"David Drake - Belisarius 2 - In The Heart Of Darkness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

flankers, and a small group of twenty or so trotted ahead to serve as the
advance guard for the little army moving through the milling swarm of Malwa
soldiers and laborers.
Rana Sanga rode alongside Belisarius. After a moment's silence, the Rajput
remarked casually:
"Your Hindi is improving rapidly, general. With amazing rapidity, actually.
And your accent is becoming almost unnoticeable."
Belisarius repressed a grimace, and silently cursed himself for a fool. In
point of fact, Belisarius could speak Hindi fluently, when he chose, without
the slightest trace of an accent. An almost magical capacity for language was
one of the many talents which Aide provided him, and one which Belisarius had
used to advantage on several occasions.
And one which, he reminded himself again, was useful in direct proportion to
being held a close secret.
He sighed, very slightly. He was learning that, of all the difficult tasks
which men face in the world, there is perhaps none quite so difficult as
pretending to be semicompetent in a language which one speaks perfectly.
Belisarius cleared his throat.
"I am pleased to hear that. I hadn't noticed, myself."
"I thought not," replied Sanga. The Rajput glanced over his shoulder. "Given
that your Hindi is becoming so fluent, I suggest that we might speak in Greek
from now on. My own Greek, as you know, is only passable. I would much
appreciate the opportunity to improve it."
"Certainly," said Belisarius -- speaking, now in Greek. "I would be
delighted."
The Roman general pointed back toward Ranapur with his thumb.
"I am curious about one thing, Rana Sanga. I notice that the rebels seem to
lack any of your cannons, yet they obviously possess a large supply of
gunpowder. It seems odd they would have the one and not the other."
The Rajput did not reply, for a moment. It was obvious to Belisarius that Rana
Sanga was gauging the limits of what he could tell the Roman.
But the moment was very brief. Sanga was not given to hesitation. It was one
of the many little things about the man, Belisarius thought, which indicated
his capabilities as a military commander.
"Not so odd, General Belisarius. The cannons are under the exclusive control
of the Malwa kshatriya, and are never stationed in provincial cities. Neither
are supplies of gunpowder, for that matter. But cannons are very difficult to
manufacture, and require special establishments for the purpose. By law, such
manufactories may not be created outside our capital city of Kausambi.
Gunpowder, on the other hand, is much simpler to make. Or so, at least, I am
given to understand. I myself, of course, do not know the secret of its
manufacture. None do, except the Mahaveda priests. But it does not require the
same elaborate equipment. So long as one possesses the necessary ingredients -
-"
The Rajput broke off, shrugged slightly.
" -- which I, needless to say, do not -- "
Fibber, thought Belisarius. I doubt he knows the exact process, but I'm sure a
soldier as observant as Sanga knows the three ingredients and their
approximate proportions.
" -- and the necessary knowledge, gunpowder can be made. Even in a city under