"We are short of rations, both liquid and solid, men; but you have
plenty of cartridges, and the wells are but a mile and a half off, so
that we only want daylight to get as much water as we please."
They got a supply sooner than was expected, however, for at half-past
nine there was a bustle, and the sentries challenged; and, after a brief
parley, a string of camels was admitted into the zereba, with water and
other necessaries on their backs. Major Cholmondeley Turner had brought
them over from Baker's zereba, and got them safely in clear of the
Arabs. He belonged to the Egyptian Carrier Corps, and you may imagine
how he was cheered.
The men lay down in lines two deep, leaving a space of twelve feet
between the front rank and the hedge of the zereba. They wore their
great coats and slept with their rifles in their hands, the officers
being in rear. In the twelve foot space which was left the sentries
patrolled, and there was no need to ingress the necessity of vigilance
upon them; the known vicinity of the enemy put them sufficiently on the
_qui vive_.
All, however, was quiet till an hour after midnight, when the sleepers
were awakened by a tremendous fusillade, and a storm of bullets came
rushing over the zereba. But as the men were lying down, or crouching
under the hedge, only a few unfortunate animals were struck by the
leaden shower.
To show, however, what absurd things men will do in a panic, an Egyptian
camel driver jumped, in his fright, over the prickly hedge, and ran
along it _outside_, exposed to the enemy's bullets. These failed to
strike him, but an English sentry inside naturally took him for an Arab
trying to force an entrance, and shot him dead. The firing was still
kept up by the enemy, and as some of the shots came lower, being sent
through the hedges, the bivouac fires had to be put out, as their light
evidently guided the Soudanese in their aim. The night was cold, and
this was felt all the more after the heat of the day. And the men lay
shivering, unable to sleep, and wishing for day.
As Strachan lay thus, wrapping himself round as closely as he could in
his great coat, he heard a thud just in front of him, and the man lying
there gave a gasp and straightened his limbs. Strachan rose and went to
him, asking--
"Are you hit, my lad?" But there was no answer; he was quite dead.
This, however, was the only fatal effect of some four or five hours'
incessant firing, for the Arabs kept it up for the remainder of the
night.
At six o'clock the sun rose, and the enemy no longer had it all their
own way. A nine-pounder was run up to the zereba hedge, and pointed in
the direction from which the fusillade was hottest, and on another side
a Gardner was brought to bear on a bit of cover where the Arabs
clustered thickly. Ere the sun was quite above the horizon the loud
sharp report of the former cheered the hearts of those who had been so
hemmed in and pestered, and a second or so after there was a second bang
as the avenging shell burst right among the bushes a thousand yards off.
At the same time the ger-r-er of the machine-gun told that its handle
was turning, and its deadly missiles tearing through the light cover.
The effect was immediate; the enemy cleared off like midges from a puff
of tobacco smoke, and retired across the valley to their own lines.
At eight o'clock the troops issued from the zereba and advanced, as
before, in two squares in _echelon_, as it is called, which means that
one was in advance of the other, but not directly in front of it. If it
were, and the force were attacked, you will easily see that the rear
side of the leading square and the front side of the following square
could not fire at anything between them without injuring one another.
Or if they were on a level, side by side, it would be the same thing,
the faces opposite could not use their rifles without firing into each
other. But with one square a little in rear this danger is avoided, and
each can support the other. Take a pencil and paper and draw two
squares upon it if you do not see what I mean. Masses of the enemy
could be seen crowning the hills in front and to the right, dark masses
on the sides, distinct figures on the sky-line.
The route lay across dry water-courses, which were inconvenient for the
square formation, the ranks being necessarily broken in descending and
ascending the sides, so causing little delays while the men closed into
their places again when clear. But they pressed steadily on, the Second
Brigade leading. If the sun rose at six, why did not the troops march
before eight? You may ask. Because the cavalry had to return from
Baker's zereba, where they had gone the night before, you may remember,
to water their horses. These now came to the front and spread out
skirmishing. They were soon engaged with the enemy, and the firing grew
very hot, forcing the skirmishers to retire, while the Arab masses
pressed on. The leading square now came to the edge of a large _nullah_
or dry river-bed, sixty feet deep and two hundred yards wide, thickly
strewn with boulders, and having larger masses of rock rising from its
depth.
This nullah was full of Arabs, crowds of whom swarmed up also to the
further bank, and from these a heavy fire was poured upon the square,
the other sides of which were also assailed. The First Blankshire was
in this brigade, but not on the side next the nullah, and the men were
firing rather wildly. For the first time since he joined Tom Strachan
saw his captain, Fitzgerald, in a rage.
