第43章

In obedience to the Colonel's wish, Heideck kept close to the side of the Commander-in-Chief, whose numerous staff and retinue of servants, horses, and carriages allowed him to mix in the crowd without attracting attention.But the General did not remain long with the centre.In order to gain a clearer survey of the entire movement, and to be able to observe the Russian approach, he rode with his staff and a strong cavalry escort towards the Ravi river.

Heideck, accompanied by his faithful servant, attached himself to the escort, and thus was soon far in advance of Colonel Baird's brigade.

Nothing was as yet to be seen of the Russians, and about three hours might have passed since the beginning of the advance march, when lo! the dull, rumbling thunder of the first cannon-shot rolled over the wide field.

The General reined in, and directed his field-glasses upon the left wing, where the cannonade increased in violence each minute.

Another half-hour and the sharp rattle of infantry fire mixed with the heavy rumbling of big guns.No doubt, on the left wing, by Shah Dara, the battle had commenced.Advancing towards the right bank of the Ravi, the Russians threatened to attack Lahore.

The Commander-in-Chief despatched two orderly officers to the right wing and the centre, with the order to accelerate the march.Then he returned with his suite to his former position.

But Heideck could not at once make up his mind to follow.From the moment the first shot had been fired the battle fever had seized him; he was only a soldier now.

He was irresistibly attracted by a building a short distance away, with a slender minaret, from which he hoped to obtain a better view.It was the half-decayed mausoleum of some saint, and Heideck had some trouble to climb up to the top of the minaret, a height of about twenty feet, whilst his servant waited with the horses down below.But the exertion was fully rewarded.He overlooked the flat plains.The sinuous Ravi river was hardly half an English mile distant.Its banks were covered with high grass and thick jungle growth; on the other side of the river immense thickly-packed masses of troops appeared--the advancing Russian army.

Both armies must soon come into collision by the river, for single English cavalry regiments and horse artillery batteries, advancing in a long line, were already in its immediate neighbourhood.

Heideck had seen sufficient to be able to judge of the position of the battle.He climbed down the minaret and mounted his fresh steed, whilst Morar Gopal sprang into the saddle of his own horse.

They quickly arrived amongst the British cavalry, deploying in advance of their main army.The advance march was now executed with greatest rapidity.The English batteries dashed forward at the fastest pace the soft ground would permit, unlimbered, and opened fire.Large masses of infantry marched towards the jungle.

But from the other side of the river the lively English fire was but feebly returned.Only from the direction of the left English wing, invisible from this point, did the artillery and infantry fire rage with unabated violence.

In consequence, considerable reinforcements were sent to the apparently hard-pressed left wing, and a distinct weakening of the centre took place, without a clear idea having been formed as to the intention of the Russians.Heideck's conviction was that such probably had been the Russian tactics.He was of opinion that they probably raised a great battle din by Shah Dara, in order to direct the attention of the English to that point, and then deliver their main attack against the centre.He was right; the main forces of the Russians were opposed to Colonel Baird.

Another circumstance he could not explain was the curious fact that the English as well as the Indian infantry regiments halted before the jungle instead of pushing forward to the river.Not even riflemen were sent into it, although the bush was by no means too thick for a chain of riflemen to take cover.The prickly bushes on the river's bank were sparse enough, and the high grass reaching up to the mens' shoulders would have made a splendid hiding-place.

By-and-by the English army had executed the movement to the left, and now stood facing the Russian front.One new regiment after the other was drawn from the second division and placed on the left wing, which was believed to be most threatened.The English guns thundered without interruption, but their position might have been better; many fired without being able to see the enemy at all through the thick jungle, and threw away their ammunition prematurely.

The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky.A slight north-westerly breeze coming from the far distant hills blew the smoke of the powder in clouds back on the English army.

The enemy being thus completely shrouded from view, the infantry stood motionless.A sullen expectation brooded over the colossal forces, who realised danger, but were yet condemned to a torturing inactivity.Suddenly the wild roar of thousands of voices rose from the river, and hosts of cavalry, which before could have been held back by English infantry, broke through the jungles like immense swarms of locusts.Thousands of wild Afghans and warriors from Bukhara, Samarcand, Khiva, and Semiryechensk, combined in the Turkestan divisions, had crossed the river and, wildly crying "Allah! Allah!" hurled themselves upon the English battalions and batteries.Splendidly trained at firing from the saddle, they were terrible foes indeed.