Followed by Gneisenau, he entered
the room, and carefully locked the door. The wrinkles now
disappeared from his forehead, and an expression of happiness beamed
in his face. "Gneisenau," he said, encircling the tall form of his
friend in his arms, "now listen to what I have to say. What I told
you about peace was not true. We are to advance--ay, to advance! and
it seems to me as if I hear Bonaparte's throne giving way!"
"What, your excellency!" exclaimed Gneisenau, joyfully, "we are
going to advance--to march into France?"
Blucher hastily pressed his hand on his mouth. "Hush, general!" he
whispered. "At present no one must hear it; it is a secret, and we
must try to conceal our movements as much as possible. We ought to
do our best to mislead the enemy--that is my plan. We must make him
believe that the whole offensive force of the allies is turning
toward Switzerland, and that the Silesian army is to remain on the
Rhine as a mere corps of observation. Napoleon will make his
dispositions accordingly: he will leave but a small force on the
bank of the Rhine opposite us, and on passing over to the other side
we shall meet with little resistance."
"That is again a plan altogether worthy of my Ulysses," said
Gneisenau, smiling. "It is all-important now for us to let every
one, and above all Napoleon, know as soon as possible that we stay
here.
Pages:
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664