Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/274

 244 TIIK OrENIXG OF TUE SIEGE. c 11 A r. X. The plan of attack adoi>tp<l hv the Allies. have carried with it the fall of the place. He likewise judged that the loss of either the ' Cen- ' tral' or the 'Land Quarantine' Bastion must have proved fatal ; but those two last were not works which the Allies could attack with ad- vantage. Whatever extent of dominion the possession of the Malakoff might be capable of affording, the Allies, at this time, did not even attempt to in- clude it in that road of havoc by which they proposed to break through the (inemy's line of defences. Their reason will be apparent to those who remember that, for want of the numerical strength that would have been needed for the purpose, the English were prevented from occupy- ing in force the Tnkernian jMount; for, without being able in that way to secure their right flank from aggression, they could not advance upon the ]Ialakoff by the ridge which connected it with the plateau ; and (except by the long-rang- ing fire of their Lancaster guns) all they could yet attempt against this work was to assail it with shot thrown across the interposed ravine from the slopes of the adjoining ridge — that is, from the Woronzoff Height.* Straitened thus in their choice of the ' front for ' attack,* the Allies determined that they would devote their first efforts to the object of carrying the Flagstaff Bastion and the Bed an ; for they saw that, if they could there break through the •Called b)' ilie Erifrlisli 'Frenchman's Hill,' the sito of 'Gordon'.s,' or the 'Eight Attack.'