The Siege of St. Lambert : Days 1 to 3

The Germans and Volunteers man the covered way while the militia assist with the guns.

On the morning of April 3rd, the King's artillery opened fire to be met by the roar of the Queen's guns. The massive mortar nicknamed the Tyrany, proved its worth, dropping a huge shell into the Ravelin from 5 feet away and dismounting the gun  within. The sappers worked their way forward then as night fell, began laying out a short second parallel and a battery, well positioned to enfilade the Ravelin.

The Royal company digs while the Pandours stand ready to meet any attempt to sally. Unfortunately the smoke hanging over the battlefield has made it hard for my cellphone to take a clear picture. 

Over night, the defenders dragged a new gun into the ravelin and prepared to open fire. At daybreak the guns opened again, the defenders focusing their fire on the new battery, pounding it hard and killing or wounding 1/2 of the infantry assigned to dig and narrowly missing the engineer. (1/2 of the diggers and the Engineer must survive to complete the work). Once again the Tyrant proved its worth, dropping another shell into the hapless redoubt, dismounting the replacement gun.

The King's company suffers heavy casualties

On the third day, as the attackers dragged 2 guns and a howitzer forward into the new battery and extended the parallel. The Volunteers tried a few long range pot shots but the enemy were just out of rifle range from the covered way..Having considered a sortie, but deciding that the risk was too great, the defenders hunkered down and decided not to replace the redoubt gun again. It was no use, a torrent of fire against the Round Tower soon dismounted yet another gun. There were loud cheers from the garrison when their return fire smashed a gun in the new battery but the worried Queen took to the tower to survey the scene and ponder the loss of nearly 1/2 her artillery in 3 days.

  The Queen-Regent laments the loss of her guns.

The losses in guns was beginning to worry me too! With a 5 or 6 to hit then a 6 to dismount a gun, the attackers had destroyed 3 defending guns with 27 shots. I didn't keep exact tabs but something like 1 in 3 hits was dismounting a gun rather than 1 in 6. On the bright side, the defenders have lots of gun crews available!

The siege continues!