Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/103

 COUNCIL OF WAR AT SEBASTOPOL. 73 ' tended tower lias not yet licen completed), and, chap. ' connnanding from those heights the ships of ' ' Nachimoff's squadron, he will force the licet to ' leave its present position. l)y thus altering our ' order of battle ior the fleet, he will make it ' feasible to force the entrance of the roadstead; ' and if, at the same time, his land forces should ' however heroic, will save the Black Sea fleet ' from ruin and disgraceful capture. I therefore ' propose to put to sea and attack the enemy, ' crowded as he is off Cape Loukoul. I think ' that, fortune favouring us, we might disperse ' the enemy's armada, and thus deprive the Allied ' armies of supplies and reinforcements. In the ' event of failure, we shall be able to avoid a dis- ' graceful capture; fur, supposing that we do not ' succeed in boarding the enemy's ships, we can ' at all events blow them up when close alongside, ' together with our own. ' AVhile thus saving the honour of the Russian ' flag, the seamen will be defending their port ; ' for the Allied fleets, even if victorious, would ' be so weakened by the loss of many ships, that ' they would not dare to attack the strong sea- ' batteries of Sebastopol ; and, without the co- ' operation of the fleet, the Allied armies could ' not capture the town, if fortified and defended ' by our troops, until the arrival of a fj'esh army ' from Russia, and then, with united exertions we ' might crush the enemy. ' The absence of all order in the disposition of
 * take the Star Fort, no resistance on our part,