Tom Willoughby's Scouts: A Story of the War in German East Africa

by Herbert Strang

Tom created a temporary lull in the attack by emptying his revolver on the largest group of the askaris. The flares having now gone out, he took advantage of the darkness to sound the signal for withdrawal, and his men, obedient to their training, rushed back into the trench and reloaded. From beyond the barricade the enemy were pouring a hot fire upon the higher trenches, and Tom knew by the sounds that there were still large reserves to deal with. Coming to the conclusion that the position at the entrance of the nullah could not be held much longer, he sent the greater part of his force to take up new positions at the bend, retaining a few to fight a rearguard action. But it appeared either that the first ranks of the enemy were exhausted, or that they had had orders not to push forward into the nullah at once after the entrance had been won. Their officers, who had not yet come into view, probably suspected that the nullah might have many traps and pitfalls for their men in the darkness, and reckoned on an easy conquest in daylight. At any rate there was no immediate pursuit, and within half an hour Tom had withdrawn all his men into the trench at the bend.

A few minutes afterwards a flame burst out at the entrance, spreading across the nullah from side to side. The enemy had set fire to the shattered barricade. None of them were visible in the glare: it seemed that, content with having forced the outer defence, the main body had had returned to their trench to await the dawn, now near at hand.

When Tom numbered his men, he found that thirteen were missing, and some thirty were wounded, many of them lightly. He felt a pang at the thought that some of the thirteen were lying seriously wounded on the field, but it was impossible to search for them.

He realised that he was now in the last ditch. If the enemy once rounded the bend, the village on the high ground a quarter of a mile beyond would be exposed to their fire, and for the sake of the non-combatants it would be necessary to yield. True, given time, another trench might be dug across the nullah, and the enemy's advance delayed again there; but his men were too weary to start digging at once, and, in any case, it was unlikely that the work could be completed in the short hour before dawn. There was nothing to be done but to hold the trench as long as possible, and inflict such losses on the enemy that they would be compelled to await reinforcements before attempting a final assault. They might even be satisfied with having captured the entrance, and leave the rest to time and famine. Escape was impossible, for, knowing of the "back door," they would certainly take care to block exit that way, which could easily be done by posting a few men at the head of the narrow cleft.

What hope was there of relief from the British border? In reply to his note a Major Burnaby had bidden him "hold fast," a message that seemed to hold some slight promise of help. Would that help come in time? If the enemy were in sufficient strength, a few hours might see the defence overwhelmed and the little community at the mercy of the conquerors. How many days was it since he had received Major Burnaby's message? Three?--or four? He could not tell. He had lost count of time. So obsessed had he been with the problems of the defence that he had given scarcely a thought to what might have been passing in the village. Moses had kept the fighting men supplied with food, sending down carriers under cover of night. The men on guard at the cleft had reported that all was well, and the single sentry who kept watch on the island prison had sent word that the firing had at first caused some excitement among the prisoners. They had grouped themselves on the shore, gazing down the nullah, talking to one another--all but Reinecke, who had stood apart from the rest, and sometimes walked up and down with quick impatient footsteps, twirling his long white moustache. Tom had not seen how the sound of the shells had caused the women and children to huddle together and sit cowering and moaning in their huts. He had not heard their wails when word came that such-and-such were dead, nor their croons of pity and tenderness as they did their little best for those who were wounded. All his thoughts were centred on the one pressing problem: how to hold out, to wear down the enemy, to gain time.

When morning dawned he looked anxiously down the nullah. Its downward slope enabled him to survey its whole length to the entrance without unduly exposing himself. He saw a few figures moving about where the barricade had been, but between him and them none of the enemy was in sight. The vegetation on either side of the stream, growing to the bases of the precipitous sides, would shelter hundreds: had any of them crept up towards him under this cover during the night? He could not tell; nor dared he send out scouts to reconnoitre.

Presently he saw that the men at the entrance had been joined by two white officers. The Germans, who had kept in the background while the askaris fought at the barricade, had now come forward to inspect the position and direct the further operations. Their intentions were soon made manifest. There was a burst of smoke from the middle of the burnt barricade, and a shell exploded on the cliff-side just behind the trench. Tom at once withdrew his men to the cover of the bushes beyond the bend, leaving only a handful in the trench to fire if any of the enemy showed themselves within effective range. The bombardment thus opened did not greatly disturb him. The bend effectually protected his men from harm, and the gun was not of a calibre large enough to demolish the trench, of which only a portion was visible to the gunners. Some damage was done to the parapet on the eastern side, but the enemy's object was clearly to intimidate the defenders, for the futility of their shots, in a material sense, must have been clear to them.

It was clear, too, that they had learnt to respect the quality of the defence opposed to them. They gave no sign of an intention to advance in the open. The bombardment was vigorous and sustained, but except for the few figures moving about the gun at the entrance, not a man of them was seen. This inaction seemed ominous to Tom. He could not think that they meditated another night attack, for, unfamiliar with the ground, they would be at a disadvantage in darkness. Was it not more probable that, relying on the bombardment to distract the defenders and to drive them under cover, they were creeping through the brushwood nearer and nearer to the trench, and would by-and-by make a rush, with the hope of profiting by surprise? This was the movement that he most dreaded, because the result must depend absolutely on the numbers opposed to him.

Just after mid-day the bombardment suddenly ceased. For a few minutes there was a breathless silence in the nullah: nothing was heard but the gurgling of the stream. Then the storm broke. From the bushes on each side, within a hundred yards of the trench, burst a swarm of men at the double. Tom had already summoned his men to their posts in the trench, and the masses of the enemy had covered only a few yards when they encountered a hail of lead from the parapet. In spite of many gaps in their crowded ranks they dashed forward with ferocious yells, and pressed the charge up to the very edge of the trench. There, however, they came under fire from some of the best marksmen, whom Tom had stationed in the block-houses and also in the bushes on higher ground in the rear. They reeled under the double fire; a few who sprang over the parapet into the trench were bayoneted or clubbed; the rest turned and fled panic-stricken into the cover they had lately left with such confidence, many of them falling to the shots of the triumphant Wahehe.

In the silence that followed, Tom was startled by sounds of firing from the north. It flashed upon him that the Germans had arranged a simultaneous attack on the cleft. The guard of twenty men he had posted there, behind their barricades, ought to be able to hold their own on ground so favourable to them; but Tom at this moment felt that he must see for himself how they were faring. The repulse of the main attack gave him at least a respite: he would not be absent more than thirty or forty minutes; so leaving Mirambo in command, he hurried up the nullah.