548. Rebellion 16

Chapter 548 Rebellion 16
Riding on his horse, Carter Holly looked at the blazing fires in the distance with a look of worry in his eyes.

With such a big fire, could Lord Gleeman be safe and sound inside? The feasibility was too small.

Just as he was thinking so, a rumble of thunder sounded in the sky, and Battalion Commander Hawley looked up, and it turned out that he didn’t know when, but the originally clear night sky had been overcast with clouds, and even the moon had been obscured.

“Is it going to rain?”

The battalion commander of the 8th Infantry Battalion stretched out his right hand as he felt the falling rain stars.

Carter Hawley couldn’t help but feel aggrieved for Count Greiman, how good it would have been if it had been earlier, if this rain could have come earlier, the traitors would not have been able to set the fire. O Father in heaven, you have done our lord a little injustice.

“Battalion commander, what shall we do now?”

A group of officers, including Instructor Cobb, asked Lt. Col. Hawley.

“Avenge Lord Gleeman, of course!”

Lieutenant Colonel Hawley wrinkled his brow in hatred, “Search just about every inch of this place, even if you have to dig three feet down into the ground to find those traitors and arrest them! Tie them up! If they resist, execute them at once!”

What had been sporadic raindrops began to intensify, and Lt. Col. Hawley looked up at the sky.

He shouted towards the officers and soldiers around him, “Soldiers! Keep an eye on your gunpowder, don’t let them get wet from the rain! We have a vicious battle with the traitors later!”

The rainy weather would cause a lot of trouble for the Arda army equipped with gunpowder weapons, but it wasn’t so bad that the weapons wouldn’t work properly.

In order to avoid the effects of the rain on their firearms, the Arda army’s firearms took some measures.

First of all, the simplest and most brutal way, each gun is equipped with a cowhide cover, once encountered rainy weather will use this cowhide cover to the rear of the gun body firing assembly to tightly wrapped up, need to shoot when the cover is removed.

Then the details of the treatment, the flintlock at the rear of the gun, the lower part of the fire anvil is the shape of a lid, just enough to cover the gunpowder loading pool, this construction has a certain effect of blocking the rain, but the fire anvil and the pool of medicine between the gap, can not be safely avoided water from the barrel and the gun body of the gap trickle to the pool of medicine position, so you also have to use the beeswax in the pool of medicine, as well as the seams of the place to apply a little bit.

There is another measure, is to use a metal box with a flap on top to cover the firing assembly, this way the same principle as the cowl, but much better than the cowl, because the cowl needs to be removed, and after removing it, it can not be protected from the rain, but this metal box does not need to be removed, open the flap on top to load powder, and then continue to protect against the rain after the cover is put on.

But the rainproof box is inconvenient to load and unload, inconvenient to carry, and also affects the line of sight when aiming when mounted on the firearm.

After all, when it rains is a minority, so the Arda army does not have the habit of carrying a rainproof box when they go out, but only with a cowhide cover and beeswax this kind of portable things in case of emergencies.

However, with the present firing principle of firearms, no matter how many measures are taken, can not be completely rainproof and waterproof, really happen to be unlucky when the wet or wet, even if it is not directly soaked by the rain, the moist air will also greatly affect the combustion of gunpowder.

Lt. Col. Carter-Hawley’s order was conveyed to every soldier of the 8th Infantry Battalion, and everyone gripped their guns tightly in their hands.

Just as Hawley was about to lead his troops onward to the Rabbit Valley, a sound of hoofbeats rang out from far away, it was the scout who had soaked the front of the group returning.

“Report, a troop has been spotted two miles ahead, marching towards us along the river, numbering between two hundred and three hundred, and judging from their clothing they should be armed by the local gentry.”

Coming on their own? Holly’s mind reeled. Well, since you’ve sent yourselves …… The lieutenant colonel summoned the instructor and a group of officers to announce the scout’s findings and his own intentions.

“I think this place is quite suitable for an ambush, since they’re coming along the river, let’s ambush them in the woods next to us, wait for them to pass by and take a few rounds, then a charge will finish them off.”

Although half the establishment of the 8th Infantry Battalion was less than three hundred men, roughly equal to the enemy appearing in front of them, Lt. Col. Hawley did not give these landowner’s arms the slightest thought.

“I agree!” Instructor Major Cobb favored the battalion commander’s opinion.

The order to ambush was quickly passed on, and in a few minutes everyone was burrowing into the dense forest in ambush, while the scouts left to continue monitoring the enemy’s movements.

……

“It’s raining?”

Fergus looked up at the cloudy night sky, the moon was completely out of sight.

The cold rain fell on him, and Fergus’ body shivered involuntarily.

“Haha, Lord Gleeman, this is your fate!” Fergus sighed, both mockery and regret on his face.

“If this rain had fallen a little earlier, you might have been able to escape with your life. But it happened to fall at this time of the year, isn’t this a mockery of you by the gods? Perhaps you are already a filthy existence in the eyes of the gods.”

He turned to the squire at his side and asked, “How many have we gathered?”

The squire replied, “Three hundred and twenty-three so far.”

“Alas!” Fergus sighed again, at that time, several of their great families had ambushed more than five hundred people in this forest beforehand (in order to cover their ears, most of them were informed beforehand that they were dealing with the mountain bandits), just to deal with these fifty guards of the lord, now they even lost half of them, I hope that I can collect some more later, after all, all of these people are capable of fighting.

He ordered his squire, “Pick out a group of men and wait until the fire is out, return to Gladman’s camp there to see what’s going on.”

“Yes, Lord Fergus!” The squire immediately went to pick out people as he ordered.

Although it was unlikely that there were any living things left from such a large fire, but his cautious nature made Fergus feel that it was better to go and confirm it.

By now at this time, the Valen family’s boy should have Lakeheart Town under control, I hope everything goes well, he thought in his heart, he had to hurry to contact the Lakeheart Town side.

I don’t know how Burgum will react when he learns that his father and brother have been summoned by the Lord of Light, in order to prevent this kid from doing something unplanned due to excitement, it’s better not to tell him for the time being.

But all these sacrifices are worth it, after the new lord was elected to the throne, Alda will return to its normal track – wise and benevolent lords, loyal and reliable subjects, trust each other, support each other, this land will return to an idyllic pastoral, peaceful and tranquil scene.

(End of chapter)