Chapter 8 Summary

Flashy gets no recuperation, but is put behind the earthen parapet surrounding ruined barracks in the midst of a vast, flat, plain. Wheeler has 300 fit men vs. 3,000 pandies, and people are dying regularly. If not relieved in three days they will starve. Veterans barely notice the flying bullets and shells that terrify Flashy. He learns that there can be no terms with the Nana Sahib. Realizing he has nowhere to run, Flashy as a senior officer, pretends to be willing to die. When Flashy and Scud East discuss Russia, Flashy does his best to blacken East's reputation, defending him for abandoning him. Toward dawn, orders sound to man the parapets as long lines of pandy horsemen move across the maiden. Wheeler orders them to fire only on his command. Three volleys fail to stop the pandies, but after some hand-to-hand fighting, they fall...