The Mobilisation

: The Coming Conquest Of England

Every day now brought fresh news, and the threatening spectre of war

drew nearer and nearer. The order for mobilisation had been given.

The field-troops were separated from the depot, destined to remain in

Chanidigot. The infantry were provided with ammunition, and were daily

exercised in firing and bayonet drill. Horses were bought up and a

transport organised, which comprised an enormous number of camels. The

commiss
riat stores were replenished, and the officers eagerly studied

the maps of Afghanistan.



According to Heideck's ideas of mobilisation progress was much too slow,

and the Maharajah appeared still less in a hurry with the equipment of

his auxiliary troops.



Military trains from the South passed without cessation through

Chanidigot, carrying horses and troops further north. Their immediate

goal was Peshawar, where Lieutenant-General Sir Bindon Blood,

Commander-in-Chief of the Punjab Army Corps, had concentrated a large

field-army. Heideck noticed with surprise that the regiments which were

being hurried up had been drafted from the most heterogeneous corps,

so that, therefore, the tactical union of these corps, as well as their

organisation, had been destroyed. No doubt the Government wished, at

any cost, to mass large bodies of troops as rapidly as possible on the

frontier, and to this end left all calculation of later events out of

consideration. Viscount Kitchener, the Commander-in-Chief of India,

as well as the Viceroy and the Cabinet Ministers in London, seemed to

entertain no doubt that the English army would be victorious from

the very beginning, and could not possibly be forced to retire to the

fortresses of the North-west provinces. The contempt with which the

officers in Chanidigot talked about the Russian army and the Afghans

sufficiently confirmed this general belief.



At last it was clear that war had become a fait accompli. On the tenth

day after the announcement of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan

uncertainty was at an end.



The Cabinet in London had inquired in St. Petersburg as to the meaning

of that invasion, and it received the answer that Russia felt compelled

to come to the rescue of the Ameer at his request, for the Afghan ruler

was anxious for his independence, in view of the measures which were

taken by England. Nothing was further removed from the intention of the

Russian Government than to challenge England, but she felt it impossible

to look on at the embarrassment of the Ameer with equanimity, and so

determined to fight for the independence of Afghanistan.



Thereupon England declared war, and Lieutenant-General Blood received

the order immediately to advance through the Khyber Pass into

Afghanistan. Further, Lieutenant-General Hunter, the Commander-in-Chief

of the Bombay Army Corps, was ordered to march with an army from

Quetta towards Kandahar. At the same time an English fleet was to leave

Portsmouth.



Although the English papers published in India had evidently been

instructed to maintain silence about matters which might place England

in an unfavourable light, they furnished a good deal of news which gave

the intelligent reader all manner of clues as to the present warlike

situation. It could be seen that England was also arming against France.

Only as to the attitude of Germany in the universal war that threatened

every clue was wanting.



The intention of removing the families of the military and civil

officers, stationed in Chanidigot, south to Bombay, or to Calcutta in

the east, had soon been dropped. The spreading of the plague in both

cities and the difficulties of the journey were against it; for the

railways were completely given over to the transport of troops. It

was determined that the women and children should, for the time being,

remain with the depot in Chanidigot. Captain Irwin, who had returned

from Lahore and who, apart from his duty, in which he displayed an

almost feverish zeal, led the life of a hermit, was appointed to

command this depot. But his wife, whom he had not yet once met since his

arrival, was not to be placed with the others under his charge. Colonel

Baird, who had given way to his wife's urgent entreaties to be allowed

with her children to accompany him to Quetta, had asked Edith Irwin to

join them.



Orders had been given that the detachment should start in conjunction

with the forces of the Maharajah of Chanidigot. Heideck had obtained

permission to accompany it. The Colonel was well disposed towards him,

and it was evidently pleasant for the former to have about him, as

protector to the ladies, such a chivalrous man, upon whom he could

always implicitly rely when his military duties prevented him from

looking after them. On the day preceding the start Heideck was at tiffin

with the Colonel, and coming events were being discussed in a serious

manner, when from outside the dull screech of an automobile's horn

caught their ears. Two minutes later, covered with dust and with his

face a dark red from the heat, an officer appeared on the verandah who

introduced himself as Captain Elliot, General Blood's adjutant.



"The General," he said, adopting the proper military attitude, "has sent

me to report that all the plans have been altered. Your orders are not

to march to Quetta, but to hasten your preparations and start as soon as

possible for Mooltan."



"And what is the reason for this change of orders?" asked the Colonel.



"The Russians are coming down from the Hindu-Kush, and are marching down

the valley of the Indus, thus taking our army in the rear. General Blood

is marching south, so as not to be cut off. I am sent round to direct

all detachments upon Mooltan."



"No! is that possible? Is there not perhaps some mistake? How can the

Russians cross the Hindu-Kush?"



"I have myself seen Russian infantry in the gorges of the Indus Valley,

Colonel. The march upon Herat and the occupation of Cabul under General

Ivanov were mainly blinds. Ivanov, with twenty thousand men under his

command, and reinforced by a like number of Afghans, is advancing from

Cabul upon the Khyber Pass. But the main attack will be made from the

Pamirs in the direction of Rawal-Pindi and Lahore."



"Rawal-Pindi?" exclaimed the Colonel. "If the Russians come down the

Indus, they will first of all arrive at Attock, and this strong fortress

will check their advance long enough."



"Let us hope so, but we must not absolutely reckon upon it. The strength

of the Russian army is not at present known to us; but their advance

has evidently been magnificently planned. Their engineers must have done

perfect wonders in the difficult passes of the Hindu-Kush; and these

Russian soldiers are like iron."



"Well," said the Colonel, "we will soon show them that we are of steel."



