The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 2 (of 2)

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XXVII.

  At a time when all living men in the Commonwealth were mounting theirhorses Karl Gustav stayed continually in Prussia, busied in capturingthe towns of that province and in negotiating with the elector.

  After an easy and unexpected conquest, the quick soldier soon saw thatthe Swedish lion had swallowed more than his stomach could carry. Afterthe return of Yan Kazimir he lost hope of retaining the Commonwealth;but while making a mental abdication of the whole, he wished at leastto retain the greater part of his conquest, and above all RoyalPrussia,--a province fruitful, dotted with large towns, wealthy, andadjoining his own Pomerania. But as that province was first to defenditself, so did it continue faithful to its lord and the Commonwealth.The return of Yan Kazimir, and the war begun by the confederation ofTyshovtsi might revive the courage of Prussia, confirm it in loyalty,give it will for endurance; therefore Karl Gustav determined to crushthe uprising, and to wipe out Kazimir's forces so as to take fromPrussians the hope of resistance.

  He had to do this for the sake of the elector, who was ever ready toside with the stronger. The King of Sweden knew him thoroughly, anddoubted not for a moment that if the fortune of Yan Kazimir shouldpreponderate, the elector would be on his side again.

  When, therefore, the siege of Marienburg advanced slowly,--for the moreit was attacked the more stubbornly did Pan Weiher defend it,--KarlGustav marched to the Commonwealth, so as to reach Yan Kazimir again,even in the remotest corner of the land.

  And since with him deed followed decision as swiftly as thunder followslightning, he raised his army disposed in towns; and before any one inthe Commonwealth had looked around, before the news of his march hadspread, he had passed Warsaw and had rushed into the greatest blaze ofconflagration.

  Driven by anger, revenge, and bitterness, he moved on like a storm.Behind him ten thousand horse trampled the fields, which were stillcovered with snow; and taking the infantry from the garrisons, he wenton, like a whirlwind, toward the far south of the Commonwealth.

  On the road he burned and pursued. He was not now that recent KarlGustav, the kindly, affable, and joyous lord, clapping his hands atPolish cavalry, winking at feasts, and praising the soldiers. Now,wherever he showed himself the blood of peasants and nobles flowed in atorrent. On the road he annihilated "parties," hanged prisoners, sparedno man.

  But as when, in the thick of the pine-woods, a mighty bear rushesforward with heavy body crushing branches and brush on the way, whilewolves follow after, and not daring to block his path, pursue, pressnearer and nearer behind, so did those "parties" pursuing the armies ofKarl join in throngs denser and denser, and follow the Swedes as ashadow a man, and still more enduringly than a shadow, for theyfollowed in the day and the night, in fair and foul weather; before himtoo bridges were ruined, provisions destroyed, so that he had to marchas in a desert, without a place for his head or anything with which togive strength to his body when hungry.

  Karl Gustav noted quickly how terrible his task was. The war spreadaround him as widely as the sea spreads around a ship lost in thewaters. Prussia was on fire; on fire was Great Poland, which had firstaccepted his sovereignty, and first wished to throw off the Swedishyoke; Little Poland was on fire, and so were Russia, Lithuania, andJmud. In the castles and large towns the Swedes maintained themselvesyet, as if on islands; but the villages, the forests, the fields, therivers, were already in Polish hands. Not merely a single man, or smalldetachments, but a whole regiment might not leave the main Swedish armyfor two hours; for if it did the regiment vanished without tidings, andprisoners who fell into the hands of peasants died in terribletortures.

  In vain had Karl Gustav given orders to proclaim in villages and townsthat whoso of peasants should bring an armed noble, living or dead,would receive freedom forever and land as a reward; for peasants, aswell as nobles and townsmen, marched off to the woods. Men from themountains, men from deep forests, men from meadows and fields, hid inthe woods, formed ambushes on the roads against the Swedes, fell uponthe smaller garrisons, and cut scouting-parties to pieces. Flails,forks, and scythes, no less than the sabres of nobles, were streamingwith Swedish blood.

