The Khyber Connection (TimeWars 6)

“Hell of a sight, eh?”

Finn turned toward the voice.

“Surgeon-Lieutenant Hugo,” said the doctor.

“Lieutenant Delaney,” said Finn. He held out his hand. Hugo took it in an awkward grip with his left hand. His right arm hung straight at his side, looking stiff. “You were hit?” said Finn.

Hugo gave a slight snort. “No, fortunately. Bit of temporary paralysis. Cramped, you know.”

“From what?”

“Oh, Lieutenant Ford was wounded in the shoulder. Bullet cut the artery. We were under heavy fire and he was lying out in the open, so there was no opportunity to give the poor chap proper aid, don’t you know. He had fainted from loss of blood. I had no other choice but to pinch the vessel shut between my thumb and forefinger. Crouched there that way for three hours until I could move him to safety. Hell of a thing. Haven’t been able to move my arm hardly at all since. Hand’s gone numb. Nothing to worry about, it’s only a temporary cramp, but it’s rather an inconvenience.”

Finn thought that only an Englishman could speak in such an offhand manner about holding a man’s life between his thumb and forefinger for three hours while under heavy fire.

“Anyway, it’s nice to have you chaps,” said Hugo, putting a cigarette in his mouth and awkwardly trying to strike a light with his left hand. Finn lit it for him. “Thank’s, old boy. Didn’t quite think you were riding into such a damned mess, did you?”

“Oh, I knew it would be bad,” said Finn, “but it’s another thing to see it. There must be thousands of them up there. It looks like the whole mountain range is on fire.”

Hugo

nodded. “More arriving every day. Word has it the Utman Khels have joined the fray. The Mahsuds, as well. The Mad Fakir’s pulling them in. Final bloody conflict and all that. There’re lathered up right and proper.”

“They let us ride right in,” said Finn.

Hugo nodded again. “Why not? Why take you in the open where you can make an effort at deploying? Better position here. Nothing short of a mass suicidal assault would break into this fort—not that I think they’re not up it, mind you—but they have us trapped in here. It’s like sitting atop a sugar cube in a great big empty cup. And they’re all around the rim. I believe they’re building up to final push. Meanwhile they continue sniping at us from the cliffs. They’re damned proficient at it too. Bloody good marksmanship, at this range.”

“Has there been any communication with Chakdarra? “ Finn said.

“We managed to re-establish heliograph signalling with them briefly on the morning of the twenty-ninth,” said Hugo. “They’re hanging on, but they’ve sustained heavy losses. It seems they’ve had a rougher go of it than we. Food and ammunition are running short. Lieutenant-Colonel Adams took the Guides to make a try for the Amandara Pass, but they were forced to retire. He lost sixteen men and twenty-six horses. Now that you lot have arrived, we might stand a better chance. I was forced to miss the officer’s conference. Had to tend to the wounded. Couldn’t do much with this arm, you know. Stiff as bloody blazes. That new doctor was a godsend.” He chuckled. “Godsend. Missionary, godsend, that’s good, what?”

Finn smiled.

“So what’s the plan, then?” Hugo said.

‘General Blood’s ordered the relieving column to assemble on Gretna Green there,” Finn said, pointing. “The first attack will be directed toward Castle Rock, which dominates the high ground above the green. We move at half-past four this morning.”

“Bloody hell,” said Hugo. “If Castle Rock is taken at the same time as troops begin a push from Gretna Green, it might open up the graded road, and then deployment would be possible! Who thought of that?”

“General Blood.”

“Now that I see it, it’s so damned obvious,” said Hugo. “But then, we hadn’t the manpower before. We may get out of this mess yet. Well, I’d better go and give the good Father a hand. “ He held up his one useful arm and chuckled. “A hand, eh? That’s a good one.” Chuckling, he went down below.

Delaney hadn’t had a chance to speak with either Lucas or Andre since their arrival. Tending the wounded at the garrison was a full-time job, especially with Hugo being limited in what he could do until his arm recovered from the cramping effects of his heroic action of the day before. All things considered, the morale of the troops at the fort was astonishingly high. They had been engaged in almost ceaseless fighting for a week, with little opportunity for sleep, and they were all exhausted, but they were functioning superbly.

As soon as the relief column of infantry had arrived, their officers had been ordered into conference with General Meiklejohn and General Blood to make plans to break out and rescue the Chakdarra garrison. In a few hours the column would assemble and prepare to move while the attack against the overlooking rock formation commenced. Once the objective had been taken, Blood would then take up position with his staff upon the heights of Castle Rock, which would give him a commanding view of the field of battle.

Historically, Finn knew the tactics were to succeed and the column would break through to relieve the embattled fort at Chakdarra, but that would only be the start in a large operation that would last for months, culminating in the Tirah Expeditionary Force, a punitive action, launched against the Afridi homeland in the high mountain valley of Tirah. In between there were plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong.

Delaney knew that they had situated themselves as best they could under the circumstances, but this mission gave them less freedom to act than any other mission he had served. There was no chance now of breaking away from the troops to reconnoitre the situation in the hills. The cliffs were crawling with Ghazis. The best they could hope for was to stay with the main body and look out for any potential disruptive actions. Blood had to be protected at all costs. Meiklejohn as well. The main problem was that they didn’t know who or where the enemy was—if, in fact, there was an enemy. Finn hoped there was. Fighting an enemy was easier than trying to compensate for an historical anomaly that might have been triggered by any number of events.

“I see you couldn’t sleep either,” said Churchill, coming up to stand beside Delaney. He looked out at the fires on the mountains. “I think the entire garrison’s awake.”

“Everyone’s too worked up to sleep,” said Finn. “I know our men are looking forward to some action.”

“They’ll have plenty of it,” Churchill said. “If the Ghazis sweep down upon Gretna Green before the attack can be launched and the high ground secured. we’ll all be in for it. I’ve been preparing my dispatches. I only wish there were some way to convey the magnitude of this sight.” He gestured out at the campfires on the cliffs. “Words simply can’t do it. There must be thousands of them up there. And I had thought our strength would intimidate them. Private Mulvaney was right. My green is showing.”

“Starting to regret having come along?” said Finn.