The adjutant handed over the written instructions, and after having read

them, the Colonel replied--



"To-morrow morning early I start for Mooltan, and expect to arrive there

with my detachment by tomorrow evening. The commissariat and ammunition

columns will, of course, not be able to get there until a few days

later, and then only in part. What in all the world can have possessed

the General not to meet the enemy in Rawal-Pindi? That town is fortified

and surrounded by strong forts; it is one of the greatest depots in

India. Why must the General retire so far back, so far as Mooltan?"



"The General is expecting a decisive battle, and intends for the purpose

to co-operate with the army of General Hunter. But both armies are, at

present, equidistant from Mooltan, and the Russians would, the General

thinks, hesitate to advance so far, from fear of having their left

flank attacked from Lahore. In Lahore there is at present a force of ten

thousand men, which is being reinforced every day from Delhi."



With the departure of the adjutant, who, owing to the exigencies of

duty, was obliged to decline the Colonel's offer of a seat at table, the

luncheon-party broke up, and the Colonel made apologies to his guest for

being unable, under existing circumstances, to devote more time to him.

His officers accompanied him, and soon after Mrs. Baird was also called

away. Quite unexpectedly Heideck and Edith Irwin found themselves alone.



For a few moments neither spoke, as though neither wished to give

expression to the feelings that filled their hearts. The young wife

first broke silence.



"You were intending to go with us into the field, Mr. Heideck, and I

know that your decision was prompted by a desire to assist us women with

your protection. But now all the arrangements are altered, and I beg of

you to abandon your intention."



He looked at her surprisedly. "What, Mrs. Irwin? do you intend to

deprive me of the pleasure I had looked forward to of accompanying you,

and being your protector? And why?"



"You also have just heard that all the arrangements are altered. Had we

gone to Quetta, then, as soon as our army had crossed the frontier, you

would have been easily able to find another place; but if the battle

takes place on Indian soil you will find yourself in constant danger."



"In my quality as foreigner? Certainly. I should, under the

circumstances, be exposed to much unpleasantness, but before I change my

plans, I should like to hear from you if you, too, intend to remain with

the troops under these altered conditions?"



"Since Mrs. Baird has given me permission to accompany her, yes."



"And you believe that I shall show less courage than you, who will also

certainly be exposed to serious risks?"



"How could I doubt your courage, Mr. Heideck? But that is, after all,

something quite different. The place of us soldiers' wives is at the

side of our husbands, whom we have followed to India. And, moreover, we

are, perhaps, nowhere safer than with the army. But you have no concern

with this war and with our army. If you, now, were to leave here to take

up your quarters in one of the hill stations far from the seat of war,

and where you were not exposed to the risks of battle and the plague,

you would be certainly allowed, as a German merchant, to remain there

unmolested."



"And why do you not yourself go to such a hill station, Mrs. Irwin? I

should suggest Simla, if it were not so near to the seat of war. But

do, pray, go to Poona, or into one of the other mountain stations in the

south."



The young lady shook her head.



"I expect that that would be going straight to destruction."



"And what, may I ask, makes you think this?"



"I have already told you that in case of war English women are, here

in India, only tolerably safe when in the immediate neighbourhood of

soldiers. If we were to be defeated, the revenge the people would

take on its oppressors would be terrible. Are you aware of the

cruel instincts which slumber in these men, apparently so polite and

submissive? The defenceless women and children would, without doubt, be

their first victims. It was so in the Mutiny of 1857, and so it will be

again under similar conditions. Nana Sahib and his crew wallowed at

that time in the fiendish tortures of white women and children, and shed

streams of innocent blood. And the civilisation of the lower classes has

certainly since then not improved."



"You speak as if you considered a defeat of your army probable."



"I cannot get rid of my melancholy forebodings. And you, yourself,

Mr. Heideck--please be straightforward with me! When the adjutant was

standing there a little while ago, and when every one of his words

showed the want of circumspection in our generals, I watched your face,

and I read more from its expression than you have any idea of. I will

not try to enter into your secrets, but I should be grateful if you

would be candid with me. You are not the person for whom you here give

yourself out."



He did not hesitate for a moment to confess to her the truth.



"No, I am a German officer, and have been sent here by my superiors to

study the Anglo-Indian army."



Edith's surprise was evidently not great.



"I had an inkling of it. And now please answer my question quite

as straightforwardly. Do you believe that the British army will be

victorious?"



"I would not permit myself to give an opinion on this point, Mrs.

Irwin."



"But you must have an idea. And I would give a great deal to know what

it is."



"Well, then--I believe in English bravery, but not in English victory."



She heaved a deep sigh, but she nodded her head in assent, as if he had

only expressed her own conviction. Then she gave him her hand and said

softly--



"I thank you for your confidence, and as a matter of course no one shall

ever learn from me who you are. But now I must insist more than ever

that you leave us for your own safety's sake."



"And if I were to refuse? Supposing that in my position as soldier I

were to consider it to be my duty not to leave you in the lurch?

Would you be angry with me? Would you no longer permit me to enjoy the

happiness of your society?"



Her breast heaved, but she bowed her head and was silent. Heideck

plainly saw the glistening tears which stole from under her eyelids, and

slowly rolled down her delicate cheek.



That was answer enough for him. He bowed, and kissing both her hands,

whispered--



"I knew that you would not be so cruel as to drive me from you. Wherever

fate may lead me, it will find me at your side as long as you require my

protection."



For a few seconds she let him keep her hand. She then gently withdrew it

from his grasp.



"I know that I ought to forbid you for your own safety to follow me;

but I have not the strength to do so. Heaven grant that you may never

reproach me for having acted as I have done."



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