CHAPTER XII
A REARGUARD ACTION
Captain Ellington, lying on the deck of the launch, called a breezysalutation to Burnet. The two Turkish troopers who formed his guardwere smoking cigarettes; the crew of four were gathered aft, taking thedisaster that had befallen them with stolid unconcern. The launch washeld fast in position, a few yards from the bank, by the wing of theaeroplane which had become entangled, and Burnet, eager to learn thenature of his friend's wound, and the causes of his plight, scrambledalong the wing and dropped to the deck.
"Congratulations, old man," said Ellingford, grasping his hand. "Itwas quite a brilliant little action. Where did your Arab friendsspring from?"
"It's rather a long story; I'll tell you all as we go along. I waswaiting for you on the _tell_ when I saw you come down, and finding youin the enemy's hands, I managed to get a friendly tribe to come to therescue. Are you badly hurt?"
"Not a bit; I got one through the shoulder and another through anunsuspected roll of fat just above my thigh. The Turks patched me upwith their own field dressings; they seem quite decent chaps; and I'lldo very well till we get back to our own M.O. I can manage to flyright enough."
"The machine's all right?"
"I think so--or will be with a little attention. The engine wasn'tbehaving very well; still, I hoped to get to the _tell_ and overhaul itthere; but it began to misfire badly, and I thought it safer to comedown at once, though I'd seen this mounted patrol. Unluckily theyrushed me before I had well got to work. I held them off in front, butthey attacked in the rear and pipped me."
"Jolly lucky it's no worse. I'll get the men to clear the wing; thenwe'll haul ashore, and start for home. You might have a look at theengine at once: it'll save time."
He returned to the bank and set some of the Arabs to cut away thevegetation. Meanwhile Ellingford opened up his engine. "I say," hecalled in a minute or two, "this is bad luck. The petrol tank isriddled. I can't repair it here."
"You can't fly, then?"
"Absolutely impossible."
"That's a blow. We shall have to haul it, then, as the Turks did."
"But where to? We can't possibly get through the Turkish lines."
"How long would it take you to patch up sufficiently to get us back?"
"I doubt whether I can do it at all. It's a job for our mechanics, anda rather long one at best."
"Well, there's no hope for it, then. There's a place something overtwenty miles from here--the settlement of these Arabs--where we canfind refuge. I shall have to leave you there and get round to ourlines on foot somehow."
"But twenty miles! It'll take us a whole day or more to haul the busthere. And there isn't time. These Turks are a reconnoitring patrolof a larger force----"
"What?"
"I saw them when I was about 3000 feet up--a cavalry force marchingalong the left bank of the Euphrates a good many miles to the north.There were a number of boats keeping pace with them on the river. Someof these beggars are sure to have escaped. They'll make their wayback, and we shall have cavalry on our heels before we've covered halfyour twenty miles."
"There's no time to be lost, then. We must save the machine if we can:if we can't, you have a choice of mounts among the Turks' horses, andyou'll have to ride as well as you can. The chief of the tribe hasgone off in pursuit of fugitives; I'll leave word for him, and he'llfollow us up."
When he explained the situation to the Arabs, one of them suggestedthat they should convey the aeroplane by launch for some distance upthe wady, which would not only save a few miles, but bring them to muchharder ground, where it would be easier to drag the machine. Burnetadopted the suggestion at once. He left the Arabs to clear up thescene of the fight and to await the return of Rejeb, who would no doubtthen ride straight back to his stronghold with his prisoners and thecaptured horses. Two of the Arabs he selected to accompany the launchwith led horses, these for hauling the aeroplane and to serve as mountsfor himself and Ellingford in case the machine had to be abandoned.
A few minutes later the launch started, and Burnet had leisure to giveEllingford an outline of all that had happened since their parting atthe _tell_ a month before.
"I'm very much afraid that cavalry force you spoke of is the advanceguard of the expedition against my friend Rejeb," he said inconclusion. "The Turks and Arabs have for once succeeded in working toa date, which implies a good deal of chevying on the part of theGermans. They evidently want to carry things through quickly."
"I don't wonder. They're getting funky. The loss of Bagdad will be atremendous blow to them. Apart from its being a complete smash-up oftheir railway schemes, it will immensely heighten our prestige allthrough this country; in fact, through the whole Mohammedan world: itwill be the handwriting on the wall for them."
"We'll do it, then?"
"Of course we'll do it--this time. You know what had been done when wecame away a month ago. Well, during the past month the progress of ourorganisation has been amazing. We've no end of new boats; the lightrailway through Amara has almost reached our advanced base; so that ourtransport is as nearly perfect as it can be; and what with new guns,aeroplanes, pontoons, Red Cross units and the rest, we're in a positionto give the Turk a very nasty jar. In fact, I wouldn't mind givinglong odds that we're through Kut by the end of the year, and in Bagdadbefore Easter. What sort of reception shall we get there?"
