A Soldiers' Battle
Bugles were resounding throughout the expeditionary camp, stationed
close to the bank of the Shatt-el-Arab, within two mornings of the
return of Geoff and his chum from their adventurous journey into the
wastes and marshes of the Euphrates. There was, perhaps, a sharper, more
jubilant ring about the notes of those instruments on this particular
morning, notes which brought men hurrying to join the ranks, which set
troopers saddling their horses with an energy and rapidity which perhaps
had been lacking on the previous day, and which caused radiant smiles
and a glow of enthusiasm to spread throughout the ranks of the force.
"It's a general move, eh?" Philip asked his chum, meeting him as he
crossed from his bivouac of the night before to fall in with his
regiment. "Please note that I am appealing to you, Geoff, as a man who
ought to know everything that's happening; if not, what's the good of a
fellow being on the Head-quarters Staff. What's up?"
"I know as little as you do," came the laughing rejoinder; "but I can
guess, and my guess is that we are on the way up the river to take
Kurna. It's somewhere about there that the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates
come together, and I suppose it's a point of some strategical
importance."
"Strategical! Ahem!" coughed Philip. "Ain't we going it! From talking
Turkish we're now getting to use quite military sort of language!"
It was just one of his little pleasantries, and, indeed, Geoff was the
sort of young fellow who never resented being twitted, and, moreover, he
was rather given to being facetious himself, especially when with
Philip. However, he was too busy on this eventful morning to spend time
in bantering, for indeed much was about to happen.
We have mentioned already that the head of the Persian Gulf is of no
little importance to Great Britain, and that for many reasons, one of
which, no doubt of somewhat recent origin, has to do with the supply of
oil for our battleships--a supply which is piped from the oil-fields in
Persia, under the control of Britain. The pipe-line itself passes down
in the neighbourhood of Ahwaz, towards which place a portion of the
Expeditionary Force was at that moment proceeding, with a view to
seizing it and holding it against the enemy. But the safe possession and
protection of that oil-line was not the only reason for sending an
Expeditionary Force to Mesopotamia.
There were other, and perhaps somewhat complex reasons, which can only
be broadly dealt with in this cover. International questions are
involved, the discussion of which would take up an abundance of space,
and might well prove not altogether interesting. But it becomes
necessary at this stage to give some idea, even if it be only a meagre
description, of other reasons which induced the British Government to
dispatch a force to the valley of the Euphrates.
The Persian Gulf and the coast which borders it may be said to be the
eastern end of the Turkish possessions, while Turkey in Asia is bounded
to the north and east by the difficult country of Persia. Already we
have sketched in the position of Russia and of the Caucasus frontier,
and have stated that the coming of Turkey into this gigantic conflict on
the side of Germany and Austria--the Central Powers--had a distinct and
direct effect on the fighting in Europe, seeing that the Turks were able
to dispose of some excellent troops, and were able to dispatch them
promptly to the Caucasus area, where, fearing the invasion of southern
Russia, the Tsar was forced to march and post an adequate army--an army
which, but for the Turks, might have been merely a frontier guard,
allowing of the bulk of the troops being dispatched to Poland, there to
meet Germany and Austria. Thus the entry of Turkey into the war affected
Great Britain and her allies, but yet cannot be said to have called for
an expedition on our part to the eastern end of the Turkish Empire.
Distances are huge in the country governed in name by the Sultan of
Turkey, and in actual fact by the Young Turk party, who, let us explain,
are themselves swayed, if not actually governed, by the emissaries of
the Kaiser in Constantinople. From Constantinople itself to Bagdad, or
to the Caucasus front, is roughly a thousand miles, and from Bagdad to
the head of the Gulf of Persia is perhaps some five or six hundred more.
But, as we have shown, a blow dealt at a distance may, in the war which
is now raging, affect the course of that war at some far-off point--as
the amassing of Turkish troops on the Caucasian frontier had already
undoubtedly affected the fortunes of the Russians in Poland. Thus our
Expeditionary Force sent to the valley of the Euphrates and of the
Tigris might very well, though that point is at such a great distance
from the Russo-Turkish frontier, affect the fortunes of the Turkish
troops fighting the Russians in the Caucasian Mountains; for undoubtedly
the enemy would need to send troops against us. But, and this is a
matter of considerable importance, the valley of the Euphrates is
notoriously unhealthy and is an extremely difficult country to
negotiate. Practically roadless, and without a railway, it is not a
country easy of invasion, and at the best no rapid advance was to be
expected. Thus the force which Britain could afford to send to this
somewhat out-of-the-way part of the world, though it might affect the
Turks to some degree, could not be expected to make a very serious
difference to them. It would seem, therefore, that there was another
reason, and a better one, for our sending troops to Mesopotamia.
