Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 569 Siege (Twenty-one)

While Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk on Margit Island was planning the offensive, the new army troops on the west bank of the Ten Arrow River were also making preparations in time to deal with the enemy's next counterattack.

On the riverbank, the devil Ons was lying under the gun carriage of the 32-pounder, holding a candle and examining the breech inch by inch.

The bronze cannon shone with a luster similar to gold under the candlelight. The melted candle dripped onto Ans's hands from time to time, but the "devil" didn't even blink.

Even with a tin can shell, the damage caused by shotgun shells to the artillery was still alarming, so Major Mason stipulated that after each firing, the cannon body must be checked - especially the tail, to ensure that there was no deformation or cracks.

And because there had been precedents of barrel explosions, the artillerymen had to be extra careful when using these old guys.

After completing the visual inspection, Demon Ans patted the gun carriage, and the artillerymen next to him worked together to pull him out from under the gun carriage.

Demon Ans said nothing, just nodded and walked to the next 32-pounder.

While Demon Ans was personally inspecting the cannon, other gunners were busy cooling the cannon.

Barrels of linseed oil were poured into the barrels to calm the rage of these bronze behemoths.

In comparison, the three inconspicuous six-pound cannons squeezed to the edge of the position had a much simpler firing process.

These three six-pound cannons were captured by the Tiefeng County Army the longest time ago and used the most times, so their temperaments had long been known. Therefore, the gunners were most adept at serving them.

No oil cooling is required, just use a wet mop to clean off the gunpowder residue, wipe off the water with a dry mop, and then you can reload the ammunition.

So while the 32-pounder was still working intensively, the 6-pounder was ready to fire again.

At the same time, down the riverbank, Tamas, the commander of a battalion of the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment, was leading his men to recover the ferry.

Due to the influence of water flow, the route of the ferry traveling back and forth between the two banks is not straight, but "slanting back and forth".

That is, the first group of soldiers who landed on the island started out half a kilometer upstream of the landing point. When the ferry turned back, they were washed away another half a kilometer downstream.

The "loss" of one kilometer back and forth can only be made up by manpower.

Tamas and his men pulled the stranded rowboats and sampans ashore, carried them back to the river bank on their hands and shoulders, loaded them onto horse-drawn carts, and transported them upstream again.

Geisa Adonis, who was in the temporary command post, frowned unconsciously as he watched the soldiers of the Tiefeng County Regiment climbing up and down the riverbank.

"What's wrong?" Mason was sensitive to the brigadier general's negative emotions and asked cautiously, "General."

"Nothing," Geisa replied expressionlessly. After a while, he sighed and said helplessly, "I have gone through mountains of swords and seas of fire, but I didn't expect to be stuck by a small river."

"General, the Ten Arrows River is not a small river," Mason corrected instinctively, "Even if you look at the narrow area between the two mountains, it is a large river that can be counted."

Geisa didn't respond.

Mason knew he had made a mistake and tried to make amends, "In fact, there are many examples in history where a river determined victory or defeat. Not to mention the distant past, the Battle of the Great Wasteland ended with a river..."

Geza sneered.

The artillery major simply shut up, and everyone else in the command post was also silent.

After a while, Geisa spoke first, breaking the oppressive silence. He looked at Margit Island and asked impatiently, "Why is the island so quiet? Are all the federal guys dead?"

"That's unlikely," Mason said, sternly. "The enemy forces on the island are at least two battalions in size. Even according to the most optimistic estimate, they still have at least eight complete centuries..."

Mason's voice got quieter as he spoke.

This time, it was Gesar's turn to sigh. He crossed his arms, looked Richard Mason up and down, and asked regretfully, "Major, how did an honest man like you get involved with Winters Montagne?"

"Well," Mason scratched his hair and smiled sheepishly, "it's a long story."

Geisa was completely worn out. He took a deep breath and tried to talk about something else. At this moment, the lookout's voice reached the command post:

"Lights! The other side is sending signals!"

Upon hearing this, Geisa rushed to the breastwork, and Mason and other officers in the command post hurriedly followed.

Suddenly, a spot appeared on Margit Island.

From a distance, it looked like a small hole was poked in the black canvas, allowing the light from behind the canvas to shine through.

However, the signal lights on the other side neither flashed nor moved, but just lit up abruptly, which was completely inconsistent with any pre-agreed signal rules.

Just as the lookout was racking his brains to translate the signal, the spots on the black canvas suddenly turned from one to two, two to four, and in the blink of an eye, they spread into a horizontal line.

Everyone in the command post was shocked at this moment—that was not a light, but a fire.

And it was not a fire burning on the surface, but a fire burning in the trenches.

Then, a burning man jumped out of the "horizontal line" and ran towards the river.

However, a series of red lights burst out in the darkness, and the Federal Musketeers fired deadly lead bullets from the high slopes, killing the "fire man" on the river beach.

But it is hard to say whether this behavior is cruel or gives the Burning Man relief.

Because soon, several more firemen climbed out of the trenches and rushed towards the Ten Arrow River.

They rushed into the river, but the water could not completely extinguish the fire on their bodies. The dark blue fire floated on the surface of the river and continued to burn.

The firemen screamed in pain and were drowned by the dark river.

Mason watched all this and felt heartbroken.

Geza Adonis broke the silence and uttered a word hatefully: "Alchemical Fire!"

On the floating bridge, on the river bank, on the river bank... the heart-wrenching screams coming from the opposite bank made everyone stop what they were doing. The soldiers looked at the fire on the island that had spread into a wall, at a loss as to what to do.

"Keep working," Gesar said dryly.

Mason was startled, but he pursed his lips and repeated the brigadier general's order, "Keep working."

The messengers rushed out of the command post and woke up the stunned people, "Keep working!"

Soon, everyone came to their senses.

The engineers continued to move building materials onto the pontoon bridge, the artillerymen continued to load ammunition into the cannons, and the soldiers transporting the ferry once again waved their whips and drove the carriages, accompanied by a harsh creaking sound, towards the attack position upstream.

"Can your people hold on?" Geisa turned and asked Mason.

"They are our people, General," Mason corrected seriously, "and our soldiers have never let us down."

Geisa nodded and said nothing more.

There were hurried footsteps and Tamas found Mason.

"You want to go to the island?" Mason asked. "What about the west coast?"

“The West Coast doesn’t need me,” Tamas replied firmly. “I’m needed there.”

  　[The Lion of Veneta will only appear in the next chapter]

　　(End of this chapter)