Chapter Eight
Now, The Children of Spirit had a considerable fleet with two iron
clads, and twelve other steamships, plus enough merchantmen and other
man-of-war for a sizable raid.
2 Putting fighting people on the enemy ground was something Bold Fox
desperately wanted to do. Drawing the enemy's soldiers home, to defend
their own ground, would take a great deal of pressure off their weary
people.
3 They chose Wisdom as the site of their raid, for they knew many of
the enemy's munitions factories were here, and the harbor contained one of his biggest shipyards.
4 They did not take the enemy by surprise. They were met with
everything they had. But The Iron Turtle and The Bold Fox were more
than a match for the enemy's shore batteries and their ships dared not
make an appearance.
5 But as some of their vessels entered the harbor, they found the enemy
had a new weapon too ...mines that floated in the water. When a ship
struck them, they exploded. They lost two ships before they realized
where the weapons that sank them, were! These weapons were even
dangerous to the iron clads, because it would hit them below the water
line where they had no armor.
6 It took them some time to work their way into the harbor, marksmen on
the ships exploding the mines as they went. But they finally put people
ashore.
7 The enemy was waiting outside the range of the iron-clads' cannon, and
it was no easy fight. But finally they withdrew, the shipyards and
munitions plants burning.
8 To the south of the city they met Epon troops, and they fought just
as viciously as The Oneness. When the weary fighting people finally
climbed back on board, one-fourth their numbers were dead, and another
one-fourth wounded. But they had done the enemy terrible damage, and the
enemy knew they would be back again.
9 As Bold Fox entered Fr's harbor, he received the first dispatches
from the north. They were planning