Indeed, a consideration of facts well known to the British Government
makes it clear that fear for the safety of India had something to do
with the matter. It was known, and had been known for a long time, that
German emissaries had been exceedingly busy, not only in Turkey in Asia
but also in Persia. Persia itself is inhabited by a decadent nation,
unable to keep order, disturbed by bands of outlaws. The country lies,
as a glance at the map shows, squeezed in between Russia, Afghanistan,
and Turkey; and passage through it, though difficult, gives access to
our possessions in India. There are not wanting signs that Germany
would, if she could master her Turkish friends, quickly accomplish the
subjection of Persia, and from thence make her blow against India. For
recollect, though the seas give a clear passage to our Indian Dominions,
there is a British fleet to be reckoned with, and the first day of the
war saw that fleet paramount, sweeping the seas, making the invasion of
our Eastern possessions on the part of Germany hopeless by the sea
route. Thus, Germany had need to look for another way, and for long her
thoughts had been at work, scheming and conspiring to obtain the
assistance of Turks and Persians.
No doubt it was for this reason, amongst others, that an Expeditionary
Force left India for Mesopotamia; for, with Russian troops able to
invade Turkey from the north, and to keep a watchful eye on Persia, and
with British troops advancing up the Tigris River to the very boundaries
of that country, there was every prospect of being able to counter the
moves of the Kaiser's agents, and to ruin their fortunes. Actual
opposition from the subjects of the Shah of Persia was hardly to be
expected or feared, for, if anything, the ruling powers in Persia were
likely to be friendly; and then again the condition of the country has
now for some considerable while been in a chaotic state, almost devoid
of a standing army, and so feebly governed that anarchy and outlawry had
at one period been rampant. Indeed, the unsettled condition of Persia,
its contiguity to Russia, and the danger of outlaws invading that
country, had led, some while before the outbreak of this huge war, to a
penetration of the Shah's dominions by the soldiers of the Tsar, which
had at once created international jealousies. No doubt Germany, scheming
at that time, as she undoubtedly was, to obtain a hold over the Shah of
Persia and over the country, was furiously jealous of the coming of the
Russians, and as furiously antagonistic to British influence in southern
Persia. It may be said that the three nations, and others who may have
been interested, watched the position in Persia with no little
misgiving; and, seeing that outlawry was rife, and that some means must
be obtained for bringing peace to the inhabitants, an amicable agreement
was arrived at, after a while, which resulted in a system of
policing--the officers of the force employed being brought from Sweden.
Thus, at the moment when Russia was facing the Turkish armies along the
Caucasus frontier, and when the British Expeditionary Force was marching
up the Shatt-el-Arab towards Kurna, Persia, seemingly quiescent and
under the nominal governorship of its Shah, was controlled in some
considerable measure by a police force commanded by Swedish officers,
and no doubt the integrity of those officers was not all that it should
be. That an attempt would be made to tamper with them, to suborn their
allegiance to the Shah, to bribe them from the carrying out of their
duties, was nearly certain. Germans were already in the country--those
peaceful penetrators sent by the ambitious Kaiser--and might be trusted
to make the utmost of the opportunity. For see what an opportunity lay
before them! Here was a police force controlled by officers of a nation
which was not a party to the war now raging, officers whose goodwill
might perhaps be obtained by the offer of the Kaiser's money. There was
a police force there, too, ready organized, and practically no army
raised from the people of Persia to oppose it. Even had the Shah any
considerable number of soldiers to boast of, there were yet in the
country scores of outlaws who could be bought with the same gold which
purchased the allegiance of those Swedish officers. The moment was
almost ripe to strike a blow for the country, to seize it while Russia
and France and Britain were busy elsewhere, and to lay the foundation in
Persia for the march through Constantinople of Turks and Germans, and
for the campaign destined to strike a blow at India.
