A REARGUARD ACTION
Captain Ellington, lying on the deck of the launch, called a breezy
salutation to Burnet. The two Turkish troopers who formed his guard
were smoking cigarettes; the crew of four were gathered aft, taking the
disaster that had befallen them with stolid unconcern. The launch was
held fast in position, a few yards from the bank, by the wing of the
aeroplane which had become entangled, and Burnet, eager to learn the
nature of his friend's wound, and the causes of his plight, scrambled
along the wing and dropped to the deck.
"Congratulations, old man," said Ellingford, grasping his hand. "It
was quite a brilliant little action. Where did your Arab friends
spring from?"
"It's rather a long story; I'll tell you all as we go along. I was
waiting for you on the _tell_ when I saw you come down, and finding you
in the enemy's hands, I managed to get a friendly tribe to come to the
rescue. Are you badly hurt?"
"Not a bit; I got one through the shoulder and another through an
unsuspected roll of fat just above my thigh. The Turks patched me up
with their own field dressings; they seem quite decent chaps; and I'll
do very well till we get back to our own M.O. I can manage to fly
right enough."
"The machine's all right?"
"I think so--or will be with a little attention. The engine wasn't
behaving very well; still, I hoped to get to the _tell_ and overhaul it
there; but it began to misfire badly, and I thought it safer to come
down at once, though I'd seen this mounted patrol. Unluckily they
rushed me before I had well got to work. I held them off in front, but
they attacked in the rear and pipped me."
"Jolly lucky it's no worse. I'll get the men to clear the wing; then
we'll haul ashore, and start for home. You might have a look at the
engine at once: it'll save time."
He returned to the bank and set some of the Arabs to cut away the
vegetation. Meanwhile Ellingford opened up his engine. "I say," he
called in a minute or two, "this is bad luck. The petrol tank is
riddled. I can't repair it here."
"You can't fly, then?"
"Absolutely impossible."
"That's a blow. We shall have to haul it, then, as the Turks did."
"But where to? We can't possibly get through the Turkish lines."
"How long would it take you to patch up sufficiently to get us back?"
"I doubt whether I can do it at all. It's a job for our mechanics, and
a rather long one at best."
"Well, there's no hope for it, then. There's a place something over
twenty miles from here--the settlement of these Arabs--where we can
find refuge. I shall have to leave you there and get round to our
lines on foot somehow."
"But twenty miles! It'll take us a whole day or more to haul the bus
there. And there isn't time. These Turks are a reconnoitring patrol
of a larger force----"
"What?"
"I saw them when I was about 3000 feet up--a cavalry force marching
along the left bank of the Euphrates a good many miles to the north.
There were a number of boats keeping pace with them on the river. Some
of these beggars are sure to have escaped. They'll make their way
back, and we shall have cavalry on our heels before we've covered half
your twenty miles."
"There's no time to be lost, then. We must save the machine if we can:
if we can't, you have a choice of mounts among the Turks' horses, and
you'll have to ride as well as you can. The chief of the tribe has
gone off in pursuit of fugitives; I'll leave word for him, and he'll
follow us up."
When he explained the situation to the Arabs, one of them suggested
that they should convey the aeroplane by launch for some distance up
the wady, which would not only save a few miles, but bring them to much
harder ground, where it would be easier to drag the machine. Burnet
adopted the suggestion at once. He left the Arabs to clear up the
scene of the fight and to await the return of Rejeb, who would no doubt
then ride straight back to his stronghold with his prisoners and the
captured horses. Two of the Arabs he selected to accompany the launch
with led horses, these for hauling the aeroplane and to serve as mounts
for himself and Ellingford in case the machine had to be abandoned.
A few minutes later the launch started, and Burnet had leisure to give
Ellingford an outline of all that had happened since their parting at
the _tell_ a month before.
"I'm very much afraid that cavalry force you spoke of is the advance
guard of the expedition against my friend Rejeb," he said in
conclusion. "The Turks and Arabs have for once succeeded in working to
a date, which implies a good deal of chevying on the part of the
Germans. They evidently want to carry things through quickly."
"I don't wonder. They're getting funky. The loss of Bagdad will be a
tremendous blow to them. Apart from its being a complete smash-up of
their railway schemes, it will immensely heighten our prestige all
through this country; in fact, through the whole Mohammedan world: it
will be the handwriting on the wall for them."
"We'll do it, then?"
"Of course we'll do it--this time. You know what had been done when we
came away a month ago. Well, during the past month the progress of our
organisation has been amazing. We've no end of new boats; the light
railway through Amara has almost reached our advanced base; so that our
transport is as nearly perfect as it can be; and what with new guns,
aeroplanes, pontoons, Red Cross units and the rest, we're in a position
to give the Turk a very nasty jar. In fact, I wouldn't mind giving
long odds that we're through Kut by the end of the year, and in Bagdad
before Easter. What sort of reception shall we get there?"
