On the 24th of May, Ian Hamilton's force, marching west from Heilbron, struck the railway and joined Lord Roberts's main column. The long marches, unbroken by a day's rest, the short rations1 to which the troops had been restricted, and the increasing exhaustion2 of horses and transport animals seemed to demand a halt. But a more imperious voice cried 'Forward!' and at daylight the travel-stained brigades set forth3, boots worn to tatters, gun horses dying at the wheel, and convoys4 struggling after in vain pursuit--'Forward to the Vaal.'
And now the Army of the Right Flank became the Army of the Left; for Hamilton was directed to move across the railway line and march on the drift of the river near Boschbank. Thus, for the first time it was possible to see the greater part of the invading force at once.
French, indeed, was already at Parys, but the Seventh and Eleventh Divisions, the Lancer brigade, the corps5 troops, the heavy artillery6, and Hamilton's four brigades were all spread about the spacious7 plain, and made a strange picture; long brown columns of Infantry8, black squares of batteries, sprays of Cavalry9 flung out far to the front and flanks, 30,000 fighting men together, behind them interminable streams of waggons10, and, in their midst, like the pillar of cloud that led the hosts of Israel, the war balloon, full blown, on its travelling car.
We crossed the Vaal on the 26th prosperously and peacefully. Broadwood, with his Cavalry, had secured the passage during the previous night, and the Infantry arriving found the opposite slopes in British hands. Moreover, the Engineers, under the indefatigable11 Boileau, assisted by the strong arms of the Blues12 and Life Guards, had cut a fine broad road up and down the steep river banks.
Once across we looked again for the halt. Twenty-four hours' rest meant convoys with full rations and forage13 for the horses. But in the morning there came a swift messenger from the Field-Marshal: main army crossing at Vereeniging, demoralisation of the enemy increasing, only one span of the railway bridge blown up, perhaps Johannesburg within three days--at any rate, 'try,' never mind the strain of nerve and muscle or the scarcity15 of food.
Forward again. That day Hamilton marched his men eighteen miles--('ten miles,' say the text-books on war, 'is a good march for a division with baggage,' and our force, carrying its own supplies, had ten times the baggage of a European division!)--and succeeded besides in dragging his weary transport with him. By good fortune the Cavalry discovered a little forage--small stacks of curious fluffy16 grass called manna, and certainly heaven-sent--on which the horses subsisted17 and did not actually starve. All day the soldiers pressed on, and the sun was low before the bivouac was reached. Nothing untoward19 disturbed the march, and only a splutter of musketry along the western flank guard relieved its dulness.
At first, after we had crossed the Vaal, the surface of the country was smooth and grassy20, like the Orange River Colony, but as the column advanced northwards the ground became broken--at once more dangerous and more picturesque21. Dim blue hills rose up on the horizon, the rolling swells22 of pasture grew sharper and less even, patches of wood or scrub interrupted the level lines of the plain, and polished rocks of conglomerate23 or auriferous quartz24 showed through the grass, like the bones beneath the skin of the cavalry horses. We were approaching the Rand.
On the evening of the 27th, Hamilton's advance guard came in touch with French, who, with one Mounted Infantry and two Cavalry brigades, was moving echeloned forward on our left in the same relation to us as were we to the main army.
The information about the enemy was that, encouraged by the defensive25 promise of the ground, he was holding a strong position either on the Klip Riviersburg, or along the line of the gold mines crowning the main Rand reef. On the 28th, in expectation of an action next day, Hamilton made but a short march. French, on the other hand, pushed on to reconnoitre, and if possible--for the Cavalry were very ambitious--to pierce the lines that lay ahead.
I rode with General Broadwood, whose brigade covered the advance of Hamilton's column. The troops had now entered a region of hills which on every side threatened the march and limited the view.