Such a state of affairs would, if allowed to proceed unchecked, present
a danger of no small degree to Great Britain and her Indian
dependencies. The condition of Persia in fact, the known activity of
German agents there, and probably the doubtful position of the Swedish
police were factors in the decision to send a force to Mesopotamia. We
shall see later how Russia, furiously engaged as she was in Poland and
Galicia, and heavily attacked in the Caucasus, still found troops to
march into northern Persia; and how, when the conspiracies hatched by
German agents came to a head, and the police force we have already
mentioned seized certain of the Persian towns and some British subjects,
those Russian troops intervened in the most summary and drastic manner.
If one seeks for other reasons for the dispatch of a British force to
the notoriously unhealthy valley of the Tigris, one may suggest that, in
addition to combating German influence in Turkey, it was equally
important to attempt to overthrow the hold which the Kaiser and his
emissaries had obtained over the Young Turk Party, and through them of
the Turkish nation. We may go further, seeing that the course of events
proved this latter to be the case, and add that the progress of the war,
and the peculiar geographical situation attached to our Russian ally,
made it of paramount importance that Great Britain should engage the
Turks and endeavour to break their opposition. For Russia, with its
teeming millions of men, is yet not a manufacturing country, and warfare
nowadays has become more or less a matter of mechanics. To raise an
army, where men alone are required, is not a difficult matter where men
are to be found in abundance; but, in these modern days, when arms of
precision are of paramount importance in the waging of war, and when, as
in the case of Russia, a country is unable herself to provide her
thousands of soldiers with those weapons, it behoves her allies to send
them to her. It is here that the peculiar geographical situation of the
Tsar's dominions provided another serious difficulty. Southern
Russia--the ports of the Crimea--is easily get-at-able at all seasons by
way of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; but close the
Dardanelles--as the Turks had now done--and Russia is only approachable
by way of the White Sea, or through her possessions in Asia--for the
closing of the Baltic Sea may be taken as effected the moment war was
declared between Germany and Russia. The result of such a closure can be
easily realized if one looks at the map; for in the winter months at the
opening of the campaign Russia was entirely cut off from her European
allies, and could only be reached from the direction of Asia; while in
the open months of the year Archangel could not be described as a port
either convenient in position or of vast dimensions. Thus we arrive at
another reason for attacking Turkey.
The opening of the Dardanelles, the capture of Constantinople, and the
domination of the Black Sea were of vital importance to Russia, and of
just as vital importance to Britain, seeing that Russia was our ally. We
know, too, that, as the months rolled on, and failure to burst a road
through the narrow Dardanelles by means of our battle fleet became
certain, an expedition was organized to seize the Isthmus of Gallipoli,
to dominate the land forts, and so clear the road to the Sea of Marmora
and Russia--an expedition which, in the course of the few months it
fought on the isthmus, put up a glorious record for Great Britain and
her colonies, and which, if it were unfortunately wanting in success, at
least proved to the world at large that the youths of our nation are not
wanting in prowess.
No doubt one might suggest even further reasons for the sending of an
expedition to the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, but, as we have
said already, the question is a large one, and hardly fitted for our
discussion. We turn, therefore, once more, to Geoff and Philip, the two
young subalterns who had already seen much adventure on the Euphrates.
"Hi! Stop! I want to talk to you," Philip sang out, as Geoff went
swinging by on Sultan when the troops had covered a few miles from
Basra. "What's up?"
It took Geoff quite a few minutes to pacify his fiery steed, and to
quiet him down sufficiently to allow of an answer to his chum's
question. For, if Geoff himself were full of energy and enthusiasm,
Sultan was overflowing with spirits, the sort of spirits which caused
him to rear up time and again, which sent him bounding and curvetting
from side to side till the sweat dropped from his narrow shoulders;
while often he would have been off at a mad gallop, perhaps right
through the marching division, had it not been for the strong
restraining hand which held him. In short, and in fact, Sultan had taken
most kindly to the valley of the Tigris, and if his master was pleased
at being one of the expedition, Sultan, had he been able to give an
opinion, would have voted Mesopotamia the place above all others for
himself and his master.
"What's up! Oh, well!" began Geoff, patting the neck of his charger.
"Well you needn't say it like that," Philip answered hotly. "I'm not
asking for any secrets, and, besides, it would be swank on your part to
try to make out that you possessed 'em. Anyone can see that something's
going to happen."
"And that 'something' is a good brush with the enemy," Geoff told him.
"We've had information that the Turks have come down the river and
propose to attack us, and I hear that they are within only a short
distance. What will it be like with shells bursting?"