"Oh, the people will lick our boots--just as they'd lick the boots of
the Germans if they entered in triumph. With them, nothing succeeds
like success. They don't love the Turk, but they don't love any one
but themselves. The decent Arabs, especially Firouz Ali and his little
band of patriots--who've got a stronger following outside Bagdad than
within--will welcome us as deliverers; but it's a very mixed
population, and the most of them don't draw fine distinctions between
Europeans: they're all sheep to be fleeced. Of course they don't
realise what a bad time they'd have if the city became
Germanised--morally, I mean, for there's no doubt that German
administration would effect great material improvements. At present
they're slaves to a corrupt tyranny; German tyranny is rather brutal
than corrupt. They'll find that we are neither corrupt nor brutal--and
take advantage of us. I'm talking as if we were already there. In the
meantime you and I will be lucky if we save our skins."
During the voyage Burnet inspected the launch, and found that it
contained a cargo of provisions and cases of rifles and ammunition. He
concluded that it had been one of the fleet which Ellingford had seen
up the river, and it could hardly be doubted that the stores were
intended for the expedition against Rejeb.
When the launch had run some ten miles along the wady eastward, one of
the mounted Arabs on the bank announced that they had reached the spot
where it was necessary to land. At a short distance from the wady the
ground was firmer than it had been farther west, and more suitable for
the haulage of the aeroplane. The launch was run close into the
southern bank and set on fire; the aeroplane was lugged ashore; then
Burnet set the crew to unload the stores, while the Arabs yoked the two
led horses to the machine. When this was done, he mounted one,
Ellingford the other. Burnet marshalled the prisoners three on each
side, and ordered one of the Arabs to ride back rapidly to Rejeb, and
ask him to send or bring up enough horses to convey the stores to his
stronghold. Then, under the guidance of the second Arab, the southward
march began.
Progress was very slow, though more rapid than it had been when the
aeroplane was hauled over the swampy ground by the Turks. After they
had marched for about two hours, Rejeb with a small party of his men
came galloping up behind. He related that five of the six Turks whom
he had chased had been killed or captured, the sixth had escaped. The
prisoners, among whom was the officer whom Burnet had shot, were now
being conveyed by the direct route to the stronghold. At the bank of
the wady he had left some of his men loading the stores on to the
horses captured from the Turks, and Rejeb intended to ride back to
them, and himself head the convoy to his stronghold.
By nightfall Burnet's party had accomplished about half the distance to
the causeway. It was impossible to proceed in the dark with the
aeroplane, and they bivouacked in a convenient hollow. Soon afterwards
Rejeb arrived, in advance of his men. He explained that the convoy of
stores would march through the night; the rifles and ammunition were a
valuable prize which he wished to place securely in the stronghold as
soon as possible. Further, he was anxious that, in case of pursuit and
attack, his fighting men should not be hampered by having to guard
their booty. But he had left a number of his men a few miles to the
rear, to give warning of an enemy's approach. Then he galloped away to
the south-east to meet the track along which the other Arabs were
escorting their prisoners.
Before dawn Burnet made preparations for starting, and the party moved
off as soon as it was light enough to see. In about three hours they
converged upon the main route which Rejeb had followed overnight, and
had gone but little farther when they were met by Rejeb himself with
some two score men. The young chief showed few signs of fatigue,
though he had been up all night. He reported that the convoys of
stores and prisoners had safely reached the stronghold, and pointed
with glee to the new rifles with which he had armed his men. Turning
his horse, he rode on beside Burnet, his men coming at a short interval
behind the aeroplane.
They were within two or three miles of the causeway when the scouts he
had left in the rear galloped up with the news that a large body of
cavalry was following up the trail of the parties which had passed
along the main route, and must overtake them before they reached the
causeway. Rejeb held a rapid consultation with the two officers. It
was evident that he wished the aeroplane to be abandoned, but when
Captain Ellingford, through Burnet, said that he would burn the machine
rather than let it fall into the enemy's hands, he instantly declared
that he would leave nothing undone to save it.
"My friend looks upon his aeroplane as you look upon your horse,"
Burnet had explained, and the comparison appealed to the Arab.
It was clear that the machine could be saved only by making a stand
where they were. The enemy must be prevented from coming within range
of the causeway until it was safely across; otherwise they might
hopelessly cripple it, and also shoot down the men and horses who were
hauling it. Rejeb ordered these men to push on with all haste; the
rest to dismount, send most of their horses forward to the cover of the
vegetation that concealed the causeway, and take up their positions on
a wide front covering the retreat. He dispatched also a swift rider to
the stronghold, to send out fifty men to take over charge of the
aeroplane and the six prisoners. Burnet had pressed Ellingford to
accompany the aeroplane, but this he flatly refused to do.
"If you think I'm going to leave you with a scrap on hand you've
mistaken your man," he said. "I can still use my revolver."
The country around was flat and fairly dry, but broken up here and
there with patches of scrub and of marshland fringed with reeds and
rushes.
"I almost wish I had burnt the machine after all," said Captain
Ellingford, when Rejeb was placing his men. "Your chief is very keen,
and a good chap; but he can't hold up a force of Turkish cavalry with
his few men, and I shall be sorry if things turn out badly."
