It was a result with which the
British authorities were not likely to remain satisfied. The news of the
massacre sent a thrill of horror through the civilized world.
Retribution was the sole thought in British circles in India. A strong
force was at once collected to punish the Afghans and rescue the
prisoners. Under General Pollock it fought its way through the Khyber
Pass and reached Jelalabad. Thence it advanced to Cabul, the soldiers,
infuriated by the sight of the bleaching skeletons that thickly lined
the roadway, assailing the Afghans with a ferocity equal to their own.
Wherever armed Afghans were met death was their portion. Nowhere could
they stand against the maddened English troops. Filled with terror, they
fled for safety to the mountains, the invading force having terribly
revenged their slaughtered countrymen.
It next remained to rescue the prisoners. They had been carried about
from fort to fort, suffering many hardships and discomforts, but not
being otherwise maltreated. They were given up to the British, after the
recapture of Cabul, with the hope that this would satisfy these terrible
avengers. It did so. The fortifications of Cabul were destroyed, and the
British army was withdrawn from the country.
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