Chapter 19 – San Juan

"It is only in battle when we know who we truly are."

'3rd March 1780,

I am writing this entry by torchlight. The jungle is dark, the insects are loud, and there is a green tree snake sitting by my shoulder. Today we will march on San Juan and end this chaos once and for all. It is going to get messy, and many good men are going to die. Then, at the same time, should I succeed I will bring about the end of the villainous General Cortez and his key will be in my possession. I will then be one step closer to finding the apple…'

Nelson and the others lay hidden inside the jungle, like fleas in a fur coat. They moved stealthily and were ever so careful not to alert those of their presence behind the wall. So much of Nelson's life had led up to this moment, and there was no room for error. Slowly he and Collingwood positioned the soldiers along the tree line so that they were spread out, a good battle tactic for a mission like this.

When the time would come to plant the explosives and blow the wall, Nelson and Collingwood had decided to punch two holes. It was too obvious that so many men coming through a single chokepoint would only serve to let Cortez kill them off one by one. That is why, shortly after the first charge, Nelson would blow another hole several metres up the wall. He was certain that even Cortez would not see this coming.

While they waited, an eerie silence came upon them from over the wall. The fortress itself was alien to the green jungle that surrounded it. Nothing moved but the mist that gathered around their feet, clinging to the leafy ground and floating along as if it were ghosts summoned to haunt them. Still the seconds dragged by, counted by the chirping of wild insects behind them. Nelson could not handle the suspense much longer. He wanted it to be over.

At last it happened, the event that he was waiting so desperately for. Far to the Southeast came a loud bang. Nelson looked over and saw the vibrant red fire of the Chinese firework light up the darkened blue sky. The sight was captivating, and Nelson remained watching as the colours flaked down into the jungle below. There was an outburst of voices, all of the people within the fort pondered over the mysterious signal. Nelson's infantry remained hidden away like shadows of the jungle. Meanwhile, Cortez sent a small group out through the main gate to search for the source of the signal.

A second firework was set off. This time it came from the Northeast and its effect was very similar to the first. Now the Spanish were confused. Nelson braced himself for what was to come next. The first hit struck with the ferocious power and might of a God. Nelson could not see over the wall but he could hear the deafening blow as the first cannon ball collided with one of the fort buildings, crippling it and raising dust into the air. A second shot came after and was just as mighty. It collided into the Northern wall with such force that the bricks shattered like glass and a small part of it was knocked down. The General and his fleet had begun their bombardment, as was the plan. With no lack of mercy, Dalling's seven well-armed warships sailed back and forth past the coast side of the fort. They fired in deadly rallies that devastated the structures within, and they then focused their fire upon the enemy fleet that sat idle in the bay.

After fifteen long minutes the bombardment ceased and there was only cries, crumbling buildings and the echoes of the attack. Nelson glanced over to Collingwood who stood several metres down the tree line. With a single nod he indicated that it was time to plant the explosives. Collingwood was to go first. He and four others made their advance across the long opened space between the jungle and the wall. As they lugged the heavy powder cartridge over the gap, Nelson noticed from the tree line a Spanish soldier running fast along the wall. He paused very suddenly as he caught sight of the small army that had amassed beneath his walls. His eyes opened wide and his face was frozen with fear. The soldier gathered his wits and then cried out at the top of his lungs. 'Enemigo! Enemigo!' He faced his comrades and pointed to the enemy. Seconds later he was shot down. He jolted as the bullet pierced through his chest cavity and then, clutching the wound he toppled off of the wall. Nelson looked to his left and saw a cloud of gun smoke drifting away from James as he lowered his musket.

There was a brief moment of silence and Collingwood and the others began to increase their pace. They were straining with the heavy cartridge and by the time they were in position over a dozen armed men lined the wall like crows. Without hesitation Collingwood slammed the bomb down hard, directly below the wall. He drew out the fuse and using the fire from his torch he set it alight. The magnesium in the fuse helped it burn strong and bright and it had no chance of going out.

Meanwhile, Nelson and his men took refuge behind the trees. Each man fired at will and one by one the Spanish fell. All the same, a few of Nelson's men were unfortunate enough to take a bullet from those who held the high ground. One of his men was shot it the eye, and the poor lad's brains were splattered over the man who stood behind. Nelson had made sure that his best marksmen stood at the front of the ranks. Those who were not so skilled stood back and were tasked with collecting and reloading the used muskets. This ensured a steadier flow of fire. James fired was too fast for his re-loaders to keep up, and he had three of them reloading and passing the muskets along. With the steadiest hands that Nelson had ever seen, James lined up his shot and hit the target between the eyes before passing his musket over his shoulder and collecting a new one, and then repeating the process again.