"You confounded idiots!" he yelled to his men, "what's the use of firing
at them a mile off! What are you shooting at, Smith--a balloon? You
are no use at all, Strachan; why don't you make your section reserve
their fire? Steady, men, steady!"
All the other officers were making similar efforts, but for a time it
was no good. Bodies of Arabs kept sweeping round some seven hundred
yards off, watching their chance for a dash, and the men would keep
firing at them, and, what was worse, hurriedly, without a cool aim.
Indeed a good aim was not to be had, for they were only dimly seen
through the smoke. And it was this probably which bothered the men; the
ground in front was rough, and might conceal enemies close to them;
there were swarms in all directions, and they fired at those they got a
glimpse of.
Neither was the distance anything like out of range, only recent
experience had shown that it required very severe concentration of fire
at the closest quarters to make any impression on these brave Soudanese,
and the losses which can be inflicted at seven hundred yards are slight
comparatively, especially if the aim is not very cool and deliberate.
"Cease firing!" at last shouted a superior officer, and the word being
promptly echoed by all, and enforced by actually grasping the shoulders
of the most excited and flurried men, it slackened at length, and there
seemed to be a good prospect of the unsteadiness calming down; and after
all, this burst of wild firing had only lasted about three minutes. The
atmosphere, however, was heavy; there was not a breath of air stirring,
and the smoke hung in so thick a pall overhead, that it was impossible
to see what was going on.
"Steady!" cried our friend Tom, who really had not deserved his
captain's reproach, for he had been struggling all he knew to restrain
his men's fire, only they got out of hand with him as with everybody
else for a minute.
"Wait till the smoke clears, unless they come out of it a yard from your
muzzles. Not a shot at present, or ever without a steady aim."
"That's right," shouted Major Elmfoot; "stick to that, Strachan. No
more wild shooting, men. Ah!"
There is an infinite variety of expression in the various tones of the
human voice, and that simple "_All_!" conveyed more than I can give you
any idea of. There was surprise in it and dismay, but not a suspicion
of panic; on the contrary, determination was clearly expressed. The
accent of the exclamation indeed was so striking that Strachan turned as
sharply as if he had been struck, and at the further corner of the
square he saw white teeth, gleaming eyes, tangled black locks, dark
naked forms, and glittering spearheads, and--_British soldiers recoiling
before them_!
As the major uttered his cry, he crammed his spurs into his horse's
sides, and with one bound was among them, cutting and pointing like a
trooper, and Tom found himself close to him, though whether he moved or
the seething, struggling mass came upon him where he stood he did not
quite know. One thing he felt sure of, that the situation was just as
critical as it possibly could be. Careless, light-hearted lad as he
was, he could not lead the life and pass through the scenes of the last
few days without becoming familiar with the thought that every hour
might very likely prove his last.
But that conviction, which would have been so terrible in cold blood,
gave him little concern now; it was the feeling of _being beaten_ which
was such mental agony. What was his life, what was the life of any man,
of a million of men, compared with defeat? At that moment he would have
flung himself into the fire to secure victory for his side. I do not
wish to make him out an exceptional hero, and he was not a fellow to
brag, but it is certain that at that crisis he felt no fear whatever, no
more than when having got hold of the ball in a football match at
Harton, he had thought:
"I must have it between the goal posts, if I die for it!"
It has been explained before how he had attained a rare proficiency with
his weapons; he had not fired his pistol yet, and he was as clear-headed
and firm in nerve as man could be. While the chambers of his revolver
were loaded he was in little danger from spearmen in front of him, for
he parried the thrust with his sword, and shot the assailant _through
the head_, and even an Arab is knocked out of time by that. But against
a thrust in the side or the back no skill or coolness could defend him.
And presently he was so jammed up by retreating soldiers that he could
not use his arms, and then he was quite powerless for self-help.
It happened, by the best accounts, in this fashion. Covered by the
dense smoke, the Arabs swarmed out of the nullah upon the face of the
square on the edge of it. The foremost flung themselves on the
bayonets; those behind pressing them on to them, the soldiers could not
draw their weapons out, and found themselves hampered with dying foes,
whose breast-bones were jammed against the muzzles of their rifles. If
they drew back to release their weapons, the enemy took instantaneous
advantage of the space yielded. When they strove to stand firm they
were pushed bodily back by the dense mass surging upon them since the
Soudanese in rear could push on with perfect impunity wherever the
bayonets were sheathed in the bodies of the front rank. The sailors who
manned the machine-guns at one corner were driven back by main force
with the rest, but made a desperate effort to keep back the savages,
while certain parts without which the guns were useless could be
removed. They succeeded, but at the cost of many lives, and then back
they had to go, leaving the guns, now happily harmless, in the enemy's
hands.
