Oh I was talking about me. I'm the poor old soul. XD
Davout might need headache medicine though.
La Chanson de la Victoire (The Song of Victory): La Petite Arpenteuse (Non, SV, you are a General of France in the Napoleonic War!)
- Thread starter Plausbius
- Start date
- Mature Alt. History
Oh I was talking about me. I'm the poor old soul. XD
Davout might need headache medicine though.
Hey, it's not stupid if it succeeds!
...That's how that works, right?
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
I mean, tell that to Napoleon.Hey, it's not stupid if it succeeds!
...That's how that works, right?
He did famously refuse the Steamship.
O2Deprived
Goose Slayer
- Location
- Under the black rain.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
As it's been stated many times: Napoleon is Napoleon. Also, that is not now.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
Here's hoping with our new steam navy, we can fuck the Royal Navy right where it hurts.
O2Deprived
Goose Slayer
- Location
- Under the black rain.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
*flashbacks to an old meme*Here's hoping with our new steam navy, we can fuck the Royal Navy right where it hurts.
Here's hoping the devil feels merciful in that case.
Dude also refused Rifles like the British Baker Rifle. For some Reason.
This rejection by him of genuinely useful new stuff is another of the things I hope may change in this Quest.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
Well, we haven't really needed to do that yet. Brian is far more open to new ideas then Nappy B.
However, he wants to make France stronger as an economy, instead of a military. Focusing on domestic issues, like infrastructure, schooling, standardization of the french language... that sort of thing.
Well, we're a forward-thinking woman who is using everything at our disposal... hopefully, he takes notice.
- Location
- Cambridge, UK
It can be argued that with less industry and greater logistic requirement, that Napoleon was right to keep things simple. Not a good long term position, but expedient.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
... Looks at the Industrialization trait of France?
We might solve one of those issues... at least partially.
- Location
- Hawaii
We are already (as of one year ago in quest) playing around with repeating cannon, though we haven't reproduced any, and it's an expensive old design from 1719. We have 2000 rifles deployed with veteran-grade chasseurs in the Republican Guard. We have a small number of extremely elite cavalry thanks to Murat, one of the best (if not the best) cavalry officers in Europe. We also have excellent subordinates like the otl Iron Marshal Davout, Dumas, Kleber, the otl Chief of Staff that allowed the Grand Armee to function in Berthier, and likely the deadliest ten-year old sharpshooter in Europe.
As for the battle, even if Kleber just stalemates on the open field, the surrender is much more valuable.
@Magoose I'll put +20 on the surrender, +15 on loot, and +15 on Kleber.
As for the battle, even if Kleber just stalemates on the open field, the surrender is much more valuable.
@Magoose I'll put +20 on the surrender, +15 on loot, and +15 on Kleber.
NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
AvidFR is a Godsend. Please pay your respects as he has not forsaken us.
Hold Until Relieved (AvidFicReader)
- Location
- Hawaii
Hold Until Relieved
As hard a fight as taking the Morro had been, that had been the easy part. Now came the order every man in any army in history would dread: "Hold until relieved." That order was as vague and cursed as any of the devil's promises. A sliver of hope for promised reinforcements to hold an otherwise suicidal position for an unknown time. Jules Leo now had to hold a fortress normally garrisoned by seven hundred men with a mere hundred, while hoping that the prisoners that outnumbered his men two-to-one wouldn't attempt to revolt when an assault inevitably came.
To deal with the prisoners, he had ordered the construction of a makeshift fence against the inner wall, where the two hundred captive Spaniards were herded and packed in like sheep for shearing. A dozen guards watched from the walls with two cannon of the fortress. The crews made a show of loading grapeshot to keep the prisoners from getting any ideas. Another dozen men under the American Clinton George watched the seaward gate to prevent a repeat of their storming of the fortress with an extra two dozen loaded muskets. In addition to the timber barring the gate, his men had dragged some of the abandoned guns from the seaward battery to further barricade the gate.
His remaining men, including all his walking wounded, defended the landward approach, in the shadow of the La Cabana fortress. Located on the same hill the British had used to capture the Morro back in 1762, it was built at ruinous expense over the course of eleven years to prevent a repeat of the 1762 siege. One of the most formidable fortifications in the Americas, it represented the greatest threat to Jules Leo and his remaining men. It's only redeeming feature, in his mind, was that a mere fraction of its guns overlooked the Morro, meant more to deter overland attackers from seizing the high ground.