At nine o'clock we reached a regular pass between two steep rocky ridges26. From the summit of one of these ridges a wide landscape was revealed. Northwards across our path lay the black line of the Klip Riviersburg, stretching to the east as far as I could sec, and presenting everywhere formidable positions to the advancing force. To the west these frowning features fell away in more grassy slopes, from among which, its approach obstructed28 by several rugged29 underfeatures, rose the long smooth ridge14 of the Witwatersrand reef. The numerous grass fires which attend the march of an army in dry weather--the results of our carelessness, or, perhaps, of the enemy's design--veiled the whole prospect30 with smoke, and made the air glitter and deceive like the mirages31 in the Soudan. But one thing showed with sufficient distinctness to attract and astonish all eyes. The whole crest32 of the Rand ridge was fringed with factory chimneys. We had marched nearly 500 miles through a country which, though full of promise, seemed to European eyes desolate33 and wild, and now we turned a corner suddenly, and there before us sprang the evidences of wealth, manufacture, and bustling34 civilisation35. I might have been looking from a distance at Oldham.
The impression was destroyed by the booming of shotted guns, unheard, by God's grace, these many years in peaceful Lancashire. French was at work. The haze36 and the distance prevented us from watching closely the operations of the Cavalry. The dark patches of British horsemen and the white smoke of the Dutch artillery were the beginning and the end of our observations. But, even so, it was easy to see that French was not making much progress.
As the afternoon wore on the loud reverberations of heavy cannon37 told that the Boers had disclosed their real position, and we knew that something more substantial than Cavalry would be required to drive them from it. In the evening French's brigades were seen to be retiring across the Klip River, and the night closed in amid the rapid drumming of the Vickers-Maxims covering his movement, bringing with it the certainty of an Infantry action on the morrow.
At twelve o'clock a despatch38 from the Cavalry division reached Hamilton. French's messenger said that the cavalry were having a hot fight and were confronted by several 40-pounder guns, but the stout-hearted commander himself merely acquainted Hamilton with his orders from headquarters, to march via Florida to Driefontein, and made no allusion39 to his fortunes nor asked for assistance. Indeed, as we found out later, his operations on the 28th had been practically confined to an artillery duel40, in which, though the expenditure41 of ammunition42 was very great and the noise alarming, the casualties--one officer and eight men--were fortunately small.
But the Boers, seeing the Cavalry retire at dusk, claimed that they had repulsed43 the first attack; their confidence in the strength of the Rand position was increased; their resistance on the next day was consequently more stubborn; and the 'Standard and Diggers' News' was enabled to terminate a long career of exaggeration and falsehood by describing one more 'bloody44 British defeat with appalling45 slaughter46.'
The event of the next day admitted of no such misinterpretation.
The orders from headquarters for the 29th were such as to involve certain fighting should the enemy stand. French, with the Cavalry Division, was to march around Johannesburg to Driefontein; Ian Hamilton was directed on Florida; the main army, under the Field-Marshal, would occupy Germiston and seize the junctions47 of the Natal48, Cape27 Colony, and Potchefstroom lines. These movements, which the chief had indicated by flags on the map, were now to be executed--so far as possible--by soldiers on the actual field.
The operations of the main army are not my concern in this letter; but it is necessary to state the result, lest the reader fail to grasp the general idea, and, while studying the detail, forget their scale and meaning.
Advancing with great speed and suddenness through Elandsfontein, Lord Roberts surprised the Boers in Germiston, and after a brief skirmish drove them in disorder49 from the town, which he then occupied. So precipitate50 was the flight of the enemy, or so rapid the British advance, that nine locomotives and much other rolling stock were captured, and the line from Germiston southward to Vereeniging was found to be undamaged. The importance of these advantages on the success of the operations can scarcely be over-estimated. The problem of supply was at once modified, and though the troops still suffered privations from scarcity of food, the anxieties of their commanders as to the immediate51 future were removed.
French had camped for the night south of the Klip River, just out of cannon shot of the enemy's position, and at eight o'clock on the morning of the 29th he moved off westward52, intending to try to penetrate53, or, better still, circumvent54, the barrier that lay before him.
Such ground as he had won on the previous day he held with Mounted Infantry, and thus masking the enemy's front he attempted to pierce if he could not turn his right. For these purposes the force at his disposal--three horse batteries, four 'pom-poms,' and about 3,000 mounted men--was inadequate56 and unsuited. But he knew that Ian Hamilton, with siege guns, field guns, and two Infantry brigades, was close behind him, and on this he reckoned.