"Don't worry, old man," said Burnet. "He knows what he's about. It's
ideal country for a small force fighting on the defensive, and we're
not likely to have artillery against us. There's plenty of cover all
the way from here to the stronghold; we can fall back from one clump to
another if we are hard pressed. On the other hand, it's bad country
for cavalry, especially if they don't know the ground. They may find
themselves bogged; and anyway they'll offer a good target; we can see
them above the rushes. Besides, Rejeb has more men in the stronghold,
and he'll send for them if necessary, though it'll be a point of pride
with him to lick the enemy with inferior forces if he can."
Rejeb had by this time posted his little force on a long arc extending
for some distance on both sides of the track. The men were all
perfectly concealed by bushes, clumps of reeds, or tall grass, and had
been given definite instructions about the new positions to which they
were to fall back under the enemy's pressure.
The wings of the aeroplane could still be seen projecting above the
scrub about a mile away when the advance guard of the enemy emerged
into view on the north. They evidently caught sight of the aeroplane,
for one of the troopers galloped back, the rest halting. In a few
minutes the head of the main column appeared. The officer in command
looked ahead through his field-glasses, then swept the country on each
side of the track, and apparently satisfied that the course was clear,
gave an order. Riding in couples, the cavalry galloped forward, the
intention no doubt being to capture the aeroplane and its escort at a
rush.
Then, from the Arabs concealed a few hundred yards in their front,
there broke a sudden volley which emptied many saddles and took the
Turks aback. The officer shouted an order, the men wheeled round,
suffering losses from a second volley, and dashed back to the shelter
of the belt of vegetation from which they had emerged, causing some
confusion in the rear part of the column. Burnet estimated that the
number of those who had come in sight was about two hundred; how many
more there were it was impossible to guess. But Rejeb perceived that
his little force was not strong enough to hold the position long when
the Turks should have taken its measure, and he instantly sent a rider
to the stronghold to bring back another hundred men on foot, and to
order a hundred and fifty horsemen to post themselves near the outer
end of the causeway.
Before the reinforcements arrived the enemy started a dropping fire
from their sheltered position, with the intention, no doubt, of drawing
the Arabs' fire and causing them to disclose their strength. This
proving ineffectual, they made another attempt to carry the position
with a rush, losing even more heavily than before. Again they fell
back, and for a while there was no further move. Rejeb sent a scout
out on each flank to worm his way towards the enemy and discover what
he was about. They returned with the not unexpected news that the
Turks, now dismounted, were deploying; it could only be with the object
of outflanking the defenders. They reported also that behind the Turks
there was a large force of mounted Arabs. Burnet's suspicion that this
was the expedition organised by the Turks and Halil's tribe jointly was
confirmed; he wondered where Major Burckhardt was.
By this time the reinforcements had come up stealthily from the rear.
Rejeb threw them out on the wings, so that the defending force, its
main strength in the centre, covered a rough semi-circle nearly half a
mile in extent.
Within a very few minutes the enemy's intentions were disclosed.
Advancing on a wide front, taking cover wherever it was possible, they
came on in short rushes. It was seen now that the majority of them
were Arabs, and the total force could hardly have been less than a
thousand men. Rejeb ordered his men to fall back slowly, holding on as
long as they could without the risk of being cut off, and inflicting as
much loss as possible on the enemy whenever they crossed stretches of
open ground.
It was clear to the chief, as to Burnet and Ellingford, that Major
Burckhardt's profession of knowledge of the stronghold's position had
not been vain. Clearly they had to look forward to a siege. They were
not strong enough to defeat the enemy in the open, and as soon as the
safety of the aeroplane was assured, they must retreat along the
causeway and make the best use of their natural advantages.
For nearly two hours Rejeb's Arabs fell back steadily. More than once
the enemy sought a decision by attempting to rush the defenders, now in
the centre, now at one or other of the wings. At one moment it seemed
that the left wing was in danger of being crushed, but Rejeb, who
throughout the day showed many of the best qualities of generalship,
sent a runner to the rear to bring up a portion of his mounted reserve,
now less than half a mile away. In a few minutes a hundred superbly
mounted warriors galloped to the threatened point, swept like a
whirlwind upon the dismounted enemy, rode through them again and again,
heedless of losses, and not only defeated the flanking movement, but
caused a check in the whole line.
Then came word that the aeroplane had been conveyed across the causeway
to the centre of the stronghold. From this moment the retreat became
more rapid, though still as methodical as before. Late in the
afternoon the Turks, who formed the right and right centre of the
attacking force, and had fought more steadily and doggedly than their
Arab allies, gained a position from which, though at extreme range,
they began to command the end of the causeway. Rejeb drew nearly all
his men together, posted them under cover, and concentrated his fire on
the assailants on his left, in the hope of holding them off until
darkness rendered it possible to slip away. At sunset, before the
enemy knew what was happening, the chief withdrew his little force
swiftly across the causeway. The day's work had cost him barely a
score of casualties, while the enemy's losses were probably five or six
times as great.
"That was a top-hole rearguard action," said Ellingford to Burnet as
they went together to Rejeb's tower. "I'd no idea that Arabs could
ever behave so steadily."
"It's due to their chief," replied Burnet. "He's got stuff in him, and
he's going to be very useful. By George! I'm dead tired."