From their point of view, perhaps, this discontent was not
unreasonable; but as I looked upon the works around me, I marvelled
how it had been possible for the English, unprotected as they must
have originally been, to erect these great towers for their own
shelter, and from which to batter the town with their cannon and
great stone balls, when the French in great numbers and protected
by strong walls, ought to have been able to sally forth continually
and so to harass them that the construction of such buildings
should have been impossible.
The great Dunois had shown considerable acumen. He had himself
destroyed all the suburbs of the town which lay without the walls,
so that the English might find no shelter there, and when they had
effected a lodgment on the south side of the river, he had
destroyed the greater part of the bridge, thus making it impossible
for the enemy to cross and take possession of the town. But he had
not stopped the erection of those threatening towers circling round
the city to the north, nor the construction of those still stronger
blockading fortresses on the south side, Les Tourelles guarding the
fragment of the broken bridge, and Les Augustins not far away.
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