Firing began about seven o'clock, when the Boers attacked the Mounted Infantry Corps holding the positions captured on the 28th, and who were practically covering the flank movement of the rest of the Cavalry Division and the march of Hamilton's column. The Mounted Infantry, who were very weak, were gradually compelled to fall back, being at one time enfiladed by two Vickers-Maxims and heavily pressed in front.
But their resistance was sufficiently57 prolonged to secure the transference of force from right to left. By ten o'clock French had gone far enough west to please him, and passing round the edge of a deep swamp turned the heads of his regiments58 sharply to their right (north), and moved towards the Rand ridge and its under features.
By the vigorous use of his Horse Artillery he cleared several of the advanced kopjes, and had made nearly two miles progress north of the drainage line of the Klip River, when he was abruptly60 checked. A squadron sent forward against a low fringe of rocks, clumping61 up at the end of a long grass glacis, encountered a sudden burst of musketry fire, and returned, pursued by shell, with the information that mounted men could work no further northwards.
Meanwhile Hamilton, who had determined62 to lay his line of march across the Doornkop ridges (of inglorious memory), and whose Infantry, baggage, and guns were spread all along the flat plain south of the Klip, was drawing near. French halted his brigades and awaited him. The instructions from headquarters defined very carefully the relations which were to be observed between the two Generals. They were to co-operate, yet their commands were entirely63 separate. Should they attack the same hill at once, French, as a lieutenant-general and long senior to Hamilton, would automatically assume command. But this contingency64 was not likely to arise from the military situation, and the good feeling and mutual65 confidence which existed between these two able soldiers, and which had already produced golden results at Elandslaagte, made the possibility of any misunderstanding still more remote.
French was joined by Hamilton at one o'clock, and they discussed the situation together. French explained the difficulty of further direct advance. He must move still more to the west. On the other hand, Hamilton, whose force was eating its last day's rations, could make no longer détour, and must break through there and then--frontal attack, if necessary. So all fitted in happily. The Cavalry division moved to the left to co-operate with the Infantry attack by threatening the Boer right, and, in order that this pressure might be effective, Hamilton lent Broadwood's Brigade and two corps of Mounted Infantry to French for the day. He himself prepared to attack what stood before him with his whole remaining force.
By two o'clock the Cavalry in brown swarms66 had disappeared to the westward, both Infantry brigades were massed under cover on the approaches of the Rand ridge, and the transport of the army lay accumulated in a vast pool near the passage of the Klip--here only a swamp, but further east a river. The artillery duel of the morning had died away. The firing on the right, where the Mounted Infantry still maintained themselves, was intermittent67. The reconnaissance was over. The action was about to begin, and in the interval68 there was a short, quiet lull--the calm before the storm. The soldiers munched69 their biscuits silently under the sun blaze. The officers and staff ate a frugal70 luncheon71. Ian Hamilton with his aide-de-camp, the Duke of Marlborough, shared the contents of my wallets. I watched the General closely. He knew better than the sanguine72 people who declared the Boers had run away already. No one understood better than he what a terrible foe73 is the rock-sheltered Mauser-armed Dutchman. In spite of its cavalry turning movement, and other embellishments, the impending74 attack must be practically frontal. Supply did not allow a wider circle: to stop was to starve; and the position before us--half-a-dozen clusters of rock, breaking from the smooth grass upward slopes, except in colour like foam75 on the crest of waves, natural parapet and glacis combined, and, beyond all, the long bare ridge of the Rand lined with who should say what entrenchments or how many defenders--a prospect which filled all men who knew with the most solemn thoughts.
For my part, having seen the Infantry come reeling back in bloody ruin two or three times from such a place and such a foe, though I risked no repute on the event--scarcely my life--I confess to a beating heart. But the man who bore all the responsibility, and to whom the result meant everything, appeared utterly76 unmoved. Indeed, I could almost imagine myself the General and the General the Press Correspondent, though perhaps this arrangement would scarcely have worked so well.
