The Sabre's Edge (2 page)

Hervey's regiment, His Majesty's 6th Light Dragoons, had been scattered about Bengal on countless trifling errands these past three years, frustrating to officers and men alike. They had hoped to be employed against this impertinent King of Ava, who threatened the Honourable Company's domain, insulted the Crown and boasted of his invincibility, but it seemed that nowhere on the eastern frontier were their services required. Especially not in this
coup de force
,
by which it was calculated that the Burman king would at once capitulate. No, their value to the Company - which, after all, paid the Crown handsomely for their services in India - lay in their ability to be fast about Hindoostan in the event of trouble. The commander-in-chief would not easily be persuaded, therefore, to tie down a single troop of King's cavalry that constituted his meagre reserve. And so, with the prospect of further months of tedium before him, any diversion had seemed attractive to Hervey - even as assistant to an officer who himself had little to do. But it had truly been an unexpected delight to learn that his revered friend Peto had the naval command.

Not that in other terms Hervey had been ill content with the years since Chittagong. Chittagong had been an affair, indeed, of real cavalry daring, if through country wholly unsuited to the arm. 'And we shall shock them
^’
: that had been his intention. And how they
had,
cavalry and guns appearing from the forest like chinthes, routing the Burman invaders and burning their war boats. Yes, he had hazarded all, and the Sixth's reputation in Calcutta had been made. And he had watched his troop's star continue to rise afterwards. He had taken real pleasure in advancing several of his men, though he had had occasion more often to shed a tear when the fever or some such had claimed one of them (the regiment's corner of the cemetery in the Calcutta lines now held the bones of more dragoons than any single troop could muster). Above all, however, the regiment was at ease with itself. That was their colonel's doing. Sir Ivo Lankester may have been an extract, but he had his late brother's blood in his veins, and never did the Sixth have a finer officer than Sir Edward Lankester until they had had to bury him at Waterloo. And the regiment was no less handy for being at ease, for Sir Ivo managed somehow to have the best of them, always, without recourse to any more rebuke than he might for an inattentive hound. It was said that he had only to look pained for the hardest of sweats to feel shame, and only to smile for the same to believe they were as good as chosen men. He had returned to England for his long leave two months before, and he had done so with utter confidence: the major, Eustace Joynson, for whom sick headaches and endless returns had been the miserable order of the day under the previous colonel, was now modestly self-assured. Sir Ivo knew that Joynson would always err on the side of kindness, and that since the troop captains and lieutenants, and the non-commissioned officers, were all sound enough, a right judgement would be reached in those things that mattered most. One of those judgements had, indeed, been to permit Hervey his attachment to the general's staff.

Despite having almost nothing to do, Hervey had from the outset found the appointment fascinating, for it allowed him a seat at the general's conferences, albeit in an entirely attendant capacity. He had thus been privy to the plan of campaign throughout almost its entire evolution. It was, like all good plans, in essence simple. The Governor-General, Lord Amherst, was of the opinion that it would be necessary only to occupy Rangoon, the country's great trading port, for the King of Ava to lose courage and ask for terms, and that the Burman people, in their condition of effective slavery to King Bagyidaw, would welcome the British as liberators. Thereafter it would be an easy enough business to sail the four hundred miles or so up the Irawadi to Ava itself and take it - opposed or otherwise. Even the timing was propitious, for the rainy season was soon to begin, and the river would thereby be navigable to Commodore Peto's flotilla. Furthermore, since this was to be a maritime, indeed a riverain, expedition, there would be no need to embark the transport required to maintain the army. It was altogether a very thrifty way of making war, and General Campbell was justly pleased with the speedy accomplishment of the first part of his design. Pleased and relieved, for he had provisioned his force only for the crossing of the Bay of Bengal, and there had been delays. Now he had the better part of eleven thousand mouths to feed, and the sooner they were ashore the sooner they could begin buying beef - and water.

