Chapter 26: October 22nd, 1702

“Keep rowing, men!” yelled the man that was controlling the boat. Feliks, with his oar, struggled to pull the oar as not far from him, Bataar was pulling the oar with ease. A cannon round flew past the boat as it slammed into the water mere feet from their location. Feliks turned his head to see more boats, just like he was getting closer to the fort. Musket fire from the fortress rained down as the Russian soldiers were struggling to get their boats to shore as the Swedish-controlled fort fired at the incoming wave of soldiers.

Four years had passed for Feliks and Xuanwu disguised as Bataar. In the course of two years Russia, Denmark, Norway, Polish-Lithuania, and several smaller states declared war against Sweden in February 1700 in what would be known as the Great Northern War. The purpose of the conflict for Russia that is was to gain access to the Atlantic Ocean. The other nation’s motivations were to gain certain territories that Sweden controlled. Sweden at the time was the most powerful Scandinavian nation in Europe. Its military was only rivaled by other nations such as England, the Dutch, France, or Spain. Even with the pact of nations such as Denmark-Norway and Polish-Lithuania, the war was heavily in Sweden’s favor. Russia had vessels but only in the enclosed seas. The Ottoman Empire still had control of the waters to block Russia from reaching the Atlantic, while Sweden still controlled the lands leading to the Atlantic. Denmark-Norway and Polish-Lithuania only had so many ships to compete against the more powerful Swedish navy.

All in all, the odds were against the three nation’s alliance. The Russians had superiority on land but only because of numbers. Sweden had fewer soldiers but better quality in armament and training. Russia, on the other hand, could afford to launch wave after wave of soldiers. Peter was still Czar of Russia, determined to demonstrate the massive changes to his army alone. In the course of several years, the Streltsy were disbanded. What was left was a new army of soldiers in green uniform, just like Peter was pushing in. Based heavily on the Prussian-style uniforms, these soldiers were conscripted, given better training, armed with better muskets and weapons, and served as a striking symbol of how much Russia’s army had changed as far as five to ten years.

The first year of the war went badly for the three allied nations. Sweden’s navy circumvented Denmark and bombarded its capital Copenhagen knocking out Denmark. Sweden then knocked out Poland and the Saxons at the Battle of Kliszow. This had essentially left Russia on its own, where it lost several battles against the Swedes, including the 1^st Battle of Narva in 1700. However, all said and done, the Russians were not entirely at a loss. Their army was in better shape now than ever. Soldiers were more focused on training with firearms than previously compared to the ancient Streltsy ways. The army was more uniformly constructed, and Peter did have enough time to regroup his soldiers and press forward Northwest to the Neva River that was controlled by Sweden...

“Incoming!” yelled a soldier next to Feliks as he ducked his head. Two musket shots rained down on their boat as one of the bullets hit the front part of the wooden boat. The bullet embedded into the wood but did nothing else. The other bullet struck a man on the hip as he screamed in pain with blood leaking onto the boat.

Feliks and Bataar were determined to reach the shore as it connected to the Nöteborg Fortress. This moderately sized fortress guarded the Neva River and consisted of a small force of Swedes and an array of light artillery that lined its walls. It was located on an island that guarded the river itself. This allowed the fort to naturally fire on ships that crossed the river and made it hard to assault. The stone walls were over twenty feet high, with at least seven towers that overlooked the scene. The walls were over ten feet thick, capable of withstanding the heavy barrage of artillery rounds that the Czar’s army could fire. Feliks looked to his side to see one of the fifty boats launched get hit by artillery. The cannon smashed the boat so hard that wooden splinters flew in all directions. Wood, blood, and even limbs were thrown from the ship into the water. A couple of men from the other boats fired their muskets at the fortress but did little to nothing to its inhabitants.

For Feliks and Bataar, this was the second battle that they participated in. They already participated in the Battle of Narva, but they were kept more to the rear and saw no real action except watch the battlefield and guard the command staff. This would be their first actual test at battle, albeit really for Feliks. Bataar’s goal was obvious, and that was to do her best to protect Felik’s life in this battle. While she could handle a cannonball, her lover would be dead in a second. However, even in human form, she was a force to be reckoned with. They were part of the third wave that day that was trying to capture the fort. The first two waves were already there, but the siege ladders were barely enough to reach the top of the walls. A tunnel, however, was being built that was getting through to the fort, and given enough time, they would reach the inner fortress. The Russian soldiers were not entirely on their own, however. A series of heavy artillery batteries and siege mortars on both sides of the river were constructed as Peter himself directed the artillery barrage onto the fort. Round after round of cannon shot smashed into the walls doing light damage but at the very least provided some cover for the incoming boats they launched to besiege the fortress.

