General Arnold dropped to the ground and fired into the forest blindly. The Britsh and their allies were hiding behind the trees and bushes and firing on his units from two sides. While his men were responding appropriately, he saw a few dozen of his soldiers on the ground. And they weren't firing back at the enemy.
While he and his men could attempt to outrun their attackers, his units would take far too many casualties and his enemies would not sit still either. As much as he reviled the idea of leaving some of his men behind, it needed to be done. Some of his men needed to stay behind in order to buy time for the others to make their way to General Washington.
"Colonel Wyllys! Are you still alive?" General Arnold shouted as a bullet whizzed by him.
"I hear you, sir!" A voice shouted over the din of gunfire and cries.
"You are now in charge of the Second and Third Connecticut Regiment. I will stay behind with some of the men to cover your retreat to General Washington! You are to help him in any form or shape and give the damned British a beating!"
Colonel Wyllys responded immediately, "You can't stay behind, general! You're our commanding officer!"
The general gritted his teeth as he reloaded his rifled musket, "My orders are final, colonel! Do as I say!"
After he fired off another shot towards the woods, General Arnold bellowed as loudly as he could, "Men of the Connecticut Regiments, Colonel Wyllys is now your commanding officer. You are to follow him to the east and obey his orders! 1st Company and 2nd Company of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment, remain behind as we cover their retreat!"
Hundreds of men reacted to the order in various ways, ranging from moving closer to the prone general to fleeing rapidly towards Kingstree. The attackers made no maneuvers to intercept the fleeing men and focused on the few hundred that remained behind. General Arnold noticed that a few of the men he ordered to remain behind also fled, but turned his attention back to the battle at hand.
"Run to the southern forests and find cover! We won't last a minute out here!"
The remaining men charged into the southern forests near the British positions and battled with a few British troops that were hidden nearby. General Arnold managed to disarm and stab a man himself with a bayonet, earning a sharp cry from the British soldier he stabbed. After a few minutes, the remaining Continental soldiers managed to carve a small area for themselves in the forest, hidden away from the other attackers. When they managed to fight back using cover, they managed to hold their ground and the members of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment even blunted a British charge.
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General Arnold never stopped firing his musket, even as he was running low on ammunition. He was towards the front of his soldiers, yelling out commands and inspiring the men to fight harder. "Keep on fighting! Do you want to live fifty more years, or be remembered for fifty more generations?"
But after several more minutes, it became increasingly clear that the British were utilizing their numerical advantage to their advantage. More and more of the general's soldiers felled from British fire and the general noticed that some of the British soldiers were firing several times within a single minute. Even so, he never wavered and continued fighting. He wasn't going to be remembered as a coward or a traitor but as a hero.
And knowing his luck, he would only get injured in the leg like in the other history. Or be captured. Either way, he wasn't going to surrender willingly.
After firing his musket, General Arnold fumbled while reloading and dropped the ball he was trying to ram into his musket. Before he could grab the ball, he felt a single shot slam into his chest.
Time slowed down as he saw the ball drop onto the ground and his musket following soon after. His body swayed backward before landing onto the grass, his eyes now facing the sky and the numerous trees that covered his field of vision. He turned slowly to look at his surroundings and saw that a nearby soldier saw him get shot. The man, a colonel by the name of Gold Silliman, ran up to him and lifted his torso gently, "Sir! Don't worry, I'm sure there's still a medic somewhere. We'll find one for you and get you patched up! You'll be fine."
The general knew it was a lie, as he felt the man's hands trembling. He coughed up a spray of blood before gripping the man's sleeves, "Put me down colonel and continue the fight. I am finished."
"But you are not dead y..."
"I am done, colonel. My time is finally up," General Arnold muttered as he relaxed, "Perhaps this is my punishment from God... But tell the general this; my only regret is that I did not do more for my country."
Some of the soldiers nearby saw their fallen general and rushed to his side, but the general was already closing his eyes as his lifeforce faded, "I will see you soon... Margaret."
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AN: If you're wondering who Margaret is... It's Arnold's wife that died back in 1775.
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