Again you overlook something. I will grant that
technically what you say is true. No fortifications can be built
that cannot be destroyed - given adequate power, with which it is
yet to prove that Massena not knowing what may await him, will be
equipped.
"But let us for a moment take so much for granted, and now consider
this: fortifications are unquestionably building in the region of
Torres Vedras, and Wellington guards the secret so jealously that
not even the British - either here or in England - are aware of
their nature. That is why the Cabinet in London takes for granted
an embarkation in September. Wellington has not even taken his
Government into his confidence. That is the sort of man he is. Now
these fortifications have been building since last October. Best
part of eight months have already gone in their construction. It
may be another two or three months before the French army reaches
them. I do not say that the French cannot pass them, given time.
But how long will it take the French to pull down what it will have
taken ten or eleven months to construct? And if they are unable to
draw sustenance from a desolate, wasted country, what time will they
have at their disposal? It will be with them a matter of life or
death.
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