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Chapter XCVIII – Your scheme come.
🕑 Added 2024-07-14 13:33:21 +0000 UTC
68th of Summer 5859
Right next to the disintegrated walls of Casamonu, Casamonu
Billy thought that this must be hell, or more accurately, he had found himself in a hellish otherworld. He had heard an explosion right behind him, a severed hand had slapped him on his back, and now the fugitive slaves were running towards him while shouting “Liberty or death!” Now he could hear screaming behind, right, left, and in front of him. It seemed that the men of Corvus were in rout and running towards the walls, and Billy joined them in their wild dash. His comrades on the frontlines were immediately killed in the charge, lacking support after everyone behind them had routed, and Billy could feel that there was a fugitive right behind him. He ran fast, faster, and as fast as he could, weaving through the disorganized crowd trying to retreat back to the safety of the city’s walls.
Corvus’ men had retreated back to the gate of the city, forming a wall of men blocking off the entrance. They had lost many soldiers, but the gate was narrow and they were ready to defend it if the fugitives tried to push their assault further. Sir Corvus himself was at the back of the line, doing his best to regroup the routed men for another push.
“Look men, they are a bunch of savages, holding crude weapons tipped with copper. If we lose here, then our progeny will never forgive us for being cowards. They can’t pierce our armor, they can’t pierce our will, and with another cavalry charge they’ll be gone with the wind. Don’t be startled by some cheap explosive darkskin trick!” Truth be told, none of Sir Corvus’ retainers had died in the charge. Their steel armor was simply too tough to be pierced by copper, and they were professional soldiers armed with experience. With proper infantry support, Corvus was sure that the fugitives would break soon enough after realizing that defeating his cavalry was a futile endeavor.
Despite Corvus’ speech, the men were unwilling to charge. It was the same for Brown’s men too – they were tired after having ran after the enemy. Both sides continued trading projectiles at a safe range, looking to see who would gather energy first to commit to entering combat again. Corvus knew that the city would begin having food shortages, and that his men wouldn’t be able to fight in peak condition like this again if they were routed again. Brown on the other hand wanted to capture Casamonu before it began starving and the people inside needlessly suffered, not to mention the fact that he wanted to take a break with military campaigning to establish a non-provisionary government as soon as possible.
Suddenly, an idea popped up in Ayomide’s head. She poked Brown. “Old man, could you delay the charge for a bit? I’ll bring something real quick.”
Brown nodded. “Go a bit forward, very slowly, don’t actually charge them!” He vaguely got what Ayomide wanted to do, so he feinted a charge to make the enemy go on the defensive. Corvus’ men packed themselves close together to anticipate the coming charge. “Alright, very slowly now. Act like you’re hesitating.” It took several minutes, and the armies were far away from making melee contact.
Meanwhile, Ayomide had gathered a few of her men to help her. She was coming back on a horse that had a cart attached to it. The cart had an item which had been covered up by cloth. “Open the way, heavy load coming through!” She parked the cart near the frontlines, though the enemy soldiers were too busy watching her “charging” comrades to give any notice to her. She uncovered the cloth, revealing the cannon and shrapnel-packed cannonballs which they had used for the siege. “Rabanowicz isn’t here, but I think we can make this shot without her. Turn the canon around towards ‘em!” Her men pushed the canon on the cart to face the enemy. With the extra height provided by the cart, Ayomide could clearly see the enemy despite standing behind her allied comrades. A few of the enemy soldiers had noticed her, and she saw them pointing towards the canon. It was a bit too late however, as Ayomide and her men loaded the cannonball.
The first cannonball tore through the middle of the packed crowd of defenders. Ayomide hadn’t managed to time the fuse without Rabanowicz, so the ball lodged itself on to the earth which happened to extinguish the fuse. However, a heavy clay ball launched from relatively close range was still fast enough to cause instant death and injury to the men it had made contact with. The second cannonball landed right as the defenders had understood what was happening and begun breaking their ranks in a rout. After a few seconds in the earth, the second cannonball’s fuse went off.
BOOM!
Countless shrapnel flew around, injuring and killing many of Corvus’ men. The explosion itself knocked many of them out, and there no longer was a defensive line to speak of. Brown shouted “One last charge, let’s make sure they never return again!”, and the men of the League began their charge for the gates. There were none of Corvus’ men left on the wall to close the gates, and so the League poured into Casamonu proper.
68th of Summer 5859
Below the other gate of Casamonu, Casamonu
“Yawn…” Shinasi had been cooking under the scorching summer sun, and for what? It seemed that the enemy had decided not attack through this gate considering he hadn’t seen any enemy soldiers for a long while. The men had gotten tired of waiting as well, and most of them were sitting on the ground, chatting between themselves.
It felt weird to complain about there being peace and no battle, but Shinasi felt himself complaining about just that. He contemplated whether or not his men should move to the other gate to help their comrades, but Tubman had strictly ordered Shinasi to stay put and stick with the plan. Stuck he was, stuck without being able to help Ayomide… Truth be told, Shinasi was pacing around, worrying whether she was doing fine on the other side. At least he would have preferred to die by her side if they were going to be defeated.
Suddenly, a jolt. The gate began opening, going up and up. The men got up from their hindsides and prepared for battle. This was it. Fate had called upon them, to fight for liberty or for death. Frustration, for having waited for so long, swelled up in their chest. They were ready to charge and tear the enemy to shreds even if Tubman didn’t order them to.
The gate opened, and on the other side were… “The captain? Ayomide?” …fellow soldiers of the League.
Brown and co. rode up to meet their comrades-in-arms, and they were met with cheers. However, Brown seemed to be in way less of a jovial mood. He quickly reported to Tubman and co. “We have taken the gates and the walls, but the defenders are still fighting in the streets, and most of them have locked themselves in the castle. The siege is far from over, so save your celebrations for later if you could. We won’t have control of this city without having control of the castle up on that hill, so we rushed over here to reunite with you and take the castle together. Me and Ayomide’s men are tired from the battle, so we’ll need your help.” Tubman’s and Shinasi’s men weren’t too happy with the fact that they’d have to attack a castle, but they were relieved to hear that their comrades had won the battle.
Without being given a chance to cheer for their victory, the men of the League marched back into the city.
They were eager to write the last chapter of Sir Corvus’ story.