The obvious fire and sounds of fighting had caused a stir among La Cabana's garrison, but little came of it for the better part of two hours, allowing the Haitian occupiers time to build and man defenses. In spite of the fire and the castle's capture, the Spanish colors had not been struck from the citadel. A dishonorable move, but anything that would buy the occupiers time was employed. The first Spanish probe was a militia company dispatched to investigate the Morro. Approaching to well within musket range, the officer demanded to know what was going on. Samson, who had picked up Spanish while fighting to free slaves from French Haiti and Spanish Hispaniola replied there had been a riot and a mutiny, but it had been crushed. Samson additionally told the captain that he should get more men and someone higher ranked, because the commander of the Morro was incapacitated.
While it might seem counterintuitive to get more men to investigate the situation at the Morro, the hope was to buy time and ambush them outside the gates and either kill or capture the high officer. An audacious gambit, but a surprise volley by over fifty muskets at close range and several pre-sighted cannons should set them reeling. A half hour later, the militia company returned with two companies of regulars in tow, led by a colonel. Jules Leo was unsure if this colonel was the commander of La Cabana, but he was certainly a big fish. Even better, the regulars were in the lead with the militia behind, remaining in marching column in anticipation of being welcomed into the Morro.
As the unwitting dupe of a colonel demanded a report, Samson responded that the mutineers had caused substantial damage, including barricades and setting fires. One such obstacle was at the gate, and the men were working to clear it, though it might take some time. This ploy bought a further hour, as the men stood in column under the harsh tropical sun, the colonel getting more and more irate at the delay. By that point, the colonel had lambasted the Morro garrison as insubordinate incompetent imbeciles and threatened floggings and imprisonment. As he ordered the first company to break down the gate, Jules Leo knew the game was up an ordered his men to open fire.
The initial volley scythed through the Spaniards, causing dozens of men to fall in seconds. An instant later, the guns blasted the marching columns with a double load of canister shot. At such close range, it was devastating. Even if the guns could not bear on the first company, the second company was virtually annihilated. A mere two dozen men of the 120-strong company survived by the devil's own luck, too shaken by the sudden slaughter of their comrades to do anything but stand stock-still, quivering in their boots. A moment later, a man stumbled, then turned and bolted, crashing into the stunned militiamen. Like a domino falling, the militia company turned and ran, chased by a few potshots from spare muskets. Most of the Haitians kept their discipline and fired their spare muskets at the remaining men of the first company of regulars, causing dozens more to fall. A few Spaniards kept their wits about them and returned fire, but it was scattered and ineffective, the Haitians protected by both high ground and the cover of the parapets. Between the two murderous volleys and the rout and destruction of their brethren, the first company also broke and ran. The first engagement ended in under a minute, but it was still only three hours since the Morro had fallen into Haitian hands.
With the element of surprise lost, the Spanish colors were struck and the Tricolore was hoisted atop the citadel of the Morro in defiance. Evidently, the colonel had been quite important, because it was another hour after the ambush outside the Morro before any further activity was noted. As for the colonel himself, he had been struck by no less than three balls; once in the leg, once in the right arm, and once in the left shoulder. He and a half-dozen officers had been retrieved from the abattoir outside the gate. The mortally wounded were put out of their misery, and the wounded were dragged into the pen with the other prisoners, though many would expire from their wounds or infection.
At noon, nearly four hours after the Morro had fallen, the first guns on La Cabana opened fire. Jules Leo had withdrawn his men into heavy cover, proof enough against solid shot, to wait out the barrage. At two in the afternoon, the barrage ceased as another two companies of regulars formed up to assault the Morro. It was only once the Spaniards approached canister range that the guns from La Cabana resumed their fire, hoping to suppress the guns of the the Morro. The Haitian gun crews held their fire, giving the illusion that the barrage worked, before unleashing their fury on the Spanish lines, sending them running once more.
Though the Haitians succeeded at repelling the second attack, it was plain to see that only four guns were firing, both from the limited frontage and now evident lack of trained gun crews. La Cabana's guns resumed fire, focusing on knocking out the guns which had fired. A third attack was repulsed at six as the sun began its descent, as the gun crews abandoned the first set of guns and fired on the infantry from guns further from the gatehouse. The cannons continued to fire on the Morro even after sunset, though at a reduced pace.
The thunder of the guns echoed through the night, though a change of the pace at nine was the first warning of trouble. A company of regulars was attempting to assault the Morro under the cover of darkness, while the Spanish guns hammered at the Morro's gun emplacements. The regulars had made their way to the Morro's gate, their sappers hacking at the gate with their axes. As Haitians rallied to lend their fire against the attackers, the Spaniards returned fire on the firing slits, scoring an occasional lucky hit, but coming off much worse in the exchange. after ten minutes of trading fire, the Spaniards withdrew in good order, though their casualties had to be left where they had fallen. A dozen Haitians were casualties, with three killed, though five of the casualties were well enough to fight in some capacity.
