Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 570 Siege (Twenty-two)

Kneeling on one knee in a rowboat made of three boards, Tamas used an oar to push the rowboat away from the temporary dock and sailed towards Margit Island first.

More than forty soldiers boarded twenty-three small boats and followed the battalion commander, sailing away from the west bank one after another.

Before the battle started, not counting the specially built large boats, the Tiefeng County Regiment had a total of sixty small boats, so all the members of the company were transported to the island at once.

But it is easy to go there, but difficult to return.

  Some small boats ran aground at the landing site, trapped between the "horse-blocking stakes" and the river beach, unable to move;

On some of the small boats, the soldiers responsible for bringing the boats back were unfortunately killed by the people of the Federation. As a result, the small boats that lost control were swept far downstream by the river and were difficult to recover for a while.

There are also some canoe-style boats that are meant to be disposable.

So when they set out the first time, there were clearly sixty small boats, but before they set out the second time, Tamas counted them again and again, but he never counted to twenty-five.

Ships are in short supply, and so are people.

Not every soldier in the Tiefeng County Regiment is a good swimmer. The soldiers in each battalion who can swim have long been drawn out and either reinforced a company or assigned to large and small boats to serve as temporary "sailors."

Major Mason originally retained a group of soldiers who were good at swimming as a reserve force.

But just now when the federalists climbed out of the horse block and attacked the longboat, the reserve troops were also sent out.

Therefore, the more than 40 soldiers who crossed the river this time were probably the last batch of reinforcements that the west bank could provide before the completion of the pontoon bridge.

Tamas knew this, and he made sure the warriors who went out with him knew it, too.

But he knew very well that this kind of "risk notification" was meaningless - no soldier would retreat in the face of battle.

What he should do is not to tell his subordinates the risks they are about to face, but to ensure that his subordinates do not take unnecessary risks.

But he wasn't sure he could do that.

So before setting off, during the last roll call, Tamas felt like a stone was pressing on his chest, and the guilt made him dare not look the soldiers in the eye.

Fortunately, after setting off, he no longer thought about these things.

From the moment he climbed into the rowboat, there was only one thing on his mind - getting ashore.

As the bow of the boat continued to part the river water, Tamas gradually approached the center line of the river.

The fire on the island was clearly visible, and vice versa.

So Tamas crouched low, paddling gently to delay exposure as much as possible.

Behind the initial explosion site, a troop station was ignited by the alchemical fire.

The wooden roof of the garrison was burning brightly, like a huge torch, illuminating the nearby river surface clearly.

Therefore, the initial landing point cannot be used this time.

Fortunately, before the Federals' counterattack arrived, the winch built by Woods Frank showed its power and easily pulled out a large number of "horse stakes", tearing a big hole in the Federals' water defense line.

  But there is also a problem:

In the battle plan drawn up by Major Mason, using a longboat and a capstan to destroy the horse-blocking piles was a prerequisite for building a pontoon bridge;

The longboat and the capstan did their job brilliantly, so the breach in the Federals' water defense was directly opposite the pontoon bridge.

Although the floating bridge is still a long distance from the other side, the federals are likely to send more personnel to this location.

  So, should we go ashore through the new gap? Or should we go to the landing point that was blown up? Or should we drag the cable over again and make another gap?

Is there still enough time to drag the cable over?

When he was in a dilemma, Tamas couldn't help thinking: If you were here, you would definitely make the decision in a second, and then I would just have to obey.

But now, Tamas can only make his own decision.

He decided to go ashore through the new gap opened by the capstan.

He was not sure whether this judgment was right or wrong.

So he decided to be the first to set off, ahead of all his men.

Everything seemed to be going well, the water flow was slowing down and the river beach was right in sight.

But Tamas still didn't dare to let his guard down. The closer he got to Margit Island, the more nervous he became.

Suddenly, a short but bright red flame bloomed on the high slope behind the river beach.

Without hesitation, Tamas rolled over into the water, and the crude rowboat capsized.

While Tamas was still in mid-air, a series of red flames bloomed on the Federalist's position, one next to the other, almost forming a line.

