"Cornwell, Bernard - Sharpe 00 - Sharpe's Triumph" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cornwell Bernard)

BATTLE FLAG

THE BLOODY GROUND

SHARPE'S

TRIUMPH

Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Assaye, September 1803

BERNARD CORN WELL

HarperCollins/Publishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London
W6 8JB Published by HarperCollinsPwAfaAeK 1998 Copyright (c) Bernard
Gornwell 1998 The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as
the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library ISBN o oo 225630 4 Map by Ken Lewis Set in
Postscript Monotype Baskerville and Linotype Meridien by Rowland
Phototvpesetting Ltd, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk Printed and bound in
Great Britain by Caledonian International Book Manufacturing Ltd,
Glasgow All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the permission of the publishers.

Sharpens Triumph is for Joel Gardner, who walked Ahmednuggur and Assaye
with me

CHAPTER 1

It was not Sergeant Richard Sharpe's fault. He was not in charge. He
was junior to at least a dozen men, including a major, a captain, a sub
adar and two jemadars, yet he still felt responsible. He felt
responsible, angry, hot, bitter and scared. Blood crusted on his face
where a thousand flies crawled. There were even flies in his open
mouth.

But he dared not move.

The humid air stank of blood and of the rotted egg smell made by powder
smoke. The very last thing he remembered doing was thrusting his pack,
haversack and cartridge box into the glowing ashes of a fire, and now
the ammunition from the cartridge box exploded. Each blast of powder
fountained sparks and ashes into the hot air. A couple of men laughed
at the sight. They stopped to watch it for a few seconds, poked at the
nearby bodies with their muskets, then walked on.

Sharpe lay still. A fly crawled on his eyeball and he forced himself
to stay absolutely motionless. There was blood on his face and more
blood had puddled in his right ear, though it was drying now. He