Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 357 The Bizarre Offensive

Having figured this out, Josh immediately turned to another tall believer: "How's the evacuation operation going?"

Josh never intended to confront the other side head-on. The Secret Order was established for self-defense, and the followers had only undergone simple training. Although they were highly organized, they were not prepared for large-scale battles.

Moreover, fighting the Mother Goddess's followers is completely pointless. Even if they win, they won't gain anything and will only cause Castel to lose this large potential population.

Therefore, avoiding combat became the optimal solution for the Secret Order.

But the believer looked troubled: "High Priest, we have mobilized all the believers we can, but it will still take a long time."

Evacuation must be planned; otherwise, once you leave the protection of the barricades and are exposed to the monsters, you will only die faster.

Josh has decided on two evacuation routes. One is the Upper City, which is protected by the Port Guard.

Although the prince escaped swiftly and decisively here, he could not do so in the Upper City.

The Upper City has a fairly strong defense force. At the first moment of the rebellion, he mobilized the Port Guard to protect the Upper City. They are fully capable of going head-to-head with the Church of Mother Goddess. Although we don't know how strong these monsters are, they look like flesh and blood. Can bullets deal with monsters?

Josh was unsure, but the Guardians and his mother-in-law were veterans of the Deep Sea Wars, having personally fought against sea monsters.

Therefore, when her mother-in-law came before, she told Josh with certainty that if he encountered a situation that was completely unavoidable, he could seek refuge in the uptown area.

A prince may not be trustworthy, but the musket in his hand is.

Out of respect for Castells, the prince will not expel them, and will even try his best to protect them; this has already been agreed upon.

Besides the Upper Town, they can also evacuate to the docks.

There were no Christian guards or harbor guards on the dock, but there were ships.

Galahad arrived by ship; Hughes had specially arranged for a foreign steamer from Castells.

The number of followers of the Secret Order was only a few hundred, which far exceeded the ship's carrying capacity, but it was an ocean voyage.

If we're going to Castells, then it shouldn't be a big problem.

It only takes a day or two to get to Castel from here at full speed. This journey doesn't even require resupply; you can just tough it out.

Moreover, once you arrive at the dock, there will be backup—a fully armed squad of banshees is stationed near Blood Harbor.

Josh didn't know what kind of fighting power the Banshee possessed. He secretly asked Zoe, and the brown-haired girl answered without hesitation:

"As long as they join the fight, all problems can be solved, and everything will be alright."

In other words, it should at least be able to withstand monster attacks head-on, right?

The holy book he received from his mother-in-law did not contain the corresponding part. This was knowledge that was not passed on outside the Guardians of the Faith. Perhaps only when he went to Castel could he truly understand these extraordinary beings.

However, Josh doesn't need to worry about it now. No matter which direction they retreat in, the battle line here will have to be held for a while longer. There are many old and young people in the Secret Order, so they need to buy them more time. It's not urgent enough to abandon them yet.

"Load! Remember to pack the gunpowder tightly! Hurry up!" His comrade shouted commands, while Josh organized the followers who were preparing for close combat. The weapons here were not very uniform; in addition to muskets, some used bows and arrows, some used crossbows, and there were a number of spears. Although the types were not very uniform, everyone had something to use.

This was just a barricade after all. Although people were standing on the rooftops on both sides, there weren't many people who could stand together and fight at the same time in the narrow alley.

This is a good thing—the monsters and the Mother Goddess's followers can only crowd forward like this.

The muskets were loaded far too slowly, and only those on the rooftops on either side were still using them. The believers in the alleyways picked up their spears, and a few raised their makeshift shields.

Another round of fighting broke out, and the believers of the Church of the Mother Goddess surged forward. Josh and his companions shouted loudly, trying their best to maintain order.

In battles fought with cold weapons, morale is almost everything, especially in narrow alleyways where both sides have only rudimentary weapons. If morale collapses, the defensive line will be breached almost instantly.

"Stab them! Kill them! Hold on!!"

As the first wave of enemies approached the barricade, several spears suddenly emerged from the gaps between the bricks, while above, several men thrust their spears downwards.

The followers of the Mother Goddess were riddled with bloody holes, and blood flowed down the shafts of the spears. They fell to the ground, their faces numb, as if they had not been stabbed in their own bodies.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Why aren't they dodging at all!?"

"Aaaaaah, he's still walking forward even while impaled on a spear!!!"

The defensive line crumbled almost immediately. Josh could only desperately try to maintain order. The believers, who had little combat experience, actually did a decent job. After all, they had fled from the North and were used to death. However, the bizarre situation still caused many of them to lose their minds.

"Hold on!"

"They can't break through. Our comrades from the Secret Order are right behind us! Hold on!"

Josh's voice was hoarse from shouting, but he managed to keep the morale of the cultists in check. Although he had no fighting ability, the act of standing shoulder to shoulder with the cultists was an encouragement in itself.

Although the Mother Goddess's followers were in a strange state and fearless of death, they lacked real fighting skills. They simply walked over and rammed their flesh and blood into the spear, as if their only purpose was to die there.

Wait, die here?
Josh suddenly sensed something was wrong. He suppressed his panic and scrambled up the nearby house, standing on the high ground and looking down.

The number of corpses in the alleyway continued to increase, but the believers paid no heed and just kept moving forward.

However, the monsters mixed among the believers were frantically devouring their corpses. They had already eaten countless bodies, and their size had far surpassed that of ordinary humans. Some of the larger ones were even almost filling the entire alleyway.

Josh felt a chill run through him, an icy coldness rising up his spine from behind, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

These monsters are getting stronger and stronger. No wonder the believers neither attacked nor resisted. It turns out that these monsters are the real enemies!
What should we do?!

Josh, who had never seriously commanded a battle before, was completely stunned. He was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted, but before he could come up with a solution, the first monster had already squeezed in front of the defensive line!

(End of this chapter)