Neither of the two had, so far, been actually under shell-fire, though
they had watched the British ships shelling the Turkish forts at the
mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab before the landing of the expedition. But the
day was not to be very much older before both of them were considerably
wiser, and, may we say, considerably startled. It was, indeed, but a
couple of hours later that the deep note of a gun reached their ears,
followed by two others, and then by the shriek of shells coming towards
them. There followed a commotion within a hundred feet of the point
where the two young officers were standing, a commotion which sent
Sultan rearing into the air till he nearly tore away the reins which
Geoff, now dismounted, had swung over his shoulder. And then a column of
sand and dust was blown high, while bits of metal and gravel swept like
locusts round the heads of the soldiers. Philip turned his back, and
coughed, and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the grit, while Geoff fought
for his breath for quite a few moments.
"Like it?" asked Philip, with a mischievous grin, proceeding to mop his
face with a handkerchief which had once been white, but which was now a
beautiful desert colour. "There they go again; heavy metal, eh?"
"Four-inch, I should say," Geoff answered; "bigger perhaps. You'd better
make sure of it, Philip. Why not catch one of the shells and let me know
the measurements when you've finished--that is to say, if there's
anything of you left after the skirmish? But there go our guns, and it
sounds as though the advance-guard had already got into action. Ta-ta,
old boy! I must get off, for I was returning to Head-quarters after
delivering a message."
As he swung himself across the back of the restive Sultan, and galloped
towards Head-quarters, he heard the guns aboard the sloops which were
accompanying the force up the Shatt-el-Arab open on the enemy. Bang!
Bang! Bang! Quite sharp, sailor-like reports; while, in the far
distance, through his glasses, he observed splotches of sand and dust
springing up between himself and the flat horizon.
"Take this 'chit' along to your old Commanding Officer," he was ordered
the moment he reached Head-quarters. "Be good enough to ask him to act
on the order immediately. You know the position of the regiment, and
therefore need not delay to ask questions."
Geoff saluted briskly, and tucked the note between his belt and his
body; then, swinging Sultan round, he set him off at a pace which sent
sand and gravel flying out behind them, and sent him across a wide open
space--already passed by the troops--to that point where he knew the
Mahrattas were marching. By now, the division had stretched itself out
on the left bank of the river, its right flank protected by the water,
and supported by the guns and rifles aboard the British sloops already
mentioned. To the left it had deployed till the ranks were opened out
considerably, while behind those ranks, now stationary, were the
hundred-and-one followers always attached to an Indian army--bearers of
ammunition for guns and rifles, water-carriers, stretcher-bearers, and
other useful, if not ornamental, individuals. Here and there tall brown
figures lay inertly on the smooth expanse of desert, while already
stretcher-bearers were crossing the open space, bearing human bundles
enclosed in stained khaki clothing towards the dressing-station opened
for the reception and treatment of the wounded.
It was a battle-scene in fact, the view one obtains behind the fighting
front of an army--a view, up to this day, foreign to Geoff's eyes, save
for what he had seen in the course of peace manoeuvres. But this was
the real thing. For from the British front, and on beyond it, there came
the rattle of rifles, punctuated every now and again by the sharp
rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat of machine-guns, and drowned every few
seconds by the deeper, hoarser, more venomous bellow of cannon. A shell
plumped into the ground almost under Sultan, though the leap that animal
gave carried him clear before the resulting explosion. As it was, he and
his master were stung by the gravel flung out by the explosive, while a
splinter of shell, singing past Geoff's leg, crossed the open space and
found a billet in the body of a stretcher-bearer carrying one of the
wounded. Crash! Down the man went, and with him his burden, and for a
moment or so Geoff watched as a comrade bent over him and examined the
wound he had suffered. He saw the tall native lay his brother soldier
out straight and stark on the desert, and then, helped by another, seize
the stretcher and march on towards the rear of the army. It was just an
incident. Those men carrying their stretcher, and assisting their
damaged brothers, were doing their duty just as well as, just as
unflinchingly as, and in circumstances of equal danger with those armed
with rifles in the forefront of the battle.
And what a sight it was when Geoff reached the Mahrattas, and came upon
the officer he sought, occupying a shallow trench scooped in the sand
behind his battalion.
"A message, sir," he said, pulling the note out from his belt and
presenting it, and then watching the officer as he opened it and read
the contents.