Around midnight, a suspicious lull in the barrage had Jules Leo post sentries at the walls; a prescient move, as a force of Spaniards had scaled the walls during the gap in the bombardment. The cry of the sentry was abruptly cut off by his scream as he was bayonetted, and a confusing melee in the dark ensued as the Haitians rushed to reclaim the walls. Concurrently, a small force landed by rowboat attempted to storm the seaward gate, only to be seen off by George's detachment. The final tally of the midnight raid saw fifteen dead and another forty wounded. With a mere 30 men unhurt, and another thirty walking wounded, Jules Leo was forced to shift the mostly unhurt men from the seaward gate and prisoner duty to the landward gate, replacing them with his walking wounded.
Having very nearly been overrun, Jules Leo waited impatiently through the night, knowing that the next assault may well carry the fort. Fortunately, the heavy losses suffered by the La Cabana garrison from the day's actions had forced them to conserve their manpower. 'They must be waiting reinforcement from Havana proper,' he mused. As the rest of the night passed without further infantry attack, though the barrage resumed half an hour after the midnight assault force had been killed to a man.
As dawn broke, the barrage picked up in intensity, as the gunners could now pick their targets. Overnight, the barrage had managed to disable two of the guns, and the assault force had managed to spike two others before getting tangled in the melee. Unfortunately, whoever commanded the Spaniards got tunnel vision on taking out the facing guns, forgetting that the Haitians could, with great difficulty, reposition guns from the other batteries to replace the lost cannon. Thus, the Spaniards received a nasty shock at seven as their next attempt to storm the Morro was blasted with double canister from two guns. Further focused barrages saw those guns knocked out by nine, after they savaged yet another company. Additional attacks by sea were seen off by concentrated musket fire directed by George, who personally picked off three officers with his Kentucky rifle.
At eleven, with no more active guns on the Morro facing La Cabana, the Spanish were confident enough to launch a general assault with two companies of regulars and a third of militia. Scattered musket fire from the Haitians was far from able to dissuade the Spanish advance, and as one company assaulted the gates with sappers, another scaled the walls, while the militia offered covering fire to suppress the diminished Haitians. As the Spanish mounted the walls, the occupiers gave a volley before withdrawing to doorways and stairwells to limit the advantage of Spanish numbers. Fierce fighting ensued, and the defenders gave ground, only to lure their pursuers into a trap as Haitians sprang from nooks and crannies, falling upon the surprised Spaniards.
Eventually, weight of numbers began to tell; even if one Haitian felled three or even five Spaniards, more kept coming. Eventually, the sappers managed to break down the gate to lead the company to storm the fort, only to run into one last surprise. A cannon had been dragged off the wall and emplaced behind a barricade before the gate. A Spanish battle cry was abruptly cut off by the roar of a cannon firing double canister right down the throat of an assault column.
----------------
Jules Leo was in the thick of the fighting, holding a stairwell alongside Samson, hacking at bayonet points that got too close, and emptying his last pistol before hurling it into the face of a startled Spaniard. Taking advantage of the opening, he charged ahead, swinging wildly with fist and saber at anything within reach. After hours of abuse with little maintenance, his trusty saber snapped off, lodged in some poor soul's collarbone. Throwing the useless hilt into the face of another man, he falls back to where Samson fires a reloaded musket. Scavenging another, Jules Leo thrusts the bayonet into another man's belly as he and Samson fall back yet again before the surging tide of Spaniards.
Hearing the cannon at the gate firing, Jules Leo knows the gate has been lost. "Fall back, back to the citadel! Men of Haiti, rally on me!"
The Spanish fire a few potshots, but do not pursue. He figures they must be as tired as they are, especially with how many men they have lost over the past day. Looking over the ragged survivors of his company, Jules Leo spots a score of haggard men, all wounded in some manner. He himself takes the time to wipe the weeping wound on his temple, giving up on clearing the bleeding to reload his purloined musket and his empty pistols. He doesn't know how much fight he and his men have left in them, but the Spanish can take this castle from his cold dead hands.
"Men of Haiti, my brothers in arms. It has been an honor to fight by your side. Even if we must die, we do so knowing we fought like lions. When le Bretagne took this castle some thirty years ago, it took them twelve thousand men and forty-four days to capture it. And we- we took it in a day with a hundred and fifty! Each of us is worth four score men! If we are to die, we die free, knowing we fought to free the peoples held under Spanish tyranny! As the Tricolore flies above us, so we fight, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la mort!"
