In truth, it wasn't just the English who were caught off guard; even the Irish hadn't expected such favorable weather from Providence in the past two days, making their assault seem remarkably smooth. Thus, at least the fellows from the Second Division, even began to entertain the idea of genuinely capturing Aslon. This thought even crossed the mind of Division Commander O'Hara, akin to a Jerry switcheroo—entertaining the notion of taking on Tom.
However, as much as they entertained the notion of taking on Tom, doing so wasn't going to be easy. Not to mention, they weren't provided with sufficient ammunition from above. Especially significant was the depletion of one-third of the "Gustav recoilless gun" munitions overnight. So, if they truly wanted to take on Tom, they first needed to persuade the military committee to allocate more munitions.
"This won't do, the military committee has already made a decision; it's a strategic choice that cannot be altered lightly. Moreover, our progress so far has been due to particularly favorable weather. But look, there's no fog today, so the British counterattack was easily repelled by you... Hmm, speaking of which, our luck has indeed been good, but we can't rely solely on luck in war, can we?" Thus, Commander O'Hara's suggestion was vetoed by President Russell.
However, Commander O'Hara still managed to acquire some munitions, as they needed to execute a feint to force the British to dispatch troops to relieve Aslon before their reinforcements were fully in place. They indeed needed to apply more pressure on the British in Aslon.
The weather ceased to aid the Irish; the fog did not reappear. Yet, relying on new weapons and high morale, the Irish still made unexpected progress against the British.
Consequently, the Irish changed their plan, incorporating the First Division into the siege of Aslon. However, this didn't have the decisive effect hoped for, as the limited area of the Aslon fortress couldn't accommodate so many attacking troops. Therefore, the attacks over the following days made limited progress, but casualties increased significantly.
However, after departure, the British forces didn't move as swiftly as the Duke of Norfolk had hoped because the train hauling the troops was ambushed shortly after setting out.
The ambush didn't cause significant damage to the British, who repelled the rebels without much effort. The real trouble was caused mainly by the
rebels' destruction of the railway. Although the British were somewhat prepared for railway sabotage, carrying various tools for railway repair on the military train, this still slowed them down. Even so, the Irish had to act immediately.
Upon receiving news of the British relief force's departure, the First Division was dispatched to conduct a delaying action, ensuring other units, especially the county and district squads, could retreat smoothly. Before this, the First Division had utilized some captured British outposts between Dublin and Aslon, transforming them into a makeshift defensive line. Now, relying on this line, they resisted the British reinforcements.
This defensive line was constructed hastily, and the British reinforcements had ample manpower and far superior firepower to the Irish. To cover the retreat of other forces, the First Division had to withstand the British forces. Although the First Division was well-trained and high-spirited, they managed to hold the British for only two days at the cost of significant casualties before the defense line was breached.
By this time, the majority of the participating Irish forces had completed their retreat, but the First Division's delaying troops found it extremely difficult to withdraw, with the British persistently pursuing them. Finally, when the First Division managed to use their familiarity with the terrain to shake off the pursuit, their delaying forces had nearly halved in number.