For Collingwood the fuse on the powder keg had been lit, and he only had a few seconds to get far out of the blast range. Nelson focused his fire on the ones that leaned over and tried to fire upon Collingwood. During the glory run back towards the tree line, one of the men took a bullet to the back of the thigh. He toppled to the ground and all that the others could do was keep running. Another man was shot in the small of his back. His body convulsed and he was thrown onto his face, not yet dead but soon to be. Fear pushed Collingwood body to go on. He ran with everything that he had.

Vigorously the bomb exploded. The destructive force of it blew the surrounding wall into a thousand flying pieces. Collingwood was over fifty paces away and he was still knocked off of his feet. Body parts and pieces of stone were hurled high into the air and they hailed down like a doomsday storm. Nelson stood bewildered when a steaming boot landed directly in front of him.

The dust cleared, revealing a massive five metre wide gap in Cortez's defences. Collingwood reached to his scabbard and drew out his finely polished sword. With his weapon thrust high into the air he led the first charge against San Juan. With the battle having officially commenced, Nelson and Elizabeta were quick to act on planting the second explosive. They and two others rushed to the second position, if Nelson remembered correctly, the bomb would be placed directly behind the enemy barracks. That should tick Cortez off just a little more. Nelson dug a quick hole and placed the powder keg within it. He allowed Elizabeta the honour of lighting the fuse. As soon the little cord was burning bright they made a run for the tree line. Fortunately there was no one there to try to shoot them down. This explosion was a fearsome and unknowing as the first. Again the wall erupted and was blown away. The sound of it drowned out the battle that was happening further down and Nelson felt the hot air as it rushed over his body. As the smoke cleared, Nelson and his seventy-two men readied themselves.

With Elizabeta by his side Nelson pulled his sword from its scabbard and started to run. Elizabeta pulled two curved short-blades from her belt and twirled them in each hand to gain a better grip. Two Spanish soldiers emerged from the rubble of the wall, followed by many others. The one on Elizabeta's left swung his sword high and Elizabeta caught the blade with her own and pushed it aside. She then sprung to the side and drove her right blade into the neck of the other soldier. Nelson leaped into the air as Elizabeta knocked the first soldier off balance and then jabbed the man in the throat with his sword. As Elizabeta entered the fort, a large man wielding a two-handed great-sword lugged the heavy weapon at her chest. Three more attackers came behind the big man. Without stopping her advance, Elizabeta ducked the oncoming great-sword and spun around the man who was wielding it. In a kneeling position she stuck the man in the knee with her shot-blade, crippling him as she withdrew. Rising again, she diverted a blow from a surprise attacker, sweeping the blade aside and thrusting her other blade into his neck. Elizabeta took a step back as she deflected yet another blow with both her blades crossed. When the opening presented itself she struck the man in the nose with her elbow and jammed her right blade into his ribcage.

Beside her, Nelson fought with just as much vigour. He battled his way through the terrible masses, fighting back to back with James. As he hacked and sliced and parried against the enemy, Nelson could only hope that his men remembered that they were still outnumbered and that they had to stay together. Collingwood and Nelson had broadly marched their one hundred and forty against Cortez's one-thousand. As the clanging of metal and the cries of the dying carried on, Nelson caught sight of General Dalling's fleet out on the ocean, locked in battle with Cortez's war ships. Most of Cortez's great collection had been destroyed idly by the initial attack, however some had managed to get out into the bay and resist. The entire sea battle was mesmerising. Gun smoke blanketed the ocean and the cannons were like thunder. The remains of vessels already fallen littered the oceans surface. Nelson only counted six ships now in Dalling's fleet. The other floated in burning pieces in the middle of the bay. The survivors swam desperately towards the shore. The cause of the ships destruction was the heavy artillery cannons that were manned along the wall. The large cannons were permanently set and were designed to deliver killing blows to oncoming ships. Nelson knew that he had to destroy them so that Dalling could land his troops.

Nelson's infantry fought close together and held off well against the unstructured advances of the Spanish. He had only selected the most elite for this mission, but despite their talent in battle, without help Cortez would eventually overpower them. Nelson had to hurry. He stood on his toes and sought out Elizabeta among the battling forces. Her found her in the masses not so far away. Her white assassin cloak was stained red with Spanish blood. He called to her and she came without question.

'We have to take out the artillery.' Nelson pointed to the wall as he spoke.

Elizabeta understood clearly, her eyes were bright with battle lust, and together they dashed off into the gap between the blacksmith and the stables. It was much quieter away from the fighting and the air smelled like horses and smoke. They reached a small opening, and then rushed into one of the soldier buildings as a small battalion came by. Nelson hoped to get upon the wall without being detected immediately. The soldiers' rooms were empty, the beds were unmade and there were bits of clothing everywhere. Nelson kicked out the back door and ran outside again. He glanced down the street and his heart stopped as he sighted a firing squad of a dozen men, half kneeling, all with muskets fixed directly on Elizabeta and himself.