As his men echo the cry, another sounds out from the seaward gate. "Capitaine! Sails on the horizon from the west!" After a brief pause, the voice continues, "They fly the Tricolore! The fleet is here!" At such incredulous news, Jules Leo storms up the citadel stairs, peering through a spyglass to see for himself. There it was, plain to see, the Tricolore flying proudly in the breeze. The fleet must have been spotted by the Spanish as well, for in the distance, Jules Leo can hear bugles sounding retreat. 'It's over,' he thinks, 'Thank the Lord, we are saved!'
It is only hours later that the fleet arrives at the mouth of the channel. As the lead squadron drops anchor and disgorges rowboats laden with Troupes de Marine, Jules Leo and a score of his least wounded men form an honor guard to receive them. Across the channel, the fortress La Punta surrenders without firing a shot, lowering the harbor chain for the main fleet to enter the channel. An officer marches up at the head of a column of marsouin, then proceeds to salute Jules Leo.
"Capitaine, I am Lieutenant Dechamps, Third Company, Regiment Port-au-Prince, here to relieve you."
"Lieutenant Dechamps, Sergeant Severin, First Company, Legion Etrangere d'Haiti. I stand relieved. The Spanish had nearly overrun us when the fleet was spotted, they proceeded to withdraw to La Cabana and have holed up there ever since. They haven't resumed the bombardment, either."
"Non, Capitaine Severin, you are on the rolls as the commander of the First Company, a post that must be held by a capitaine. As well, you and your men have done the impossible, taken a nigh impregnable fortress and held it with a single company for over a day against obscene odds. See to your men and rest, we shall take it from here."
------------
With dozens of ships anchoring outside the channel, the guns of La Cabana are strangely silent. As a single sloop bearing a flag of parley sails from Havana harbor, it becomes clear that the city's governor no longer wishes to fight. The now Capitaine Severin is offered a fresh officer's uniform, his wounds dressed and stitched, and invited to the negotiation. Accompanying him are Samson and Clinton George, also in fresh uniforms.
As the surrender negotiation begins, the governor offers ample terms, almost tripping over himself to get peace terms. When questioned by the Amiral, he nervously swallows, saying: "One small ship rammed el Morro, disgorging its cargo of soldiery. They overran the fortress and brought low its garrison, then proceeded to repel repeated assaults after capturing or killing the commander of La Cabana. After rebuffing constant assaults for a day and night, an entire fleet, with actual ships of the line appears. After losing nearly two thousand men in the fighting around El Morro, is it not understandable that we no longer have the manpower or the will to fight? While certainly we can call up thousands of militia, if the thousands of men with your fleet can fight half as well as the devils that took el Morro, then we would stand no chance!"
As the translator relays this in French, Capitaine Jules Leo Severin bursts into uncontrollable laughter.
As hard a fight as taking the Morro had been, that had been the easy part. Now came the order every man in any army in history would dread: "Hold until relieved." That order was as vague and cursed as any of the devil's promises. A sliver of hope for promised reinforcements to hold an otherwise suicidal position for an unknown time. Jules Leo now had to hold a fortress normally garrisoned by seven hundred men with a mere hundred, while hoping that the prisoners that outnumbered his men two-to-one wouldn't attempt to revolt when an assault inevitably came.
To deal with the prisoners, he had ordered the construction of a makeshift fence against the inner wall, where the two hundred captive Spaniards were herded and packed in like sheep for shearing. A dozen guards watched from the walls with two cannon of the fortress. The crews made a show of loading grapeshot to keep the prisoners from getting any ideas. Another dozen men under the American Clinton George watched the seaward gate to prevent a repeat of their storming of the fortress with an extra two dozen loaded muskets. In addition to the timber barring the gate, his men had dragged some of the abandoned guns from the seaward battery to further barricade the gate.
His remaining men, including all his walking wounded, defended the landward approach, in the shadow of the La Cabana fortress. Located on the same hill the British had used to capture the Morro back in 1762, it was built at ruinous expense over the course of eleven years to prevent a repeat of the 1762 siege. One of the most formidable fortifications in the Americas, it represented the greatest threat to Jules Leo and his remaining men. It's only redeeming feature, in his mind, was that a mere fraction of its guns overlooked the Morro, meant more to deter overland attackers from seizing the high ground.
