‘Well, Tiernay,’ said he, as a fresh order reached him, with the most pressing injunction to hurry forward, ‘we are to move at once on Moosburg—what does that portend?’
‘Sharp work, general,’ replied I, not noticing the sly malice of the question; the Austrians are there in force.’
‘So your grenadiers say so?’ asked he sarcastically.
‘Nor general; but as the base of the operations is the Iser, they must needs guard all the bridges over the river, as well as protect the highroad to Vienna by Landshut.’
‘But you forget that Landshut is a good eight leagues from that!’ said he, with a laugh.
‘They’ll have to fall back there, nevertheless,’ said I coolly, ‘or they suffer themselves to be cut off from their own centre.’
‘Would you believe it,’ whispered Masséna to a colonel at his side, ‘the fellow has just guessed our intended movement?’
Low as he spoke, my quick ears caught the words, and my heart thumped with delight as I heard them. This was the Emperor’s strategy—Masséna was to fall impetuously on the enemy’s left at Moosburg, and drive them to a retreat on Landshut; when, at the moment of the confusion and disorder, they were to be attacked by Napoleon himself, with a vastly superior force. The game opened even sooner than expected, and a few minutes after the conversation I have reported, our tirailleurs were exchanging shots with the enemy. These sounds, however, were soon drowned in the louder din of artillery, which thundered away at both sides till nightfall. It was a strange species of engagement, for we continued to march on the entire time, the enemy as steadily retiring before us, while the incessant cannonade never ceased.
Although frequently sent to the front with orders, I saw nothing of the Austrians; a low line of bluish smoke towards the horizon, now and then flashing into flame, denoted their position, and as we were about as invisible to them, a less exciting kind of warfare would be difficult to conceive. Neither was the destruction important; many of the Austrian shot were buried in the deep clay in our front; and considering the time, and the number of pieces in action, our loss was insignificant. Soldiers, if they be not the trained veterans of a hundred battles, grow very impatient in this kind of operation; they cannot conceive why they are not led forward, and wonder at the over caution of the general. Ours were mostly young levies, and were consequently very profuse of their comments and complaints.
‘Have patience, my brave boys,’ said an old sergeant to some of the grumblers; ‘I’ve seen some service, and I never saw a battle open this way that there wasn’t plenty of fighting ere it was over.’