"Assassination" (Part 2)

Captain Calvin immediately shouted, "All units, take defensive positions!" before a bullet pierced his skull.

In reality, everyone had already entered combat mode the moment that carriage loaded with logs suddenly appeared.

Theoretically, large freight vehicles were not permitted on this street; even those looking to make a profit would choose to come at night, as it was less likely to be noticed.

Transporting such timber during the day would easily attract the attention of police and gendarmes, leading to inevitable extortion. Even if they managed to brush off the authorities, the pedestrians on the bustling streets ahead and behind posed a major problem.

A clearly overloaded carriage appearing so suddenly was far too abrupt. When the captain of the guards drew his pistol, the driver opposite him panicked, which was why the carriage suddenly lost control.

Otherwise, those logs would not have scattered across the ground; they were meant to crash into Baron Bruck's carriage.

Seeing that the plan had changed, the attackers did not hesitate and chose to open fire immediately.

Following the first gunshot, a continuous barrage of gunfire erupted, though the primary targets were the driver and the horses.

Unfortunately, the attackers were still using muzzle-loading rifles; even for a skilled veteran, reloading took over twenty seconds.

Baron Bruck's accompanying guards immediately raised their rifles to return fire, killing several gunmen who had failed to take cover in time.

But then, another group of gunmen charged from both sides of the street. They were also using revolvers, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

The attackers hoped to end the fight quickly with their numerical advantage, but to their surprise, just four air rifles suppressed the charge of dozens of men.

The effective range of the air rifles was 150 meters, but in