The obvious fire and sounds of fighting had caused a stir among La Cabana's garrison, but little came of it for the better part of two hours, allowing the Haitian occupiers time to build and man defenses. In spite of the fire and the castle's capture, the Spanish colors had not been struck from the citadel. A dishonorable move, but anything that would buy the occupiers time was employed. The first Spanish probe was a militia company dispatched to investigate the Morro. Approaching to well within musket range, the officer demanded to know what was going on. Samson, who had picked up Spanish while fighting to free slaves from French Haiti and Spanish Hispaniola replied there had been a riot and a mutiny, but it had been crushed. Samson additionally told the captain that he should get more men and someone higher ranked, because the commander of the Morro was incapacitated.
While it might seem counterintuitive to get more men to investigate the situation at the Morro, the hope was to buy time and ambush them outside the gates and either kill or capture the high officer. An audacious gambit, but a surprise volley by over fifty muskets at close range and several pre-sighted cannons should set them reeling. A half hour later, the militia company returned with two companies of regulars in tow, led by a colonel. Jules Leo was unsure if this colonel was the commander of La Cabana, but he was certainly a big fish. Even better, the regulars were in the lead with the militia behind, remaining in marching column in anticipation of being welcomed into the Morro.
As the unwitting dupe of a colonel demanded a report, Samson responded that the mutineers had caused substantial damage, including barricades and setting fires. One such obstacle was at the gate, and the men were working to clear it, though it might take some time. This ploy bought a further hour, as the men stood in column under the harsh tropical sun, the colonel getting more and more irate at the delay. By that point, the colonel had lambasted the Morro garrison as insubordinate incompetent imbeciles and threatened floggings and imprisonment. As he ordered the first company to break down the gate, Jules Leo knew the game was up an ordered his men to open fire.
The initial volley scythed through the Spaniards, causing dozens of men to fall in seconds. An instant later, the guns blasted the marching columns with a double load of canister shot. At such close range, it was devastating. Even if the guns could not bear on the first company, the second company was virtually annihilated. A mere two dozen men of the 120-strong company survived by the devil's own luck, too shaken by the sudden slaughter of their comrades to do anything but stand stock-still, quivering in their boots. A moment later, a man stumbled, then turned and bolted, crashing into the stunned militiamen. Like a domino falling, the militia company turned and ran, chased by a few potshots from spare muskets. Most of the Haitians kept their discipline and fired their spare muskets at the remaining men of the first company of regulars, causing dozens more to fall. A few Spaniards kept their wits about them and returned fire, but it was scattered and ineffective, the Haitians protected by both high ground and the cover of the parapets. Between the two murderous volleys and the rout and destruction of their brethren, the first company also broke and ran. The first engagement ended in under a minute, but it was still only three hours since the Morro had fallen into Haitian hands.
With the element of surprise lost, the Spanish colors were struck and the Tricolore was hoisted atop the citadel of the Morro in defiance. Evidently, the colonel had been quite important, because it was another hour after the ambush outside the Morro before any further activity was noted. As for the colonel himself, he had been struck by no less than three balls; once in the leg, once in the right arm, and once in the left shoulder. He and a half-dozen officers had been retrieved from the abattoir outside the gate. The mortally wounded were put out of their misery, and the wounded were dragged into the pen with the other prisoners, though many would expire from their wounds or infection.
At noon, nearly four hours after the Morro had fallen, the first guns on La Cabana opened fire. Jules Leo had withdrawn his men into heavy cover, proof enough against solid shot, to wait out the barrage. At two in the afternoon, the barrage ceased as another two companies of regulars formed up to assault the Morro. It was only once the Spaniards approached canister range that the guns from La Cabana resumed their fire, hoping to suppress the guns of the the Morro. The Haitian gun crews held their fire, giving the illusion that the barrage worked, before unleashing their fury on the Spanish lines, sending them running once more.
Though the Haitians succeeded at repelling the second attack, it was plain to see that only four guns were firing, both from the limited frontage and now evident lack of trained gun crews. La Cabana's guns resumed fire, focusing on knocking out the guns which had fired. A third attack was repulsed at six as the sun began its descent, as the gun crews abandoned the first set of guns and fired on the infantry from guns further from the gatehouse. The cannons continued to fire on the Morro even after sunset, though at a reduced pace.
The thunder of the guns echoed through the night, though a change of the pace at nine was the first warning of trouble. A company of regulars was attempting to assault the Morro under the cover of darkness, while the Spanish guns hammered at the Morro's gun emplacements. The regulars had made their way to the Morro's gate, their sappers hacking at the gate with their axes. As Haitians rallied to lend their fire against the attackers, the Spaniards returned fire on the firing slits, scoring an occasional lucky hit, but coming off much worse in the exchange. after ten minutes of trading fire, the Spaniards withdrew in good order, though their casualties had to be left where they had fallen. A dozen Haitians were casualties, with three killed, though five of the casualties were well enough to fight in some capacity.
