I was with the companies that were following the advanced patrols; the latter reported, shortly before dark, that the hills were unoccupied. So our companies proceeded, and the commanders ordered up the baggage in order to settle down for the night. I myself went to the Headquarters Camp, which had remained on the big hills a little further back. I tried to relieve my great exhaustion with a cup of coffee and a little rum; but, knowing that I had no more orders to issue, I soon fell fast asleep. Next to my sleeping place was the 3·5-inch gun. Towards eleven p.m. I was awakened by remarks made by Lieutenant Wunderlich, of the Navy, who was in command of the gun; he could not make out the frequent flashes he saw in the direction of the enemy. Neither, at first, was I quite certain about them. But soon there could be no doubt that these flashes, which became more and more frequent, were caused by rifles and machine guns. When the wind shifted the sound of the fighting became clearly audible. Contrary to all our expectations, therefore, a stiff fight was taking place in our front, but owing to the great distance, and the bushy and rocky country that would have to be traversed, I did not think I could engage the reserves I still had in hand with any prospect of success. It would take hours to obtain even the very roughest idea of the situation, and the moon would be up for barely an hour more. For well or ill, therefore, I had to leave the fight in front to take its course.
Our companies had, indeed, found the high ground, which had been examined by the patrols, to be clear of the enemy; but immediately in rear of it was another rise, and on this was the enemy, in an entrenched position, which our companies ran up against. In the close country and the darkness no general survey of the situation was possible, and connection between the various units was lost. Our Askari established themselves in front of the enemy, and Captain Lincke, who had assumed command after Lieutenant-Colonel von Bock had been severely wounded and Captain von Kornatzky had been killed, came to the conclusion that, although he could remain where he was, he would, after daybreak, be obliged to abandon all hope of being able to move, on account of the dominating fire of the enemy. As, therefore, no success appeared attainable, he cautiously broke off the action while it was still dark, and fell back on the position he had started from. The enemy, consisting mainly of the 11th South African Infantry Regiment, had fought well, and had repeatedly brought effective machine-gun fire to bear on our companies. Considering the small number of rifles that actually took part in the fight—about four hundred—our casualties, amounting to about fifty killed and wounded, must be considered heavy.
During the following days we also proceeded to take possession of the high hills lying further to the eastward, and drove off the mounted detachments working in the foreground, inflicting quite unpleasant casualties on them. It happened several times that out of parties of about twenty men, none, or only a few, got away, and in the foreground also a whole series of encounters ended in our favour. The heights held by us afforded an extensive view, and with good glasses we several times observed columns of hostile troops and wagons approaching Kondoa from the north, and then turning east and disappearing into the mountains. Our patrols, whom we sent far away to the enemy’s rear, reported considerable bodies marching from about Arusha in the direction of Kondoa-Irangi.
The English had at once taken over the civil administration at Kondoa, and had cleverly ordered the yumbi (chiefs) to come to that place and given them instructions. Among other things, they imposed on them the duty of reporting the movements of German troops. It was, therefore, often advantageous for our patrols to pretend to be English while in enemy country. The differences in uniform were not great, and the prolonged period of active service had further diminished them; uniform coats were often not worn at all, but only blouse-like shirts, and the little cloth badges which the English wore on their sun-helmets were not conspicuous. The difference in armament had often disappeared, as some of the Germans carried English rifles.
On the whole, the enemy in Kondoa did not seem to be in great strength as yet; but, even if successful, our attack would have to be made over open ground against defences which with our few guns we could not sufficiently neutralize. The certainty of suffering considerable and irreplaceable losses decided me to refrain from a general attack, and instead to damage the enemy by continuing the minor enterprises, which had hitherto proved so advantageous. Our artillery—the two mountain guns and two field howitzers, which had come out in the second store-ship, had also arrived—fired upon such favourable targets as presented themselves. The buildings of Kondoa-Irangi, where General van Deventer had arrived, were also fired at occasionally by our four-inch gun. To the west of our main force, on the Saranda-Kondoa-Irangi road, our newly-raised 2nd Rifle Company had had several successful engagements with portions of the 4th South African Horse, and had gradually forced them back to the neighbourhood of Kondoa-Irangi.
The enemy now grew continually stronger. Early in June he also shelled us at long range, about thirteen thousand yards, with heavy guns of about four-inch and five-inch calibre. His observation and fire-control were worthy of all respect; anyhow, on the 13th June his shell soon fell with great accuracy in our Headquarters camp. I stopped my work which I had commenced under cover of a grass roof, and took cover a little to one side behind a slab of rock. No sooner had the orderly officer, Lieutenant Boell, also reached the spot, than a shell burst close above us, wounded Lieutenant Boell severely in the thigh, and myself and a few other Europeans slightly. Otherwise the fire of the enemy’s artillery did us hardly any material damage, but it was a nuisance, all the same, to have his heavy shell pitching into our camp every now and then.
We dispensed with the heavy work which the provision of good protection against fire would have entailed, as the whole strength of our people was required for patrols and outposts, and for collecting supplies. As far as the eye could reach, the whole country was covered by native cultivation. The principal crop—which formed the main supply of the troops—was mtema, a kind of millet, which was just ripening. Most of the natives had run away; the supplies from Dodoma had been unable to keep up with us, and so our subsistence depended almost entirely on the stuff which the foraging-parties of the companies were able to bring in. In the hot sun the sheaves quickly dried on the rocks. All the companies were busy making flour, either by grinding the threshed grain between stones, or by stamping it into meal with poles in vessels of hard wood, called kinos. The Europeans at that time could still get wheat flour, which came up on the line of communication. The bread we made before Kondoa out of a mixture of wheat flour and native flour was of really excellent quality. Besides mtema and other grains there were also sugar-cane, muhogo (a plant with a pleasant-tasting, edible root), yams, various kinds of peas, and other native produce, besides sufficient cattle. In this extremely rich Kondoa country the troops could obtain a variety of food in abundance.
The enemy’s extension from Kondoa to the east drew our attention also to this hitherto little-known country. Captain Schulz was sent there with several companies, and found it to be an extraordinarily difficult and densely-wooded mountain district, interspersed with settlements of great fertility. A whole series of actions, in which one or more of our companies were engaged, and which resulted in severe loss to the enemy, now took place in this district. A strong hostile force tried to penetrate between the companies of Schulz’s Detachment and ourselves, probably with the intention of cutting off the detachment. But this attempt failed completely. Our troops pressed forward against this force from both sides and repulsed it. The old Effendi (native officer), Yuma Mursal, acted with great skill on this occasion; he lay in ambush at a water-place, and fired at the English, who came there for water, with good effect; according to his observation, six of them were killed. During this period of fighting at Kondoa-Irangi the enemy’s battle casualties gradually mounted up to a considerable figure. If we add to them his losses by sickness, due to the youth of his white troops, who were not used to the Tropics, and were extraordinarily careless about precautions against tropical diseases, the total losses incurred by him during the Kondoa-Irangi period can hardly have been less than one thousand Europeans.