and much
graver tone: 'You are warned to stand by for an important announcement at
fifteen-thirty. Fifteen-thirty! This is news of the highest importance.
Take care not to miss it. Fifteen-thirty!' The tinking music struck up
again.
Winston's heart stirred. That was the bulletin from the front;
instinct told him that it was bad news that was coming. All day, with
little spurts of excitement, the thought of a smashing defeat in Africa had
been in and out of his mind. He seemed actually to see the Eurasian army
swarming across the never-broken frontier and pouring down into the tip of
Africa like a column of ants. Why had it not been possible to outflank them
in some way? The outline of the West African coast stood out vividly in his
mind. He picked up the white knight and moved it across the board. There
was the proper spot. Even while he saw the black horde racing southward he
saw another force, mysteriously assembled, suddenly planted in their rear,
cutting their comunications by land and sea. He felt that by willing it he
was bringing that other force into existence. But it was necessary to act
quickly. If they could get control of the whole of Africa, if they had
airfields and submarine bases at the Cape, it would cut Oceania in two. It
might mean anything: defeat, breakdown, the redivision of the world, the
destruction of the Party! He dre
.
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