  All the more did wrath rise in the heart of Karl, that a few monthsbefore he had gathered in that country so easily; hence he could hardlyunderstand what had happened, whence these forces, whence thatresistance, whence that awful war for life or death, the end of whichhe saw not and could not divine.

  Frequent councils were held in the Swedish camp. With the king marchedhis brother Adolph, prince of Bipont, who had command over the army;Robert Douglas; Henry Horn, relative of that Horn who had been slain bythe scythe of a peasant at Chenstohova; Waldemar, Prince of Denmark,and that Miller who had left his military glory at the foot of YasnaGora; Aschemberg, the ablest cavalry leader among the Swedes;Hammerskiold, who commanded the artillery; and the old robber MarshalArwid Wittemberg, famed for rapacity, living on the last of his health,for he was eaten by the Gallic disease; Forgell, and many others, allleaders skilled in the capture of cities, and in the field yielding ingenius to the king only.

  These men were terrified in their hearts lest the whole army with theking should perish through toil, lack of food, and the fury of thePoles. Old Wittemberg advised the king directly against the campaign:"How will you go, O King," said he, "to the Russian regions after anenemy who destroys everything on the way, but is unseen himself? Whatwill you do if horses lack not only hay, but even straw from the roofsof cottages, and men fall from exhaustion? Where are the armies to cometo our aid, where are the castles in which to draw breath and rest ourweary limbs? My fame is not equal to yours; but were I Karl Gustav, Iwould not expose that glory acquired by so many victories to the ficklefortune of war."

  To which Karl Gustav answered: "And neither would I, were IWittemberg."

  Then he mentioned Alexander of Macedon, with whom he liked to becompared, and marched forward, pursuing Charnyetski. Charnyetski, nothaving forces so great nor so well trained, retreated before him, butretreated like a wolf ever ready to turn on his enemy. Sometimes hewent in advance of the Swedes, sometimes at their flanks, and sometimesin deep forests he let them go in advance; so that while they thoughtthemselves the pursuers, he, in fact, was the hunter. He cut offthe unwary; here and there he hunted down a whole party, destroyedfoot-regiments marching slowly, attacked provision-trains. The Swedesnever knew where he was. More than once in the darkness of night theybegan to fire from muskets and cannons into thickets, thinking thatthey had an enemy before them. They were mortally wearied; they marchedin cold, in hunger, in affliction, and that _vir molestissimus_ (mostharmful man) hung about them continually, as a hail-cloud hangs over agrain-field.

  At last they attacked him at Golamb, not far from the junction of theVyepr and the Vistula. Some Polish squadrons being ready for battlecharged the enemy, spreading disorder and dismay. In front sprangVolodyovski with his Lauda squadron, and bore down Waldemar, prince ofDenmark; but the two Kavetskis, Samuel and Yan, urged from the hill thearmored squadron against English mercenaries under Wilkinson, anddevoured them in a moment, as a pike gulps a whiting; and Pan Malavskiengaged so closely with the Prince of Bipont that men and horses wereconfounded like dust which two whirlwinds sweeping from oppositequarters bring together and turn into one circling column. In thetwinkle of an eye the Swedes were pushed to the Vistula, seeing whichDouglas hastened to the rescue with chosen horsemen. But even thesereinforcements could not check the onset; the Swedes began to springfrom the high bank to the ice, falling dead so thickly that they layblack on the snow-field, like letters on white paper. Waldemar, Princeof Denmark, fell; Wilkinson fell; and the Prince of Bipont, thrown fromhis horse, broke his leg. But of Poles both Kavetskis fell; killed alsowere Malavski, Rudavski, Rogovski, Tyminski, Hoinski, and Porvanyetski.Volodyovski alone, though he dived among the Swedish ranks like aseamew in water, came out without having suffered the slightest wound.

