The flying bullet down the pass
..........That whispers clear: "All flesh is grass."
| -- Rudyard Kipling, ...................Arithmetic on the Frontier , 1885 |
...Karoram Valley
| Part the Second - In which Caution is thrown to the Winds |
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The flying bullet down the pass ..........That whispers clear: "All flesh is grass."
...Karoram Valley
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Lancers, Forward! Kaufmann's Imperials get untangled and engage the hillmen on the rim of the pass with riflery, as the screw-gun moves into position and sends shrapnel singing through the rocks on the cliff face. The Sikhs in the center finally gain the top of the ridge, meeting no resistance. The Gurkhas on the right withdraw from their firefight and move to the north cliff. . |
| As two units of hillmen move up in the center, and another appears at the West Pass, time begins to weigh heavily on the British |
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A fresh band of native muskets comes pouring
onto the plain from Elabad.
The British had moved very cautiously at first, scouting and clearing the path for fear of ambush in the passes. But now every wasted minute brings the possibility of new natives arriving from the north. The jezails have not been as effective as had been feared, and the snipers have been much reduced by rifle and fieldpiece. Wooleys and Kaufmann decide to force the pass. |
| As the bugles signal the advance, the delighted Lancers gallop forward under the spent jezails and turn right, flowing around both sides of the rocky hill to charge the swordsmen on the valley floor. The Gurkhas come down the side of the ridge to join in the attack. The remnants of the overwhelmed native swordsmen run down the valley to the East. |  |
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In the center two native units prepare for the onslaught as the British regulars, guns and officers flow through the pass moving west and north.
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They don't have long to wait.