Chapter 573 Siege (Twenty-Five)

[Trenches]

The smoke filled the trenches, making it hard to open one's eyes.

Tamas covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth, but every time he breathed, he still felt a burning sensation.

The enemy launched attacks from multiple directions at the same time, and gunshots and harsh metal sounds came from the front and back at the same time.

The demon fire cut the snake-like trench into several sections, and fighting was going on in each section of the snake's "trunk", killing each other for a foot or an inch of distance.

Tamas led Peter Buniel and other subordinates to advance southward.

The trenches dug by the federals were very narrow, as if they were deliberately unable to stretch their arms. Two people had to squeeze sideways to pass each other, so Tamas blocked the passage tightly.

In his left hand, he held a shield made of local materials, made of wooden boards and plate breastplates. The wooden boards were removed from ammunition barrels, and the plate breastplates were stripped from the bodies of federals.

Yes, the federals were armored.

When the soldiers of the first company swam across the river, most of them only brought their own weapons.

In the trench where it was difficult to turn around, the advantage of "iron wrapped in flesh" was self-evident.

When Tamas thought of this, his heart felt like a knife.

This mental pain tortured him more strongly than physical pain.

When he rushed to the beach, his left foot stepped on something and was cut by a big gash, but he was unaware of it.

He didn't notice it until Peter Bunnier screamed.

But his subordinates, those companions who entrusted their lives to him and trusted him without reservation, were bleeding and sacrificing, so what was this injury?

So he scolded Peter Bunnier for wanting him to stay behind, but when he saw the aggrieved expression of the first company commander, he couldn't help feeling guilty.

Fortunately, these unnecessary emotions only occupied his heart for a short time. When he joined the battle, he immediately put all distractions behind him and concentrated on leading his subordinates to clean the trenches.

Tamas was holding a simple shield and a short knife, walking at the front of the squad.

Peter Buniel was carrying a bag full of grenades, following him one step behind.

Other soldiers were behind him.

No one dared to look up, and they bent down as much as possible, almost to the point of squatting.

Because they were being fired at from both sides, there was no safe "reverse slope" in the trench. Lead bullets "whizzed" through their heads, and some fell directly into the trench, hitting the wall, splashing waves of earth.

To the north, the cannons of the federalists were also firing, but no one knew where they were hitting.

Everyone could only lower their heads and leave everything to luck.

The trenches dug by the federalists would have a corner every twenty steps.

Depending on the terrain, an additional space would be expanded on the inside or outside of the corner to store supplies or station troops for defense.

Tamas knew the arrangements of the federalists because the centurion had taught him these things.

So during the process of advancing, every time he approached the corner at the end of the passage, he would be extremely careful.

When he was only one step away from the corner, Tamas inserted the short knife into the wall of the passage and asked in a deep voice: "[Platonic dialect] Is anyone there?"

No one answered in the alcove at the corner.

Tamas stretched out his hand to the captain of the first company behind him without looking back.

Peter Bunnier behind him immediately put a heavy, cold goose egg-like iron lump in his hand.

Then, Tamas heard the sound of a flint hitting a flint.

Then, Peter Bunnier behind him patted his back hurriedly.

Tamas stuffed the iron lump in his hand into the alcove at the corner without hesitation.

The two cooperated tacitly, and there was no need for extra words.

Almost at the same time when Tamas withdrew his hand, the iron lump exploded in the alcove.

The air wave rushed out of the alcove, hit the corner of the passage, and then poured to both sides.

The alchemical smoke deposited in the trench was briefly pushed away, and the more suffocating gunpowder and dust instantly filled the trench again.

Tamas pulled out a short knife from the wall and rushed into the alcove, only to find a broken body of a federal soldier inside.

Tamas didn't know whether the other party was blown up after he died, or died after being blown up.

None of this mattered. What mattered was that the other party had been ready to kill him and his men, and now that the other party was dead, he could no longer cause any harm to his men.

Tamas left a few soldiers to guard the alcove and continued to move forward.

Outside the next alcove, when he asked in the Platonic dialect, a faint, trance-like voice came from the alcove:

"Battalion commander?"

