Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/223

 THE APRIL BOMBARDMENT. 191 On Monday the 9th April, the first day of the chap. bombardment, the Central Bastion with its auxil- iary batteries suffered heavily under the fire, and BU8 tained towards evening was reduced to silence ; whilst Flagstaff also in the crenelled wall near it, there was and its 111 i • i mi -r<i auxiliaries wrought a breach seven yards wide, llie r lag- on the first day staff Bastion itself was declared by Todleben to have been ' literally buried under an enormous ' mass of hollow projectiles which inflicted upon sunset on this, as on every succeeding day of the bombardment, the task of repairing began, and was continued all night.* Next day — the 10th of April — the besiegers so, on tie renewed their fire ; and the dearth of ammunition from which the enemy suffered was on this day brought home to him painfully by orders direct- ing that the guns with which he replied to the mighty bombardment should only be fired at long intervals. On this, as on the previous day, the Flagstaff Bastion was ' buried ' once more under a mass of projectiles, and eight of its guns were dis- mounted ; whilst besides, almost all its embrasures were brought to ruin. There at last remained only two guns with which to continue the action ;t and, although for some reason the French bad not clenched their success yet more tightly by the stitutions ; as for instance, the replacing of crippled guns by sound ones, and the construction of new defeuces with which to close a gap opened in part of the crenelled wall. t Todleben, p. 127.
 * it great damage, and terrible losses of men.' At
 * When I speak of 'repairs' and 'repairing,' I include sub-