JК
Sharpes Devil :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 159 из 209There, sheltered from all the western fortresses, as well as from the guns on Manzanera Island, he would launch a sudden landward assault against FortNiebla. "And when Niebla falls, the whole thing collapses!" Cochrane said again. "Niebla controls the river! The river controls the town! The town controls what's left of Spanish Chile!"
"Brilliant! Genius! Superb!" exclaimed Major Miller, his eyes glowing with admiration for his hero's cleverness. "Superb, my Lord! Quite magnificent! Worthy of Wellington! I applaud you, 'pon my soul, I do!"
"I believe Major Miller trusts our plan!" Cochrane said happily.
"I don't," Sharpe said.
"You don't believe it will work?" Cochrane asked sarcastically.
"I believe it will work, my Lord, just so long as not one Spanish soldier can tell the difference between a transport ship and a warship. It will work so long as the real transport ships haven't arrived yet. It will work so long as those real transport ships weren't supplied with a password we don't know. It will work so long as not one single officer of Colonel Ruiz's regiment isn't carried out to the arriving ships to check their cargoes. Good Lord! You think the Spaniards won't be suspicious of every ship that comes into sight? They know how you captured this fortress, my Lord, so they'll surely suspect that you'll try the same trick again! How do we know that the Spanish aren't inspecting every ship before it's allowed to enter the harbor?" Sharpe spoke in English so that his pessimism would not be obvious to every man in the room, but his tone was more than enough to give it away. Even those who did not understand his words could look at the map and imagine the hell of being caught in the harbor, at the center of a ring of heavy guns that would be splintering the ships into floating charnel houses.
"If we attack at night," said Miller while surreptitiously trying to coax his precious watch into life, "the Spaniards will be asleep!"
No one responded. Miller tapped the watch on the table and was rewarded with a ticking sound.
"How many defenders will there be?" The question was put by Captain Simms, who had skippered the O'Higgins during Cochrane's absence.
"Two thousand?" Cochrane suggested airily.
Someone at the table took a deep loud breath. "We have three hundred men?" the man asked.
"Close to," Cochrane smiled, then, in Spanish, he challenged anyone to suggest a better scheme for capturing the harbor. "You, Sharpe? Can you think of a way? My God, man, I'm not rigid! I'll listen to anyone's ideas!"
Sharpe, given a choice, would not have attacked at all.
"Brilliant! Genius! Superb!" exclaimed Major Miller, his eyes glowing with admiration for his hero's cleverness. "Superb, my Lord! Quite magnificent! Worthy of Wellington! I applaud you, 'pon my soul, I do!"
"I believe Major Miller trusts our plan!" Cochrane said happily.
"I don't," Sharpe said.
"You don't believe it will work?" Cochrane asked sarcastically.
"I believe it will work, my Lord, just so long as not one Spanish soldier can tell the difference between a transport ship and a warship. It will work so long as the real transport ships haven't arrived yet. It will work so long as those real transport ships weren't supplied with a password we don't know. It will work so long as not one single officer of Colonel Ruiz's regiment isn't carried out to the arriving ships to check their cargoes. Good Lord! You think the Spaniards won't be suspicious of every ship that comes into sight? They know how you captured this fortress, my Lord, so they'll surely suspect that you'll try the same trick again! How do we know that the Spanish aren't inspecting every ship before it's allowed to enter the harbor?" Sharpe spoke in English so that his pessimism would not be obvious to every man in the room, but his tone was more than enough to give it away. Even those who did not understand his words could look at the map and imagine the hell of being caught in the harbor, at the center of a ring of heavy guns that would be splintering the ships into floating charnel houses.
"If we attack at night," said Miller while surreptitiously trying to coax his precious watch into life, "the Spaniards will be asleep!"
No one responded. Miller tapped the watch on the table and was rewarded with a ticking sound.
"How many defenders will there be?" The question was put by Captain Simms, who had skippered the O'Higgins during Cochrane's absence.
"Two thousand?" Cochrane suggested airily.
Someone at the table took a deep loud breath. "We have three hundred men?" the man asked.
"Close to," Cochrane smiled, then, in Spanish, he challenged anyone to suggest a better scheme for capturing the harbor. "You, Sharpe? Can you think of a way? My God, man, I'm not rigid! I'll listen to anyone's ideas!"
Sharpe, given a choice, would not have attacked at all.