The Italian Flag Was Lowered, And With
A Salute Of Twenty-One Guns The Retrocession Of Kassala Was Complete.
Here, then, for a year we leave Colonel Parsons and his small force
to swelter in the mud fort, to carry on a partisan warfare with the Dervish
raiders, to look longingly towards Gedaref, and to nurse the hope that when
Omdurman has fallen their opportunity will come.
The reader, like the
Sirdar, must return in a hurry to the Upper Nile.
Towards the end of November the Khalifa had begun to realise
that the Turks did not mean to advance any further till the next flood
of the river. He perceived that the troops remained near Berber, and that
the railway was only a little way south of Abu Hamed. The blow still
impended, but it was delayed. As soon as he had come to this conclusion,
he no longer turned a deaf ear to Mahmud's solicitations. He knew that the
falling Nile would restrict the movements of the gunboats. He knew that
there were only 2,000 men in Berber - a mere handful. He did not realise
the tremendous power of rapid concentration which the railway had given
his enemies; and he began to think of offensive operations. But Mahmud
should not go alone. The whole strength of the Dervish army should be
exerted to drive back the invaders. All the troops in Omdurman were ordered
north. A great camp was again formed near Kerreri. Thousands of camels were
collected, and once more every preparation was made for a general advance.
At the beginning of December he sent his own secretary to Mahmud to explain
the plan, and to assure him of early reinforcements and supplies. Lastly,
Abdullah preached a new Jehad, and it is remarkable that, while all former
exhortations had been directed against 'the infidel' - i.e., those who did
not believe in the Mahdi - his letters and sermons on this occasion summoned
the tribes to destroy not the Egyptians but the Christians. The Khalifa had
no doubts as to who inspired the movement which threatened him. There were
at this time scarcely 150 Europeans in the Soudan; but they had made
their presence felt.
The Sirdar was returning from Kassala when the rumours of an intended
Dervish advance began to grow. Every scrap of information was assiduously
collected by the Intelligence Department, but it was not until the 18th of
December, just as he reached Wady Halfa, that the General received
apparently certain news that the Khalifa, Mahmud, all the Emirs, and the
whole army were about to march north. There can be no doubt that even this
tardy movement of the enemy seriously threatened the success of the
operations. If the Dervishes moved swiftly, it looked as if a very critical
engagement would have to be fought to avoid a damaging retreat. Sir H.
Kitchener's reply to the Khalifa's open intent was to order a general
concentration of the available Egyptian army towards Berber, to telegraph
to Lord Cromer asking for a British brigade, and to close
the Suakin-Berber route.
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