XV: NAVAL
As it turned out the concentration on Cecilia was a fatal tactical error, directly traceable to the King-Emperor, who had never left the capital of Fatterland and had been misled by certain telegrams which had been wrongly deciphered. The entire Fattish navy was collected upon the bombarding fleet and utterly destroyed it.
George and Siebenhaar watched the engagement from the mountain above Cecilia. It was almost humorous to see the huge vessels curtsey to the water and so disappear. It was astonishing to see the Fattish admiral surround nine of his own vessels and cause them also to curtsey and disappear.
“What in hell,” said George, who had by now learned the nature of an oath, “what in hell is he doing that for?”
“That,” said Siebenhaar, “is for the benefit of the armament contractors. A war without loss of ships is no use to them.”
And suddenly George burst into tears, because he had thought of all the men on board, and was overcome with the futility of it all and the feeling that he was partially to blame for having been born on his island.