Chapter 149
Detective Baldwin Fields
Chapter 149 Detective Baldwin Fields
However, this reconciliation did not last even half an hour.
The sentry on the high point on the west side of the camp suddenly rang a series of urgent bells.
That was the highest level of alert for Black Coal Valley.
A boy tumbled down the mountain path in a sorry state and scrambled into the camp.
"Dad! Baldwin-Fields' men are here! They're with an armed convoy! They're coming in from the north entrance of the canyon!"
Old Seris's face instantly turned ashen.
Baldwin-Fields Detective Agency.
This name is more terrifying than any ghost or god throughout the Appalachian mining region.
This private armed detective agency, founded in the late 19th century, has long been employed by major coal conglomerates in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, specializing in all sorts of "dirty work" that cannot be resolved openly in court.
They expelled striking miners, demolished union camps, assassinated labor leaders, and even carried out armed raids on entire settlements deep in the mountains.
南北战争后美国规模最大的国内武装冲突，1921年8月25日至9月2日发生在美国西维吉尼亚州的煤矿工人武装起义，就是因他们对矿工的驱逐而引发的。
"How many people are there? What kind of equipment did they bring?"
Old Seris quickly switched back to wartime mode.
"Three trucks! At least forty men! I saw two light machine guns! And a chain tractor used for pushing houses!" the boy reported, trembling.
This means that we're not here to negotiate today, but to completely clear the area.
They want to permanently erase the Black Coal Valley from this land.
Old Seris gave the order without any hesitation, raising his voice.
"Hurry the children and women into the caves behind the mountain! All men who can carry guns, go up the ridge! Move those two barrels of sorghum liquor to the front! If you don't have enough guns, grab axes and iron bars! Don't let their tractors into the valley!"
The camp immediately erupted into chaos with the sounds of running, children crying, and the metallic clang of guns being cocked.
Arthur did not leave.
He stood still and quickly completed an assessment in his mind.
Forty fully armed professional thugs faced fewer than thirty armed mountain villagers, plus the firepower advantage of two light machine guns, and a heavy tractor capable of directly demolishing earthen and wooden fortifications.
If it's just a war of attrition, this valley won't last more than two hours.
Arthur walked back to Pikachu's side.
He pulled open the canvas of the back compartment, quickly took out his Winchester M1897 pump-action shotgun, which was fully loaded with buckshot, inserted a spare magazine, and tucked it into his belt.
He then reached deep into the carriage again and retrieved two yellow phosphorus burning signal flares that he had prepared in Scranton.
He turned around and looked at old Seris.
"What is the terrain like at the valley entrance?"
Old Seris paused for a second, then introduced him.
"At its narrowest point, the entrance to the canyon on the north side is only wide enough for two carriages to walk side by side. On both sides are vertical rock walls thirty feet high. But once you cross the canyon, the terrain immediately opens up, and there is no cover whatsoever."
Arthur nodded, the tactical diagram already taking shape in his mind.
How deep is the canyon beyond its mouth?
"About eighty yards."
"That's enough. Your men will set up positions on the cliff tops on both sides of the canyon entrance, but don't fire. I'll fire the first shot once their convoy has entered the depths of the canyon. Your mission is to cut off their retreat and advance."
Old Seris stared at the two yellow phosphorus signal flares in Arthur's hand, understanding dawning on him.
"Listen to him!" Old Seris shouted to the surrounding mountain people.
"Cletus! Take twelve men to the top of the north cliff! Jeb! Take eight men to guard the boulder behind the valley entrance! Wait for the signal from the townspeople!"
Just as Cletus and Jeb had gathered their men and were preparing to depart, the heavy roar of diesel engines could be heard from the distant mountain road.
They ran out of time.
Everyone quickly dispersed into the terrain.
Arthur followed Cletus's party, quickly climbing up the cliff top on the left flank of the canyon entrance along a secluded mountain path.
He lay prone behind the protruding rock, looking down at the narrow, deep canyon passage.
Three heavy trucks painted black and with steel plates welded to their cargo beds roared arrogantly into the canyon entrance, led by a tracked tractor belching black smoke.
In the front of the truck, a Lewis light machine gun supported by sandbags was mounted.
Leading the way were several vanguards carrying Thompson submachine guns.
Their attitude was lax, suggesting that in their decades of experience in suppressing purges, they had never encountered any truly effective resistance.
They entered a section of the canyon that was forty yards deep.
Arthur did not move.
He calmly continued to wait.
Fifty yards.
Sixty yards.
As the tail of the last truck in the convoy fully entered the narrow stone path, Arthur decisively lit the yellow phosphorus signal flare and hurled it down into the canyon floor below.
When yellow phosphorus comes into contact with air, it instantly bursts into a blinding white smoke and burns violently.
The signal flare tumbled across the canyon floor, and the canyon's exit was obscured by a thick cloud of white, toxic smoke.
At the same time, Arthur picked up his Winchester shotgun and aimed the muzzle at the front tire of the last truck.
He fired three shots in quick succession to ensure a hit.
The truck suddenly went out of control and tilted to the side, blocking the entrance to the canyon and completely cutting off the convoy's retreat.
This is the starting gun for this battle.
In an instant, a barrage of gunfire erupted simultaneously from the cliff tops on both sides of the canyon.
Cletus and his twelve mountain men, armed with old-fashioned rifles and double-barreled shotguns, launched a fierce attack from their elevated position against the forty black-clad agents who had nowhere to hide and were unable to form a formation.
The agents frantically tried to use the truck's steel plates as cover to return fire, but the thirty-foot-high vertical rock wall formed a perfect firing barrier.
The agents' submachine guns fired a large number of bullets at the rock face, sending up a lot of debris, but they were unable to create any effective suppression at an upward angle.
The truck bed carrying the Lewis light machine gun became the core of the struggle between the two sides.
The machine gunner frantically rotated the gun mount, trying to raise the elevation angle to fire at the top of the cliff.
However, the elevation angle design limit of the light machine gun itself meant that he could not hit directly above it at a height of three thousand feet.
Not to mention, at least ten rifles were pointed at him at that moment.
The steel gun mount support shaft was shattered, the Lewis light machine gun went silent, and the barrel crashed to the side of the carriage.
On the other side, the mountain people used large stones they had prepared to violently hurl at the team of detectives.
A fist-sized rock plummeted from a height of thirty feet, striking the agent in the black trench coat, his screams echoing between the rocks.
Meanwhile, Jeb and his eight men had completely blocked the retreat route at the rear exit of the canyon with logs and boulders.
The entire Baldwin-Feltz team was like being stuck in a stone meat grinder, completely sealed off at both ends.
The melee lasted for nearly twenty minutes.
Finally, after leaving behind eleven corpses and more than twenty severely wounded men who were unable to move, the remaining agents reluctantly laid down their weapons and surrendered.
However, the victory did not bring cheers to the camp.
When Cletus came down from the cliff, people realized that the short but fierce battle had also cost Black Coal Valley a heavy price.
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