Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 470 I Too Can Go
Twenty men—no, more than thirty soldiers—were standing near the city gate.

These soldiers, fully armored and carrying massive, thick tower shields, stood ready at the entrance.

These soldiers were all tall and strong, clearly elite troops specially selected. They had already spotted the resistance forces and were beginning to form ranks and array themselves.

Gwen glanced back at her men, who were all panting and exhausted—riding a horse is very physically demanding, especially since they weren't very skilled and had to exert even more effort to control the horses.

Ruined.

There's no way we can get through this.

If they can't break through, they can't capture the inner city; if they can't capture the inner city, they can only retreat, otherwise they'll be trapped like turtles in a jar.
Retreat means entrusting your life to the Winter Wolf, and you can only pray for good luck or that the other side is merciful enough.

O white raven, have mercy on your people.
Gwen's mouth was dry and cold sweat poured down her back.

She was torn between two options—perhaps she could take a gamble now, if Isaac was nearby, and with his help there might be some hope, but if he wasn't, it would just be suicide.

The soldiers carrying the giant shields were not armed, but through the gaps in the shields, one could vaguely glimpse that they also had muskets at their waists.

Gwen hesitated for only a moment before the officer opposite her gave the order: "Soldiers, raise your shields and hold the gate!"

Should we charge? If we want to take a gamble, now is the only time. If the enemy reorganizes their formation and fills the gap in the gate, the resistance will have no hope whatsoever.

Gwen gritted her teeth, just as she was about to give the order, when suddenly a voice came from the center of the opposite formation:
"We can't go to the castle! There aren't many guards in the castle; it's impossible to defend it!"

The soldiers, who were about to approach the gate, paused in their tracks.

"Quick! Protect me! Raise all your shields! Don't you fucking move! Can't you see the guns over there? Block them!!"

Gwen's eyes lit up. The person speaking to her seemed to be of high status, a nobleman. The soldiers who had just received their orders were forcibly stopped by him, and their formation immediately fell into disarray. The shields the soldiers raised also obstructed their view, and a small gap was revealed at the gate.

"Resistance soldiers, charge with me! The brothers behind will be here soon, just keep charging forward!" Gwen shouted immediately, then without even aiming, raised her musket and fired in the direction from which the sound had come.

The soldiers behind them followed suit, yelling and firing as they charged forward, making the situation even more chaotic.

The same voice rang out again, its tone tinged with exasperation: "Quickly, protect me and get me out of the west gate! Don't fucking talk to me like that! They've already opened fire! What if they hit me? Are you the officer or am I? Listen to me, no firing! Get out of here!"

The commander on the other side looked grim as he watched helplessly as Gwen led her men into the castle, then gritted his teeth and led his soldiers in a retreat.

Gwen's heart pounded, and her back was covered in cold sweat. She had actually scared the other side away!
She left half of her men to guard the gate, and then, with the rest of her men, kicked open the castle gate.

As the man had said, the castle was indeed poorly defended, with only a few servants and a handful of soldiers who surrendered almost without a fight. The servants, under the steward's organization, put up some resistance, but were quickly defeated by Gwen and the others.

The main force of the resistance arrived a little late. They encountered many guards along the way. Some surrendered, while others fought to the death. However, the number of these troops was far smaller than that of the resistance, so they did not make much of a splash.

Even as Gwen stood in the castle hall, watching the resistance soldiers relentlessly searching the castle, she still couldn't quite believe it.

The castle was captured just like that?
Isn't her luck a little too good?
And where is Isaac?

"My lord, we are surrounded." The commander's expression was rather grim.

He was a bodyguard under Bazel and had always been relied upon by Bazel. However, today the Count refused to allow him to take command and insisted on leading his personal guards to break out of the encirclement.

"Ignore them and keep walking towards the city gate."

Bazel remained expressionless and offered no explanation, leaving everyone puzzled.

"Sir, they have muskets, they..."

"Raise your shields!" Bazel shouted, and the Frost Earth Guardians all raised their shields with both hands.

Such massive tower shields would severely hinder soldiers from using other weapons, which is why these Frost Earth Guardians only carry pistols and don't even have swords.

Scattered gunshots rang out from the resistance ranks, lead bullets striking shields with a crisp sound.

The tower shield, made of an unknown material, successfully blocked the resistance's fire. The shield was very large, and when the soldiers raised it in an alternating pattern, there were no gaps. This round of fire did not cause any casualties.

"Shields down—load the gun!" Bazel shouted the order again. The soldiers took down their raised shields, stood them on the ground, turned around and leaned against the shields, using their free hands to load the short-handled muskets at their waists.

They took a small paper bag from their pocket, bit the opening and tore it open, then poured the contents into the musket barrel.

Bazel paused briefly, then spoke again, "Compact it—load!"

The soldiers pressed their muskets against the side of the tower shield, where there was an iron bar that could be used to hang items and also as a cleaning rod.

Seeing the soldiers around him pressing in lead pellets, Bazel shouted without hesitation, "Fire!"

There was a pre-drilled indentation on the shield, and the soldiers pressed their muskets against it before firing.

A cloud of smoke rose up, and several resistance fighters fell.

"Raise your shield!"

Seeing that the other side had also finished reloading, Count Bazel gave the order again, and the soldiers raised their tower shields to block another wave of fire.

The two sides are not far apart, and they can see each other's situation.

The resistance fighters quickly discovered that these soldiers were practically a mobile fortress; their specially made tower shields could block fire from one side, while the resistance fighters could only flee for their lives when faced with fire from the other side.

How to fight this?
After several attempts, the resistance fighters reluctantly gave way. They also realized that this group seemed to have no intention of fighting and only wanted to break out from here.

Soon, Bazeir's personal guard arrived at the city gate, opened it, and quickly left.

The resistance fighters hesitated for a moment as they watched them disappear, then abandoned their pursuit.

Their priority now is to clear out the remaining garrison inside the castle, rather than fight to the death with this group of inexplicably appearing enemies.

After leaving Sladedinburgh, the commander of the Frost Earth Guard, Bazel's second-in-command, finally couldn't help but ask:
"My lord, we were just able to defend the castle."

Bazel looked at his deputy, who had followed him for many years, with a half-smile: "What's the use of holding it?"

The adjutant was stunned.

Bazel looked into the distance: "We don't need a peaceful North. If the resistance is willing to stir things up, that's fine. If they can't, I can even lend a hand. Go to Octavia's territory."

"That Grand Duchess?"

"Yes, tell her that my troops have been defeated by the resistance, and ask her for help. Remember to make it a big deal."

The adjutant scratched his head, somewhat bewildered: "So, are you going to your residence now to mobilize troops?"

“No, I want to go check out the woodlands of the Canary Mountains.” A hint of malice crept into Bazel’s face. “They can reach my castle, so why can’t I check out their camp?”

"And we can also see if the rumors about Ms. Nora are true."

(End of this chapter)