  Now Karl Gustav himself came up with his m
ain force and with artillery.Straightway the form of the battle changed. Charnyetski's otherregiments, undisciplined and untrained, could not take position inseason; some had not their horses in readiness, others had been indistant villages, and in spite of orders to be always ready, weretaking their leisure in cottages. When the enemy pressed suddenly onthese men, they scattered quickly and began to retreat to the Vyepr.Therefore Charnyetski gave orders to sound the retreat so as to sparethose regiments that had opened the battle. Some of the fleeing wentbeyond the Vistula; others to Konskovoli, leaving the field and theglory of the victory to Karl; for specially those who had crossed theVyepr were long pursued by the squadrons of Zbrojek and Kalinski, whoremained yet with the Swedes.

  There was delight beyond measure in the Swedish camp. No great trophiesfell to the king, it is true,--sacks of oats, and a few empty wagons;but it was not at that time a question of plunder for Karl. Hecomforted himself with this,--that victory followed his steps asbefore; that barely had he shown himself when he inflicted defeat onthat very Charnyetski on whom the highest hopes of Yan Kazimir and theCommonwealth were founded. He could trust that the news would runthrough the whole country; that every mouth would repeat, "Charnyetskiis crushed;" that the timid would exaggerate the proportions of thedefeat, and thus weaken hearts and take courage from those who hadgrasped their weapons at the call of the confederation of Tyshovtsi.

  So when they brought in and placed at his feet those bags of oats, andwith them the bodies of Wilkinson and Prince Waldemar, he turned to hisfretful generals and said,--

  "Unwrinkle your foreheads, gentlemen, for this is the greatest victorywhich I have had for a year, and may end the whole war."

  "Your Royal Grace," answered Wittemberg, who, weaker than usual, sawthings in a gloomier light, "let us thank God even for this,--that weshall have a farther march in peace, though Charnyetski's troopsscatter quickly and rally easily."

  "Marshal," answered the king, "I do not think you a worse leader thanCharnyetski; but if I had beaten you in this fashion, I think you wouldnot be able to assemble your troops in two months."

  Wittemberg only bowed in silence, and Karl spoke on: "Yes, we shallhave a quiet march, for Charnyetski alone could really hamper it. IfCharnyetski's troops are not before us, there is no hindrance."

  The generals rejoiced at these words. Intoxicated with victory, thetroops marched past the king with shouts and with songs. Charnyetskiceased to threaten them like a cloud. Charnyetski's troops werescattered; he had ceased to exist. In view of this thought their pastsufferings were forgotten and their future toils were sweet. The king'swords, heard by many officers, were borne through the camp; and allbelieved that the victory had uncommon significance, that the dragon ofwar was slain once more, and that only days of revenge and dominionwould come.

  The king gave the army some hours of repose; meanwhile from Kozyenitsicame trains with provisions. The troops were disposed in Golamb, inKrovyeniki, and in Jyrzynie. The cavalry burned some deserted houses,hanged a few peasants seized with arms in their hands, and a fewcamp-servants mistaken for peasants; then there was a feast in theSwedish camp, after which the soldiers slept a sound sleep, since for along time it was the first quiet one.

  Next day they woke in briskness, and the first words which came to themouths of all were: "There is no Charnyetski!"

  One repeated this to another, as if to give mutual assurance of thegood news. The march began joyously. The day was dry, cold, clear. Thehair of the horses and their nostrils were covered with frost. The coldwind froze soft places on the Lyubelsk highroad, and made marchingeasy. The troops stretched out in a line almost five miles long, whichthey had never done previously. Two dragoon regiments, under command ofDubois, a Frenchman, went through Markushev and Grabov, five miles fromthe main force. Had they marched thus three days before they would havegone to sure death, but now fear and the glory of victory went beforethem.

  "Charnyetski is gone," repeated the officers and soldiers to oneanother.

  In fact, the march was made in quiet. From the forest depths came noshouts; from thickets fell no darts, hurled by invisible hands.

  Toward evening Karl Gustav arrived at Grabov, joyous and in good humor.He was just preparing for sleep when Aschemberg announced through theofficer of the day that he wished greatly to see the king.

  After a while he entered the royal quarters, not alone, but with acaptain of dragoons. The king, who had a quick eye and a memory soenormous that he remembered nearly every soldier's name, recognized thecaptain at once.

