Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/172

 M: TIKi:OIC HKSI.STAXCI-: OF SKBASTOPOL r H A P. VI. To,11i.1,.'m's way of a/ljustiii;; I lie lal'oiir t.i both jTOxiiuato and inoie reiiinte objects. and say, ' If wc; were to storm the place to-day or to-morrow, our columns would be exposed to ' heavy loss from the fire of artillery ; and yet ' that same artillery is so light that we should he ' ahle to silence it easily with the very much heavier ' metal which we have close at hand on board ship; ' we will therefore land our siege trains.' Colonel de Todleben determined that the works should go on simultaneously along all the weak parts of the line ; and each day's toil was to be so adjusted (a difficult problem this seems) that it would not only effect a due approach towards the perfecting, after a time, of the improvements which had to be executed, but would also ]>lace the works in such a state every night, as to give them all the adaptation that was possible for the exigencies of an immediate defence; so that, if the enemy should grant a long respite, or if, on the other hand, he should assault in three days, or in two, or on the very morrow, the works — whether grown to full strength, or assailed whilst yet frail and weak — might in each case do all the good which the limit of time would allow. All resour- ces in men and tilings brought to bear upon the busi- ness of the defences. JX. And now, by the ardour and consuming energy of Korniloff and Todleben, all things and all people within the place or the roadstead were turned to the business of the defences. Even in this time of extremity, the men of the desk were surely astonished by the boldness with which