Chapter 24

A week later, the patrol reported that, although the cleft was still blocked, the buttress camp was now accessible. Turin’s men began loading the heavy wagons, while he and Hagar checked off the items on their lists. Later that night he reported to David that he and the Tigers would be leaving at first light. David told him he would be report to the Prince in Putan, and then join him at the Pass the following day.

He stood on the wall of the Fort as the first rays of the sun rose above the Eastern Mountains, watching the wagons and soldiers leave the Fort. Later, he rode Thor to the city, arriving a little before noon. The Prince was with Ashar Khan when he was shown into their presence. The Prince looked hard at David knowing why he was here, “The Pass is clear?”

David shook his head, “Not all of it. The cleft is still blocked, but we can begin work at the camp, making our preparations,” he replied. He then went on to explain about the rockets and system his officers had devised for signalling the mortars.

The Prince smiled sadly, “So, there is to be a battle, and men will die. Yet the men dying do not belong to my kingdom. It seems so unfair to ask them to do this.”

David smiled, “They do not belong to your kingdom, Sir, it is true, but they belong to the Khana Rifles, which binds them tighter than a kingdom. It binds them to each other. They are Ghurkhas. They fight for the man alongside of them, as he fights for them. They fight for their troop, their Company and Regiment and the flag that flies above them.”

Ashar Khan said quietly, “And for you, Colonel Sahib.”

“And I for them,” David replied.

When it came time for David to leave, Ashar Khan embraced him whispering, “Be careful my son, I have promised Sulkie you will be there when she foals.”

The Prince took David’s right hand in both of his, looking deeply into his eyes, “David, you must know you are more than my Colonel to me. You are a true friend and I do not wish to lose that friendship. You do not have my permission to get yourself killed.”

Susan was waiting outside the room, “I heard you had arrived in the Palace. You’re going to the Pass aren’t you?” she murmured her eyes glassy.

He nodded, “Yes, tomorrow.”

Later as he dressed, he looked down at her beautiful naked body. Her eyes were red from crying, but she made a brave attempt at smiling, “Come back to me darling,” she whispered.

The Fort was in darkness by the time he arrived back. Hanga had cleaned his weapons; his rifle, pistols and kukri lay on the table. The furs he wore at the Pass were rolled up along with his blankets. His saddlebags were on an armchair. “I’ve filled your flask, Colonel Sahib, and have put in thirty cheroots as well as forty rounds of pistol ammunition and your telescope. Your cartridge belt has fifty rounds of rifle ammunition. Is there anything that I’ve forgotten?”

David smiled, “No, old friend, you have done well. Khan will have a heavy load to carry tomorrow.” Hanga left to take care of Thor, leaving David to eat his dinner.

The next morning, clad in his long johns and shirt after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, he went outside to find Hanga finishing loading Khan. Para, Hagar, Sultar, and Rhana were waiting for him. “I’ll send up the cart with the ammunition, rockets, and pigeons in two days, as ordered, Colonel Sahib,” Para said. David nodded as he mounted.

“Don’t start the battle without me Colonel Sahib,” Sultar added.

Khan set off at a brisk trot, eager to be away and seemingly unaware of the heavy load he carried. When he arrived at the buttress, the sight that met his eyes was one of seemingly organized chaos. Men were hoisting pallets of stone building blocks up to the crests. Others were building storage boxes for ammunition and supplies close to the buttress’s walls, while others were on the blockhouse roofs fixing chimney vents and reinforcing the roofing.

A Rifleman took charge of Khan when David dismounted and removed his furs and bedroll, hurrying into the blockhouse to change, already shivering from the cold wind that blew constantly down the Pass. He was changing his boots for the warm fur ones when Turin entered, “Sorry I was not here to meet you, Colonel Sahib, but I was on the crest overseeing the building of the lookout post.”

David waved aside the apology, “So have you found a suitable site for it?”

Turin explained he had found a step in the rock face about thirty yards beyond the other side of the cleft. At its highest it was a little over six feet so he was building the lookout house there as it would only require three walls. Towards the rim the step dropped down to about three feet but provided excellent cover for firing. He said it should be completed by the end of the day, adding it now required only the roof and a chimney for the pot-bellied stove. The same was true of the other lookout post on the other side of the gorge. “I’ve men digging out the coal seam and we are stockpiling it. Tomorrow, when we lift the bunks up, we will also send coal up there as well.”

“How does it look on the other side of the cleft,” David asked.

“The wind has drifted the snow high against the buttress, Colonel Sahib, and the road is hardly visible. I have given orders that should anyone appear, the men are to stop work and hide. That applies to everyone, both on the other side and in the pass.”

David nodded his agreement and then added, “When the lookout posts are completed, we must turn our attention to the safety of the men in the pass. Their biggest danger will come from whatever artillery is used against us, which I’m sure will be mortars. The biggest threat will be shrapnel when they explode. I think it is impossible to drop a shell down the side of the buttress, but a well-aimed or lucky shell will be able to land some yards away from it. Therefore, we shall dig a trench hard against the buttress wall, six feet deep, that the men can drop into when the shells fall.”

Turin nodded, “We can use the material removed to create an earthen wall for the mortar ammunition and rocket storage bins. It may prevent damage to them.” Turin returned to the crest, leaving David to sort himself out.

For two days the men laboured from first light until there was no longer any light to work in. David had climbed each crest in turn, viewing the results of their work and providing his own strength to the work when circumstances permitted.

The new lookout post was surprisingly snug as now finished. The constant wind brought snow flurries, but inside the new post, prefabricated bunks had been erected and a potbellied stove glowed red from the burning coal. When David looked over the lip he could see sections of the road appearing through the snow. In front of the step there was a clear field of fire for roughly six hundred yards before outcrops blocked the view that could be seen between the flurries of snow. Looking across to the other side of the Pass, he could see the ridge was more broken up, difficult terrain to traverse, he knew. The main attack will be against this lookout he surmised. The Afghans had already sent a handful of men to reconnoitre the other crest. Turin and his men’s alertness and rifle marksmanship meant they had never returned. Yes, he decided, this will be the next one.

He expressed his views to Turin that night. “In hindsight, I would like to have more men up there now. We will almost certainly lose the two men who have to signal the valley.”

Turin pondered the problem, “The only thing that prevents us placing more men up there is the sleeping arrangements. There are two men on guard throughout the night, so two beds are empty. By squeezing the beds together we may fit in other two or three beds.”

David did a quick calculation in his head, “With 25 men here on the crests and twelve men needed for the mortars, which only leaves 13 for defence of the cleft. We need more men,” he decided.

“I can send for another twenty-five men from my company, Colonel Sahib.”

David nodded, “Also I intend putting a mortar up there. It will have a greater range than the valley ones.”

A Rifleman suggested mounting the beds on top of one another, the legs on the ground bed shortened and the top one nailed and screwed to it. That solved the sleeping arrangements. A firing position was found for the mortar outside of the lookout building; bins were built to store the shells and rockets alongside it. Six days later, it was possible to clamber over what snow now remained in the cleft.