JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 36 из 242Because if you break these three rules then, God help me, I’ll goddamn break you.” Vicente sounded nervous as he interpreted the last few words.
Sharpe waited, then held up one finger. „You don’t get drunk without my permission.” A second finger. „You don’t thieve from anyone unless you’re starving. And I don’t count taking things off the enemy as thieving.” That got a smile. He held up the third finger. „And you fight as if the devil himself was on your tail. That’s it! You don’t get drunk, you don’t thieve and you fight like demons. You understand?” They nodded after the translation.
„And right now,” Sharpe went on, „you’re going to start fighting. You’re going to make three ranks and you’ll fire a volley at some French cavalry.” He would have preferred two ranks, but only the British fought in two ranks. Every other army used three and so, for the moment, he would too, even though thirty-seven men in three ranks offered a very small frontage. „And you won’t pull your trigger until Lieutenant Vicente gives the order. You can trust him! He’s a good soldier, your Lieutenant!” Vicente blushed and perhaps made some modest changes to his interpretation, but the grins on his men’s faces suggested the lawyer had conveyed the gist of Sharpe’s words. „Make sure your muskets are loaded,” Sharpe said, „but not cocked. I don’t want the enemy knowing we’re here because some careless halfwit lets off a cocked musket. Now, enjoy killing the bastards.” He left them on that bloodthirsty note and walked back to the crest where he knelt beside Harper. „Are they doing anything?” he asked, nodding toward the dragoons.
„Getting drunk,” Harper said. „Gave them the talk, did you?”
„Is that what it is?”
„Don’t get drunk, don’t thieve and fight like the devil. Mister Sharpe’s sermon.”
Sharpe smiled, then took the telescope from the Sergeant and trained it at the village where a score of dragoons, their green coats unbuttoned, were squirting wineskins into their mouths. Others were searching the small houses. A woman with a torn black dress ran from one house, was seized by a cavalryman and dragged back indoors. „I thought the villagers were gone,” Sharpe said.
„I’ve seen a couple of women,” Harper said, „and doubtless there are plenty more we can’t see.” He ran a huge hand over the lock of his rifle. „So what are we going to do with them?”
„We’re going to piss up their noses,” Sharpe said, „till they decide to swat us away and then we’re going to kill them.
Sharpe waited, then held up one finger. „You don’t get drunk without my permission.” A second finger. „You don’t thieve from anyone unless you’re starving. And I don’t count taking things off the enemy as thieving.” That got a smile. He held up the third finger. „And you fight as if the devil himself was on your tail. That’s it! You don’t get drunk, you don’t thieve and you fight like demons. You understand?” They nodded after the translation.
„And right now,” Sharpe went on, „you’re going to start fighting. You’re going to make three ranks and you’ll fire a volley at some French cavalry.” He would have preferred two ranks, but only the British fought in two ranks. Every other army used three and so, for the moment, he would too, even though thirty-seven men in three ranks offered a very small frontage. „And you won’t pull your trigger until Lieutenant Vicente gives the order. You can trust him! He’s a good soldier, your Lieutenant!” Vicente blushed and perhaps made some modest changes to his interpretation, but the grins on his men’s faces suggested the lawyer had conveyed the gist of Sharpe’s words. „Make sure your muskets are loaded,” Sharpe said, „but not cocked. I don’t want the enemy knowing we’re here because some careless halfwit lets off a cocked musket. Now, enjoy killing the bastards.” He left them on that bloodthirsty note and walked back to the crest where he knelt beside Harper. „Are they doing anything?” he asked, nodding toward the dragoons.
„Getting drunk,” Harper said. „Gave them the talk, did you?”
„Is that what it is?”
„Don’t get drunk, don’t thieve and fight like the devil. Mister Sharpe’s sermon.”
Sharpe smiled, then took the telescope from the Sergeant and trained it at the village where a score of dragoons, their green coats unbuttoned, were squirting wineskins into their mouths. Others were searching the small houses. A woman with a torn black dress ran from one house, was seized by a cavalryman and dragged back indoors. „I thought the villagers were gone,” Sharpe said.
„I’ve seen a couple of women,” Harper said, „and doubtless there are plenty more we can’t see.” He ran a huge hand over the lock of his rifle. „So what are we going to do with them?”
„We’re going to piss up their noses,” Sharpe said, „till they decide to swat us away and then we’re going to kill them.