Sabotage (1)

After arriving in the safe house Ilse set the signal so their local agents would know they were present and then settled down for a few hours sleep till dawn. They were woken by a great deal of activity and not long after Franz arrived by the back door.

“The French are on the march to Frundsberg. Cavalry and infantry have already left but there is still a considerable garrison here”

“Yes Franz, we expected this, but we now need to ensure that the French cause the minimum damage to Bruckewasser so the imperial forces can pass through easily and find any way of reducing the effectiveness of their forces. Have you found out anything new?”

“Yes, they are storing a lot of supplies in the warehouses down at the docks and I have found where they are keeping their ammunition”

“Interesting, an army without ammunition would be in trouble”

“Yes, but we can’t destroy it without destroying that part of the town. I know the owner of the warehouse and he says it is possible to get into the warehouse from the adjoining building”

Shortly after the curfew was sounded they made their way to the docks and entered the back of one of the warehouses. Moving to the front Ilse looked out to see several Frenchmen guarding the next building. Franz meantime with Hans’s help had been moving a number of sacks, boxes and barrels to reveal a door. Opening it carefully they found large numbers of chests filled with musket and artillery ammunition. Also there were a large number of barrels of gunpowder.

“I’ve an idea” said Ilse “We can’t remove the ammunition without the French finding out and getting additional supplies from across the river. However we could remove the gunpowder and replace the contents with sand covered with a layer of gunpowder. They won’t find out until they try to use it.”

Using the barrels from the next building they transferred the contents of gunpowder barrels into boxes and barrels from the other warehouse and replacing the contents with sand and a hands depth of powder. The task took three hours and they took turns with the transfer and keeping watch on the street.

Once they had finished they made sure that nothing looked disturbed and then returned through the door and repositioned sacks, boxes and barrels to block it again.