Around midnight, a suspicious lull in the barrage had Jules Leo post sentries at the walls; a prescient move, as a force of Spaniards had scaled the walls during the gap in the bombardment. The cry of the sentry was abruptly cut off by his scream as he was bayonetted, and a confusing melee in the dark ensued as the Haitians rushed to reclaim the walls. Concurrently, a small force landed by rowboat attempted to storm the seaward gate, only to be seen off by George's detachment. The final tally of the midnight raid saw fifteen dead and another forty wounded. With a mere 30 men unhurt, and another thirty walking wounded, Jules Leo was forced to shift the mostly unhurt men from the seaward gate and prisoner duty to the landward gate, replacing them with his walking wounded.
Having very nearly been overrun, Jules Leo waited impatiently through the night, knowing that the next assault may well carry the fort. Fortunately, the heavy losses suffered by the La Cabana garrison from the day's actions had forced them to conserve their manpower. 'They must be waiting reinforcement from Havana proper,' he mused. As the rest of the night passed without further infantry attack, though the barrage resumed half an hour after the midnight assault force had been killed to a man.
As dawn broke, the barrage picked up in intensity, as the gunners could now pick their targets. Overnight, the barrage had managed to disable two of the guns, and the assault force had managed to spike two others before getting tangled in the melee. Unfortunately, whoever commanded the Spaniards got tunnel vision on taking out the facing guns, forgetting that the Haitians could, with great difficulty, reposition guns from the other batteries to replace the lost cannon. Thus, the Spaniards received a nasty shock at seven as their next attempt to storm the Morro was blasted with double canister from two guns. Further focused barrages saw those guns knocked out by nine, after they savaged yet another company. Additional attacks by sea were seen off by concentrated musket fire directed by George, who personally picked off three officers with his Kentucky rifle.
At eleven, with no more active guns on the Morro facing La Cabana, the Spanish were confident enough to launch a general assault with two companies of regulars and a third of militia. Scattered musket fire from the Haitians was far from able to dissuade the Spanish advance, and as one company assaulted the gates with sappers, another scaled the walls, while the militia offered covering fire to suppress the diminished Haitians. As the Spanish mounted the walls, the occupiers gave a volley before withdrawing to doorways and stairwells to limit the advantage of Spanish numbers. Fierce fighting ensued, and the defenders gave ground, only to lure their pursuers into a trap as Haitians sprang from nooks and crannies, falling upon the surprised Spaniards.
Eventually, weight of numbers began to tell; even if one Haitian felled three or even five Spaniards, more kept coming. Eventually, the sappers managed to break down the gate to lead the company to storm the fort, only to run into one last surprise. A cannon had been dragged off the wall and emplaced behind a barricade before the gate. A Spanish battle cry was abruptly cut off by the roar of a cannon firing double canister right down the throat of an assault column.
----------------
Jules Leo was in the thick of the fighting, holding a stairwell alongside Samson, hacking at bayonet points that got too close, and emptying his last pistol before hurling it into the face of a startled Spaniard. Taking advantage of the opening, he charged ahead, swinging wildly with fist and saber at anything within reach. After hours of abuse with little maintenance, his trusty saber snapped off, lodged in some poor soul's collarbone. Throwing the useless hilt into the face of another man, he falls back to where Samson fires a reloaded musket. Scavenging another, Jules Leo thrusts the bayonet into another man's belly as he and Samson fall back yet again before the surging tide of Spaniards.
Hearing the cannon at the gate firing, Jules Leo knows the gate has been lost. "Fall back, back to the citadel! Men of Haiti, rally on me!"
The Spanish fire a few potshots, but do not pursue. He figures they must be as tired as they are, especially with how many men they have lost over the past day. Looking over the ragged survivors of his company, Jules Leo spots a score of haggard men, all wounded in some manner. He himself takes the time to wipe the weeping wound on his temple, giving up on clearing the bleeding to reload his purloined musket and his empty pistols. He doesn't know how much fight he and his men have left in them, but the Spanish can take this castle from his cold dead hands.
"Men of Haiti, my brothers in arms. It has been an honor to fight by your side. Even if we must die, we do so knowing we fought like lions. When le Bretagne took this castle some thirty years ago, it took them twelve thousand men and forty-four days to capture it. And we- we took it in a day with a hundred and fifty! Each of us is worth four score men! If we are to die, we die free, knowing we fought to free the peoples held under Spanish tyranny! As the Tricolore flies above us, so we fight, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la mort!"
