Chapter 569 Siege (Twenty-One)

Just as Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk on Margit Island was planning an offensive, the new army on the west bank of the Ten Arrow River was also racing against time to prepare for the enemy's next counterattack.

On the riverbank, Demon Ons was lying under the gun carriage of the 32-pound gun, holding a candle and inspecting the tail of the gun inch by inch.

The bronze cannon showed a luster similar to gold under the candlelight. The melted candle dripped on Ons's hands from time to time, and the "devil" didn't even blink.

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

And because there was a precedent of the barrel bursting, the artillerymen had to be extra careful when using these old guys.

After the visual inspection, Demon Ons patted the gun carriage, and the artillerymen next to him pulled him out from under the gun carriage together.

Demon Ans said nothing, just nodded, and then walked to the next 32-pound cannon.

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

Barrels of linseed oil were poured into the barrel to calm the anger of these bronze behemoths.

In contrast, the firing process of the three six-pound cannons that were squeezed to the edge of the position and looked inconspicuous was much simpler.

These three six-pound cannons were seized by the Tiefeng County Army the longest time and used the most times, and their tempers had long been known. So the gunners were most comfortable serving them.

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

So the 32-pound cannon was still busy, and the six-pound cannon could be fired again.

At the same time, under the river bank, Tamas, the first battalion commander of the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment, was leading his men to recover the ferry with all their strength.

Due to the influence of the water flow, the route of the ferry between the two banks is not straight, but "diagonal".

That is, the first batch of soldiers who landed on the island started from half a kilometer upstream of the landing point, and when the ferry turned back, they were washed half a kilometer downstream.

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

Tamas led people to pull the stranded rowboats and sampans ashore, carried them back to the back of the river bank, loaded them on horse carriages, and transported them upstream again.

Geza Adonis in the temporary command post frowned unconsciously as he watched the soldiers of the Tiefeng County Regiment climbing up and down the river bank from afar.

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

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

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

Geisa didn't respond.

Mason knew that he had said something wrong, and hurriedly tried to make up for it: "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..."

Geisa sneered.

The artillery major simply shut up, and the others in the command post were also silent.

After a while, it was still Gesa who 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, and explained rigorously, "The enemy on the island is at least two battalions in size. Even according to the most optimistic estimate, they still have at least eight complete centurions..."

Mason's voice became smaller and smaller.

This time, it was Gesa'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 embarrassedly, "It's a long story."

Gesa was completely worn out of temper. He took a deep breath and planned to talk about something else.

At this moment, the lookout's shout reached the command post:

"Lights! The other side is sending signals!"

Gesa rushed to the breastwork upon hearing this, and Mason and other officers in the command post hurried to follow.

On Margit Island, a spot suddenly lit up.

From a distance, it looked like a small hole was poked in the black canvas, letting the light behind the canvas through.

However, the signal light on the other side neither flickered nor moved, but just lit up suddenly, completely inconsistent with any pre-agreed signal rules.

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

The people in the command post were shocked at this time-it was not a light, it was fire.

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

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 provincial musketeers fired deadly lead bullets from the high slope, killing the "fire man" on the river beach.

But it is difficult to say whether this behavior is cruel or gives the fire man relief.

Because soon, several more fire men climbed out of the trenches and rushed to the Ten Arrow River.

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

The firemen screamed in pain, drowned by the dark river.

Mason watched all this with his heart aching.

Geza Adonis broke the silence and spat out one word hatefully: "Alchemical fire!"

On the pontoon, on the embankment, on the river bank... the heart-rending screams coming from the other side made everyone stop what they were doing. The soldiers looked at the fire that had spread into a wall on the island. At a loss.

"Keep working," Geza said coldly.

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

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

Soon, everyone came to their senses.

The engineers continued to move building materials onto the pontoon, the artillery continued to load the cannons, and the soldiers transporting the ferry waved their whips again and drove the carriages to the attack position upstream with a harsh creaking sound.

"Can your people withstand it?" Gesa turned his head and asked Mason.

"It's our people, General," Mason corrected seriously, "and our soldiers have never let us down."

Gesa nodded and said nothing more.

Rapid footsteps sounded, and Tamas approached Mason.

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

"There is no shortage of me in the West Bank," Tamas replied firmly, "I am needed there."

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