Young bloods

'You could have picked a better night for it, Buona Parte,' Victor smiled. 'If this rain continues then, to be honest, we'd better leave the job to the navy.'

'What navy?' Brule grumbled. 'Useless bastards gave up their ships without a fight when Toulon went over to the British.'

Victor shook his head sadly. 'Colonel Brule, I was joking.'

'Joking?' Brule glanced at him guardedly. He was a die-hard Jacobin, as willing to kill for his cause as die for it, which partly explained his elevation to his present rank. 'Soldiering's a serious business, Colonel. There's no place in it for jokes.'

'Really?'Victor responded with a wry look.'In which case you must surely be the exception to the rule.'

As Brule frowned Victor turned back to the new arrival. 'Everything settled at headquarters?'

'As settled as it can be,' Napoleon replied, trying to stop his teeth chattering. 'The general and his staff will be on their way down to join us.Then we just have to wait for Lapoye to give the signal. He'll fire a red rocket tonight, just after his men make contact with the enemy. We acknowledge it with a green rocket.'

'What if we don't see it?' said Colonel Delaborde. 'In this weather, we might not, especially if there's a mist later on.'

'A fair point,' Napoleon nodded. 'In that case, if there's no signal by midnight, we might wait an hour before the columns march out of the village and make for the fort.'

'If that's what the general decides,' Delaborde replied. 'It may be your plan, Buona Parte, but it's still his army.'

Napoleon looked round and fixed the older man with a blank stare. 'Of course. Whatever the general decides.'

Colonel Victor clapped his hands. 'Come now, gentlemen! No long faces. No disagreements. Let's have a drink and a hand of cards while we wait.'

'Cards?' Brule frowned.

'Yes. Whist? Or should the prospect of following the fortunes of fifty-two cards be too daunting for you, we could play vingt-et-un. '

'Ah!' Brule's dull expression lightened up. 'Vingt-et-un. Now that's a game I enjoy.'

Colonel Victor smiled. 'How could I possibly say I am surprised, my dear Colonel? Come then, let's play. Buona Parte, join us.'

Napoleon shook his head. 'Not tonight. There's too much at stake. I can't help thinking about it.'

'It's all in hand. The plan's good and, besides, there's nothing you can do about it now. The cards will take your mind off it. I find it helps calm the nerves.'

Napoleon nodded. 'Very well, I'll play.'

The men sat round a small table and as Victor shuffled and dealt the first hand Napoleon reflected that Victor was right. When an operation began then the men involved must cease thinking about all that had gone before; all that mattered was performing their specific tasks in a clear-minded way. So he concentrated on the play of cards by the other officers and noted that each had a distinct style that said much about his character. Delaborde was cautious, Brule impulsive and obvious, and Victor affected a nonchalance that belied an extremely calculating mind. After the first half-hour Victor suggested that they might play for money, just small stakes, to help them focus their concentration. For the next hour he proceeded to fleece the other colonels of the contents of their purses and would have completed the job had not General Dugommier intervened.

The colonels lowered their cards and stood up. The general nodded a greeting and then gestured through the door. 'Filthy night. Every track has turned into bog. It'll be tough going.'

Dugommier made his way over to the fire, as Napoleon had done, and warmed his hands. 'What hour is it?'

Victor reached for his fob watch. 'Twenty minutes to midnight, sir.'

'Then you'd better join your units, gentlemen. Watch for the rocket. Move off as soon as you see it.'

Napoleon and the others pulled on their coats and hats, still heavy and sodden, and left the building. Outside the rain was falling even harder, rattling off the tiled roofs and hissing into the muddy street. Everywhere Napoleon looked the men were huddling under eaves or in the doorways of houses.

Colonel Victor grasped Napoleon's hand. 'I'll see you in the fort.'

'Yes. Until later then.'

The officers dispersed. Napoleon trudged through the streets to the fish market where the reserve battalions were waiting. He found Lieutenant Junot and the other officers warming themselves over the embers of a fire in a smithy.

'Junot!'

'Yes, sir.'

'You've got better eyes than me. Get over to the church. Climb the tower and keep watch for Lapoye's signal. You let me know the instant you see anything.'

'Yes, sir.' Junot saluted and then ran off down the cobbled street, hurriedly buttoning his coat. Napoleon took his space by the hearth, pulling up a stool, and then settled down to wait. Midnight passed, then another half-hour, and then one o'clock. Still there was no sign of Lapoye's signal and no report from Junot.

Then at half-past one, a staff officer strode into the fish market. He cupped his hands and called out, 'Colonel Buona Parte!'

'Over here!'

Napoleon rose from the stool and advanced to meet the staff officer. 'What's up?'

'General Dugommier's compliments, sir. He wants to see the senior officers, straight away.'

Napoleon nodded and as the staff officer ran off to find the next man on his list Napoleon hurried back through the streets. When he arrived he discovered Brule and Delaborde in earnest discussion with the general. Dugommier waved the new arrival towards the table.

'Any sign of the signal from your position, Buona Parte?'

'No, sir.'

'You see?' Delaborde shook his head. 'No signal. Something must have gone wrong.'

Dugommier stroked his chin. 'Perhaps. It is equally possible that the weather has delayed Lapoye and his men are still getting into position.'

'We don't know that, sir,' Delaborde insisted.'But even if it was true, this rain has made the ground impassable. Worse still, it'll make it impossible to use firearms. Our men will be at a terrible disadvantage.'

'No,' Napoleon responded. 'There is no disadvantage. The same conditions apply to the enemy. At least our cannon will be able to fire. The powder's sheltered and the fuses will burn even in this rain. We can still proceed with the attack.'

Delaborde shook his head at Napoleon and turned back to the general. 'Sir, we must call off the attack. Wait until we have better weather. Otherwise there might be a disaster.'

Napoleon felt a wave of frustration at the man's anxiety. As he wiped his dripping hair to the side of his forehead the door opened and Colonel Victor joined them.

'Ah,' Dugommier smiled. 'Now that you're all here, we must make a decision. There's been no signal from Lapoye. Delaborde and Brule advise me that the attack should be cancelled, and that we wait for better weather.'

'That would make life easier, sir,' Victor nodded. 'But it's no reason to call it off. Not yet at least.' He sat down beside Napoleon. 'And what does Colonel Buona Parte think? After all, it's his plan.'

The general looked at Napoleon and raised an eyebrow.'Well?'

'I say we go now, sir. Don't wait for the signal. The men have had enough standing around waiting. Leave them there much longer and it won't do much for their spirit.We don't know how long this weather will last. Could be hours, days, weeks. Who knows? Besides,' Napoleon looked at his general with a shrewd expression, 'I don't think that Saliceti and Freron, still less the Committee for Public Safety, are going to look on any delay favourably.'

'Civilians!' Brule spat. 'What the hell do they know about military affairs?'

Napoleon shrugged. 'Not much, perhaps, but they know the mood of the mob in Paris, and they know the minds of the men of the Convention. France needs a victory. If we call off the attack then it doesn't take much imagination to work out how our political masters in Paris will react.'