Chapter 47: Chapter 45: The Battle of Cambridge

Cambridge, the United States of America
August 23rd, 1776

General George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, remained unfazed as the British marched forward out of Boston. He had been waiting outside the city for weeks, waiting for General Burgoyne to make a maneuver in order to utilize the defenses he had prepared for this moment. General Washington and his men surrounded the city and built defenses in various defensible positions around the city, with his headquarters based in the town of Cambridge near Boston. Thousands of redcoats marched in formation towards General Washington and his men while the artillery pieces from both sides bombarded each other. The British Navy also provided fire support from the coast, but only a dozen or ships were in the vicinity. Some of the shots landed directly onto the British lines, creating large holes that were rapidly filled by other British regulars. Thankfully, the American soldiers and militiamen were hiding in trenches and sturdy fortifications and endured the artillery exchange relatively well. Even so, dozens fell from the heavy fire brought upon the colonial lines from the British Navy and artillery. The general wasn't a huge supporter of General Kim's style of warfare but recognized that it was far better for his soldiers to return home safely then die foolishly out in the open. Burgoyne's troops in front of him were proof of such. Privately, General Washington if his counterpart was delusional since he ordered his men to walk through open terrain in order to fight the entrenched Americans head-on.

The Continental Army (and the local state militias) outnumbered the British Army significantly. All in all, nearly 14,000 regulars, along with 6,000 militiamen, were under his command in total, though only around 7,000 were directly at Cambridge with him. He originally had around 10,000 regulars at the beginning of the Siege of Boston, but thousands of soldiers and militiamen from nearby colonies reinforced the general and answered his call to arms. The large number of troops and the high spirits of the Continentals were mainly due to General Kim, as General Washington was aware of the amount of gold the Asian man supplied to Congress for the war. While many of the newcomers were relatively untrained, they were equipped with weapons and uniforms.

"Wait for them to get closer. Order the men to begin firing once the British are halfway towards the trenches," General Washington ordered his subordinates, "Prepare the experimental weapons as well."

The command was relayed to the other officers that were with their units and the Americans waited patiently as artillery whittled down the British numbers. Even under heavy fire, the British held together solidly while General Burgoyne followed closely behind his frontline troops.

Within minutes, the British were within range and several muskets rang out in panic. The panic shots set off a chain reaction and nearly all the entrenched soldiers rained fire upon the enemy. The British were cut down ruthlessly by American fire and General Washington winced at the rather indifference the British soldiers showed to their losses. Even though only half of his men actually fired upon the enemy (due to positioning), the initial volley cut down hundreds of British soldiers.

Immediately, the British exchanged fire and dozens of exposed Americans were taken down from the volley. The American soldiers and militiamen reloaded hastily and fired again, though much less accurate this time due to the rising pace of the battle. The second volley from the Americans was scattered but still managed to inflict damage on the marching troops.

It was at this moment that the British soldiers rapidly closed their distance and started to run towards the American trenches. The British were wounded and shaken, but they were nowhere near out of the fight.

"Fire the Hwachas when ready!"

The Hwachas, weapons that originated from General Kim's ancestral homeland, were wooden artillery pieces loaded with long arrows. They used a complicated mechanism that involved lighting a "fuse," which would then set off the gunpowder that shot the arrows forward. It was a "gift" from General Kim, who had received it from his benefactor. General Washington only had three at hand and he was going to use them to maximize his advantage.

Five soldiers manned each Hwacha for positioning, reloading, and lighting the fuse. As instructed by General Kim, the Hwachas were aimed towards approximately fifty yards in front of the American trenches and elevated to a forty-five degrees angle to maximize its firepower and distance. Once the order was given, each crew set off their Hwachas and watched carefully as three hundred arrows flew towards their target.

As practiced, the crews aimed for the densest British formations in order to utilize the widespread effect of the arrows. The arrows took several seconds to arrive onto their targets and struck the British formations indiscriminately. The charging British soldiers managed to see the arrows but were far too late to react. Dozens of arrows landed on their targets and instantly decimated the British soldiers towards the front. While over half of the arrows veered off target, the arrows that impacted the British soldiers created a scene of a massacre. Several British soldiers had arrows pierced through their torsos and head, while others cried in anguish at the arrows lodged in their arms or legs. Slowly but surely, the British assault slowed but continued for a reason that General Washington couldn't fathom.

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Suddenly, he sickeningly realized that Burgoyne most likely wanted the trenches for himself and was relying on the superior British hand to hand combat to overwhelm a designated point in the defenses. A spearhead tactic.

"Prepare for hand to hand combat!" General Washington shouted as he motioned for the crews of the Hwachas to retreat to avoid capture, "Do not fall back, for if we win today, we win our independence!"

Thousands of men clashed against each other in the trenches and General Washington remained just outside the trenches to witness the spectacle. Dozens of soldiers surrounded him to protect him while he called out orders to accommodate the ever-changing situation in the trenches.

"Sir, General Wooster requests reinforcements to his position!"

"The British have been pushed out of the eastern trenches, but they have redoubled their efforts into our center and the British Navy has resumed bombardment in the east!"

"12th Massachusetts Regiment has suffered severe casualties and their colonel is dead!"

The entire affair was bloody and General Washington rued for the thousands of men that died under his command, but after nearly two hours of intense fighting, the British retreated with under two-thirds of their forces intact. If Washington's assumptions were correct, then the Battle of Cambridge was the bloodiest day of the entire war. And unfortunately, his own men suffered over a thousand and five hundred casualties.

As General Washington attempted to encourage his men's spirits and rebuilt the battered defenses, a messenger arrived in front of him and his men. The messenger was out of breath, but seemed extremely excited, "General, I bear news from General Kim. He sent me directly without a letter, but asked me to relay this message to you."

"What is it?"

"Charleston has been seized, we have won sir."

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