As his men echo the cry, another sounds out from the seaward gate. "Capitaine! Sails on the horizon from the west!" After a brief pause, the voice continues, "They fly the Tricolore! The fleet is here!" At such incredulous news, Jules Leo storms up the citadel stairs, peering through a spyglass to see for himself. There it was, plain to see, the Tricolore flying proudly in the breeze. The fleet must have been spotted by the Spanish as well, for in the distance, Jules Leo can hear bugles sounding retreat. 'It's over,' he thinks, 'Thank the Lord, we are saved!'
It is only hours later that the fleet arrives at the mouth of the channel. As the lead squadron drops anchor and disgorges rowboats laden with Troupes de Marine, Jules Leo and a score of his least wounded men form an honor guard to receive them. Across the channel, the fortress La Punta surrenders without firing a shot, lowering the harbor chain for the main fleet to enter the channel. An officer marches up at the head of a column of marsouin, then proceeds to salute Jules Leo.
"Capitaine, I am Lieutenant Dechamps, Third Company, Regiment Port-au-Prince, here to relieve you."
"Lieutenant Dechamps, Sergeant Severin, First Company, Legion Etrangere d'Haiti. I stand relieved. The Spanish had nearly overrun us when the fleet was spotted, they proceeded to withdraw to La Cabana and have holed up there ever since. They haven't resumed the bombardment, either."
"Non, Capitaine Severin, you are on the rolls as the commander of the First Company, a post that must be held by a capitaine. As well, you and your men have done the impossible, taken a nigh impregnable fortress and held it with a single company for over a day against obscene odds. See to your men and rest, we shall take it from here."
------------
With dozens of ships anchoring outside the channel, the guns of La Cabana are strangely silent. As a single sloop bearing a flag of parley sails from Havana harbor, it becomes clear that the city's governor no longer wishes to fight. The now Capitaine Severin is offered a fresh officer's uniform, his wounds dressed and stitched, and invited to the negotiation. Accompanying him are Samson and Clinton George, also in fresh uniforms.
As the surrender negotiation begins, the governor offers ample terms, almost tripping over himself to get peace terms. When questioned by the Amiral, he nervously swallows, saying: "One small ship rammed el Morro, disgorging its cargo of soldiery. They overran the fortress and brought low its garrison, then proceeded to repel repeated assaults after capturing or killing the commander of La Cabana. After rebuffing constant assaults for a day and night, an entire fleet, with actual ships of the line appears. After losing nearly two thousand men in the fighting around El Morro, is it not understandable that we no longer have the manpower or the will to fight? While certainly we can call up thousands of militia, if the thousands of men with your fleet can fight half as well as the devils that took el Morro, then we would stand no chance!"
As the translator relays this in French, Capitaine Jules Leo Severin bursts into uncontrollable laughter.
Have you ever played a game where you had to seize an objective, then the mission changes to "Survive?" It's like that, except the stakes are probable death and certain death, with a slim hope for reinforcement. "Hold until relieved" is practically a death sentence, and you have no idea when or even if relief is coming.
As for the casualty list, the Spanish lost 700 KIA, WIA, MIA from the fall of the Morro, the Haitians lost 50. This is due to speed, surprise, war crimes and capturing the commander fairly early on. The Spanish lost another 200+ during first engagement, including what turns out to be the commander of La Cabana. Now lacking leadership, the Spanish throw together a few more poorly organized attacks (and the continual bombardment is only 3 or 4 guns that face the Morro, so no really overwhelming firepower advantage) that get utterly savaged, say another 300 before night falls. The night attack at the gate loses perhaps 50-60 men, about half the company, before being driven off, then another 60-80 at midnight. The seaside gate might add another 40-60 casualties per attempt, and the early morning push might be another 100-150 casualties. If the late morning final push saw 150-200 casualties, that puts the low-end estimate at 1640, the high-end estimate at 1810. Keeping in mind that the garrison of Havana is about 2700 regulars and 4-5k militia, they you've lost half to two-thirds of your regulars in one day's fighting, and now you've got a fleet with thousands more of these madlads waiting to tear you a new one. Of course you want to make terms. Keeping in mind the vast majority of the casualties inflicted is with close-range artillery, often double canister, another big chunk being close-range rapid-fire musketry via spare muskets, then damn near fanatical hand-to-hand in choke points? I tried to make it make as much sense as possible why keeping it in the realm of the probable. Now, if you will excuse me, I've been working on this for some six hours and it is 4:10 AM.
