Chapter 27

It was shaping up to be another good day in the Scottish camp. The sun was rising when the young noble paying for this expedition stepped out of his tent, where he had just finished another enjoyable night with his harem. They were young women, girls, who had been taken from the villages they had gone through, and he was looking forward to fucking Cecilia’s brains out. He had heard of her beauty and wealth at home, and he badly needed the wealth because he was in deep debt from his father’s bad spending habits. As the nobleman looked around, cooking fires were being lit, and some men started moving around. So far, they had seen no enemy forces during their march, and none were expected.

Just as the nobleman ordered breakfast, a single drummer and a fife player appeared on a nearby hill. They were playing some tune that the noble had never heard before, but it was catchy. The tune Marion had gotten from Luke was called “Rule Britannia,” but nobody outside Marion’s innermost circle knew that. Before he had time to wonder about it, a flagbearer also appeared.

The flag waved gently in the morning breeze, but the noble could see the colors. It was a white flag with a bright red cross through the middle. The noble had heard this was the flag of Marion of York and had also heard fairy tales about her but had discounted them as just fairy tales. Now, the fairy tales were rapidly turning into his worst nightmare. She had caught them with their pants down, in some cases, literally. The noble could hear the army moving up the backside of the hill with a rhythmic beat. He started shouting the alarm to his men, but many were drowsy, and most had hangovers.

The enemy troops slowly appeared at the top of the hill, and although they were still away, the noble couldn’t see any pikes or knights. ‘This is going to be easy,’ he thought to himself. As he prepared his armor, he watched strange wagons appear, and the men in front of them moved to the side to let them through. The wagons moved up to a position where they could look down on the camp. As he wondered what was happening, the wagons were unhitched from their horses, and men started doing something with the ends pointed at the camp. The wagons only had two wheels that he could see, and looked like they were hauling a tree trunk around. Then, nobody in the enemy army moved. They were waiting.

Finally, about three-quarters of the noble’s men had formed up, and he ordered an immediate charge toward those wagons. As the noble’s men charged up the slight hill, the men near the wagons leaned to one side and covered their ears. What happened next would end the noble’s dreams of wealth and hot pussy.

Luke might have been the unofficial top army commander under Marion, but he was still the official artillery commander, so this is where he stood. His troops had positioned their guns right where he had wanted them; he had a direct line of sight on the enemy camp. Luke wasn’t worried about the few enemy cavalry because both flanks were protected by forest. He had placed his guns almost wheel to wheel for this battle as he waited for the enemy to close the distance. Luke had the guns loaded with canister shot, which turned the cannons into giant shotguns. Each ball in the canister shot was about the size of a grape and would wreak havoc on any enemy troops they hit. Due to the powder shortage, Luke didn’t want to use round shot. Then there were the captives in the enemy camp to worry about hitting if he used round shot. When the enemy front lines were 350 meters away, the wait was over.

“FIRE!” Yelled Luke in a voice that he knew would carry across the battlefield. Across his line, the guns fired in perfect unison, and 12 loads of canister shot went hurling toward the enemy. “RELOAD!”

Luke yelled, but his troops were already reloading; what else would they be doing on a battlefield, taking a nap? The carnage inflicted on the enemy troops was almost instant and horrendous. The noble watched as some of his men disintegrated while others had arms, legs, or heads ripped off. This was something the noble wasn’t used to seeing, and he had been in plenty of battles. Still, they were so close he called for a full charge. Hopefully, he could get under those things before they did that again, and then it would be his turn to do the butchering.

When they were within 150 meters, the noble saw the men lean to the side again, and more smoke appeared. However, he was ready and dove into the dirt as the enemy leaned over. Many of his remaining men followed him, but the ones who had been slow were ripped to shreds. As the noble got to his feet, he was disheartened to see the enemy infantry was in front of those wagons. Then, he heard the words of the enemy commander.

Luke had been able to fire two volleys from his cannons before the enemy had gotten too close for comfort. After his second volley, he ordered the infantry up, and the artillery was to be hooked up and pulled out of the way. Luke could see that the enemy had been bled badly, but the enemy commander was competent. He took cover just before the artillery fired the second time, but no worries. His infantry came up in two lines with bayonets already fixed. When they were in position, Luke yelled:

“VOLLEY FIRE! ... FRONT RANK! ... KNEEL! ... AIM! ... FIRE!” The front rank sent their lead downrange. “RELOAD!”

Next to him, the infantry commander yelled:

“REAR RANK! ... AIM! ... FIRE!” The rear rank sent their volley downrange. “RELOAD!”

Again, they repeated this. By this time, the enemy was starting to break. Luke then blew the whistle around his neck and waved his arm forward. Marion’s infantry started moving in complete silence.

They hit the remaining enemy like a saw and went through them like a white-hot knife through butter. Any enemy soldier who ran was either cut down or shot in the back. Those who tried to stand their ground were cut down or shot in the front. Within minutes, the infantry had reached the enemy camp and slaughtered any enemy soldier they could find; there was no interest in taking prisoners. Some enemy troops routed and started running down the roads, trying to escape. They found cavalry waiting for them, and they were cut to pieces.