At three o'clock precisely77 the Infantry advanced to the attack. Major-General Bruce-Hamilton directed the left attack with the Twenty-first Brigade, and Colonel Spens the right with the Nineteenth Brigade. The whole division was commanded by General Smith-Dorrien. The lateness of the hour gave scarcely any time for the artillery preparation, and the artillery came into action only a few minutes before the infantry were exposed to fire.
It must be noticed that the combination of the batteries and the support which they afforded to the attack was scarcely so effective as might have been expected from the number of guns available. But the General commanding a mixed force is bound to trust the various specialists under him, at least until experience has shown them to be deficient78 in energy or ability.
The Infantry advance was developed on the most modern principles. Each brigade occupied a front of more than a mile and three quarters, and the files of the first line of skirmishers were extended no less than thirty paces. Bruce-Hamilton, with the left attack, started a little earlier than the right brigade, and, with the City Imperial Volunteers in the first line, soon had his whole command extended on the open grass.
A few minutes after three, French's guns were heard on the extreme left, and about the same time the firing on the right swelled79 up again, so that by the half-hour the action was general along the whole front of battle--an extent of a little over six miles.
IAN HAMILTON'S ACTION BEFORE JOHANNESBURG
The left attack, pressed with vigour80, and directed with skill by General Bruce-Hamilton, led along a low spur, and was designed to be a kind of inside turning movement to assist the right in conformity81 with the Cavalry action now in full swing. The City Imperial Volunteers moved forward with great dash and spirit, and in spite of a worrying fire from their left rear, which increased in proportion as they moved inwards towards the right, drove the Boers from position after position. While there is no doubt that French's pressure beyond them materially assisted their advance, the rapid progress of this Twenty-first Brigade entitled them and their leader to the highest credit. The Cameron Highlanders and the Sherwood Foresters supported the attack. The Boers resisted well with artillery, and their shells caused several casualties among the advancing lines; but it was on the right that the fighting was most severe.
The leading battalion82 of the Nineteenth Brigade chanced--for there was no selection--to be the Gordon Highlanders; nor was it without a thrill that I watched this famous regiment59 move against the enemy. Their extension and advance were conducted with machine-like regularity83. The officers explained what was required to the men. They were to advance rapidly until under rifle fire, and then to push on or not as they might be instructed.
With impassive unconcern the veterans of Chitral, Dargai, the Bara Valley, Magersfontein, Paardeburg, and Houtnek walked leisurely84 forward, and the only comment recorded was the observation of a private: 'Bill, this looks like being a kopje day.' Gradually the whole battalion drew out clear of the covering ridge, and long dotted lines of brown figures filled the plain. At this moment two batteries and the two 5-in. guns opened from the right of the line, and what with the artillery of French and Bruce-Hamilton there was soon a loud cannonade.
The Dutch replied at once with three or four guns, one of which seemed a very heavy piece of ordnance85 on the main Rand ridge, and another fired from the kopje against which the Gordons were marching. But the Boer riflemen, crouching86 among the rocks, reserved their fire for a near target. While the troops were thus approaching the enemy's position, the two brigades began unconsciously to draw apart. Colonel Spens' battalions87 had extended further to the right than either Ian Hamilton or Smith-Dorrien had intended. Bruce-Hamilton, pressing forward on the left, found himself more and more tempted55 to face the harassing88 attack on his left rear. Both these tendencies had to be corrected. The Gordons were deflected89 to their left by an officer, Captain Higginson, who galloped90 most pluckily91 into the firing line in spite of a hail of bullets. Bruce-Hamilton was ordered to bear in to his right and disregard the growing pressure behind his left shoulder. Nevertheless a wide gap remained. But by this mischance Ian Hamilton contrived92 to profit. Smith-Dorrien had already directed the only remaining battalion--the Sussex--to fill up the interval, and the General-in-Chief now thrust a battery forward through the gap, almost flush with the skirmish line of the Infantry on its left and right.
The fire of these guns, combined with the increasing pressure from the turning movements both of Bruce-Hamilton and French, who was now working very far forward in the west, weakened the enemy's position on the kopje which the Gordons were attacking. Yet, when every allowance has been made for skilful93 direction and bold leading, the honours, equally with the cost of the victory, belong more to the Gordon Highlanders than to all the other troops put together.
