Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/37

THE NOW DOUULE TASK IMPOSED ON THE ALLIES. 5 CHAP. I. II So, because the Allies were now minded to The double o i • v task now defer their assault of Sebastopol, it did not at pressing . upon the all therefore follow that, by coming to such a re- Allies solve, they had purchased the bliss of repose ; for their now doubly aiming exertions were not only henceforth addressed to the object of an ulterior attack, but also — and this with great diligence — to the more instant task of defence. Imagining that the enemy might some day re- Their de- new his great enterprise of the 5th of November, works, they constructed, they armed, they maintained defensive works on Mount Inkerman ; they threw up works of countervallation on their left ; they perfected the eastern and north-eastern defences of Balaclava, and even strengthened yet further the hardly assailable lines which crested the Sapoune Heights on General Bosquet's front.( 2 ) They still indeed aimed a great proportion of their labours at the capital object of some day reducing Sebastopol ; but even where so applied, their efforts tended also to guard them against apprehended attacks, because the maintenance of their attitude as apparently determined assailants helped largely to keep unimpaired the moral strength and weight of their armies, whilst more- over their long chain of siege-works, though of course designed for attack, was also a formidable that any such withdrawal was 'impossible.' He added — 'We ' have no retreat.' Letter marked 'Confidential,' 3d March 1855.