Colonel Pringle breathed deeply then shouted “There’s nothing like the smell of gunpowder in the afternoon lads” then continuing “We’ve held them this far and it’s not long till nightfall” with a roar of “Frundsberg Forever” the remaining Frenchmen were driven back from the wall.
General Bercollin had already decided that his men needed to regroup again so the infantry fellback just out of musket range from the wall. At long last his artillery had arrived and they would surely pound the Frundsbergers into submission. On the right the French cavalry had cleared the field of the Frundsberg cavalry and could now sweep forward into Sonnenbad if he gave the order.
One squadron of Chevau-légers had even swept round behind the Landsberg village pursuing the routing Frundsberg cavalry.
General Von Barner recognised the risk to his rear and rode back to try and rally his cavalry, but just as he arrived both the Heavy Dragoons and Freihussaren halted and reformed facing the pursuing French cavalry. The Chevau-légers saw the opposition they had to face and wisely retreated back around the village.
Before returning to the wall, Von Barner managed to shout across to Fredrich “If we can hold them till nightfall then we’ll win”
3 comments:
"There's a breathless hush in the Close tonight -- Ten to make and the match to win -- A bumping pitch and a blinding light, An hour to play and the last man in..."
A gripping battle indeed! I'm looking forward to the conclusion.
AJ, I presume that that is a "cricket quote" . . . am I correct?
-- Jeff
Yes, Jeff. It's from a poem by Newbolt called Vita Lampada. You may know the next stanza...
"The sand of the desert is sodden red, Red with the wreck of a square that broke; The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead, And the regiment blind with dust and smoke. The river of death has brimmed his banks, And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks: 'Play up! play up! and play the game!
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