Jack Windrush Collection - Books 5-8

Chapter 2-2

"Aye," Elliot nodded. "They"re the base of the pyramid and the directors of John Company are at the top."

"Surely the Queen is at the top," Jack said.

"Is she?" Elliot looked away. "I wonder if money is not more important than monarchy now."

After Havelock"s lightning marches of the previous year, Walpole"s advance seemed interminably slow. There were few roads in this part of India, so they had to move in the full heat of the day, sheltering in topes of trees at night. With the cavalry scouting ahead, there was little for the infantry to do except march and curse or sit in the dusty wagons and curse.

topes"I hope the pandies stand and fight," Logan muttered. "If they fight, we can smash them."

Jack peered through the curtain of dust that screened the surrounding countryside. "When I lived in England, I thought India was a land of romance and jungles, with tigers and princes and fabled cities. Now I see it as a land where anybody can be an enemy." He preferred being in charge of his own destiny, rather than obeying the orders of a superior officer he didn"t know.

The British moved slowly, dragging the guns through the dust, frequently stopping to allow the column to keep together, tormented by flies and heat. The bullocks proved more trouble than expected, lying down at their leisure and refusing to move until their drivers taught the soldiers a simple trick. While one man held the tail out straight, another placed a stick on each side and rubbed vigorously up and down.

"That makes the bugger jump," Thorpe said.

"It"s cruel sore on the animals," Parker said in his broad Liverpool accent.

"I"ll be cruel sore on you, unless you shut up and march on," Sergeant Greaves snarled.

Soldiers and syces, horses and camels, elephants that smelled of pigs, servants of every variety, doolie bearers and warriors marched, cursed, swore, and laughed as they crawled across the vast Indian countryside. Some villages were deserted, others were full of huge-eyed, scared people. There were empty fields and the occasional temple or mosque. Cavalry cantered to check every copse of mango or peepul trees, infantry scouted every village for a sight of the enemy, and Walpole"s column advanced to reclaim India for the Honourable Company and its shareholders in London"s Leadenhall.

On the 14th April, only fifty miles from Lucknow, Walpole ordered a halt, and the long, straggling column stopped.

"What"s happening?" Jack asked. Elliot seemed to have some hidden power, which enabled him to garner intelligence from unknown sources.

Elliot didn"t let him down. "There"s a fort in that patch of jungle."

"How the deuce do you know that?" The heat was making Jack irritable.

Elliot shrugged. "You"ll know more than me, soon, the general"s runner is coming for you."

"I"m sure you"re psychic," Jack said.

"Captain Windrush." The cornet of the 7th Hussars had a peeling red face and the enthusiasm of youth. "General Walpole sends his regards and requests—"

"I"m coming." Jack pulled his reins aside and kicked in his heels.

As the most junior officer in the group which formed around Walpole, Jack stood at the back and listened without giving any comment. Dust had rendered the kilts of the Highlanders as khaki as most of the uniforms, while there was a grim determination among the whiskered, bearded faces that listened to the general.

"We cannot yet see it, gentlemen," Walpole said, "but inside that patch of jungle is Fort Ruhya. We have to take it before we continue."

The circle of officers nodded. Most had seen action before and knew what to expect. A naval officer caught a fly and flicked the dead body onto the ground.

Walpole continued, his voice more hesitant than Jack had expected from a general. "Nirpat Singh holds the fort, with some fifteen hundred men. He is an adherent of Nana Sahib, so we can expect a resolute defence."

"How are the approaches, sir?" a major of the 42nd asked.

"There is a belt of jungle around the fort," Walpole replied.

"On all four sides, sir?" Brigadier Adrian Hope of the 93rd Highlanders asked. "That is unusual. The garrison must have some method of entry – I suggest we send in a party to have a look. It will certainly be hard to drag the guns through the jungle."

Jack decided to keep silent. It must have been difficult for Walpole to command men with so much more experience, for Hope had fought in the Kaffir Wars in Africa, as well as the Crimea.

"Then we go without artillery," Walpole decided. "It"s only a small fort. It won"t present any difficulties."

Hope looked at the officers of the 42nd, raised his eyebrows and tried again. "I believe that a trooper of Hodson"s Horse was a prisoner in the fort, sir and escaped. He said that Nirpat Singh would put up token resistance and then surrender."

"That"s the story, sir," a deeply tanned Company major agreed. "If we roll up to the gate with artillery and infantry, Nirpat Singh will fire a few shots for honour"s sake and run. We"ll take the fort without any casualties."

"Nonsense," Walpole dismissed the idea. "The infantry go in on the north."

"Sir Colin"s instructions are clear, sir," one of the Highland officers said. "We are to bombard any fort with artillery and then send in the infantry to storm the breach. The commander-in-chief has ordered that we should not attack any fort without at least two heavy pieces of artillery."

Jack nodded. Although some of the more fire-eating officers of the army termed Sir Colin Campbell “Old Khabardar” or “Old Be-Careful” for his caution and lack of speed, he had far fewer casualties than most commanders in this war. Havelock"s final advance to Lucknow had been prolific in British lives compared to Sir Colin"s approach.

"We don"t need to do that," Walpole said. "We will advance immediately. Brigadier Hope, take four companies of the 42nd, with the 4th Punjab Infantry. Windrush, your company of the 113th will be in support. Once the 42nd and the Sikhs are in, you follow up."

