Redemption - Leon Uris [166]
Johnny was confused by the sudden waterfall. God! Johnny hated doing the books. To him it was an extension of marriage, itself.
“As soon as we board ship, I’m assigning Chester to me. If this little fuckhead fucks up, I’ll throw his fucking ass to the sharks and you won’t live long enough to shovel all the horseshit I have in mind for you.”
“Good man, John Tarbox,” Rory said, elated.
“Just this once, Larkin!”
“Johnny, the name is Landers, for Christ sake—Rory Landers.”
55
With the onset of hostilities in Europe, Brigadier Llewelyn Brodhead trained his Midlanders and Coleraine Rifles at Camp Bushy to a fighting edge.
The standing army of Fusiliers and Hussars of old standing brigades emptied out of England and crossed the Channel. For the moment the German thrust into Belgium and France had been halted.
Brodhead was at the ready, anticipating the order to move out. Then, Lettershambo Castle was destroyed and his troops were frozen in Ireland, lest an insurrection break out.
When his orders came, it was not at all what he expected. After a few hard nights of chewing on the pros and cons, Brodhead concluded that it was not some sort of vengeance from the Liberals, but a fair and equitable decision. He sorted things out and actually found himself in an interesting situation.
Captain Christopher Hubble, the best known junior officer at Bushy, was the Brigadier’s man. He was the first to be called in.
Chris found the Brigadier in his usual military posture, pacing from desk to window and puffing out a smokestackful from his pipe. For a moment the Brigadier stopped and stared out to the neat barracks and grounds near the river, then spun about and shot a hard look at the younger man.
“Orders have come.”
“That’s a relief. We were getting a bit on edge.”
“They’re not what you think, Chris. Bang on. Both the Coleraine Rifles and the Midlanders are being broken up, reduced to one-fifth size. The other four-fifths—officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men—are to be transferred, one-fifth each to form the nucleus of four new brigades. That is, the War Office is making us a victim of our own success.”
“Sounds to me, sir, like someone is punishing us for the resignations incident.”
“That’s what struck me at first. Our units, Chris, top to bottom, have the best people in the army. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are enlisting. Tens of dozens of new brigades have to be formed from scratch. The new forces simply have to have what experienced men we can provide.”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
“The Coleraine Rifles will be brought up to original strength again. Taking note that it is your family’s regiment, I’d like to put a proposition to you. I’m odd man out. I’ve been given a new assignment. Bang on, Chris, you and I have gone through a tremendous experience together, and I personally see you as one of the finest junior officers anywhere. I know what it means to you to remain with the Coleraines, so I realize the sacrifice I am about to ask you to make, and mind you, it’s not an order, it’s a request.”
“I’m grateful for your consideration in times like these,” Chris said.
“I did something a bit out of school. I had a chat with your father. As you know, we’re very thick. He expressed some dismay, of course, but gives his blessings to me. I’m taking on a very interesting command. I want you aboard with me.”
“I rather fancy the idea of fighting the war with you, sir.”
“Good man. Now then, assuming you will join me, I have obtained top secret clearance for you on any matter I think is a need-to-know situation. You will be privy to a lot of totally hush-hush information.”
“I’m very flattered, Brigadier Brodhead.”
Brodhead leaned on his desk showing white knuckles. “At this moment there is a huge convergence of Australian and New Zealand volunteers forming up into a convoy. Neither country has many standing peacetime troops so they are also breaking up the experienced units and using them to form the skeleton of new units. Same situation as ours.”
“I follow you.”
“I’m speaking