The brief flash of fire illuminated the gushing smoke, and the sound of gunfire like popping beans spread in all directions.

Almost at the same time, lead bullets also flew to Tamas.

Tamas hid under the water, unable to see anything but hearing the continuous "plop, plop" sound of lead bullets entering the water. Tamas was not worried about his own safety, as the lead bullets would not slide far in the water before running out of power.

What he was worried about was the wooden barrel tied to the back of the canoe. It might contain some deadly stuff. If it leaked, it would be the end of him.

So as soon as the sound of the lead bullet hitting the water stopped, Tamas immediately floated to the surface, pulled out the dagger tied to his calf, cut the rope between the rowboat and the barrel, then bit the rope and swam hard to the riverbank.

"boom!"

A thunderous roar ten times louder than the gunfire of the Federalists came from behind Tamas.

The New Army's cannons responded to the chorus of the Federal Musketeers with a deafening roar.

A hail of shotgun shells flew over Tamas' head and hit the Federalist positions.

Tamas could even hear the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sound of breaking through the air right next to his ears.

After about five breaths, the second roar came.

Five more breaths later, the third roar.

Tamas understood that the artillery brothers were covering the infantry brothers' landing on the island.

He gritted his teeth and swam even harder to the other side.

At the same time, sporadic gunshots were heard from the trenches on the river bank.

And there was smoke rising from the trenches, thin at first but soon becoming thick.

The soldiers of the Tiefeng County Regiment on the island were also doing their best to cover their comrades in landing on the island.

The wind is blowing northwest tonight, and most of the smoke released by the soldiers in the trenches is pushed into the island, spreading between the trenches of the new army and the breastworks of the federalists.

Although it was not perfect, it still obstructed the vision of the people of the Federation to a certain extent.

Using the cover of smoke and artillery fire, Tamas swam to shallow water.

As soon as his feet touched the soft riverbed, Tamas rushed forward a few steps, then grabbed the rope in his mouth and dragged the barrel behind him to the river bank.

They hadn't dragged the man out of the water before they had gone a few steps, and the barrel was stranded.

Without the help of buoyancy, the watertight barrel filled with the deadly stuff suddenly became extremely heavy and almost cost Tamas his life.

Fortunately, two figures climbed out of the trench on the river bank and ran to Tamas.

Without saying a word, the three of them worked together, wading through the mud and water, crossing the river beach. Lead bullets fell around them from time to time, but the three of them still carried the wooden barrel into the trench safely.

Tamas, who finally arrived at the "front line", collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath and coughing uncontrollably.

It was at this moment that the soldier who was helping him carry the barrel recognized who it was.

"battalion commander?"

"Is it the battalion commander?"

"Captain Tamas is here!"

Shouts rang out in the trenches.

"Why are you here?" Peter Bunnier, who rushed over as soon as possible, asked in a crying voice, and then sobbed, "You are finally here."

"There are still people behind," Tamas did not bother to say any comforting words to his best company commander. He naturally took over the command and issued orders quickly, "They also carry ammunition barrels. Help them get ashore."

"Yes!" The soldiers around Tamas raised their hands and saluted.

Just then, a shrill warning came from the end of the trench.

"Here they come!" the sentry shouted at the top of his lungs. "The federals are coming up through the smoke!"

"Oh no!" Peter Bunnier shouted anxiously, "Wind direction! The smoke helped them! It's all my fault! I..."

“Axe!” Tamas interrupted Peter sharply, struggling to stand up.

A short axe was quickly handed to the battalion commander.

Tamas raised his axe and chopped a hole in the sealed wooden barrel with a few strokes, then broke the wooden boards at both ends of the hole with his bare hands.

The soldiers then discovered that the wooden barrel was filled with "horsetail grenades".

  　[I’m very sorry for taking a lot of leave recently, and the updates are not good enough. I’m very, very sorry, Orz]

[Thank you readers for your patience and tolerance, thank you very much, Orz]

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[Thanks to all the book lovers for their collections, readings, subscriptions, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments. Thank you all]

(End of this chapter)