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How many miles off? Ramage guessed at three and Southwick agreed. Half an hour's sailing. Well, the flotilla had its orders and knew what to do. "Stand by to hoist out the boats, Mr Aitken," Ramage said and then turned to Orsini. "Make the first signal!"
In less than five minutes the two frigates and two sloops were hove-to and hoisting out their boats, leading the painters aft so that they would tow astern. As soon as he saw all the boats in the water, Ramage told Orsini to hoist the second signal, to get under way.
It was the first time in his life that Ramage had issued a list of signals to ships under his command, but having special signals got rid of some shortcomings of the signal book. For instance, he would want to signal "Sloops to go alongside the wall", a signal which could not be made with the standard signal book. He only needed- or might need - a dozen signals, but they were important, and he had numbered them in the order in which they were likely to be used, Thus signal number one had been to heave-to and hoist out boats; number two had been to get under way again towing boats. From number three onwards the signals would be concerned with the actual attack.
Two miles to go. He turned to Aitken. "Beat to quarters, if you please, Mr Aitken."
Aitken picked up his speaking trumpet and shouted the order and a few moments later the Marine drummer was at work sending the staccato order through the ship. Ramage had heard it dozens of times (no, hundreds) but it always excited him: to an actor it would be like the moments before the curtain rose on the first act. Of course, one could look at it another way: to the man about to be hanged, it was like having the noose adjusted round his neck.
"Orsini," he said, "my compliments to Major Golightly: in fifteen minutes' time I would like his detachment drawn up ready for landing."
By now the washdeck pump had been rigged and was spluttering water across the deck, and men were following behind it flinging sand on the planking as though sowing seeds.
Down below the gu
It was all a drill which had long since become a ritual the men could perform with their eyes shut. On the quarterdeck men prepared the carronades, and Lieutenant Re
Ramage reflected that he had to do no more than give a few orders: thanks to training - years of training by now - he did not have to go round making sure that his orders had been obeyed properly. The young lieutenants, Kenton, Martin and Hill, would all be standing by their division of guns.
Up here on the quarterdeck an extra two men had gone to the wheel, so that there were now four, and Jackson had taken over as quartermaster. That meant a change on Jackson's gun, Ramage knew; Stafford would now be the gun captain and Rossi the second captain. Aitken and Southwick stood close to him by the quarterdeck rail. The Calypso, in other words, was ready for action.
The same drill would be carried out on board the other frigate and the two sloops. Altogether, counting the troops, more than nine hundred men would be prepared for battle. How many would answer a roll call in two or three hours' time?
Ramage cursed himself; this was always the time when he started having black thoughts like that. He would be all right by the time the first shot was fired, it was just the waiting that left him prey to doubts and fears for success or failure This time failure meant the galleys - or worse Over on the starboard bow he could make out Sidi Rezegh with the naked eye he could distinguish buildings and clumps of palm trees, and on either side the dun-coloured desert, sand scattered with rocks throwing shadows, and scrub bushes which fought hard for life amid drought and broiling sun Had the approaching flotilla been spotted and the alarm raised7 Even now were the Saracens preparing what weapons they had9 Were the ca
were easier to load and run out than the 12-pounders All the guns were being loaded with caseshot - forty-two four-ounce shot packed into tin cans which rated the bore of the guns and which burst after being fired, spreading out a deadly hail and best suited to cutting a swathe through a crowd of men Caseshot had been very effective at Licata against the hordes of Saracens, and they should be equally effective here He had given orders for the other three ships to use case, and particularly the sloops at the wall By now they were closing fast with the entrance if anything the wind seemed to be freshening and he guessed the Calypso was making a good six knots The Calypso was to be the first through the entrance, and as soon as she turned the Amalie would follow The Betty and the Rose would come round in turn and while the frigates made for the quay, the sloops would pass outside them and head for the wall, turning at the last moment to come alongside opposite the barracks Ramage was thankful that each captain knew what he had to do King's suggestion had been so simple, and like the rest of the plan for the attack on Sidi Rezegh, depended on only one factor - the depth of water inside the port Depths had been the only thing that the former prisoners had had to guess at, depths were the only question marks on Southwick's chart Depths could ruin the attack Ramage looked at the land on either side of Sidi Rezegh It was low flat and sandy with grazing suitable only for camels and goats Low shore shallow water it was an old rule of thumb, whether one was in the cold North Sea, the temperate Mediterranean or the heat of the Tropics Cliffs meant deep water close in, and if there was anything that Sidi Rezegh lacked it was anything approaching a cliff Now the entrance was coming up fine on the starboard bow and Ramage glanced across at Aitken and Southwick Both men were ready 'Stand by Jackson he called There were no defiant shots from the fort, which was almost abeam Perhaps they had caught the Saracens unawares there was nothing like a hundred years of security for making you careless Nor were the Saracens great fishermen he had half expected to find several fishing boats clustered oft the entrance - boats which would spot the flotilla as it approached and raise the alarm But he had been lucky: Sidi Rezegh's fishermen had stayed in their beds.