A man beside the squad gave the orders. 'Take aim!' He commanded.

Nelson looked left and right, but there was nothing. No cover that he could reach in time to save him.

'Any bright ideas?' He said to Elizabeta, looking for a way out. Nelson took a deep breath and braced himself for his demise, but he did not blink once. Then he heard a whistle, which was odd given the current situation. It was smooth and loud like that of a forest bird. Seconds later a crossbow bold pierced through one of the gunner's chests. It came from the roof above them. Another bolt came after, and then another and another in quick succession. Within less than a few seconds all twelve shooters and their commander were dead in a brutal pile of bolts and corpses on the ground. Some of the victims still kicked but their blood soaked the earth beneath them and soon enough they ceased to move.

Nelson was flabbergasted but unable to describe what he had just witnessed. It was as if fate had decided that he was to live this day. He found the real answer when a group of men and women emerged from the surrounding rooftops and buildings. The strange group were all athletically built. They wore outfits similar to the one that Elizabeta was currently wearing with shadowing hoods in the style of the assassin.

One of the assassins wore a brown vest, a maroon undershirt and a pair of black breeches. He was distinguishable as the leader of the group in the way that the others followed him. 'Elizabeta.' His voice was low and he had a strong Italian accent. 'We have an answered your call.'

Elizabeta strode forward and embraced the man. 'It's been a long time. I thought you weren't going to make it.'

The tall man then turned to Nelson. 'You must be Horatio Nelson, I have heard of you. I am Leonardo De Florence.' Leonardo offered a short bow. 'At your service.'

Nelson glanced over the clan of waiting assassins. 'Well it's nice of you to show up.' He said sternly. 'In fact you're right on time. We need someone to take out those artillery gunners up on the wall and give our ships a chance to land.

Leonardo responded quickly. 'It will be done.' He said, before turning to his assassins and making for the high wall. The assassins climbed over the rooftops and managed to leap onto the wall. Each one moved with the agility of a cat. Using their hidden blades and their daggers, they cut down the guards without effort and tossed the bodies aside. The assassins came up behind the artillerymen like shadows and drove their blades deep into the backs of the unsuspecting soldiers. Nelson was surprised by how quickly it had all been done.

General Dalling was still, however, in a position of danger. Nelson gathered a small troop of his own men and led them up to the wall. Under his instructions, the men loaded the cannons with new ammunition, took aim. They fired in a heavy cascade upon Cortez's fleet. The first round of fire was mostly successful, and one of the cannons fired high but managed to tear a hole through an enemy sail. Nelson immediately pushed another ball down the smoking barrel and they fired again. This time the ball collided directly into the bow of Cortez's largest ship. The balled ripped through the vessel like an angry lumberjack and the ship broke and began to collapse. All those aboard were forced to abandon ship and jump for their lives into the seemingly unforgiving ocean. In the meantime their ship was dragged under and consumed by the sea. Many in the water fell victim to the sharks that were attracted by the smell of the dead.

With the new advantage in holding against the enemy fleet, once of Dalling's ships broke off and sailed towards the half destroyed docks. In haste, the large vessel collided with the wooden boardwalk along the beach but it remained mostly undamaged. The men aboard the ship used ropes, ladders and ramps to climb down and meet the Spanish masses in combat. In an unruly pack, one hundred men scoured through the fort like an infestation of rats. From atop the wall, Nelson could feel the force of the collision as Dalling's men locked with Cortez's in battle. The atmosphere was so intense that Nelson found himself short of breath. He leaned against a barrel and tried to focus on his next task.

From his vantage point, Nelson spotted Cortez dressed in his Spanish plate-mail and breeches. The great man cut through his enemy with a heavy steel sword and slowly forced his way to the main hall.

'He's going after the key,' Nelson thought. 'I have to stop him.'

Nelson let Elizabeta and her assassins join the battle and began to run as fast as he could along the top of the costal wall. The ocean wind to his right was readily increasing and a single gust nearly threw Nelson off balance. He cut through two men as he manoeuvred around the crates of weapons and barrels of ammunition that had been thrown onto the wall in anticipation for battle. With a single running thrust, Nelson jabbed an artillery gunner in the eye with his sabre. The sword ran straight through the man's skull and when Nelson withdrew his blade the man fell back over a cannon. Nelson came upon another stray soldier up on the wall. The man panicked and clumsily tried to draw his sword, but Nelson struck first, slashing the man across the upper arm and then knocking him in the mouth with the hilt of his sabre. Nelson then tossed the disoriented body over the wall to feed the hungry sharks below.