Tamas rushed into the alcove and saw a soldier leaning against the mud wall of the trench, holding his stomach, and sitting crooked on the ground.

"Gosha!" Tamas directly called out the soldier's name, and then squatted down beside the soldier.

Gosha was only fifteen years old. He had fought in Tamas's squad before the Blood Mud Battle. His real name was Igor, but everyone loved this kid, so they all called him by his nickname.

However, Gosha's face was lifeless at this moment. He tilted his head back, stared far away, and looked at Tamas. His lips, which were only covered with a little fluff, moved weakly, without a trace of blood.

In Tamas' eyes, Gosha looked much thinner all of a sudden, and his already slender face became even more pointed.

When he got closer, he found that Gosha's stomach was cut open with a huge hole, and his intestines slipped out from between Gosha's palms and fell to the ground.

Peter Bunier, who followed Tamas into the alcove, sobbed quietly.

"I thought...I...heard it wrong..." Gesha didn't shed a single tear. He was still trying to explain to Tamas, "I...I wanted to stuff it back...but...but It can’t be stuffed in…”

"It's okay," Tamas said like a thousand arrows piercing his heart, "I'm here."

"It's... it's so good... I... I thought... I was going to die alone... here..." Gesha huffed and puffed in his throat, "Lian Sheng... Lian Sheng guy... …went southward…many people…many, many people…”

Tamas shook Gosha's hand. He could not deceive Gosha with gentle lies, nor could he face the child's death.

"I'm sorry," Tamas whispered, "Gosa."

Gesha was speechless and shook his head with his last strength.

Tamas handed Gosha to his other men, picked up his shield, and walked out of the alcove without looking back.

Infinite anger surged in his heart, tearing at his chest and burning his internal organs.

All other thoughts disappeared. He just wanted to use the most cruel way to hurt the people of the United Provinces, to kill the people of the United Provinces, to tear the people of the United Provinces into pieces... No, even if the people of the United Provinces were torn into pieces... All the people in the province were cut into pieces, but his hatred could not be quelled.

There was no one in the next section of trench.

In the next section of trench, there were only three corpses, two from the United Provinces and one from Tamas's men.

In the next section of trench, two federal men stayed in the alcove. When they heard the sound of the fire sickle, they wanted to rush out, but Peter Bunier left the fuse very short, so the horsetail grenade exploded halfway and broke He hit the legs of two federal provincial soldiers.

Tamas killed two federal provincial soldiers and continued to clean up south.

The further they walked, the clearer the shouts of death became, but it was always quiet behind them.

Tamas gradually realized that the real main attack direction of the United Provinces was not the landing site, but the fortifications at the southern end of Margit Island.

After understanding this, Tamas led his men to rush south quickly.

After entering the open space at the southern end of Margit Island, the trench is no longer a straight line, but branches into three channels.

Not far away, on the flat river beach, corresponding to the Bishop's Fort at the northernmost point of Jiangxin Island, there is a small fortification. It is the core fortification of the United Provinces' position at the southernmost point of the island.

At the small fortification, the two sides were fighting.

Although the smoke was thick, Tamas couldn't see clearly who was attacking and who was defending.

But after discovering the true intention of the United Provinces people, he was already confident in making a judgment - it was the United Provinces people who were attacking, and the soldiers who landed on the island were defending. The United Provinces people had just walked the same path he had taken, so he Only dying and dead subordinates were found on the road, because the soldiers who were still able to move retreated to the small fortification at the southernmost end.

There was a loud sound of gunfire on the high slope, and the matchlock guns of the Federalists were pouring fire on Tamas's men in the fortification.

Fires were burning on the river beach, and the federal commandos were throwing alchemical liquid into the small barrier.

Tamas had a strong impulse. He wanted to rush forward regardless of his own safety and die with the people of the United Provinces.

But there were more than twenty soldiers beside him, and he could not bring these people to death.

Weighing the pros and cons, Tamas did not immediately order an assault.

"Take out all the horsetail grenades," Tamas pursed his lips, looking at the warring parties on the river beach, and ordered the first company commander, "This time, the fuses must be longer."

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