Admiral
Curmudgeon of the 7th Squadron saw only one way to end this battle, and
perhaps even the Porridge Wars themselves, and that was by sinking the
Granite Dwarf flagship and their King with it. Signaling to his squadron
to close in on the Delectable, they soon had it surrounded.
Realizing
he could not hold out forever, King Kel-Og ordered an immediate landing
on the Isle in an attempt to take the castle by storm. The Granite
Marines swarmed above deck and boarded row boats, paddling furiously to
the shore.
During
the brief lull, King Kel-Og ordered the guns from the Delectable to be
trained on the castle gate. A round shot scored a direct hit, and
the thick wooden planking was blown asunder, leaving the castle wide open!
The Granite Marines quickly raised to their feet and, sounding their war
cry of "Some Like It Hot!", they rushed the gate!
<< Storm the gate lads!
King Pozst, who had been trying to rally his warriors
in the castle compound quickly realized the urgency of the situation.
The Granite Marines would quickly be inside the castle if they were not
stopped, yet most of Pozst's warriors were manning the walls. Swearing
that, "Not a single one of those hot porridge loving scum will be setting
foot in my castle!", he hefted his large ax and barred the entrance
himself!
Laying about with his broad bladed ax, he knocked aside
the first of the Granite Marines to reach the gateway. He was soon
overwhelmed, however, and if not for the intense hand gun fire from his
troops lining the walls above, he would have been overcome.
Joined
by the garrison commander, Pozst was able to hold off King Kel-Og's men,
who, after taking heavy casualties, decided that flight was the better
part of valor and retreated to their row boats.
<< King Pozst and friend hold off the
Granite Marines!
Out in the waters surrounding the Isle of Peaz, the naval
battle was rapidly coming to a conclusion. King Kel-Og aboard the
Delectable watched as one of his ironclads sank below the waves as torpedoes
and cannon fire pelted both his ship and the remaining small ironclad.
If he stayed long enough to organize a second landing, the continual fire
would most likely tell, and he would lose at least one more ship.
Although
he had inflicted heavy damage to the Iron Dwarves' 7th Squadron, he realized
that it was time to pull out.
<< King Kel-Og aboard the Delectable decides
that it would be best to live and fight another day...
Signalling the remaining ironclad and the Pygmy airship,
which since the beginning had failed to do little more than harass the
defenders of Castle Peaz, he began the withdrawal.
King Pozst considered sending the 7th Squadron in pursuit,
but a quick glance around showed that it had been heavily damaged, with
two submersibles lost and another two seriously damaged. The galliot
Peaz Porridge was likewise badly holed, and only by running it aground
were they able to save it from sinking below the waters.
However, not one to leave well enough alone, King Pozst
had a stone thrower loaded with a special charge, which was launched at
the deck of the Delectable as it fled the scene. King Kel-Og, standing
on deck, only just managed to duck out of the way in time to avoid getting
hit. He did not avoid, however, the effects of the bursting barrel,
which was filled with several gallons of cold porridge.
Waving his fist, he shouted, "You'll get your's mate!"
and proceeded below decks to clean himself off and contemplate his failure
to take Castle Peaz.
The Iron Dwarves had won a victory, but it could hardly
be called decisive. Athough the ironclads had not tilted the scale
in the favor of the Granite Clan, they had proved to be very tough indeed.
In the face of heavy cannon and torpedo fire, they had withstood the best
the defenders had to offer and had only lost one ship. Still, many
Granite Marines lay dead on the beach of the Isle of Peaz, and it would
quite some time before the losses were replaced.
Like so many engagements of the Porridge Wars, the Battle
of the Isle of Peaz turned out to be indecisive in the scheme of things.
King Kel-Og was forced to lay low for awhile while he built new ironclads
and trained new crews, and King Pozst spent his time reinforcing the garrison
at Castle Peaz so that it would be able to withstand any new attacks.
Replacing the loses suffered by the 7th Squadron was deemed to be too costly,
and so the surviving vessels were amalgamted with the 3rd Merchant Marine
Squadron where they acted as escorts.
If you would like to know more about how the Porridge
Wars were fought out, click on the link below.
Porridge Wars!