At last Nelson reached the part of the wall above the execution stage. He realised that it was a relatively long drop down and there were fighting men below, higher than what he had first anticipated. He had no other choice though if he wanted to reach Cortez in time, and so he drew a deep breath and braced himself. He jumped and fell ten feet before landing on top of two Spanish soldiers. They fumbled around on the stage for a while until they could regain their feet. When the Spanish realised what had just happened they tried for their swords. In that instance Nelson dashed away across the stage, not bothering to face them. Nelson sprinted forwards, sabre in hand, and searched for the fastest way into the main hall. He spotted a large window about half a metre away from where the stage ended. With his eyes locked on it, Nelson tensed and then threw himself sideways into the glass. The window shattered and shards of glass went flying as Nelson crashed into the room. He landed hard into a bookshelf, knocking it over and leaving a mess of books and glass everywhere. Nelson's body rebounded off the shelf and he landed face down on the floor. Nelson groaned and then rolled onto his back covered in a million tiny shards of glass.

Quickly he regained his strength and rose to his feet. He brushed the glass off of his body and then rushed into the next room. He found himself in the main dining room. The remnants of Cortez's feast had not yet been cleaned up. Nelson glanced around to find the stairway up to Cortez's room. He hurried up the stairs and kicked down the door, hoping to find Cortez trapped with the key in his hands. When he entered the room though, he found nothing. The large chest had been left open and the gold within shone with beauty, but there was no key. It appeared that Cortez had rushed in and taken as much of the treasure as he could, but then ran out of time for the rest.

Nelson looked up towards the balcony. The windows had been kicked open and the red velvet curtains on both sides flapped in the wind. Gold sovereigns were scattered about on the hard wood floor. Nelson decided that Cortez could not be too far away.

He ran over, from the balcony her could see most of San Juan and the raging battle below. He could hear metal and cries and he could actually smell the blood of the fallen. Nelson's vision blurred slightly and he felt light headed, but he came back to his senses as he caught sight of General Cortez among the masses below. The man held a sack over his left shoulder and a sword in his right hand.

Nelson rushed back into the room and selected a musket from the weapon rack. With hasty hands he loaded his weapon as Cortez made for the stables. Cortez mounted the finest horse there and he began to ride out towards the main entrance, which had been blown open in the heat of the battle. Nelson drew a deep breath and relaxed. He took aim, flowing Cortez's body with the sights of his musket. He clicked the hammer all the way back and softly placed his finger on the trigger.

Then suddenly something on the stage caught his eye. He glanced over and saw Captain Locker fighting alone against four other men. Locker had his back turned to a Spanish soldier who stood a few meters behind. The soldier steadily withdrew a flintlock pistol from his belt and pointed it at Locker's body.

Nelson's eyes snapped back to General Cortez, who very soon would have made his escape from the midst of the battle. Nelson realised that he was faced with a difficult choice of killing Cortez or saving Locker. Nelson pulled his sights away from Cortez and swung his musket towards the stage. He locked onto the man with the pistol and then fired. The muzzle of the musket flared up with gun smoke and the Spanish soldier spun around and fell to the floor. The bullet had caught him in the temple. Locker thrust his sword into the chest of his last attacker and then spun around to see that Nelson had just saved his life. He looked up at the balcony and offered a salute of gratitude.

Nelson was physically exhausted by all the recent events and now Cortez had escaped, but Nelson was not prepared to give up so easily. He thought about it, everything that he had worked for would be in vain if he did not stop Cortez now. In a frustrated manner, Nelson threw his musket to the side and then reached up for the red curtains. He ripped one of the curtains from its hanger and lengthened it out. He then rapped the end of the curtain around one of the poles in the balcony rail and tossed the rest over the edge. Nelson held on tight to his rope and then leaped off the balcony. Using the hanging curtain he climbed until his feet touched with the ground. The fighting had died down a little and the bodies of both armies littered the fort in a gruesome display. Nelson ignored his sympathy and raced into the stables, collecting a pistol from one of the dead as he ran. The air smelled like wet hay. Nelson mounted the first horse that had a saddle and then rode out with haste, hoping to catch General Cortez along the road.

As his horse galloped through the broken front gates of the fort, Nelson checked that his new pistol was loaded and then placed it in his empty holster. Nelson furthered away from the fort and the sound of battle faded away until all he could hear was his own breathing and the patterned clattering of his horse's hooves. Nelson rode on at a high pace until he came around a bend and found the upturned dust from Cortez's mount. Instinctively he increased his speed until he found the large armoured man riding ahead on his overloaded horse. Once again Nelson felt light headed, as if his adrenaline had suddenly ran out and he was starting to see double vision. He shook his head rapidly and focused on General Cortez's body. Cortez looked over his shoulder and increased his pace when he sighted Nelson behind him.

Nelson reached into his belt, took up his pistol and pointed it at Cortez. He took aim and cocked the hammer back, but then started to see double again. Nelson found that he was breathing heavy and was sweating. He fired the pistol but the bullet whizzed straight past Cortez. Nelson lost his vision and then blacked out, falling of his horse and barrel rolling along the ground.