Chapters 10, 11, and 12 Summary

The commanders of the fleet gather to Hornblower's mess and enjoy their recent victory. Braun has combed through local newspapers and presents Hornblower with various local interpretations of events. Hornblower learns of a vast Napoleonic army arrayed against Moscow, and a smaller army moving toward St. Petersburg—both capitals of neutral Russia are thus menaced. Hornblower is dumbfounded by Napoleon's seemingly limitless lust for conquest. Meanwhile, he knows that Barbara's two brothers, Richard and Arthur, will criticize any personal failure, and he is convinced he must act heroically. Within a few days, Baron Basse returns via ship to meet with Hornblower. Basse introduces Colonel Lord Wychwood of the First Guards. Wychwood carries dispatches from the English ambassador in Stockholm. Wychwood states that subsequent to the destruction of the French privateer, Napoleon has sent an army into Swedish Pomerania. Even so...