As for the casualty list, the Spanish lost 700 KIA, WIA, MIA from the fall of the Morro, the Haitians lost 50. This is due to speed, surprise, war crimes and capturing the commander fairly early on. The Spanish lost another 200+ during first engagement, including what turns out to be the commander of La Cabana. Now lacking leadership, the Spanish throw together a few more poorly organized attacks (and the continual bombardment is only 3 or 4 guns that face the Morro, so no really overwhelming firepower advantage) that get utterly savaged, say another 300 before night falls. The night attack at the gate loses perhaps 50-60 men, about half the company, before being driven off, then another 60-80 at midnight. The seaside gate might add another 40-60 casualties per attempt, and the early morning push might be another 100-150 casualties. If the late morning final push saw 150-200 casualties, that puts the low-end estimate at 1640, the high-end estimate at 1810. Keeping in mind that the garrison of Havana is about 2700 regulars and 4-5k militia, they you've lost half to two-thirds of your regulars in one day's fighting, and now you've got a fleet with thousands more of these madlads waiting to tear you a new one. Of course you want to make terms. Keeping in mind the vast majority of the casualties inflicted is with close-range artillery, often double canister, another big chunk being close-range rapid-fire musketry via spare muskets, then damn near fanatical hand-to-hand in choke points? I tried to make it make as much sense as possible why keeping it in the realm of the probable. Now, if you will excuse me, I've been working on this for some six hours and it is 4:10 AM.
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Magoose
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Done.
Holy shit.
+10 to the rolls sir.
Ok, Im going to step in and defend Napoleon here.
I think the thing people miss with Napoleon's quote is that they forget literally all of naval design history when they use the quote as an example of people not being willing to think ahead. Historically speaking, as of the point in time the steamship was invented, literally every ship that has floated up to and including said steamship has been built out of wood. Wood can burn, especially when dry. BTW, the best timber for ships generally requires the wood be dried first. Now, ships did light fires inside themselves historically because the galley needs to cook meat and bake bread and that is hard without fire in this era. But again: Ship is made of what is basically fuel for a fire. So the galley was itself placed basically as close to the bottom of the ship as is physically possible and would be constructed with as much brick around the fire as possible to make it as hard as possible for fire to escape. And if the ship realizes its about to enter into combat? They will always put the galley fire out because they do not want an impact to light the lowest deck on fire. This is how ships work and have worked for literally as long as ships have had room to fit a galley.
The Steamship is basically someone coming in and saying What if we lit a fire inside this ship to rotate these giant ass paddlewheels so we can move even with bad wind conditions. Oh, and lets leave it on during combat. Of course Napoleon is going to consider your idea a waste of time and resources. You are literally saying lets do this thing that conventional wisdom rightly considers to be extremely dangerous. Granted, it will also be half a century before steam engines start to become more common anyways. Plus...there is a reason why most people when they think of Paddlewheels, they think of Steamboats on the Mississippi: They were only of use on such river systems. They were too slow and short range for much else. Our main character stands a reasonable chance of dying from old age before this changes as well. It takes until the 1840's and 50's for the steamship to really show major advantages. Partly because the engines were better, partially because they started using screws.
Oh, and last but not least...there isnt any real evidence he said the quote in the first place. The only sources about the quote are all from after Napeleon died...and all in English. BTW, guess who doesnt know how to speak English: Napoleon. As such, the quote is heavily suspect.
Now, he did reject Fulton's submarine. That is absolutely on record. That was because said sub also was suffering leaks while sitting in the Siene and as such was never going to survive the channel.
Magoose
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Well, at least when we go with Wonder weapons to stop the British, they will actually work.
And we can possibly outproduce other nations just because we got started industrealizing as well.
However, I still think Napoleon should have humored the idea for river travel. Even if the capabilities of sea travel would not be known and practical until 50 years from now, does not mean we can try to use those padle wheels for riverine trade and protecting the arteries of France.
After all, having control of river trade and making it better seems to me like a good idea.
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On the bright side this is gong to look great as a painting and is likely to boost the myth of the French Amazon... of course Brian is naturally going to freak out that his sister did something that dangerous.
Magoose
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On the bright side, at least our reputation will grow exponentially thanks to this.
And hey, maybe Brian is going to have some... success.
- Location
- Cambridge, UK
Poor Kellerman, he just wasn't a lucky general?
Magoose
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No... Not Kellerman.
That guy deserves to retire at this point, he's almost 70.
Well someone is having a bad time. Hopefully its good for us. Man can only imagine how history would look at our French Amazon and her brother. Like they basically risen up from nothing to one of the most influential families in France.
On another note. Oversimplified did a little history on our ambitious Napoleon.
On another note. Oversimplified did a little history on our ambitious Napoleon.
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Magoose
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I'd love to try to make a wikibox. of either of those 2.
In fact I might try after this update.
I love it.
