Chapter 1535: Chapter 67: Siege (37)_2
Major Lobres’ back was already drenched in sweat; he hadn’t expected the rebels’ firepower to be so formidable.
In less than a day, his defensive line was about to be breached.
He urgently assembled manpower, demolishing houses and roads within the town, frantically gathering construction materials, desperately trying to thicken and heighten the segnt of wall that the rebels were focused on bombarding, hoping to buy a bit more ti.
The major had already started regretting his boast before Colonel Alda, guaranteeing that Jade Crossing would remain secure with his honor.
That night, United Provinces soldiers venturing outside the wall to clear earth mounds ran into rebel engineers trying to conduct blasting operations at the periter.
Both sides were startled, neither even considering combat, and retreated imdiately.
However, musketeers on the wall and musketeers in the enemy trenches exchanged fire throughout the night, leaving everyone inside the city sleepless.
…
[Winters’ Tent]
“…I still think Alda won’t take the bait,” Roson Jura folded his arms, leaned forward, elbows on the table edge, pressing his full weight onto the map table. With brows furrowed, he said irritably, “Alda isn’t a fool. Knowing we have a cavalry advantage, he certainly won’t rashly attack.”
“Yes, precisely,” Winters, busy with a ruler on the map table, was enlarging a small map from his notebook onto a large sheet, “If I were Colonel Alda, as long as the enemy had a cavalry advantage, I would avoid field battles with them as much as possible.”
“Then what?” Roson’s brow furrowed tighter, “You’re not really planning on dismounting, climbing the city walls, and presenting Colonel Alda with a gift, are you?”
“I plan,” Winters looked up at Roson, “to do nothing.”
“Hmm?”
“Our cavalry advantage isn’t what we should be worrying about, it’s what Colonel Alda should be worrying about,” Winters smoothly spoke while sketching lines, “Just as we must try our best to eliminate [Stronghold]’s artillery advantage, Alda will definitely find ways to weaken our cavalry advantage.”
Winters straightened up, stretched his muscles, massaged his aching eyes, then turned to face Major Roson, “So, like dancing, let’s just follow Colonel Alda’s steps—though I’m still unsure of how he plans to act.”
“Our greatest advantage isn’t the cavalry, but the fact that Vansco Alda doesn’t know—we have the courage and determination to swallow [Stronghold]!”
Having said this, he sighed and began drafting again.
“You truly have no boundaries to your audacity,” Roson picked up a lantern, moved beside Winters, and illuminated his work, musing aloud, “Is that why you’ve been urging us to travel fast? To create an impression for Colonel Alda that we’re eager to rush back for aid?”
“Not just that,” Winters pointed to the briefcase hanging on the back of his chair, which was stuffed with envelopes marked as urgent military affairs, speaking without raising his head, “those are all requests for reinforcents I’ve had sent by General Gessa, but few have successfully been intercepted by Alda, so how well we deceive him, I can’t say.”
Upon hearing this, Roson picked up the briefcase, casually took out a few letters and opened them. The contents inquired about the army’s current position and urged the troops to return to Maplestone City quickly. The closer the letter’s date, the sterner the tone, with the most recent ones almost scolding.
“Of course, most importantly,” continued Winters, “I asked General Gessa to endure the action from the Water Gate enemy forces and under no circumstances to launch an attack, trying as much as possible to create an illusion that Maplestone City is lacking in troops…”
On one side, Winters was still talking to himself.
On the other side, Roson held up the lantern, observing the figure of “Blood of the Wolf” for a long ti, then sighed suddenly, “They say there’s only a wrong na, not a wrong nickna, but I feel today that perhaps your nickna is wrongly given.”
“Hmm?” Winters paused for a mont, but when he understood what his senior was saying, he grinned broadly, “Are you truly thinking that way? Actually, I have felt that too…”
Roson Jura sighed again, “No wonder General Skur appreciates you so much.”
This statent indeed stunned Winters.
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow.
It’s known that among the Four Pillars, Winters’ relationship with Skur klen was the coldest and most distant, always minding their own business.
Roson Jura, however, rely chuckled and said no more.
…
[Maplestone City]
On the day the “rebels” besieged Jade Crossing, the United Provinces Army resting and gathering strength at the Water Gate also revealed its grim face.
Four fully ard paddle-sail warships set out from the Water Gate dock, sailed into the Anya River estuary, and proceeded upstream, piercing directly into the heart of the Newly Reclaid Land.
They indiscriminately fired on ships they encountered along the way, whether military or civilian, until the ships sank;
They swept the villages and towns along the coast with grapeshot, dispatching soldiers to land, plunder, and set fires;
They continued their attack until they reached the Water Gate outside Maplestone City, where they were finally stopped by the chains stretched across the river;
So they ford into a formation on the river, began bombarding Maple Fort, and dispatched soldiers again to land, burning fields, mills, docks, warehouses, and civilian houses outside the city walls.
The cannon roared all night long.
Looking down from the high walls of Maplestone City, all you could see were the banks of Mother River shrouded in thick smoke, flas reaching the sky, scenes like Hell everywhere.
Gessa Adonis stood motionless on the city wall, both hands gripping the bricks tightly as if they would crush the bricks into powder.
This brutal onslaught was imdiately effective.
Reviews
All reviews (0)