orders clearly.

The artillery lieutenant colonel immediately realized that something was wrong. He snatched the wheellock rifle from the officer on duty, pushed the officer on duty, and told him to leave quickly. He then went to the entrance of the post, picked up the wheellock rifle, and aimed at the corner of the trench.

The officer on duty was stunned for a moment, saluted, and left quickly.

The "rebel" soldiers who were searching for weapons immediately heard the footsteps of the officer on duty.

"stop!"

A stern shout with a thick Palatine accent came from the trench outside the outpost, and then a figure rushed out from the corner of the trench.

Montecuccoli gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger. A red light flashed and gunpowder smoke instantly engulfed the entire trench.

Without caring whether he hit the target or not, the artillery lieutenant colonel grabbed the guard and ran. When he reached the next corner, he snatched the pistol from the guard and fired a shot in the direction of the "rebel" soldiers.

Then, Montecuccoli pulled the guard and retreated to the next outpost.

At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel William Lodewijk arrived on the battlefield.

Behind him, the main gate of the Domonks Monastery was wide open, and soldiers from the Federation holding torches poured out of the gate and rushed towards the landing site.

  [Today is short, I'm so sorry]

[Today's win or loss: no win, no loss]