Chapter Twenty and Chapter Twenty One Summary

Chapter twenty begins with French gunfire, and La Marquesa taking her seat in the spectator stands. Captain Saumier has been assigned to attend to La Marquesa by General Veringy, who purposefully chooses the captain because he is injured and ugly. Captain Saumier thinks Wellington will attack from the heights and not the plains, and Marshal Jourdan is confident in a French victory. Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's older brother and King of Spain and the Indies, needs this victory to secure his kingdom. The British march toward the killing ground, where the French guns are firing, and smoke obscures the field. The British troops are afraid of the French guns but try to put on brave faces. Sharpe and Angel arrive in search of the Fifth Division, and Sharpe sets off to join the battle...