  "What is the news, Freed?" asked he. "Has Dubois returned?"

  "Dubois is killed."

  The king was confused; only now did he notice that the captain lookedas if he had been taken from the grave; and his clothes were torn.

  "But the dragoons?" inquired he, "those two regiments?"

  "All cut to pieces. I alone was let off alive."

  The dark face of the king became still darker; with his hands he placedhis locks behind his ears.

  "Who did this?"

  "Charnyetski."

  Karl Gustav was silent, and looked with amazement at Aschemberg; but heonly nodded as if wishing to repeat: "Charnyetski, Charnyetski,Charnyetski!"

  "All this is incredible," said the king, after a while. "Have you seenhim with your own eyes?"

  "As I see your Royal Grace. He commanded me to bow to you, and todeclare that now he will recross the Vistula, but will soon be on ourtrack again. I know not whether he told the truth."

  "Well," said the king, "had he many men with him?"

  "I could not estimate exactly, but I saw about four thousand, andbeyond the forest was cavalry of some kind. We were surrounded nearKrasichyn, to which Colonel Dubois went purposely from the highroad,for he was told that there were some men there. Now, I think thatCharnyetski sent an informant to lead us into ambush, since no one saveme came out alive. The peasants killed the wounded. I escaped by amiracle."

  "That man must have made a compact with hell," said the king, puttinghis hand to his forehead; "for to rally troops after such a defeat, andbe on our neck again, is not human power."

  "It has happened as Marshal Wittemberg foresaw," put in Aschemberg.

  "You all know how to foresee," burst out the king, "but how to adviseyou do not know."

  Aschemberg grew pale and was silent. Karl Gustav, when joyous, seemedgoodness itself; but when once he frowned he roused indescribable fearin those nearest him, and birds do not hide so before an eagle as theoldest and most meritorious generals hid before him. But this time hemoderated quickly, and asked Captain Freed again,--

  "Has Charnyetski good troops?"

  "I saw some unrivalled squadrons, such cavalry as the Poles have."

  "They are the same that attacked with such fury in Golamb; they must beold regiments. But Charnyetski himself,--was he cheerful, confident?"

  "He was as confident as if he had beaten us at Golamb. Now his heartmust rise the more, for they have forgotten Golembo and boast ofKrasichyn. Your Royal Grace, what Charnyetski told me to repeat I haverepeated; but when I was on the point of departing some one of the highofficers approached me, an old man, and told me that he was the personwho had stretched out Gustavus Adolphus in a hand-to-hand conflict, andhe poured much abuse on your Royal Grace; others supported him. So dothey boast. I left amid insults and abuse."

  "Never mind," said Karl Gustav, "Charnyetski is not broken, and hasrallied his army; that is the main point. All the more speedily must wemarch so as to reach the Polish Darius at the earliest. You are free togo, gentlemen. Announce to the army that those regiments perished atthe hands of peasants in unfrozen morasses. We advance!"

  The officers went out; Karl Gustav remained alone. For something likean hour he was in gloomy thought. Was the victory at Golamb to bring nofruit, no change to the position, but to rouse still greater rage inthat entire country?

  Karl, in presence of the army and of his generals, always showedconfidence and faith in himself; but when
he was alone he began tothink of that war,--how easy it had been at first, and then increasedalways in difficulty. More than once doubt embraced him. All the eventsseemed to him in some fashion marvellous. Often he could see nooutcome, could not divine the end. At times it seemed to him that hewas like a man who, going from the shore of the sea into the water,feels at every step that he is going deeper and deeper and soon willlose the ground under his feet.

  But he believed in his star. And now he went to the window to look atthe chosen star,--that one which in the Wain or Great Bear occupies thehighest place and shines brightest. The sky was clear, and therefore atthat moment the star shone brightly, twinkled blue and red; but fromafar, lower down on the dark blue of the sky, a lone cloud wasblackening serpent-shaped, from which extended as it were arms, as itwere branches, as it were the feelers of a monster of the sea, and itseemed to approach the king's star continually.