Dog Watch

Spring, 1809. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain John Killen must sail back to the Peninsula with an urgent mission: contact a British officer working behind enemy lines, gathering intelligence vital to Sir Arthur Wellesley’s imminent re-invasion. The problem is he has disappeared. Beset by unexpected enemies during the voyage, when their elderly transport ship finally lands on the Portuguese coast Lock and Killen discover that even if they find Wellesley’s missing agent in time, the general’s plan to destroy Marshal Soult’s French army at Oporto may still fail. For the enemy have secured an escape route into Spain. At Amarante they hold the only unbroken bridge over the River Tamega, captured from native Ordenança by an old and deadly adversary - General Loison. To encourage the beaten Portuguese militia back into action to block Soult’s retreat the British must first cross the river. But with a whole French division between them and their allies the only way Lock and Killen might avoid a battle they cannot win is to negotiate a truce with Loison. And the Frenchman’s price is high. Lock must fight to decide their fate. If he wins, the French will let them pass. If he loses, all Portugal may be forfeit.