"Tom Purdom-Dragon Drill" - читать интересную книгу автора (Purdom Tom)

away from him. There was no way he could determine the extent of the damage.
The gunnery sergeants were chanting the gunnery drill on both sides. The dragon lowered its head and
stared at the gun on the right -- the gun that had probably fired the shot that had struck home. It stopped
thrashing and eased its body around as if it was favoring its left side. Its wings rose above its back.
The grenadier companies posted behind each gun were an important component of von Wogenfer's
battle plan. If the dragon attacked either piece. they were supposed to step forward and protect the gun
in the same way the central grenadier company was protecting Costanze Adelaide. The company
stationed behind the gun on the left was commanded by one of the best captains in the brigade -- a
middle-aged officer who would have been a full colonel if he had possessed the right connections. The
company on the right -- the company deployed behind the gun the dragon was eyeing -- was
commanded by a young man whose chief claim to preferment seemed to be the fact that he was Colonel
Basel-Derhof's grandson. Von Wogenfer had tried to convince Basel-Derhof the grandson should he
assigned to his staff. The colonel had insisted the company would he more reliable if it was commanded
by "the leader it is accustomed to follow."
Now, as the animal readied itself, von Wogenfer watched the company for some sign the "leader it is
accustomed to" had understood the situation. Colonel Basel-Derhof was a stolid, reliable officer, and his
grandson seemed to be cut from the same thick, serviceable blue cloth. If you pointed either of them at
the enemy and told them to advance, they would keep going as long as they had two men left to
command. Unfortunately, the situation called for a company commander who could anticipate the
enemy's movements and react without waiting for a direct order....
The dragon leaped. Its wings thrashed downward in a single, powerful stroke. It sailed toward the gun
with a gracefulness that would have made von Wogenfer gape in awe if he had been a detached
observer.
Basel-Derhof's grandson had been waiting for the gun crew to finish reloading. The thing had already
covered half the distance to the gun before he realized it was going to reach its target before the crew
could light the touchhole. His startled voice floated across the hillside. His grenadiers pointed their
bayonets at the sky and advanced at the quick step.
The gunners threw themselves flat. The animal's claws closed around the wheels of the gun. It
struggled upward, like a hawk burdened with an over-sized rabbit. The bottoms of the wheels rose off
the ground.
The grenadiers had continued to advance, as ordered. The animal was still struggling to gain altitude
when the gun carriage collided with the front ranks.
The men in the first three ranks toppled like ninepins. There was a moment when the entire gun
assembly hung over the hats and upraised muskets of the company. Then the barrel slipped out of the
carriage. Several hundred pounds of brass fell on the men massed beneath the monster's body.
It was a situation Basel-Derhof's grandson could understand. He screamed an immediate right face.
His company changed face without a break in the rhythm of its march and uncovered the men who had
been downed by the gun. Broken bodies writhed on the grass. A hatless soldier rose to his knees and
held up his arms as if he thought another blow was falling from the sky.
Von Wogenfer raised his eyes from the wreckage. The dragon had lifted itself to church steeple height.
It rose a little higher and shrieked as it let the gun carriage fall. It dropped to the ground with another
shriek and launched a red flare at the useless mass of splintered wood.
Von Wogenfer gestured at Alsten. "How intelligent should we assume our adversary is, monsieur
savant? Does it realize it can rove that flank at will, now that it's removed the gun?"
Alsten spread his hands like a Frenchman. "I can't say. So far it's acted like a beast. It launched itself
directly at the princess without taking anything else into account. It didn't attack the gun until it was hit.
This is probably the first time it's encountered artillery. It may not have realized there was more to the gun
than fire. Now that it's been hit... now that it knows the gun is firing missiles..."
The dragon was eyeing the formation over the smoldering remains of the gun carriage. This time it was
positioned so von Wogenfer could see the place where the cannonball had struck its side. There were no