I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 696 Bastion

Kovodjevic looked at the other members, swallowed his saliva, and was still very hesitant:

"Mr. Schumann, even if the sailors and workers are willing to defend Gdansk, we don't have enough weapons."

Schumann smiled slightly: "In fact, you know, I also do some less compliant business. Don't report me.

"The 'Fat Firth' parked in the port is my ship, which is loaded with weapons sold to the Middle East. If necessary, you can let my Persian buyers wait a little longer."

Kovodjevic widened his eyes: "This, what a coincidence! Ah, can you tell me how much 'cargo' is on it?"

"3,500 flintlock rifles, and enough matching ammunition for 4 months."

This is naturally not a merchant ship to be shipped to Persia, but Joseph had prepared it for Gdansk a long time ago and has been parked outside the port.

"God! Thank you for your mercy on Gdansk! "The fear on Kovodjevic's face finally disappeared.

As a Pole and an investor in the port, he certainly didn't want it to fall into the hands of foreigners.

Before, he was unable to resist and could only choose to surrender, but now he saw hope.

Romilev also looked at Schumann with great surprise and excitement.

He originally planned to take his 400 patrolmen to protect the port at all costs, but he didn't expect the French to bring so many "surprises".

He remembered another thing: "Mr. Schumann, we still need some cannons. If you have..."

"I don't have any cannons."

Seeing the disappointment of everyone, Schumann immediately continued: "But have you forgotten? There are many armed merchant ships here, and we can dismantle the cannons on the ships and use them. "

Romilev frowned: "The ship owner will probably not be willing to lend it to us..."

Schumann looked at Kovodjevic: "Please forcibly requisition all merchant ships in the port in the name of the committee. "

"How can this be done? ! "

"Tell them that any ship that contributes to the port defense can obtain tax exemption for 1 to 3 years. I believe they will be happy."

An hour later, the patrol team began to arrest Prussians in the city.

At the same time, a large number of pamphlets about how Prussia betrayed its trust and colluded with Russia to stab Poland spread throughout Gdansk.

At the end of the pamphlet, the Gdansk Management Committee called on everyone to go to Warehouse No. 1 to sign up and jointly guard the port.

And promised that those who were disabled during the battle could enjoy pensions according to the treatment of the Polish regular army.

The pamphlet was naturally printed in advance and piled in the bottom warehouse of the "Fat Firth".

Almost instantly, the whole of Gdansk was ignited by anger.

Whether it was sailors or dock workers, they all cursed the Prussians' shameless behavior loudly and gathered in front of Warehouse No. 1.

Many of them actually wanted to return to Warsaw to participate in the fight against Russia, but because Prussia blocked the roads between Marienburg and Tuchel on the pretext of something, they could only wait until the next time they went out to sea. Landing in Courland, and then heading south to return home.

Now, they can fight for their motherland in Gdansk!

Four days later.

Horn led the Prussian army, exhausted from the continuous journey, to Gdansk.

The situation that he expected the Poles to panic and greet them did not happen, and even the Prussians in the port did not show up.

He knew that there should be six or seven hundred Prussians working here or operating merchant ships.

Soon, several cavalrymen returned to report that the city of Gdansk was almost empty and the things in the buildings had basically been moved away.

Horn squeezed the whip hard in anger.

He had rushed here at the fastest speed, but the cowardly Poles still slipped away!

He breathed a sigh of relief. Although the unexpected windfall was gone, at least this important port was captured, and His Majesty the King would still issue commendations and rewards.

He turned to the officer beside him and said:

"Let the soldiers control the port. Pay attention to searching the warehouses, maybe there are things that have not been moved away in time. "

In a luxurious villa, Horn was discussing the next battle plan for the attack on Kuyavi with his officers, but suddenly heard the rumbling sound of artillery from the northeast.

He frowned and went to the window, and saw black smoke rising in the middle of the port. He immediately turned to the messenger and said:

"Send someone to see what happened?"

Before the latter walked out of the temporary command post, a messenger rushed in, found Horn's attendant, and said breathlessly:

"Report! There is a bastion on the east side of the Steplat Peninsula. We were attacked by intensive Polish artillery fire there, and lost more than 40 people! ”

This is because the Prussian army underestimated the Poles. They approached the "Baron Lacoste's Manor" without any reconnaissance, and as a result, half of the company was taken away by the artillery in an instant.

Well, the sailors on the "Fat Fels" are very good at operating artillery. After all, they have studied artillery for more than a year at the Paris Police Academy.

These more than 100 skilled artillerymen have become the core combat force in the bastion.

Horn's face suddenly darkened. He had never received any information about the construction of bastions in Gdansk before.

When he arrived at the Steplat Peninsula, he finally saw the beautifully built "manor" and the gun muzzles on the inner courtyard wall through the telescope.

Schumann requisitioned more than 80 cannons from merchant ships docked at the port of Gdansk.

Although these guns are not easy to operate on land, they are good in quantity. Aim at a small area in advance, and fire the gun wherever the enemy appears, which is quite efficient.

Horn immediately ordered two battalions of skirmishers to attack the well-decorated fortress.

According to intelligence, there are only 400 Polish patrolmen in the port.

These guys between the police and the army will not be very strong in combat. Even with the support of the bastion, it is difficult to withstand the attack of thousands of regular troops.

However, when the Prussian soldiers finally approached the bastion under the bombardment of the cannon, thousands of black gun barrels stretched out from the outer wall of the bastion.

Although there was almost no volley and even no aiming, the space in front of the bastion was very narrow, and the Russians gathered here were still hit by flying bullets and suffered heavy casualties.

Unlike the need to line up infantry lines in field battles to increase firepower, there is no requirement for queues when defending fortresses.

As long as you can use a flintlock, you can stand in a fixed position and shoot at will.

This is why Schumann dared to let the dock workers participate in the defense after a simple training.

Horn watched his soldiers retreat and angrily asked the staff to dispatch artillery to bombard. Then he remembered that all the artillery battalions were handed over to Hoepner...

It was not until half a month later that a dozen artillery pieces were transported to Gdansk.

At the same time, the news that western Poland and Gdansk were invaded by Prussia had also been reported back to Warsaw.