"Oh, the people will lick our boots--just as they'd lick the boots ofthe Germans if they entered in triumph. With them, nothing succeedslike success. They don't love the Turk, but they don't love any onebut themselves. The decent Arabs, especially Firouz Ali and his littleband of patriots--who've got a stronger following outside Bagdad thanwithin--will welcome us as deliverers; but it's a very mixedpopulation, and the most of them don't draw fine distinctions betweenEuropeans: they're all sheep to be fleeced. Of course they don'trealise what a bad time they'd have if the city becameGermanised--morally, I mean, for there's no doubt that Germanadministration would effect great material improvements. At presentthey're slaves to a corrupt tyranny; German tyranny is rather brutalthan corrupt. They'll find that we are neither corrupt nor brutal--andtake advantage of us. I'm talking as if we were already there. In themeantime you and I will be lucky if we save our skins."
During the voyage Burnet inspected the launch, and found that itcontained a cargo of provisions and cases of rifles and ammunition. Heconcluded that it had been one of the fleet which Ellingford had seenup the river, and it could hardly be doubted that the stores wereintended for the expedition against Rejeb.
When the launch had run some ten miles along the wady eastward, one ofthe mounted Arabs on the bank announced that they had reached the spotwhere it was necessary to land. At a short distance from the wady theground was firmer than it had been farther west, and more suitable forthe haulage of the aeroplane. The launch was run close into thesouthern bank and set on fire; the aeroplane was lugged ashore; thenBurnet set the crew to unload the stores, while the Arabs yoked the twoled horses to the machine. When this was done, he mounted one,Ellingford the other. Burnet marshalled the prisoners three on eachside, and ordered one of the Arabs to ride back rapidly to Rejeb, andask him to send or bring up enough horses to convey the stores to hisstronghold. Then, under the guidance of the second Arab, the southwardmarch began.
Progress was very slow, though more rapid than it had been when theaeroplane was hauled over the swampy ground by the Turks. After theyhad marched for about two hours, Rejeb with a small party of his mencame galloping up behind. He related that five of the six Turks whomhe had chased had been killed or captured, the sixth had escaped. Theprisoners, among whom was the officer whom Burnet had shot, were nowbeing conveyed by the direct route to the stronghold. At the bank ofthe wady he had left some of his men loading the stores on to thehorses captured from the Turks, and Rejeb intended to ride back tothem, and himself head the convoy to his stronghold.
By nightfall Bur
net's party had accomplished about half the distance tothe causeway. It was impossible to proceed in the dark with theaeroplane, and they bivouacked in a convenient hollow. Soon afterwardsRejeb arrived, in advance of his men. He explained that the convoy ofstores would march through the night; the rifles and ammunition were avaluable prize which he wished to place securely in the stronghold assoon as possible. Further, he was anxious that, in case of pursuit andattack, his fighting men should not be hampered by having to guardtheir booty. But he had left a number of his men a few miles to therear, to give warning of an enemy's approach. Then he galloped away tothe south-east to meet the track along which the other Arabs wereescorting their prisoners.
Before dawn Burnet made preparations for starting, and the party movedoff as soon as it was light enough to see. In about three hours theyconverged upon the main route which Rejeb had followed overnight, andhad gone but little farther when they were met by Rejeb himself withsome two score men. The young chief showed few signs of fatigue,though he had been up all night. He reported that the convoys ofstores and prisoners had safely reached the stronghold, and pointedwith glee to the new rifles with which he had armed his men. Turninghis horse, he rode on beside Burnet, his men coming at a short intervalbehind the aeroplane.
They were within two or three miles of the causeway when the scouts hehad left in the rear galloped up with the news that a large body ofcavalry was following up the trail of the parties which had passedalong the main route, and must overtake them before they reached thecauseway. Rejeb held a rapid consultation with the two officers. Itwas evident that he wished the aeroplane to be abandoned, but whenCaptain Ellingford, through Burnet, said that he would burn the machinerather than let it fall into the enemy's hands, he instantly declaredthat he would leave nothing undone to save it.
"My friend looks upon his aeroplane as you look upon your horse,"Burnet had explained, and the comparison appealed to the Arab.
It was clear that the machine could be saved only by making a standwhere they were. The enemy must be prevented from coming within rangeof the causeway until it was safely across; otherwise they mighthopelessly cripple it, and also shoot down the men and horses who werehauling it. Rejeb ordered these men to push on with all haste; therest to dismount, send most of their horses forward to the cover of thevegetation that concealed the causeway, and take up their positions ona wide front covering the retreat. He dispatched also a swift rider tothe stronghold, to send out fifty men to take over charge of theaeroplane and the six prisoners. Burnet had pressed Ellingford toaccompany the aeroplane, but this he flatly refused to do.
"If you think I'm going to leave you with a scrap on hand you'vemistaken your man," he said. "I can still use my revolver."
The country around was flat and fairly dry, but broken up here andthere with patches of scrub and of marshland fringed with reeds andrushes.
"I almost wish I had burnt the machine after all," said CaptainEllingford, when Rejeb was placing his men. "Your chief is very keen,and a good chap; but he can't hold up a force of Turkish cavalry withhis few men, and I shall be sorry if things turn out badly."