As they got closer and closer, they could see the other boats approach as well. The mid-afternoon light made everyone an easy target for the guns. Siege ladders were packed into the boats that held up to twenty men on it. They could see the Swedes on the top of the walls along with the portholes where the artillery fired from.

“Almost there, men!” yelled the commander of the boat. “Push harder.”

Another array of cannon fire erupted from the fortress aimed at the incoming boats. Feliks could see three cannonballs fly as they landed harmlessly in the water by another boat. Water flew in all directions getting the men on the boat soaked. Feliks’s hand struggled to pull the oars harder. He was running on pure adrenaline.

“For Russia!” yelled one of the men.

“For Russia!” yelled all the men in response.

The water splashed hard as the oars were pulling the boat as hard as they could. The relatively calm waters made the trip easy if it were not all the cannon shot and musket fire.

More musket fire erupted from the castle walls as the Swedes targeted another random boat. Smoke spewed from the muskets of the Swedish soldiers as they tried to gun down the small vessel. One of the rounds hit a soldier in the chest, and he slumped down on his boat as blood poured from his wound. Another cannon fired from the walls as it hit another vessel near the front. Splinters and wood flew in all directions as the boat’s own momentum slammed it into the river headfirst. Men were quickly thrown into the cold waters where they had a limited time to get out or risk hypothermia exposure. There was relatively little the other boats could do for the downed men as they had to reach the beach or continue to get shot at. For the men in the water, they had to swim to shore if they could make it at all.

The first boat made it to the sandy shore that led up the fort. The men quickly hopped out as Feliks watched the scene. In about another minute, they would reach the beach. The men in the first boat grabbed their siege ladder as they charged the fort. One man was gunned down immediately as a musket shot hit him in the leg. One of the Russian soldiers tripped over from the ladder the group was hauling, but he still held his musket. Separated, he stood up and fired up at the fort at one of the enemy soldiers but failed to hit anyone.

Feliks continued pulling the oars. He saw another boat reach the shore as a mortar round from the Czar’s direction hit the walls. A crack was put into the wall that would make it easier to climb if they mounted the siege ladders. As he got closer, he could see more cracks that occurred from the Russian artillery. The walls were still holding firm, but it was a matter of time before the fortress walls would finally start to be knocked down.

There was cannon fire that erupted from the boat on the right of Feliks’s boat. It was one of the same boats as his but outfitted with a small portable cannon mounted in the front and men armed with nothing but muskets. These little out-rigged gunboats were designed to provide some fire support along with the landing invasion, but it was evident that the cannon was useless against the walls. Nonetheless, Feliks saw the cannon swivel up and fire at the small portholes, but the cannonball harmlessly bounced off the wall. He looked as they swiveled the gun away and began to reload. He was surprised to see that the commanding soldier was Andrei that was directing the boat and where the men needed to fire. Three of the men fired almost fired in unison, but Feliks turned back at his oar.

Four more boats landed on the shore. Men with siege ladders hopped off as one group got hit by one of the cannons from the wall. Blood and wood flew in all directions as four of the men were hit simultaneously.

Bataar kept a close eye on Feliks as she saw that the Czar’s artillery had ceased firing at the walls to avoid hitting their own men. The cannons on the fortress continued firing their barrage at the incoming soldiers and boats.

“We are close enough!” yelled Andrei as Bataar overheard from her boat. “Fire at will!”

The cannon on the gunboat was being reloaded as Feliks could feel his boat start to bottom out as it hit the beach of the fortress. The vessel lifted up as it beached itself, making it suitable for the soldiers to get out.

The air was filled with the smell of burning gunpowder and smoke as the artillery continued firing cannon shot after cannon shot at the incoming soldiers. A fire was burning from one of the towers as artillery from Peter’s artillery batteries seemed to have an effect. Smoke pillared from the tower, but it was only a small one.

Feliks leaped out of the boat along with the other men as they grabbed the siege ladder. Bataar, like the giant she was, ran along with the men practically carrying the ladder herself. They charged with their muskets as they ran to the side of the wall away from the central part of the force. Meanwhile, more and more boats were landing on the shore.

Feliks saw for a brief second as he saw the ladders on other men were being hoisted up so the men could climb the walls. He noticed there were problems right at the start as the ladders were too short of reaching the top of the walls. This meant that the ladders had to at least reach the blown-out cracks or possibly try to get through the portholes on the walls where the cannons were firing from. This was assuming if there was enough room to do so without the risk of getting your head blown off.

More cannon fire as the cannonballs struck dirt and grass. As the men were preparing to climb the walls, however, it was apparent that the cannons could not aim straight down. There was a sense of safeness as the Russian soldiers reached the walls to avoid the cannon fire from straight above.

