The 10th Brigade now received orders to await the arrival of the rest of the division at El Remte. The 12th Brigade came up about half-past five in the evening, and the 11th some two hours later. Patrols from the 2nd Lancers, on outpost duty, gained touch with the Arab Army during the night.
At dawn on the 28th, the brigade moved out to the hills east of El Remte to cover the assembly of the division, which then marched to Deraa. The advanced troops reached the town at seven in the morning, and were met by Lawrence and Sherif Nasir. The Arab troops had arrived there about midnight, and found the place evacuated and in flames. They at once sent mounted scouts to the north, who located the main body of the enemy forces retiring towards Mezerib, ten miles north-west of Deraa. The road from Mezerib to Damascus runs through Sheikh Saad, where Lawrence's camel corps was lying in wait for them.
THE ADVANCE ON DAMASCUS (Continued)
While the 4th Cavalry Division was treading on the heels of the enemy east of the Jordan, the Australians had not been idle. Leaving El Mejdel soon after daylight on the 27th, they reached the Jordan at Jisr Benat Yakub about mid-day. The news that the bridge had been destroyed, and that the crossing was held by the enemy, had been brought back by the patrols that had reconnoitred as far as the river the night before.
The division had no easy task before it. Napoleon rated the forcing of a river crossing as one of the most difficult operations in war. In this case the difficulties were increased by several factors. West of the river the ground sloped gently upwards for about 3000 yards, in a wide expanse of plough and grass land, unbroken by a single tree or bush. On the east the ground was much steeper, thus giving good command of the river, and was thickly covered with scrub and innumerable big boulders, which afforded excellent protection to the enemy. The river was deep and very swift, and the only known ford, some few hundred yards south of the bridge, was commanded by the fire of numbers of enemy machine guns. The only cover on the west bank was afforded by a small group of buildings close to the bridge, and by the insignificant ruins of the castle of Baldwin II. (Kusr Atra), a few hundred yards farther down stream.
A local native stated that he thought the south end of Lake Huleh was shallow enough to be waded by mounted men, and it was accordingly decided to send the 3rd Brigade, by a long detour, to attempt a passage here. To the French troops was assigned the task of endeavouring to reach the buildings at the west end of the bridge, from where they could engage the enemy with rifle and machine-gun fire, and, possibly, force a passage over the river. The remainder of the 5th Brigade was to reconnoitre for a ford farther south, and, if successful in finding one, to cross the river, and get astride the enemy's line of retreat. One regiment of the 4th Brigade, which had rejoined the division at El Mejdel, accompanied the 5th Brigade. The rest of the 4th did not arrive till the evening.