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Sharpes Escape :: Корнуэлл Бернард
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"Hear, hear,"Slingsby said. Everyone ignored him.
"We let them come," Lawford went on, "and permit them to break themselves against our positions."
"Break themselves," Slingsby said, but quietly.
"And it is possible they will attempt a breakthrough here." Lawford hurried on in case his brother-in-law added more words. The Colonel pointed west to where a small valley twisted southwards past Work Number 119 and then curled around the back of the hill. "Major Forrest and I rode north yesterday," he said, "and looked at our position from the French point of view."
"Very wise," Slingsby said.
"And from those hills," Lawford continued, "that valley is a temptation. It seems to penetrate our lines."
"Penetrate," Slingsby repeated, nodding. Major Leroy half expected him to take out a notebook and pencil and write the word down.
"In truth," Lawford went on, "the valley is entirely blocked. It leads to nothing except a barricade of felled trees, thorn bushes and flooded land, but the French will not know that."
"Ridiculous," Slingsby muttered, though whether that was a judgment on Lawford or the French it was hard to tell.
"But we must nevertheless expect such an attack," Lawford continued, "and be prepared to deal with it."
"Unleash the cat," Slingsby said obscurely, though only Leroy heard him.
"If such an attack develops," Lawford said, his cloak billowing in a sudden gust of wet wind that blew around the hilltop, "the enemy will be under artillery fire from this work and from every other fort within range. If they survive it they will be penned in the valley and we would offer volley fire from the shoulder of this hill. They cannot climb the hill, which means they can only suffer and die in the valley."
Slingsby looked surprised at this, but managed to say nothing. "What we cannot do," Lawford went on, "is allow the French to establish batteries in the larger valley." He pointed to the low ground that lay ahead of Work Number 119. This was the wide valley which lay north of the lines and on the other side of which were the hills that would doubtless become the French positions. The stretch of lowland had once been rich and fertile, but the engineers had breached the embankment of the Tagus, letting the river flood much of the country beneath the fort. The floods came and went with the tide, which was high now, so that under Work Number 119 was a stretch of wind-rippled water that loosely followed the course of a stream that came from the west and meandered through the valley to its confluence with the Tagus.
"Hear, hear,"Slingsby said. Everyone ignored him.
"We let them come," Lawford went on, "and permit them to break themselves against our positions."
"Break themselves," Slingsby said, but quietly.
"And it is possible they will attempt a breakthrough here." Lawford hurried on in case his brother-in-law added more words. The Colonel pointed west to where a small valley twisted southwards past Work Number 119 and then curled around the back of the hill. "Major Forrest and I rode north yesterday," he said, "and looked at our position from the French point of view."
"Very wise," Slingsby said.
"And from those hills," Lawford continued, "that valley is a temptation. It seems to penetrate our lines."
"Penetrate," Slingsby repeated, nodding. Major Leroy half expected him to take out a notebook and pencil and write the word down.
"In truth," Lawford went on, "the valley is entirely blocked. It leads to nothing except a barricade of felled trees, thorn bushes and flooded land, but the French will not know that."
"Ridiculous," Slingsby muttered, though whether that was a judgment on Lawford or the French it was hard to tell.
"But we must nevertheless expect such an attack," Lawford continued, "and be prepared to deal with it."
"Unleash the cat," Slingsby said obscurely, though only Leroy heard him.
"If such an attack develops," Lawford said, his cloak billowing in a sudden gust of wet wind that blew around the hilltop, "the enemy will be under artillery fire from this work and from every other fort within range. If they survive it they will be penned in the valley and we would offer volley fire from the shoulder of this hill. They cannot climb the hill, which means they can only suffer and die in the valley."
Slingsby looked surprised at this, but managed to say nothing. "What we cannot do," Lawford went on, "is allow the French to establish batteries in the larger valley." He pointed to the low ground that lay ahead of Work Number 119. This was the wide valley which lay north of the lines and on the other side of which were the hills that would doubtless become the French positions. The stretch of lowland had once been rich and fertile, but the engineers had breached the embankment of the Tagus, letting the river flood much of the country beneath the fort. The floods came and went with the tide, which was high now, so that under Work Number 119 was a stretch of wind-rippled water that loosely followed the course of a stream that came from the west and meandered through the valley to its confluence with the Tagus.