Bataar looked at the top of the walls to see more Swedish soldiers firing down at the incoming boats and men. Two of the shots were directed in her direction, but the shots missed and hit the dirt. She could recognize the Swedish uniform of solid dark blue with yellow, the favorite colors of Sweden and their flag.

They approached the wall as Feliks looked around him. He could already see gunned down Russian soldiers as the Swedes continued their defensive fire. Another man was screaming as his arm was hit and struggled to keep his musket ready to aim. More and more ladders were laid onto the walls as the men started to climb the long ladders. Screaming and chaos were all along the shore as more and more boats continued to reach the beach.

Bataar was the first to reach the wall of the group as they hauled the ladder up. Feliks was right behind her as the men all worked to hoist the ladder up. The top of the ladder smacked onto the wall, firmly ready to be climbed. As Feliks turned his head to look at the boats for a second, he saw a cannon fired from above him flew and hit the ship that Andrei was on. Wood and splinters flew as it was a direct hit.

“Andrei!” Feliks yelled, but his voice did not go far in the ruckus of the continuing barrage.

As the wood splinters landed in the water, he saw Andrei stagger on the boat as it was flooding quickly. Andrei was missing a chunk of his arm as he used his other hand to grab the swivel mount of the cannon. Amazingly he managed to aim the reloaded cannon as he aimed it at the fortress. He fired the gun as the small round went through one of the portholes of the fort, causing smoke and mayhem, knocking out one of the hundreds of cannons that lined its sides. Musket fire from the Swedes continued to fire at the sinking gunboat as Feliks watched Andrei get hit by a round that hit him in the head. He fell into the water, never to breathe again. It all happened in mere seconds.

A surge of anger rose in Feliks’s face as Bataar turned her head to see the tail end of the sinking gunboat. Bodies and blood rained the shores as the dead started to float around. Bataar turned her head to see Feliks load his bayonet on his musket.

“I am going in first! Cover me!” he yelled.

Bataar grew in anger in shock as she knew that he would be the most likely to be shot. She grabbed and flung him to the wall as she took her musket and grabbed the ladder. “I am going in first!”

Feliks looked at Bataar, infuriated as it was evident that she was going up first. Her legs hit the first step as he heard explosions that ripped the side of the fortress walls. Bataar, Feliks, and some of the other men at the ladder looked beside them to see a series of small explosions that hit the nearby emplaced ladders. He could see that they were small bombs being dropped from the Swedes down to the men below. Russian soldiers had body parts blown off as the small bombs ripped into the ground and dirt around them.

“Grenadiers!” Bataar yelled. “Back away from the wall now!”

Feliks and the other men started to run from the ladder as more bombs were randomly thrown below to the invasion force. Men were being blown left and right as Bataar jumped off the ladder. There was no way that the men could effectively climb the ladder with grenades being dropped on top of them.

Explosions riddled the side of the wall as a small bomb landed not far from Feliks. Bataar saw the bomb, jumped, and grabbed Feliks as she used her body to shield him from the explosion.

The bomb exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions. Bataar twisted and spun with Feliks in her arms as the shockwave hit most of her body. The other men were not as lucky as the shrapnel ripped into the men. Bataar, in all her effort, had shrapnel slam into her, but the metal pieces bounced off of her. However, one piece of shrapnel still flew past underneath her arm as it went straight into Feliks’s hip.

She landed into the dirt, holding onto Feliks as he screamed in pain. Amazingly he still clutched his musket and bayonet. Bataar had no choice but to keep pulling him further away from the wall as more and more men tried to attack the walls beyond them. A few lucky shots managed to kill some of the grenadiers as they stood up and flung grenades, but the Swedes got four or five men in return for every successful kill. It was turning into a hopeless situation. Cannon fire from the fort was still obvious as they tried to fire at the other boats. The men were too far below to hit.

“Hold on, my ... friend,” she told him as she managed to get at a safe enough distance. They were in the threat of still getting shot from musket fire, but they were away from the grenade-throwing range. She managed to pull him to a dirt bank that helped shield them from incoming fire.

“I got you safe enough away,” she said as she looked at his wound. A metal piece the size of a thumb was embedded into the right hip. Blood was leaking from the injury. They dropped their loaded muskets to the dirt.

“Hurts!” were his only word as she looked at the injury. Men ran near them as they tried to storm the walls but to little avail.

Bataar nodded as she looked around at the scene. Men were not paying too much to them as she held her hand near the dirt to summon a healing crystal.

She leaned near his ear and whispered to him, “I had one of these just in case. Hold love.” She pressed the crystal into his hip. She used the combined effort of the healing crystal as she took her other hand and grasped the metal piece. With one tug, she ripped the metal piece from his body. He screamed in pain as she pressed the small crystal into the wound. It was small enough that no one would notice what she was doing.

“Deep breaths ... love ... you are going to be...”