Page 110 of Winter of the World (The Century 2)

eft, out of thirty-six."

"What a great military adviser Colonel Bobrov is."

They stood panting, catching their breath. The feeling returned to Lloyd's arm and it hurt like hell. He found he could move it, painfully, so perhaps it was not broken. Looking down, he saw that his sleeve was soaked with blood. Dave took off his red scarf and improvised a sling.

Lenny had a head wound. There was blood on his face, but he said it was a scratch, and he seemed all right.

Dave, Muggsy, and Joe were miraculously unhurt.

"We'd better go back for fresh orders," Lloyd said when they had lain down a few minutes. "We can't accomplish anything without ammunition, anyway."

"Let's have a nice cup of tea first, is it?" said Lenny.

Lloyd said: "We can't, we haven't got teaspoons."

"Oh, all right, then."

Dave said: "Can't we rest here a bit longer?"

"We'll rest in the rear," Lloyd said. "It's safer."

They made their way back along the row of houses, using the holes they had made in the walls. The repeated bending made Lloyd dizzy. He wondered if he was weak from loss of blood.

They emerged out of sight of the church of San Agustin, and hurried along a side street. Lloyd's relief at still being alive was rapidly giving way to a feeling of rage at the waste of the lives of his men.

They came to the barn on the outskirts where the government forces had made their headquarters. Lloyd saw Major Marquez behind a stack of crates, giving out ammunition. "Why couldn't we have had some of that?" he said furiously.

Marquez just shrugged.

"I'm reporting this to Bobrov," Lloyd said.

Colonel Bobrov was outside the barn, sitting on a chair at a table, both of which looked as if they had been taken from a village house. His face was reddened with sunburn. He was talking to Volodya Peshkov. Lloyd went straight up to them. "We rushed the church, but we had no support," he said. "And we ran out of ammunition because Marquez refused to supply us!"

Bobrov looked coldly at Lloyd. "What are you doing here?" he said.

Lloyd was puzzled. He expected Bobrov to congratulate him for a brave effort and at least commiserate with him over the lack of support. "I just told you," he said. "There was no support. You can't rush a fortified building with one platoon. We did our best, but we were slaughtered. I've lost thirty-one of my thirty-six men." He pointed at his four companions. "This is all that's left of my platoon!"

"Who ordered you to retreat?"

Lloyd was fighting off dizziness. He felt close to collapse, but he had to explain to Bobrov how bravely his men had fought. "We came back for fresh orders. What else could we do?"

"You should have fought to the last man."

"What should we have fought with? We had no bullets!"

"Silence!" Bobrov barked. "Stand to attention!"

Automatically, they all stood to attention: Lloyd, Lenny, Dave, Muggsy, and Joe in a line. Lloyd feared he was about to faint.

"About-face!"

They turned their backs. Lloyd thought: What now?

"Those who are wounded, fall out."

Lloyd and Lenny stepped back.

Bobrov said: "The walking wounded are transferred to prisoner escort duty."

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