The confusion was frightful, the front face of the square being driven
back upon the rear, and the sides jammed up with them. And then the
whole tangled mass was forced slowly back, fighting its hardest. For
there was no turning tail; the retreating soldiers kept their faces to
the foe, and where they had their arms free delivered thrust for thrust.
Marines and Highlanders fought back to back, and fought like bull-dogs.
So did the Arabs for that matter; they lay tumbled over in hundreds,
but others came on over their bodies. Seventy English were killed in a
few minutes. Fighting thus the Second Brigade, now no longer a square,
was pushed back nearly half a mile.
But now the charging Arabs came under the fire of the First Brigade, the
square on the right, up to which the enemy had not been able to
penetrate. This was so well directed and murderous as to check the rear
masses of the Arabs, and the Second Brigade having only those in
immediate contact to deal with, and relieved from the tremendous
pressure, soon got on terms with their enemy again, shook them off, and
recovered their lost formation.
The battle was restored; the retreat turned into an advance.
The Arabs, now driven back in turn, retired some distance and opened
fire, which was not very effective. Indeed, in spite of it, the re-
formed square, when it had recovered some hundred yards of its lost
ground, was halted for a quarter of an hour for the purpose of serving
out fresh ammunition, the men being exhorted not to waste it as they had
done before. Desirous of retrieving their former error in this respect,
they were as steady as veterans now, and advancing in line, firing
deliberately and with careful aim, they cleared the ground in front, and
fought back to the brink of the nullah where the enemy had broken their
ranks, and re-captured the guns, the First Brigade moving up at the same
time on their right. Savage with the idea that they had been forced to
retire and leave their guns, though it was principally the sheer weight
of numbers that had done it, and burning with revenge, the men set their
teeth and went down into the nullah, clearing all before them. The
Arabs defended every bush, every rock, every boulder; but there was no
wild firing now, at thirty, twenty, ten paces, and even closer; every
bullet had its billet, and the valley was cleared of the living, though
every point which afforded cover, and had been tenaciously held by Osman
Digna's soldiers, had its groups of corpses behind it.
Officers were intoxicated with delight at the way their men behaved
after their early discouragement.
"That's the way!"
"Let them have it!"
"Give it 'em hot, boys!"
"Good man, O'Grady; there's another for you!"
"That's your sort; never pull trigger till you can blow him to
smithereens."
The advance of the line was not rapid, but it left nothing living behind
it. Then the First Brigade under Redvers Buller went into and across
the nullah, making for the second ridge held by the enemy some half mile
off, still keeping the square formation. It was well that the distance
to be traversed was so short, for it was now getting on for ten o'clock,
and the power of the sun was intense. The ground, too, was covered with
sharp rocks of red granite, and these had become so hot as to burn the
feet. But what do brave men feel in the delirium of battle? When close
to the foe a volley rang out, and then from every parched throat
"Hurrah!" "Hurrah!" "Hurrah!" burst forth, as with levelled bayonets
they rushed upon the broken ranks before them, and the ridge was
carried.
There was a second beyond it, where the Arabs still lingered, and for
that again they went. But the enemy, the fight at last taken out of
them, made but a feeble stand, and it was carried at the first onset.
But what was that firing in their rear? Had a body of Soudanese lain
concealed somewhere? Or had their dead come to life again? Neither.
One of the Gardner guns had been overturned into the limber containing
its ammunition, and set fire to. This kept burning, hissing, and firing
shots like a gigantic and malevolent cracker for a long time. But the
Blue Jackets recovered the gun. When the victorious troops crowned the
last ridge, the valley of Tamai lay below them, and there was spread the
camp of Osman Digna, the object of their march, the prize for which they
had been fighting. The enemy made no further attempt to defend it; they
had proved to their cost that the Mahdi's assurance that the infidel
guns would "spit water" was a lie.
They were disheartened, beaten at all points, and hundreds of their best
and bravest lay in heaps on the hills and in the valleys to feed the
vultures and the jackals. It was no retreat such as they often made,
stalking slowly and sullenly from the field where they had been foiled,
but a disorderly flight, a rout.
The camp was left to the conquerors, with two standards, all their
ammunition, tents, stores, and the spoils of former victories, and
before noon the English, without fear of molestation, were slaking their
thirst at the wells.