The rocks against which they advanced proved in the event to be the very heart of the enemy's position. The grass in front of them was burnt and burning, and against this dark background the khaki figures showed distinctly. The Dutch held their fire until the attack was within 800 yards, and then, louder than the cannonade, the ominous94 rattle95 of concentrated rifle fire burst forth. The black slope was spotted96 as thickly with grey puffs97 of dust where the bullets struck as with advancing soldiers, and tiny figures falling by the way told of heavy loss. But the advance neither checked nor quickened.
With remorseless stride, undisturbed by peril98 or enthusiasm, the Gordons swept steadily99 onward100, changed direction half left to avoid, as far as possible, an enfilade fire, changed again to the right to effect a lodgment on the end of the ridge most suitable to attack, and at last rose up together to charge. The black slope twinkled like jet with the unexpected glitter of bayonets. The rugged sky-line bristled101 with kilted figures, as, in perfect discipline and disdainful silence, those splendid soldiers closed on their foe.
The Boers shrank from the contact. Discharging their magazines furiously, and firing their guns at point-blank range, they fled in confusion to the main ridge, and the issue of the action was no longer undecided.
Still the fight continued. Along the whole Infantry front a tremendous rifle fire blazed. Far away to the left French's artillery pursued the retreating Boers with shells. The advanced batteries of Hamilton's force fired incessantly102. The action did not cease with the daylight. The long lines of burning grass cast a strange, baleful glare on the field, and by this light the stubborn adversaries103 maintained their debate for nearly an hour.
At length, however, the cannonade slackened and ceased, and the rifles soon imitated the merciful example of the guns. The chill and silence of the night succeeded the hot tumult104 of the day. Regiments assembled and reformed their ranks, ambulances and baggage waggons crowded forward from the rear, the burning veldt was beaten out, and hundreds of cooking fires gleamed with more kindly105 meaning through the darkness.
The General rode forward, to find the Gordons massed among the rocks they had won. The gallant106 Burney, who commanded the firing line, was severely107 wounded. St. John Meyrick was killed. Nine officers and eighty-eight soldiers had fallen in the attack; but those that remained were proud and happy in the knowledge that they had added to the many feats108 of arms which adorn109 the annals of the regiment--one that was at least the equal of Elandslaagte or Dargai; and, besides all this, they may have reflected that by their devotion they had carried forward the British cause a long stride to victory, and, better than victory, to honorable peace. Ian Hamilton spoke110 a few brief words of thanks and praise to them--'the regiment my father commanded and I was born in'--and told them that in a few hours all Scotland would ring with the tale of their deeds. And well Scotland may, for no men of any race could have shown more soldier-like behaviour.
Then we rode back to our bivouac, while the lanterns of searching parties moved hither and thither111 among the rocks, and voices cried 'Bearer party this way!' 'Are there any more wounded here?' with occasional feeble responses.
Owing to the skilful conduct of the attack, the losses, except among the Gordons, were not severe--in all about 150 killed and wounded. The result of the fight--the action of Johannesburg, as we called it--was the general retreat of all the enemy west of the town under Delarey and Viljoen northwards towards Pretoria, and, in conjunction with the Field-Marshal's movements, the surrender of the whole of the Witwatersrand.
French, continuing his march at dawn to Driefontein, captured one gun and several prisoners. Ian Hamilton entered Florida, and found there and at Maraisburg sufficient stores to enable him to subsist18 until his convoys arrived.
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1
rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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3
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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convoys
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| n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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10
waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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12
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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subsisted
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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conglomerate
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| n.综合商社，多元化集团公司 | |
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quartz
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| n.石英 | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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obstructed
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| 阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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mirages
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景( mirage的名词复数 ) | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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40
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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41
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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42
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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43
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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45
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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46
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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junctions
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| 联结点( junction的名词复数 )； 会合点； （公路或铁路的）交叉路口； （电缆等的）主结点 | |
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natal
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| adj.出生的，先天的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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50
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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circumvent
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| vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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clumping
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| v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的现在分词 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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62
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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munched
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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82
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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95
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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99
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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100
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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101
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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102
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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103
adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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104
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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105
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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106
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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107
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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108
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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109
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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110
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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111
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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