Hervey beckoned to his coverman to get into the cutter before him. Besides the sailors at the oars, they were the only occupants of the general's two boats not wearing red. They settled towards the bow and Hervey took off his shako, then mopped his forehead and fastened closed the front of his tunic. 'Did you see anything of the cannonade?'

^‘
No sir,' said Lance-Corporal Wainwright, grimacing. 'I was helping bring shot. My ears are still ringing.'

'Mine too,' said Hervey, looking at his watch. It was not yet one o'clock.

‘P
ull!' called the midshipman, and a dozen oars began ploughing the flat brown water of the Rangoon river.

In not many minutes they were grounding on the shallow slope of the bank in front of what remained of the great teak gates of the stockade - no need even for wet feet. Tidy files of redcoats, King's and Company's alike, marched ahead of them with sloped arms as if at a field day.

Hervey jumped from the boat wondering if his misgivings had been wholly unfounded after all. Eyre Somervile's misgivings, rather, for it had been his friend at court who had voiced them first. His own doubts could be only those concerning the military arrangements, although in truth these he found worrying enough.

Somervile had been convinced that the greatest peril lay in King Bagyidaw's self-delusion. The third in council of the Bengal presidency had his own sources of information in Ava, which told him that the king was surrounded by sycophants and believed all their blandishments about the invincibility of the Burman soldier. Indeed, Somervile had learned that the king had not even been told of Hervey's spoiling raid at the headwaters of the Chittagong river three years before; that, instead, the king believed it had been the hand of Nature that had laid a torch to his boats, for no barbarian could set foot on Avan soil without the authority of the Lord of the White and All Other Elephants. And anyway, did not he, Bagyidaw, have the greatest of generals - Maha Bundula - to pit against an impertinent invader?

Eyre Somervile was therefore of the decided opinion that the fall of Rangoon would merely presage a long and arduous campaign. And he was by no means convinced, either, that the Burman people would welcome the invader as a liberator. Why, indeed, should they, if they too believed that Maha Bundula would throw him back into the Bay of Bengal whence he had come? And if that were to happen, death would follow automatically for anyone who had in the least part aided the invader. Eyre Somervile, after years of study, and years of practical business, did not believe for one minute that a single Burman would risk his neck in the Company's cause.

But this landing at Rangoon was so easy, the resistance so lacking in spirit, that perhaps, thought Hervey, Somervile had given too much credence to his admittedly well-placed agents. There were things he must see for himself, and quickly. 'If you have no direct need of me, sir,' he said to his principal, as matter-of-fact as he could, 'I should like to make a reconnaissance of the town.'

'Of course, Hervey, of course,' replied Major Seagrass, distracted. General Campbell's military secretary had somehow contrived to be the only member of the staff to get his feet wet, and was trying to rid his boots of water. There'll be scarce enough for one of us to do till the headquarters are open.'

Hervey had used the military term to describe his intended survey of the town, and it was certainly the case that he had a military purpose to his perambulation, but in truth he was just as curious to see the sights of the fabled seaport of the Burmans. By all accounts some of its temples were singular. 'Very well, then, sir. I shall report back by sunset at the latest.' He saluted and made away before Seagrass could have second thoughts.

Corporal Wainwright uncl
ipped his carbine and took a cartridge from his crossbelt pouch. He bit off the end, tapped a little powder into the priming pan, then poured the remainder down the barrel, dropped in the ball from between his teeth and rammed it home with the swivel rod.

Hervey noted with satisfaction that it was done in mere seconds.

'Just in case, sir,' said Wainwright, feeling it necessary to explain the precaution even with so many redcoats abroad.

Hervey smiled grimly. 'Don't be too sure that you'll draw the charge, Corporal Wainwright. The Burmans may have fled, but I doubt they'll count themselves beaten.'

