SWDnovel Chapter 53 So-called Faith
Chapter 53 So-called Faith
Before the gunfire had subsided, a red-clad soldier standing next to a lieutenant had a burst of blood erupt from his chest and collapsed without even uttering a sound.
The sudden shot stunned everyone.
Lieutenant Hank's face turned ashen. He finally realized that he had not stumbled into an ordinary gang fight, but into a mental asylum.
These people didn't care at all about the uniforms they wore that represented the king's authority.
Li Wei's original plan took its most fatal turn at this moment.
The Sons of Liberty militiamen were momentarily at a loss when they saw the suddenly appearing British troops. They were the enemy, but now they seemed to be the only reinforcements.
After a brief pause, Jenny's thugs erupted in even more frenzied howls.
"The red-skinned pig is here too! Perfect timing to slaughter it and have it with our drinks!"
They spun half of their men and charged without hesitation toward the British patrol at the entrance.
The British lieutenant cursed under his breath but had no choice but to order the guns to fire. A volley of gunfire erupted in the closed warehouse, and the first few rioters fell to the ground, but those behind them continued their charge, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades.
The entire warehouse was completely transformed into a bloody grinding mill.
Silas was tightly entangled by Jenny, and the huge cable hook swung down again and again with a whooshing sound, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.
Samuel hid behind a pile of wooden crates, trembling all over; the pistol in his hand had never felt so heavy.
He watched as his comrades fell one by one, and as the British soldiers who should have been his mortal enemies struggled in pools of blood. His mind was a complete mess.
Lieutenant Hank was in a similarly difficult situation. His patrol, though well-trained, was too small and had no idea they would be caught up in such a frenzied hand-to-hand combat.
A soldier had just finished loading his load when a thug smashed his jaw with an axe handle.
In the chaos, Silas was kicked in the chest by Jenny and stumbled into the wooden crate where Samuel was hiding.
Jenny grinned maliciously, raising the cable hook high in his hand, aiming it at Silas's head.
Just then, a gunshot rang out.
A cloud of blood burst from Jenny's shoulder, and he staggered back in pain as the cable hook fell to the ground.
The one who fired the shot was Lieutenant Hank, who had been directing from behind the wooden crate. He decisively abandoned command and joined the battle himself, saving Silas, who was originally an enemy, with his pistol.
Silas, panting heavily, glanced at Lieutenant Hank, who was also panting.
Jenny clutched his bleeding shoulder, his expression twisting even more distorted. Instead of fear, the pain fueled a deeper primal instinct within him.
He picked up the cable hook from the ground, licked the blood seeping from his wound, and his eyes flashed with a terrifying glint.
"Very good...very good! Tonight's fun is even more than I imagined!" Jenny looked around at the remaining "Sons of Liberty" and British soldiers in the warehouse and let out a beast-like laugh.
He slowly raised the cable hook, pointing it at the British lieutenant at the door, then moving it to Silas on the other side.
"In that case, none of you are leaving tonight."
For a moment, only the beastly laughter of "Strongman" Jenny echoed in the warehouse.
He abandoned the nearly exhausted Silas, pointed the heavy rope hook at the British lieutenant Hank at the door, and then slowly moved it back to Silas, as if weighing which piece of meat to slaughter first.
Lieutenant Hank's throat was dry, and the military whistle at his waist was burning hot from blowing it, but there was still no sign of reinforcements.
Of the twelve soldiers he brought, only seven are still standing, and all of them are wounded. They are blocked at the door by more than thirty reckless lunatics, and there is not even a chance to reorganize their formation.
Their volley fire tactics became a joke in this chaotic melee; the time it took to reload was enough for a mob to rush up and chop their necks off with an axe.
"Don't be afraid of these red-skinned pigs! Grab the chests! Before more red devils arrive, take all the chests! Kill them all!"
This order emboldened the rioters to act even more recklessly.
They were no longer simply besieging the enemy; some of them began rushing towards the crates piled up deep inside the warehouse, their target being the new smoothbore muskets.
The remaining men launched an even fiercer offensive in an attempt to buy time for their comrades.
Just as a British soldier stabbed a rioter in the stomach with his bayonet, before he could pull it out, another rusty iron hook swung from the side, embedding itself deeply in his ribs and dragging him to the ground with a scream.
This extreme slaughter terrified the "Sons of Liberty" and the British army far more than death itself.
Silas gasped for breath, his chest burning with pain; the bone where Jenny had kicked him was probably fractured.
Looking at the chaos before him, he felt powerless for the first time. He was a good blacksmith and a good fighter, but he couldn't handle this illogical madness.
He caught a glimpse of Samuel hiding behind the wooden crate; the idealistic young man was now deathly pale, his arm gripping the pistol trembling violently.
"Fire! Samuel! You fucking fire!" Silas roared with all his might.
Samuel seemed to be startled awake. He haphazardly raised his pistol and pulled the trigger in Jenny's direction.
"Bang!"
The lead bullet struck the thick leather armor hanging on Jenny's shoulder, sending up a trail of sparks, but it didn't even scratch the oily leather.
Jenny slowly turned his head to look at Samuel, but his face showed no anger or contempt. Instead, it was the emotionless, cruel expression of a butcher looking at a lamb on a chopping board.
Samuel felt a chill run through him just from that one glance; his blood seemed to freeze.
All the grand narratives about "freedom" and "sacrifice" in his mind were shattered in that one glance.
It turns out that I was just a young person who was afraid and trembling.
From the other end of the warehouse, in the deepest shadows, came a foul stench.
Quartermaster Captain Marcus collapsed in the pile of sacks, his crotch soaked.
He found buyers, not a bunch of lunatics who wanted to sell him off to the devil.
He wanted to sell the gun, but the other party clearly wanted to buy his life, without paying!
Just as Jenny was about to change course and deal with the annoying little bug, one of his thugs let out a terrified scream.
Outside the warehouse, the sound of synchronized footsteps could be heard.
"Thump...thump...thump..."
The sound of military boots pounding on the stone pavement was dense and powerful, growing louder and louder as it approached.
Immediately following was the Governor's Guard's distinctive short command, which clearly pierced through the noise in the warehouse.
"One rank! Fix bayonets! Prepare to block the exits!"
"Second platoon! Free fire! Prepare to clear the entrance!"