19b tiik apkil i;o.mi;ari>mknt. chap. Then, after showing with care and detail that VI. ' the fate of the Bastion, if assaulted, could not have been averted by any of the Works on its Hanks, or by any of those in its rear,* the great defender of Sebastopol goes on to say what the besiegers might have done : t — 'After having occupied the Flagstaff Bastion, 1 and fortified himself in that advantageous po- ' sition where the Ditch of the Work offered a ' covered lodgment for large reinforcements, the ' besiegers might have turned its batteries against ' the Works of the Central Bastion which, de- ' prived of the co-operation of the troops of ' the 2d section, would have been soon re- ' duced to the same plight as the Flagstaff Bas- ' tion.' 'The fall of the Flagstaff and the Central
- Bastion would have necessarily rendered im-
' possible all further defence of SebastopoL'( 15 ) i-be bom- The bombardment must therefore be said to aoWOTedtts 1 |liv e really achieved its set purpose; but then, butfS? 088 ' after all, the proceeding was only preparative, lowed up, and the French did not take their next step.| in r hann e to After having brought to bear on their object for several months both strong energies and immense State resources, the Allies at last with their siege- guns laid open fit paths for assault to General Canrobert. He did not use them when opened ;
- Todleben, pp. 185, 186. t Ibid., p. 186.
X I Bay ' the French,' not the Allies, because it was only to the French that an opportunity of assaulting accrued. the Allies.
