Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/312

 282 TJIH GAlIJaSON KEINFORCKD CHAP, obliged the garrison to dcoui their prospect •^^'' gloomy ; for General de Tudleben reckons that, after all the reinforcements which the defen- ders of Sebastopol had now at last wrung from Prince jMentschikoff, the Allies might have brought mighty bodies of men to two points — say, for instance, to the Flagstaff Bastion and the Redan — without encountering at either, from first to last, more than from 4000 to 5500 men; * but if this was the conclusion which a man might attain by reckoning over the combatants, and timing the march of battalions hurried up to the point of conflict from thuir ground on the Theatre Square, it did not embitter the sense of rtdief with which the garrison found itself emerg- ing from a state of defeucelessness to one of comparative strength. No longer was Korniloff forced to act the hard part of one who makes other men joyous and trustful, whilst he himself is despondent. In his secret heart now, no less than before all the world, he was able to say (after speaking of the reinforcements obtained, and the free communication there M-as between Sebastopol and the field army) : 'Notwithstanding ' the number of our enemies who have surrounded ' Sebastopol on the south side of the bay, we have ' no fear of not repelling them, unless God forsakes ' us ; and, in that case, His holy will be done ! ■with which tlic Allies could liave aflbrded to assault ; hut I may here say that his way of dealing with numbers lias not led I him to an accurate appreliension of the relative strength of the Allies and the Russians.
 * Todlebeii, p. 278. The General reckons at 40,000 the force