There were so many infantrymen about the streets, however. Even if the Burmans counter-attacked, Hervey thought they must be repulsed before they could get a footing on the stockades. But in fleeing before the bombardment, they had made a good job of leaving little for the comfort of the invader. House after house was empty of portables, the heavier furniture was broken up, and Hervey was further disquietened by the evident system with which it had been accomplished. It spoke of a discipline that might be turned to good effect against an invader. It was evidence, certainly, that Calcutta's assumption of cooperation was wholly ill-conceived. As he made his way past groups of infantrymen waiting for the Serjeants to allocate a billet (at least they would have a roof over their heads when the rains came), Hervey began to fear the worst - that the rice stores and granaries had been emptied too, and the cattle driven into the jungle.

He tramped the town for an hour. It proved an unlovely place, with few buildings of any solidity and aspect, even the official ones. In the wake of the redcoats he saw not a house whose doors or windows remained barred, but neither did he see a man with anything more valuable in his hands than an iron cooking pot or a pan. Here and there a Buddhist shrine would impress, as much by the gilded contrast with its surroundings as by any true merit, and from time to time he would catch sight of the soaring pagoda of Shwedagon a league or so to the north, rising above the squat meanness like St Paul's above the rookeries of the City.

'I would lay odds that yonder place will be a regular hornet's nest,' said Hervey to Wainwright as they climbed a wall to get a better view. 'I'll warrant that's where they've bolted with the treasury.'

There was shooting still, sporadic shots from the redcoats searching the streets. But it did not trouble him. He knew they were aimed not at the enemy but at obstinate locks. It had been the same every time they had captured a place in Spain. It took a while, always, for the officers to regain order -hot blood, the exhilaration of being alive after the fight, the prospect of a bit of gold, the certainty of finding something to slake a thirst. That was all it was, but it could be brute enough when it ran unchecked for too long. At least he would not see the worst of it today, for there had been no fighting to hot the blood, no long march beforehand. Only the wretched, clammy heat of the day.

They pressed on. Several much smaller pagodas bore the signs of the infantry's passing.

'Ah, this looks worthier,' said Hervey, stopping at one of them. 'As resplendent, I'd say, as any of the shrines around Calcutta. Except, of course, it's all sham.' He prodded at the gold leaf with his sabre. 'In Calcutta it would be marble instead of this teak, and the inlay wouldn't be glass. Evidently our red-coated friends thought little of it.'

The pillaging seemed to have consisted in dashing all the lattices to the floor and then being disappointed to find that the imagined rubies and emeralds became so many cheap shards. Hervey sighed to himself. He'd seen a lot worse - the Prussians, for one (after Waterloo they had been thoroughly wanton in their destruction). But knocking down even gaudy pagodas was hardly the way to win the hearts of the Burman people, let alone their active support. And support was what General Campbell's plan of campaign depended on. He just hoped the officers would have their men in hand soon.

'But solid enough, sir,' said Wainwright, having made his own assessment of the structure. He pointed to the roof. 'Look at that.' An iron shot from one of the broadsides was embedded in a joist. It had not fully penetrated but had somehow caused the wood to splinter on the inside. Hervey had heard Peto speak of the especial danger in teak-built men-of-war. Unlike oak, Peto said, a teak splinter invariably meant a septic wound. He had been most insistent on it, most insistent that while the Indies might be a place of sickness for the soldier, the sailor faced his trials too.

Many would be the trials in this campaign, right enough. Hervey sheathed his sabre and took off his shako. 'You know, Corporal Wainwright, it is one thing to enter the roads of a seaport and bombard the town - many a captain's done that. But it's quite another to sail upstream for all of five hundred miles when the degree of resistance is uncertain.'

Corporal Wainwright had been a dragoon for nearly five years and had worn a chevron for two of them. Hervey held him in particular regard, not least because he was recruited from his own town, but more so because of his thoroughgoing decency and unwavering sense of duty. He reminded him of Serjeant Strange, yet without that fine NCO's somewhat chilly piety. Hervey had made him his covering corporal at the first opportunity.