“Our lord and master will be scared at the thought of attacking,” Pohlmann told Dupont, ‘so we’ll flatter the bugger. Slap on the ghee with a shovel, Dupont. Tell him he’ll be lord of all India if he lets us loose.”
“Tell him there are a hundred white women in Wellesley’s camp and he’ll lead the attack himself,” Dupont observed drily.
“Then that is what we shall tell him,” Pohlmann said, ‘and promise him that every little darling will be his concubine.”
Except that when Pohlmann and Dupont reached the tree-shaded stretch of ground above the River Juah where the Maharajah of Gwalior had been awaiting his army’s victory, there was no sign of his lavish tents. They had been struck, all of them, together with the striped tents of the Rajah of Berar, and all that remained were the cook tents that even now were being collapsed and folded onto the beds of a dozen ox carts.
All the elephants but one were gone, the horses of the royal bodyguards were gone, the concubines were gone and the two princes were gone.
The one remaining elephant belonged to Surjee Rao and that minister, ensconced in his howdah where he was being fanned by a servant, smiled benevolently down on the two sweating and red-faced Europeans.
“His Serene Majesty deemed it safer to withdraw westwards,” he explained airily, ‘and the Rajah of Berar agreed with him.”
“They did what?” Pohlmann snarled.
“The omens,” Surjee Rao said vaguely, waving a bejewelled hand to indicate that the subtleties of such supernatural messages would be beyond Pohlmann’s comprehension.
“The bloody omens are propitious!” Pohlmann insisted.
“We’ve got the buggers by the balls! What more omens can you want?”
Surjee Rao smiled.
“His Majesty has sublime confidence in your skill, Colonel.”
“To do what?” the Hanoverian demanded.
“Whatever is necessary,” Surjee Rao said, then smiled.
“We shall wait in Borkardan for news of your triumph, Colonel, and eagerly anticipate seeing the banners of our enemies heaped in triumph at the foot of
His Serene Majesty’s throne.” And with that hope expressed he snapped his fingers and the mahout prodded the elephant which lumbered away westwards.
“Bastards,” Pohlmann said to Dupont, loudly enough for the retreating minister to hear.
“Lily-livered bastards! Cowards!” Not that he cared whether Scindia and the Rajah of Berar were present at the battle; indeed, given the choice, he would much prefer to fight without them, but that was not true of his men who, like all soldiers, fought better when their rulers were watching, and so Pohlmann was angry for his men. Yet, he consoled himself as he returned southwards, they would still fight well. Pride would see to that, and confidence, and the promise of plunder.
And Surjee Rao’s final words, Pohlmann decided, had been more than enough to give him permission to cross the River Kaitna. He had been told to do whatever was necessary, and Pohlmann reckoned that gave him a free hand, so he would give Scindia a victory even if the yellow bastard did not deserve it.
Pohlmann and Dupont cantered back to the left of the line where they saw that Major Dodd had called his men out from the shade of the trees and into their ranks. The sight suggested that the enemy was approaching the Kaitna and Pohlmann spurred his horse into a gallop, clamping one hand onto his extravagantly plumed hat to stop it falling off. He slewed to a stop just short of Dodd’s regiment and stared above their heads across the river.
The enemy had come, except this enemy was merely a long line of cavalrymen with two small horse-drawn galloper guns. It was a screen, of course. A screen of British and Indian horsemen intended to stop his own patrols from discovering what was happening in the hidden country beyond.
“Any sign of their infantry?” he called to Dodd.
“None, sir.”
“The buggers are running!” Pohlmann exulted.
“That’s why they’ve put up a screen.” He suddenly noticed Simone Joubert and hastily took off his feathered hat.
“My apologies for my language, Madame.” He put his hat back on and twisted his horse about.
“Harness the guns!” he shouted.
“What is happening?” Simone asked anxiously.