Chapter 1202: Chapter 25 Great Alliance Moves Forward (11)_2

“Today! Only us!” Lieutenant Woods roared as he stood up, exposing most of his body to the enemy, and forcefully hurled a lit grenade towards the riverbank: “Victory or death!”

Other soldiers followed suit, throwing their grenades.

Lieutenant Woods had learned his lesson before, so this time he waited until the second wave of enemy soldiers set foot on the riverbank and the first wave reached the high ground’s edge before ordering the throw.

Nagy, a soldier from the New Reclamation Legion who had just run through the wheat field and crossed the river following those in front, looked up and saw black objects flying off the high slope.

Initially, Nagy thought they were stones and instinctively protected his head, but the backside of the black iron lump that fell in front of him still had a “fuse” hissing away.

Nagy immediately grabbed a handful of mud and hurled it at the fuse — he had seen similar devices in Bazenaur, where the garrison used them, and he had learned how to deal with them.

The mud dampened the gunpowder in the fuse, extinguishing it, but the “hissing” sound persisted!

Terrified, Nagy turned around, and the grenade that had landed behind him exploded with a roar.

The dull sound of explosions echoed continuously, pieces of flesh mixed with mud and sand were flung into the air, gently falling behind the low wall and into the river, like a light rain.

The blast wave swept away the thick smoke covering the riverbank, allowing both sides to briefly glimpse the horrific scene:

Although some grenades that fell into puddles didn’t explode, and some were extinguished by the quick-handed soldiers of the Alliance, every successfully detonated grenade caused terrible damage;

The soft soil was riddled with irregular small craters created by the explosions, fragments punctured the surface around the craters like the wet marks left by shattered water droplets on stone;

Wounded soldiers with severed limbs rolled and wailed, while others had multiple holes in their bodies, their blood soaking the fabric near their wounds, and their life rapidly draining away from those holes.

Woods was shocked by the outcome, and Erno beside him pulled him down.

On the east bank of the nameless river, the musketeers of the Grand Council army had arrived on the battlefield. As the blast wave dispersed the smoke, Woods, who was mostly exposed outside the breastwork, appeared to them.

Following the order to prioritize shooting officers, they quickly set up their firearms and fired at the short officer across the river.

Just as Erno pulled Woods back behind the breastwork, a volley of gunfire was heard from across the river.

Some lead bullets whizzed over his head, while the rest struck the wall, embedding deeply in the mud mixed with hay.

Only after dragging Lieutenant Woods to safety did Erno manage to utter a complete sentence: “Lieutenant! Be careful!”

Woods, slow on the uptake, paused in surprise and nodded gratefully.

The momentum of the Alliance army’s attack was thwarted. A mostly intact squad — probably a Hundred-Men Squad — abandoned their siege equipment and retreated across the river.

The wounded — similarly about a Hundred-Men Squad — were mostly dragged away, leaving only those with crippled limbs, completely incapacitated, to die on the riverbank.

Realizing that the enemy was retreating, cheers erupted from behind the mud-covered walls.

Yet at the same time, Grand Council musketeers in light brown uniforms appeared en masse on the river’s opposite bank.

With the appearance of a white military flag featuring red cross stripes, the actions of the Grand Council soldiers became more orderly.

The Grand Council’s musketeers used the embankment to suppress the defending troops on the high ground across the river, while driving thick wooden planks into the riverbank’s embankment, converting the earthen embankments used by villagers for demarcation and flood prevention into temporary breastworks.

As the Grand Council soldiers attacking the “waists” of the crescent river temporarily withdrew, the battle scenario along River Valley Village’s shore quickly transformed into an exchange of musket fire across the river.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Woods ordered an inventory of ammunition, transport of the wounded, and a reinspection of his defense line.

Disorderly gunfire and screams filled the lieutenant’s ears, beyond which were the continuous wails of dying soldiers on the riverbank.

Soon, the dreadful cries also vanished, leaving only the “bang bang thud” of gunfire and the exclamations of those hit.

After repelling the enemy’s first attack, Woods’ troops were generally in high spirits, firing at the enemies across the river without the previous hesitation.

Unfortunately, the lieutenant could not share his subordinates’ joy, as he knew well that this was merely a probing attack meant to ascertain the defenders’ capabilities.

With the consolidation of the enemy positions across the river, the subsequent attacks would be increasingly fierce.

And how many more times could his unit withstand with their ammunition supplies — especially the effective hand-thrown grenades?

Woods began to feel regret. He regretted not asking Captain Winters Montagne for more when he sent this batch of grenades.

Hand-thrown grenades might seem like mere iron lumps, but they were not easy to manufacture. Either two pieces of iron shell needed to be first forged together, or a single cast had to be made. The former was labor-intensive and time-consuming, the latter exceedingly difficult.

Therefore, Mont Blanc County neither manufactured hand-thrown grenades nor used such tactics.

The “shells” of the hand-thrown grenades equipped by the Mont Blanc County stationed forces all came from Iron Peak County. A portion was delivered as trade offset between the two counties; the rest was sent by Captain Winters Montagne when troops were divided previously.

The “hand-thrown grenades” bartered by Iron Peak County were significantly underwhelming. They burst into two, proving less effective than the older, larger iron-shell bombs.