But there is
no hope of aid. The king's army is some nine hundred miles away,
and his hands are full. General Schlippenbach has sent as many men
as he could spare. They say there are at least twenty thousand
Russians round the town, and where is an army to come from that can
compel them to raise the siege? To my mind, we shall either be
destroyed making our way into the town, or, if we do get in, shall
be made prisoners of war, if not massacred--for the Russians have
but vague ideas as to giving quarter--when the town falls, which
may be a fortnight hence."
"It seems a bad lookout, altogether," the lieutenant remarked.
"Very much so. The best possible thing that could befall us would
be for the Russians to make us out, before we get too far into
their lines, in which case we may be able to fall back before they
can gather in overwhelming strength, and may thus draw off without
any very great loss."
Major Sion called the captains of the infantry companies, and the
troop of horse, to a sort of council of war, when the little force
halted for an hour at three o'clock in the afternoon.
"We have another ten miles to march, gentlemen, and I should like
to ask your opinion as to whether it would be best to try to force
our way in as soon as we get there, or to halt at a distance of
three or four miles from the Russians, and make our effort at
daybreak before they are fairly afoot.
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