Chapter 1515: Chapter 61: Siege (Part 31)
Under the cover of night, a small boat silently drifted downstream, without lights or oars, anchoring quietly at the riverbank.
In the darkness, Winters crossed the river dike towards the small boat, with Mason and Bart Xialing following behind.
In the distance, there were faint flashes of light to the north and northeast.
These were signals from Bishop’s Castle on Magit Island and the “Castle” battery at the southernmost point of New Town.
Both fortresses were currently in enemy hands, supporting and protecting each other.
Below the castle battery on the riverbank, the wreck of a barge was faintly visible.
The part of the hull above the waterline was almost entirely burnt away, leaving only a charred hull lying lifelessly in the muddy bank, like a decrepit tombstone.
Among the seven New Army warships, three suffered the same fate.
However, thanks to the crew’s desperate attempts, they did not drift into enemy-controlled areas but instead ran aground on friendly-controlled riverbanks, eventually recovered by ground forces and turned into part of the fortifications.
Warships converted from cargo ships were still too fragile against real warships.
The New Army’s firearms could only leave slight scratches on the hulls of United Province ships.
However, the cannons on United Province warships possessed devastating power against New Army ships.
Even engaging the United Provincials in melee combat was difficult—the New Army warships’ rails were too low, slightly higher than the lower deck of the United Provincials’ ships, requiring ladders to board.
Not to mention the United Provincials’ ships also had stern and bow castles.
In a moment of crisis, Samujin, commanding the New Army Navy, made a remarkable decision.
He ordered the flagship he was on to beat the war drums and charge directly towards the enemy ships.
The situation unfolded too quickly for signal communication; seeing the flagship charging, the other six New Army warships also ceased retreating and turned to engage.
This action threw the United Province sailors into disorder. They fired several broadsides, watching as the “rebel” ships were riddled with holes, yet couldn’t slow them down.
Ultimately, the captain of the United Province warship decided to retreat, putting distance between themselves and the “rebel” ships.
It wasn’t out of fear of boarding action but because he believed the insane charge by the approaching small boat meant it was a fireship.
The United Province captain’s decision granted a narrow opportunity for the New Army on the water.
Because, in terms of firepower and tonnage, the New Army’s river barges were no match for the United Province Navy’s oared sail warships, and the winds were also unfavorable to the New Army.
Mere escape would only result in the United Province ships catching up, one by one, clearing the decks with cannon fire.
Instead, the New Army’s small ships engaged actively, catching the United Provincials off guard, forcing their larger ships to retreat miles away.
Seizing the gap left by the temporary retreat of the United Province warships, Samujin ordered the abandonment of the four severely damaged ships and instructed the three less damaged ships to retreat upstream.
Through the New Army sailors’ diligent efforts, the three heavily damaged ships successfully ran aground on the west bank of River Shijian, on friendly territory. Most importantly, the crew safely evacuated, even the wounded were carried ashore.
However, one ship caught such intense fire, it had to be abandoned entirely.
This abandoned ship drifted to the southernmost point of New Town, beneath the “Castle” battery at Kingsfort.
Perhaps to mock the “rebels,” the United Provincials did not recover it, leaving it stranded on the riverbank.
And all this was just the beginning.
With the United Province “Navy” making its debut and heavily damaging the Paratu People’s painstakingly assembled river fleet with just one warship,
it seemed the United Provincials’ confidence was also swelling.
During the day, they once again deployed warships to intercept the New Army boats transporting supplies to the island and attempted to completely destroy the “rebel” ships stranded on the riverbank.
This time, however, Richard Mason, prepared, taught the United Province Navy a good lesson.
The New Army artillery had suffered significant losses in the previous night’s artillery battle, with no artillerymen unscathed;
But, the earthen walls against wooden walls, long guns against short barrels, fixed positions against mobile platforms—ultimately, it was the wooden walls, short barrels, and mobile turrets that couldn’t withstand the pressure.
After several large holes were blasted into its hull, the [Marco Good Fortune] shamefully withdrew from combat, fleeing in panic towards Kingsfort dock.
If not for its luck, not being hit below the waterline, this “Good Fortune” ship, which had flaunted so much the previous night, might have joined its enemies on the riverbank the next day.
From that point on, the United Provincials dared not expose their warships within the New Army artillery range—at least not during the day.
By night, however, southern forces still dispatched naval units upriver through the eastern channel of Magit Island.
Sometimes they sent large ships carrying artillery to harass the New Army positions on the west bank;
Other times they dispatched small boats loaded with combustibles to sabotage the New Army’s construction of a floating bridge.
Evidently, the southern forces were well aware that if they allowed the New Army to complete the floating bridge, the full loss of Magit Island would only be a matter of time.