"Don't worry, old man," said Burnet. "He knows what he's about. It'sideal country for a small force fighting on the defensive, and we'renot likely to have artillery against us. There's plenty of cover allthe way from here to the stronghold; we can fall back from one clump toanother if we are hard pressed. On the other hand, it's bad countryfor cavalry, especially if they don't know the ground. They may findthemselves bogged; and anyway they'll offer a good target; we can seethem above the rushes. Besides, Rejeb has more men in the stronghold,and he'll send for them if necessary, though it'll be a point of pridewith him to lick the enemy with inferior forces if he can."
Rejeb had by this time posted his little force on a long arc extendingfor some distance on both sides of the track. The men were allperfectly concealed by bushes, clumps of reeds, or tall grass, and hadbeen given definite instructions about the new positions to which theywere to fall back under the enemy's pressure.
The wings of the aeroplane could still be seen projecting above thescrub about a mile away when the advance guard of the enemy emergedinto view on the north. They evidently caught sight of the aeroplane,for one of the troopers galloped back, the rest halting. In a fewminutes the head of the main column appeared. The officer in commandlooked ahead through his field-glasses, then swept the country on eachside of the track, and apparently satisfied that the course was clear,gave an order. Riding in couples, the cavalry galloped forward, theintention no doubt being to capture the aeroplane and its escort at arush.
Then, from the Arabs concealed a few hundred yards in their front,there broke a sudden volley which emptied many saddles and took theTurks aback. The officer shouted an order, the men wheeled round,suffering losses from a second volley, and dashed back to the shelterof the belt of vegetation from which they had emerged, causing someconfusion in the rear part of the column. Burnet estimated that thenumber of those who had come in sight was about two hundred; how manymore there were it was impossible to guess. But Rejeb perceived thathis little force was not strong enough to hold the position long whenthe Turks should have taken its measure, and he instantly sent a riderto the stronghold to bring back another hundred men on foot, and toorder a hundred and fifty horsemen to post themselves near the outerend of the causeway.
Before the reinforcements arrived the enemy started a dropping firefrom their sheltered position, with the intention, no doubt, of drawingthe Arabs' fire and causing them to disclose their strength. Thisproving ineffectual, they made another attempt to carry the positionwith a rush, losing even more heavily than before. Again they fellback, and for a while there was no further move. Rejeb sent a scoutout on each flank to worm his way towards the enemy and discover whathe was about. They returned with the not unexpected news that theTurks, now dismounted, were deploying; it could only be with the objectof outflanking the defenders. They reported also that behind the Turksthere was a large force of mounted Arabs. Burnet's suspicion that thiswas the expedition organised by the Turks and Halil's tribe jointly wasconfirmed; he wondered where Major Burckhardt was.
By this time the reinforcements had come up stealthily from the rear.Rejeb threw them out on the wings, so that the defending force, itsmain strength in the centre, covered a rough semi-circle nearly half amile in extent.
Within a very few minutes the enemy's intentions were disclosed.Advancing on a wide front, taking cover wherever it was possible, theycame on in short rushes. It was seen now that the majority of themwere Arabs, and the total force could hardly have been less than athousand men. Rejeb ordered his men to fall back slowly, holding on aslong as they could without the risk of being cut off, and inflicting asmuch loss as possible on the enemy whenever they crossed stretches ofopen ground.
It was clear to the chief, as to Burnet and Ellingford, that MajorBurckhardt's profession of knowledge of the stronghold's position hadnot been vain. Clearly they had to look forward to a siege. They werenot strong enough to defeat the enemy in the open, and as soon as thesafety of the aeroplane was assured, they must retreat along thecauseway and make the best use of their natural advantages.
For nearly two hours Rejeb's Arabs fell back steadily. More than oncethe enemy sought a decision by attempting to rush the defenders, now inthe centre, now at one or other of the wings. At one moment it seemedthat the left wing was in danger of being crushed, but Rejeb, whothroughout the day showed many of the best qualities of generalship,sent a runner to the rear to bring up a portion of his mounted reserve,now less than half a mile away. In a few minutes a hundred superblymounted warriors galloped to the threatened point, swept like awhirlwind upon the dismounted enemy, rode through them again and again,heedless of losses, and not only defeated the flanking movement, butcaused a check in the whole line.
Then came word that the aeroplane had been conveyed across the causewayto the centre of the stronghold. From this mo
ment the retreat becamemore rapid, though still as methodical as before. Late in theafternoon the Turks, who formed the right and right centre of theattacking force, and had fought more steadily and doggedly than theirArab allies, gained a position from which, though at extreme range,they began to command the end of the causeway. Rejeb drew nearly allhis men together, posted them under cover, and concentrated his fire onthe assailants on his left, in the hope of holding them off untildarkness rendered it possible to slip away. At sunset, before theenemy knew what was happening, the chief withdrew his little forceswiftly across the causeway. The day's work had cost him barely ascore of casualties, while the enemy's losses were probably five or sixtimes as great.
"That was a top-hole rearguard action," said Ellingford to Burnet asthey went together to Rejeb's tower. "I'd no idea that Arabs couldever behave so steadily."
"It's due to their chief," replied Burnet. "He's got stuff in him, andhe's going to be very useful. By George! I'm dead tired."