"Yes, sir," Jack said as the Highlanders glanced at each other.

Brigadier Hope was a Scottish peer and a typical leader of Highlanders. Once Walpole had issued the orders, he did his best to follow them to a conclusion. "Follow me Windrush," he was laughing, "and we"ll have the British flag flying over this fort within the hour, with or without the artillery."

"We"re going in," Jack said on his return to the 113th. "Extended order, boys, fixed bayonets and keep your heads down."

"Where are the guns, sir?" Greaves asked.

"No guns this time, Sergeant. We"re doing this the old-fashioned way, straight through the jungle and over the walls."

"Hugh Gough style, eh?" Greaves had been in the army longer than Jack had and remembered the battle of Chillianwala, where the 113th had first seen action. To the shame of the regiment, they had turned and run before the Sikh artillery.

"We"re a better regiment now than we were under General Gough," Jack said.

Greaves nodded. "Yes, sir."

Jack raised his voice. "Make sure you have ammunition in your pouches, boys, and water in your canteens. "Thorpe, you stay close to Coleman. You Johnny Raws, do as the sergeants and officers tell you and don"t mind the shine. It will be noisier than anything you"ve ever heard before, and you will see things that will make you sick. That"s all part of the soldier"s bargain. Don"t linger and if you"re hit, lie quiet and wait for the doolie bearers to pick you up."

The veterans had heard it all before. The replacements, pale under their tan, listened. Some tried bravado in an attempt to impress their new comrades, who said nothing.

"Do your duty, boys," Elliot said quietly, "that"s all that the regiment expects."

They moved forward in extended order, Highlanders and Sikhs and a company of the 113th, walking toward an unknown number of rebels in a fort they could not yet see. Jack"s 113th was in the second line, with the kilts of the Black Watch rustling in front.

"The scouts say it"s only a small fort, with a high mud wall and bastions at each angle," Jack instructed as they began the advance. "There are two gates; we"ll go for the one on the left unless the 42nd or the Sikhs force an entrance elsewhere."

"I don"t like this," Elliot said. "We"ve no skirmishers out in front, no flank guards and no artillery. This Walpole fellow is a bit casual, is he not?"

Jack grunted. Although he agreed, it was unprofessional to croak about superior officers.

"How many defenders are there, sir?" Young Ensign Wilden asked.

"The general thinks there are fifteen hundred," Jack said.

"I heard there were only a couple of hundred." Elliot"s information was usually accurate.

""We"ll gut the bastards, however many there are," Logan said.

With their feet trampling the dry grass and snapping stray twigs, the British and Sikhs moved into the thorny undergrowth of the jungle. A flight of birds exploded from above them and insects buzzed around their faces, probing into ears and eyes, biting the sweat-softened skin of necks and wrists, distracting them from the job at hand.

"I hate bloody India," Thorpe said. "There are too many flies."

"Face your front," Greaves snapped. "Don"t worry about the insects. You"ll have enough to occupy you when we attack the fort."

"Which bloody fort?" Hutton complained. "There"s no bloody fort here."

"Shut your mouth." Armstrong made a rare contribution to the conversation. "You know nothing, you."

The jungle grew thicker, with thorns hindering their advance and tree branches cutting the view of the sky. The 113th advanced through a dense green dimness, silent now as they expected to see the fort, holding their Enfield rifles in brown, calloused hands and careful of every footfall. Jack gripped his revolver, called encouragement and watched the Black Watch, ten yards in front, vanish into an even denser patch of woodland.

"Remember Burma?" Coleman grumbled. "They dacoits would love this. They would have a hundred ambushes waiting for us here. These pandy bastards don"t know how to fight."

"They know how to run though," Logan said. "Cry Havelock!" He raised the 113th battle cry, extending the final vowel of Havelock"s name.

"Let loose the dogs of war!" the 113th responded.

"There it is!" Thorpe pointed ahead. "There"s the fort!"

The first line pushed through the jungle fringe to a clearing, a maidan, in the centre of which stood the khaki-coloured walls of Fort Ruhya. Compared to the splendid palaces of Lucknow it wasn"t impressive, a low walled, mundane-looking building with irregular bastions – the lair of a robber baron rather than the abode of a rajah.

maidanAlthough Jack had expected the rebels to defend the fort, the volume of musketry took him by surprise. Muzzle-flares lit up the loop-holed walls, the bastions, the tops of the gate and the bushes on either flank.

"That"s not a token defence," Elliot said.

"Steady, 113th!" Jack shouted. Firm leadership was required as men dropped from all three regiments. The first volley could test even the staunchest of troops.

"With me, Highlanders!" Brigadier Hope pushed himself forward, tall, urbane, distinguished and as brave as any regiment would expect. "Follow me, the Black Watch." For one minute, he strode in front of the army, a smiling Scottish aristocrat and a veteran commander and then he staggered, threw up his hands and crumpled to the ground.

"Jesus, they"ve shot the brigadier!"

"They"ll shoot you too, Hutton, if you don"t get under cover!" Greaves said. "Find a tree, boys and wait for orders!"

The musketry continued, sweeping the open ground in front of the fort and felling everybody who tried to advance. Crumpled bodies littered the maidan, some lying still, others writhing and moaning in pain.