I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 699 This is our mine! (Please give me a monthly ticket at the end of the month)

"You bastards, don't even think about taking away our mines!"

Next to the stone water trough on the east side of the town of Chebinia, miner Old Vicha raised his gun and shot at the Austrian soldiers in gray and white uniforms in the distance.

He had been a miner for more than 20 years and never thought that he would one day go to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

But he and his fellow workers did an excellent job.

More than half a month had passed since the Austrian army entered Krakow, and a small part of the town of Chebinja was still in the hands of the Umjan Mining Company.

If anyone has any doubts about the fighting spirit of these armed miners, then reality will surely give him a slap in the face.

In fact, the miners were even more determined to defend Krakow than the army.

In the past, they could only barely make ends meet, and if they fell sick or were injured, their families would go hungry.

After French investors brought the most advanced steam engines, the output of the silver mine increased exponentially, their wages also increased significantly, and the mine also provided good benefits.

Today, not only do they have no worries about food and drink, but they can also have two or three meals of meat every week. New clothes and new furniture are no longer just fantasies.

It would be fine if you had to endure the suffering all the time, but once people have experienced the good life, they would never want to go back to the past even if they die.

Yes, I don’t even want to “die” in the physical sense.

When they learned that the Austrians were coming to rob the silver mine, without anyone's call, they immediately gathered together spontaneously, holding the flintlock rifles that they had been issued when they dealt with the "bandits" before, and expressed their determination to protect the silver mine to the death.

The more than 200 Austrian soldiers in front of them were still more than 90 steps away from them, basically out of the range of the flintlock rifles.

But after a burst of gunfire, they turned around and fled in panic as if they were hit by a cannon. Some even threw away their guns. [Note 1]

It’s not that the miners were great archers, but the morale of the Austrian army was so low that no one wanted to be shot for this meaningless war.

The miners' captain shouted: "The enemy has retreated, stop shooting!"

The position near the sink immediately became quiet.

These miners have a very big advantage, which is that they obey orders very well - for an extremely dangerous job like mining, people who disobey management usually don't live long.

"What a bunch of cowards!" Old Vicha's son put away the cleaning rod and cursed with a smile.

The voices of fellow workers came from the side:

"Yes, they haven't even gotten as far as they did last time."

"The bushes ahead are probably where they will never reach..."

Suddenly, the captain shouted, "Watch out! They're coming back!"

Old Vicha looked at the situation with a relaxed expression, and saw more than 300 Austrian soldiers arranged in a tight line array, pressing towards this side to the sound of drums.

Behind them were dozens of officers in white and green uniforms.

Further away were Wilmser and his staff.

The Austrian general had been forced to come to the front in person to oversee a battalion-sized attack.

Moreover, he was extremely cautious and used nearly ten times the number of troops to attack - there were only more than 40 miners on the water tank side.

The Austrian soldiers were forced to advance until they were less than 40 steps away from the miners, and then raised their guns amid the officers' angry curses.

The miners fired as hard as they could, but their numbers were too small to cause serious damage to the enemy.

Previously, the Austrian army collapsed at the first blow, not because of their superb archery skills.

"Shoot!" an Austrian major shouted loudly.

Under the surveillance of the supervision team, the soldiers of the three companies had no choice but to pull the trigger.

A burst of dense gunfire swept through the town, and nearly half of the miners groaned and were knocked to the ground by bullets. The Austrian army had a huge numerical advantage, and if a real exchange of fire began, the miners would not be able to resist at all.

The leader of the miners covered his shot arm and shouted hoarsely:
"Retreat! Retreat to the jewelry store!"

Old Vicha hurriedly pulled his son up and ran north with his fellow workers.

There was another burst of gunfire behind him. When he looked back, he saw the captain still standing in front of the water trough, motionless, holding the flintlock in one hand.

He lowered his head and ran with his companions to the jewelry store, only to find that the mercenary positions there were also engaged in a fierce firefight with the Austrian army.

The enemy's number was obviously several times greater than ours.

Yes, although the morale of the Austrian army was low, Wurmser was, after all, a professional officer with many battles. After discovering that his soldiers were passive and lazy, he immediately carried out targeted deployment for half a month.

He dispersed all his troops around the town of Chebinia, all fighting in battalion-sized units. He sent his own guards to supervise the battle with the battalion commander and authorized the shooting of any soldier who dared to retreat.

At the same time, he himself inspected the battlefield.

Under such strict orders and pressure, after five days of fierce fighting, 5 Austrian troops finally drove the defenders of the mining company out of the town of Chebinia.

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There were gunshots everywhere. Old Vicha ventured to the roof of a two-story building and finally saw the flag of the company patrol team.

He jumped out of the window and called out to the nearly 100 miners gathered together:
"Over at Madame Mariusz's flower shop, come on!"

When they arrived at the flower shop, they heard the patrol captain Makavsky say to a mercenary officer:

"There are too many enemies. We must retreat back to the Tarnovsk Mountains."

Then, old Vicha led his son and followed the patrol team to retreat to the northwest.

Soon, gunshots were heard from the front.

Makovsky rode over on horseback and called out to everyone:

"There are Austrian troops blocking the way ahead, everyone head east."

Old Vicha nodded nervously and said to his son:
"He must mean the path next to the washing pond, which leads into the mountain."

In fact, the mine is bare and not very suitable for defense.

But right now, they only have this choice.

A team of mercenaries was left behind, and the rebels from the mining company had just seen the ore washing pool from afar when they heard the roar of cannons ahead.

There was a sound of "chi--" as a tree about ten steps away from Old Vicha was broken in half by the shell. Wood chips flew everywhere.

Makovsky's face suddenly turned pale: "There are enemies ahead too!"

However, the main force of the Austrian army was on the flank, and there were enemies behind them. If they could not go up the mountain, they would be surrounded and killed here.

Through interrogation of the locals he had captured earlier, Wilms had figured out the terrain near the mine and blocked all roads in advance.

Although the morale of the Austrian soldiers was low, they had no choice but to shoot to protect themselves when faced with the charging Poles.

Makovsky drew his sword and shouted, "Follow me!"

The miners immediately burst into shouts:
"Don't be afraid of them! This is our mine!"

"No one can stop us, everyone go ahead!"

Following the sound of military drums, old Vicha walked towards the Austrian infantry line that was across the ore washing pool, and pulled back his son who was rushing in front, blocking him tightly behind him.

Blood spurted out from time to time. His fellow workers fell one by one, but the drums did not stop beating, and they all continued to move forward until they could clearly see the flames from the Austrians' guns.

(End of this chapter)