Then he swung his eyes over the backs of the men of the Mahrattas, who
were now lying flat on the ground, digging their way into the soft
gravel, seeking shelter from the Turkish enemy. Across the plain
stretching before him, perhaps six hundred yards distant, were deeply
dug trenches, parapeted, and manned by soldiers of the Sultan, and no
doubt commanded in many cases by German officers. Farther back, and
almost out of view, and dug in just as deeply and as securely as were
the infantry, were guns--invisible almost, yet showing their positions
every now and again by the dull-red flash which shot up above them.
Geoff watched an instant, and listened to the rattle of musketry from
the men stretching along the British line who were not engaged in
digging but in holding down the fire of the enemy--watched those sharper
red flashes in the distance, listened to the roar of British batteries,
and saw a sudden blinding flash above one of those dug-in Turkish guns,
and heard the splitting, thunderous report of a British shell as it got
home on an enemy cannon; and then, though he watched for some few
minutes, no sharp red point of light appeared above the spot, no
answering report came from the gun dug into its hollow, for no doubt the
British shell had put gun and crew out of action. As for bullets, they
swept through the air like bees, humming and droning, splashing the sand
and gravel here and there, throwing dust and stones over the soldiers
lying full length and eagerly digging for shelter. They screamed and
hissed past Sultan and past our hero, and between him and the officer to
whom he had brought a message. They fascinated Geoff, and certainly did
not frighten him in the slightest. So interested was he, in fact, with
his view of the Turks--an excellent view considering he was mounted--and
so taken up was he with watching those Turkish batteries and looking for
the result of British shells amongst them, that he did not heed the
voice of the officer he had accosted.
Then a shout attracted his attention.
"That will do," he heard sharply; "you are bringing fire on us with that
white mount of yours, and it would be a pity to see him damaged. Get off
back out of rifle-fire, or I shall have you on my hands wounded."
Phit! Phit! A couple of bullets whizzed past Sultan's nose at that
precise instant, and in a moment he was dancing on his hind legs,
thrashing the air with those handsome fore legs of his, shaking his
head, and neighing, while foam flecked his lips and soiled his beautiful
arched neck.
"D'you hear? Confound you, young Keith!" shouted the officer. "You'll
get me shot next. Clear off, for you're drawing fire from the whole of
the enemy front upon us."
Crouching in his little hollow, the officer watched as the punctilious
Geoff pulled Sultan to his feet again with a steady hand, and, sitting
very upright--bolt upright--in fact, the position adapted for formal
parades, saluted his senior.
"Hang it," he shouted; "go off!" and then smiled--an indulgent smile--as
Sultan broke into a furious gallop and went off at mad speed across the
open. "Fine boy! Nice boy!" that officer said as he glanced backward
from his "funk hole". "Knew his father--and that's the sort of thing he
would have done; and how proud he would have been of the boy if only
he'd lived to see him."
Plunk! A bullet struck the lip of the parapet which one of his men had
hurriedly thrown up before the officer, and sent a shower of sand and
gravel all over him. Indeed, it drew his attention once more to the
battle now proceeding and to the position of his own men. With glasses
fixed to his eyes, and himself kneeling in his little shelter, the
officer scanned the Turkish lines with the eye of an expert and a
critic. Undoubtedly the enemy had taken up a strong position, and,
moreover, were in strong force and were well supported by guns of large
calibre. There was, in fact, no question of the British Expeditionary
Force coming in contact with an enemy indifferently organized, badly
armed, and meagrely supplied. No! Those Turkish troops sent to meet the
British, and those others then fighting in the Caucasus Mountains, were
the product of German energy and German money. They were part of that
vast organization built up during some forty years past, which aimed at
making the Kaiser the Emperor of the World, and not merely of humble
Europe. If there had been any doubt about the question of the arming of
this force which barred the progress of our soldiers, the shells flung
at the latter were sufficient indication, while the rattle of rifles and
the sharper staccato tack-tack of machine-guns proved the case without
room for doubt or argument. Looking at those positions, those prepared
trenches of the enemy, and guessing at their number of troops, which was
considerable, it seemed almost hopeless for the Expeditionary Force to
expect to be able to advance farther. And yet, as the dusk of evening
came on, and the fighting died down, there was no sign of a British
retirement.
"We're going to hang on to our trenches all night," Geoff told his
friend Philip when he hunted him out, after snatching a meal at
Head-quarters. "You mark my words! To-morrow will see something that'll
startle the Turks and send 'em flying."