Chapter 600: One Call, a Hundred Responses?

Chapter 593 One call and hundreds of responses?

Under the cover of darkness, John Brown ordered seventy-three troops and went straight to the armory at Harpers Ferry Ferry.

They passed through the woods and dense bushes around the armory, walking lightly and resolutely, like ghosts stalking in the night, quietly approaching the target.

The bright moonlight fell on the ground through the gaps between the leaves and treetops, providing them with weak illumination.

As the team approached the armory, John Brown gave a gentle order, and these old guys who had fought together for many years began to disperse in a tacit understanding and continued to approach the armory.

John Brown stood quietly in the darkness, the outline of the armory clearly visible in the moonlight. He took out his monocular and stretched it to observe the situation of the defenders of the armory.

John Brown was overjoyed when he discovered that the armory was empty. Not only were there only seven or eight Virginia militiamen on duty, but even the door to the armory was directly open.

The dozen or so black people in the team had reached a place less than thirty yards away from the entrance of the armory. Because the black skin color comes with a stealth bonus. In addition, Virginia has been at peace for a long time and its armaments have been weakened.

The two militiamen guarding the armory gate were not aware of this and were still chatting and smoking cigarettes as if nothing had happened.

"Hey guys, hello."

A dozen black people who came to the entrance of the armory saw that the two militiamen on duty were carrying guns and posed no great threat to them. They rushed towards them in a few steps and killed the two virgins who had neglected their duties. The sub-militiamen immediately surrounded him.

"What the hell are you damn niggers doing out here if you're not staying on the plantation?!" Two Virginia militiamen were startled by the sudden appearance of black people around them, and yelled at them, "Midnight You appear here sneakily, do you want to run to the north? Tell me who your master is, and I will let him take care of you!"

"Sorry, we are not going north, we are going south." The leading black man took out a Colt revolver and put it against the neck of a Virginia militiaman, "I have no master, I am a free man!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

After seeing clearly that these black men were all heavily armed and not like slaves who had escaped from southern plantations, the two militiamen realized that they were under armed attack. Despite facing the black muzzles of more than a dozen guns, one of the Virginia militiamen still risked his life to shout out enemy attack.

Suddenly, a piercing whistle broke through the quiet night sky.

The sound that followed was the sound of hurried and panicked footsteps inside the armory.

"attack!"

Seeing that the sneak attack was discovered, John Brown, who was not far away, raised his voice and waved his arms, signaling an attack. His troops, waving weapons and shouting slogans, rushed towards the armory like a violent wind. A fierce battle ensued with the soldiers stationed there.

Gunshots and shouts were heard one after another.

John Brown and his soldiers fought steadily, constantly compressing the defensive space of the armory defenders.

In less than an hour, the more than twenty remaining defenders of the Harpers Ferry Armory were squeezed into the ammunition magazine of the armory.

The defenders of the armory never expected that the Harpers Ferry Armory would be subject to a sudden armed attack without warning.

The first reaction of the lieutenant who commanded the defense was that it must be the Yankees in the north who did not respect martial ethics and were waging undeclared war against the south. The lieutenant officer firmly believed that judging from the opponent's fierce firepower, excellent combat qualities, and high morale, the one attacking the armory must be an entire elite regiment from the north.

At the same time, the lieutenant was also worried that the other party would directly set off the ammunition depot and blow up all twenty of them into the sky. Therefore, less than five minutes after retreating to the ammunition depot, the lieutenant raised the white flag and surrendered.

At the cost of only two men killed and three wounded, John Brown's armed troops successfully captured the armory at Harpers Ferry and raised the flag of the Confederacy of Gilead at the armory.

Soon, John Brown pursued his victory and attacked the manor near Harpers Ferry and arrested the slave owners who were still on the manor.

A large number of distinguished gentlemen near Harpers Ferry were arrested by John Brown.

Including Thomas Jefferson Randolph, the great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson, the founding father of the United States and the third president of the United States, and Virginia congressman. It can be said that the results are fruitful.

John Brown's audacious but flawed plan unexpectedly succeeded at a very small cost.

But after occupying Harpers Ferry, as he imagined, as long as he stood up and shouted, the slaves in Virginia would respond in large numbers and gather at Harpers Ferry to participate in the grand event. The crusade against the local slave owners was not as grand as that. occur.

Although after daybreak, John Brown delivered an impassioned speech to the people at Harbors Ferry and the captured Virginia militiamen, trying to persuade them to join the great crusade to liberate the American slaves.

But there were very few responders. Although the white people captured by John Brown were very cooperative, they all refused to participate in John Brown's great holy war to liberate slaves in the United States without exception.

Not to mention white people, only a small number of the black slaves who had just been liberated by John Brown were willing to participate in John Brown's great cause.

That was it, and it was still under John Brown's earnest persuasion.

From Kansas to Hancock, the number of John Brown's troops expanded directly from 76 to 215.

But after occupying the Harpers Ferry Ferry, which he had been thinking about, John Brown's team only increased from 213 to 268.

In other words, when the situation seemed to be very good, only 55 black slaves joined John Brown's team.

Less than a day later, the 43 hired armed men recruited by John Brown from Hancock with real money secretly left John Brown's team.

These people believed that they had completed their mission by helping John Brown occupy the Harpers Ferry Ferry, and they were worthy of the commission paid by John Brown, so they left John Brown's team.

John Brown knew that these people were worried that the slave militia nearby would hear the news and come, so they found an excuse to leave the large army.

"Father, although we have cut off the telegraph line of the Harpers Ferry Telegraph Office, the Harpers Ferry Ferry is a key transportation hub between the north and the south, with dense traffic. I think the news of our capture of Harpers Ferry will spread soon, and the Dixie people in Virginia will definitely fight back vigorously." John Brown's third son, Little Brown, said worriedly.

"We only have more than 220 people. If the troops are too dispersed, I am afraid we can't defend the entire Harpers Ferry Ferry."