gone into their bid to fight it out here. To pull up now would shatter months of careful planning, and perhaps shatter the morale of the Rus as well, who were faced with the prospect of lighting a third war in as many years on their own territory. If the position here failed, Merki siege guns would be on the Neiper within the week, ready to reduce Suzdal. He would have to hazard the fight on the Potomac line, and yet as he looked at his old mentor he had a gut-coiling sense that the old man was right. No matter what they did, chances were they would lose.
"We fight it out here as planned," Andrew said quietly.
Hans looked at him and nodded, a sad smile lighting his features, as if a sentence had been pronounced that he had known all along was inevitable.
"Deployment will stand as before," Andrew said, and he could see a sigh of relief from John, who had based months of logistical planning on the Potomac defense. Pat shifted noisily in his chair.
" 'Chief of Artillery' sounds mighty grand," Pat sniffed, "but bejesus, Andrew, that sticks me back in Suzdal with the reserves."
"I need you back there, Pat. We've got Schneid commanding 1st Corps as our front line reserve, Barry in command of 2nd here on our left flank, and Tim Kindred commanding the 3rd Corps on the right flank. They're all old 35th men. Alexi Alexandrovich is in command of the 4th, back as mobile reserve. He's good, but I want you to keep an eye on him nevertheless. As Chief of Artillery you'll still hold higher rank. Fifth corps is under Marcus and back in Roum, and when 6th comes on line under Hawthorne in Roum it'll go wherever the action is, chances are to move under you."
"We've got two full battalions, twelve batteries assigned to each corps," Hans interjected, "with six battalions, over a hundred and fifty guns in reserve, under your direct command. What the hell more could an artilleryman ask for?"
"To be at the front where the action will be," Pat complained.
"The front may be in your lap soon enough," Hans said quietly.
"Mr. Bullfinch, what's the latest from you?" Andrew asked, finally breaking the uneasy spell.
The young admiral brightened.
"Fifteen ironclads, ten mounting two guns, the other five with four guns, ready for action, sir, along with over a hundred galleys."
"And the Oqunquit?"
His bright features dimmed.
"She might serve as a floating battery, sir, but it 'll be months before you see her under steam again. Getting her side blown in and then rolling over made a mess out of her. We're still working on the boilers, but without Cromwell, or his old engineers, I'll have to admit they're damn near a mystery to me."
"Chuck?" Andrew asked hopefully.
"Complex pieces of machinery, sir. I'd have to spend some time on them, both of the boilers were cracked when we brought her back up. There's a lot inside that ship we just don't have the tools for yet."
"Do what you can, Mr. Bullfinch," Andrew said quietly.
Andrew sighed as he looked over at Emil.
"Making chloroform as fast as I can. Andrew, on the conservative side a full-blown war with those beasts will create thirty or forty thousand casualties. We're low on silk—all of it had gone into the balloons. John's given priority to high-grade steel for instruments, but the best instruments in the world are useless in the hands of a bumbler. I've got to train a couple of hundred surgeons and a thousand nurses. Your Kathleen has the nurses' school well organized, and she's teaching the first batch of Roum surgeons herself. The trouble is, I had maybe twenty good people trained in field surgery by the end of the Tugar War. There's only so much I can do with books and lectures, but those men and women will have to learn the theory and test it out lor the first time in the field.
"There's only one way to teach amputation, and that's to do it. Amputations around here are precious few in peacetime, just several a month."
"Thanks to you," Casmar interjected. "That carbolic acid spray, and
"We fight it out here as planned," Andrew said quietly.
Hans looked at him and nodded, a sad smile lighting his features, as if a sentence had been pronounced that he had known all along was inevitable.
"Deployment will stand as before," Andrew said, and he could see a sigh of relief from John, who had based months of logistical planning on the Potomac defense. Pat shifted noisily in his chair.
" 'Chief of Artillery' sounds mighty grand," Pat sniffed, "but bejesus, Andrew, that sticks me back in Suzdal with the reserves."
"I need you back there, Pat. We've got Schneid commanding 1st Corps as our front line reserve, Barry in command of 2nd here on our left flank, and Tim Kindred commanding the 3rd Corps on the right flank. They're all old 35th men. Alexi Alexandrovich is in command of the 4th, back as mobile reserve. He's good, but I want you to keep an eye on him nevertheless. As Chief of Artillery you'll still hold higher rank. Fifth corps is under Marcus and back in Roum, and when 6th comes on line under Hawthorne in Roum it'll go wherever the action is, chances are to move under you."
"We've got two full battalions, twelve batteries assigned to each corps," Hans interjected, "with six battalions, over a hundred and fifty guns in reserve, under your direct command. What the hell more could an artilleryman ask for?"
"To be at the front where the action will be," Pat complained.
"The front may be in your lap soon enough," Hans said quietly.
"Mr. Bullfinch, what's the latest from you?" Andrew asked, finally breaking the uneasy spell.
The young admiral brightened.
"Fifteen ironclads, ten mounting two guns, the other five with four guns, ready for action, sir, along with over a hundred galleys."
"And the Oqunquit?"
His bright features dimmed.
"She might serve as a floating battery, sir, but it 'll be months before you see her under steam again. Getting her side blown in and then rolling over made a mess out of her. We're still working on the boilers, but without Cromwell, or his old engineers, I'll have to admit they're damn near a mystery to me."
"Chuck?" Andrew asked hopefully.
"Complex pieces of machinery, sir. I'd have to spend some time on them, both of the boilers were cracked when we brought her back up. There's a lot inside that ship we just don't have the tools for yet."
"Do what you can, Mr. Bullfinch," Andrew said quietly.
Andrew sighed as he looked over at Emil.
"Making chloroform as fast as I can. Andrew, on the conservative side a full-blown war with those beasts will create thirty or forty thousand casualties. We're low on silk—all of it had gone into the balloons. John's given priority to high-grade steel for instruments, but the best instruments in the world are useless in the hands of a bumbler. I've got to train a couple of hundred surgeons and a thousand nurses. Your Kathleen has the nurses' school well organized, and she's teaching the first batch of Roum surgeons herself. The trouble is, I had maybe twenty good people trained in field surgery by the end of the Tugar War. There's only so much I can do with books and lectures, but those men and women will have to learn the theory and test it out lor the first time in the field.
"There's only one way to teach amputation, and that's to do it. Amputations around here are precious few in peacetime, just several a month."
"Thanks to you," Casmar interjected. "That carbolic acid spray, and
Similar Books
