Swallowing Portugal Will Settle My Spanish Bellyache by Geoffrey Watson

Author:Geoffrey Watson [Watson, Geoffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Action & Adventure, War, War & Military
Amazon: B00C31OV5O
Published: 2013-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

The great cabin of the Titan 74 was the venue for a second dinner party, with Hamish MacKay being entertained once more by Sir Charles Cockburn and Captain Guest.

Their joint operations along the coast had resulted in the capture of four small fortified towns, or towns with keeps or forts. They stretched over a distance of nearly a hundred miles, mainly between Malaga and Almeria and were all being supplied with provisions and ammunition by ships from Cockburn’s squadron, based at Gibraltar.

MacKay raised his glass in salute. “I hope you’ll nae be disappointed wi’ your decision tae make the garrisons o’ the captured towns more permanent. I ken that we were only thinking of twa or three weeks in support of General Freire and then withdrawing when Sebastiani chased him away again.

It all comes down tae numbers in the end. I had a good look at the defences of each place and found that at three of them, the French shall hae tae find a lot of men tae take them back.”

Cockburn raised his own glass in reply. “You’ve been taught by a master, Hamish. I learned never to argue with Joshua Welbeloved on anything to do with soldiering and am quite happy to pay him the compliment of trusting his deputy in similar matters.

Your military logic is fascinating though, particularly to old sea dogs like Guest and me. Feel free to go over your numbers with us again, if only to see if they have changed in the week or so since you took the towns.”

Considering all the warlike plans that Cockburn and Welbeloved had hatched during nearly a decade as a team, MacKay was always amused by the Commodore’s professed ignorance about military matters, but took it as an enormous compliment that he always trusted him completely to carry out any operation that he put forward as viable.

Even when he modified his plans as he went along; in the saddle so to speak; Cockburn always agreed and encouraged him to keep his brain working. He concentrated on his numbers.

“My patrols and contacts with the guerrilleros assure me that General Freire came frae the direction of Cartagena and Almeria with a Spanish army of ten thousand or thereabouts.

Sebastiani, one of Soult’s generals, has been sent tae try and destroy this army. It is said that the French hae scraped together up tae ten thousand men frae various garrisons, thus seriously reducing the numbers Soult can use and the number of men that Marshal Victor has available tae lay siege tae Cadiz.

I am satisfied that Freire shall nae stand up tae Sebastiani in a straight fight and shall take his army back intae the hills, after a brief scuffle.

The twa towns farthest west were taken with the intent of reducing Sebastiani’s forces by a thousand for each town while he spent time taking them back. This would ease the pressure on Freire, although, tae be fair, a thousand men would be neither here nor there as far as that outcome is concerned.

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