Thus, despite considerable risk, the southern forces persisted in deploying ships to interfere with the New Army’s operations, particularly to slow down the floating bridge construction.
As a result, the New Army’s floating bridge remains incomplete to this day.
Mason found this particularly troublesome.
The New Army’s artillery positions on the west bank of River Shijian could somewhat block the western channel of Magit Island.
But Magit Island is a river island, navigable on both sides.
The artillery positioned on the west bank of River Shijian was powerless against the river on the other side.
Mason had considered moving the artillery to the island, which would block both directions of the waterway.
However, he ultimately abandoned this idea.
Firstly, because moving the artillery to the island was too difficult, and secondly, because once there, it would be even harder to move it back down than to move it up.
Considering the risks involved, Mason did not act rashly.
So by the time Winters arrived at the front line, Mason was preparing a second plan—an iron chain across the river.
Namely, stretching an iron chain across the water to completely block the channel.
If this plan could indeed be realized, the New Army could work undisturbed between Magit Island and the west bank.
The problem was that the iron needed to forge the chain could only be transported from the rear.
But the besieging troops were already placing a huge burden on the supply lines, and adding iron transport was simply too much to ask.
In fact, Mason had also tried using flax, leather, bark, and other materials easily obtainable at the front to make ropes.
However, after the Southern Front Army was overturned by hemp rope the first night, they immediately responded the next night by sending manned boats to cut the ropes before deploying fire ships to burn the floating bridge.
Thus, after much deliberation, Mason finally realized that he still had to use iron chains.
But the iron could not be transported.
The only solution Mason could think of was to solve the food supply on the spot, freeing up the transport capacity of the baggage units.
At the same time, they also collected iron as much as possible from the local front.
However, the New Army marched rapidly to Kingsfort and immediately proceeded to besiege, hardly focusing on “receiving”.
Many towns in Westwood Province merely changed their flag and continued as usual.
Many other towns didn’t even change the flag and remained on the fence, watching.
Thus, Mason had to try communicating with local towns to requisition and purchase supplies, coordinate, and arrange routes.
Winters met Andre on the road to Kingsfort.
Andre complained extensively to Winters, lamenting that he had returned to his former role of escorting baggage.
In Winters’ view, Senior Mason had actually fallen into a vicious cycle of “which came first, the chicken or the egg”:
To rule Paratu, they needed to capture Kingsfort;
To capture Kingsfort, they needed to draw resources from Westwood Province;
To draw resources, they needed to establish effective control in Westwood Province…
And for Winters, the issue of “first capturing Kingsfort or ruling Paratu” was secondary to the more critical problem of “establishing effective control,” which exceeded a front line command post’s capacity and authority.
In other words, to solve emerging problems, Senior Mason had turned the “siege command” into the de facto government of the New Republic in Westwood Province.
Before the National Assembly at the rear had even decided how to take over each town, messengers from the siege front were already issuing orders to the autonomous cities of Westwood Province.
And all of this was just for a “chain,” leaving Winters at a loss for words.
However, Winters had no intention of blaming his senior, as merely seeing Mason’s haggard face made him aware that his senior was striving to solve one problem after another.
In fact, he thought Gessa Adonis should be the one overseeing Mason.
But the issue was that Gessa Adonis didn’t see it as a problem at all—and that might be a bigger problem.
However, no matter how big the problem, it had nothing to do with Richard Mason, for in Mason’s view, his mission was to solve the immediate problem at hand.
In fact, beyond “moving the artillery to the island” and “an iron chain across the river,” Mason had a third plan:
Advance the artillery positions until they reached the point where River Shijian, split by Magit Island, merged back into one, thereby directly blocking the navigation route between Magit Island and Kingsfort.
Yet, at just a glance at the site, Winters understood why this seemingly simplest and most rational plan was ranked third.
Because the ideal position to “block the navigation route between Magit Island and Kingsfort” already had a fortification—a “Fortress” fort, constructed by the United Province at the southernmost end of New Town.
In other words, this had also become a “which came first, the chicken or the egg” dilemma.
To block the waterway, they had to first capture the “Fortress” fort;
To take the Fortress fort, they needed to withstand side attacks from Bishop’s Castle on Magit Island;
To capture Magit Island, they first had to block the waterway.
In an instant, Winters even began to feel sorry for Senior Mason.
On the other hand, he became increasingly convinced that the United Provincials had not arbitrarily chosen a few positions to build a few forts.
It was highly likely that the current predicament faced by the New Army was deliberately designed by the enemy.
This inevitably brought the battle situation on Magit Island into discussion.
If Magit Island and River Shijian were considered two separate battlefields, then the intensity of the struggle on River Shijian paled in comparison to Magit Island.
In Andre’s words—at this point, Andre’s expression was disgusted and serious—it was “an absolute mess.”