The British And Egyptian Army Lay Along The Low Ridge In The Form Of
A Great Bow - The British Brigade On The Left, MacDonald In The Centre,
Maxwell Curving Forward On The Right.
The whole crest of the swell of
ground was crowned with a bristle of bayonets and the tiny figures of
thousands of men sitting or lying down and gazing curiously before them.
Behind them, in a solid square, was the transport, guarded by Lewis's
brigade.
The leading squadrons of the cavalry were forming leisurely
towards the left flank. The four batteries and a rocket detachment,
moving between the infantry, ranged themselves on two convenient
positions about a hundred yards in front of the line of battalions.
All was ready. Yet everything was very quiet, and in the stillness
of the dawn it almost seemed that Nature held her breath.
Half a mile away, at the foot of the ridge, a long irregular black line
of thorn bushes enclosed the Dervish defences. Behind this zeriba low
palisades and entrenchments bent back to the scrub by the river.
Odd shapeless mounds indicated the positions of the gun-emplacements,
and various casemates could be seen in the middle of the enclosure.
Without, the bushes had been cleared away, and the smooth sand stretched
in a gentle slope to where the army waited. Within were crowds of little
straw huts and scattered bushes, growing thicker to the southward.
From among this rose the palm-trees, between whose stems the dry bed of
the Atbara was exposed, and a single pool of water gleamed in the early
sunlight. Such was Mahmud's famous zeriba, which for more than a month had
been the predominant thought in the minds of the troops. It was scarcely
imposing, and at first the soldiers thought it deserted. Only a dozen stray
horsemen sat silently on their horses outside the entrenchment, watching
their enemies, and inside a few dirty-white figures appeared and
disappeared behind the parapets. Yet, insignificant as the zeriba looked,
the smoke of many fires cooking the morning meal - never to be eaten - showed
that it was occupied by men; and gay banners of varied colour and device,
flaunting along the entrenchments or within the enclosure, declared that
some at least were prepared to die in its defence.
The hush of the hour and the suspense of the army were broken by the bang
of a gun. Everyone on the ridge jumped up and looked towards the sound.
A battery of Krupps a little to the right of the Cameron Highlanders had
opened fire. Another gun further to the right was fired. Another shell
burst over the straw huts among the palm-trees. The two Maxim-Nordenfeldt
batteries had come into action. The officers looked at their watches.
It was a quarter-past six. The bombardment had begun.
Explosion followed explosion in quick succession until all four batteries
were busily engaged. The cannonade grew loud and continuous. The rocket
detachment began to fire, and the strange projectiles hissed and screamed
as they left the troughs and jerked erratically towards the zeriba.
In the air above the enclosure shell after shell flashed into existence,
smote the ground with its leaden shower, and dispersed - a mere film -
into the haze and smoke which still hung over the Dervish encampment.
At the very first shot all the dirty-white figures disappeared, bobbing
down into their pits and shelters; but a few solitary horsemen remained
motionless for a while in the middle of the enclosure, watching the effect
of the fire, as if it had no concern with them. The British infantry stood
up on tip-toe to look at the wonderful spectacle of actual war,
and at first every shell was eagerly scrutinised and its probable effect
discussed. But the busy gunners multiplied the projectiles until so many
were alive in the air at once that all criticism was prevented. Gradually
even the strange sight became monotonous. The officers shut up their
glasses. The men began to sit down again. Many of them actually went
to sleep. The rest were soon tired of the amazing scene, the like of which
they had never looked on before, and awaited impatiently further
developments and 'some new thing.'
After the bombardment had lasted about ten minutes a great cloud of dust
sprang up in the zeriba, and hundreds of horsemen were seen scrambling into
their saddles and galloping through a gap in the rear face out into the
open sand to the right. To meet the possibility of an attempt to turn the
left flank of the attack, the eight squadrons of cavalry and two Maxim guns
jingled and clattered off in the direction of the danger. The dust,
which the swift passage of so many horsemen raised, shut the scene from the
eyes of the infantry, but continual dust-clouds above the scrub to the left
and the noise of the Maxims seemed to indicate a cavalry fight. The Baggara
horse, however, declined an unequal combat, and made no serious attempt to
interfere with the attack. Twice they showed some sort of front, and the
squadrons thought they might find opportunity to charge; but a few rounds
from the Maxims effectually checked the enemy, inflicting on each occasion
the loss of about twenty killed and wounded. With the exception of one
squadron detached on the right, the Egyptian cavalry force, however,
remained on the left flank, and shielded the operations of the
assaulting infantry.
Meanwhile the bombardment - no longer watched with curiosity - continued with
accuracy and precision. The batteries searched the interior of the zeriba,
threshing out one section after another, and working the whole ground
regularly from front to rear. The zeriba and palisades were knocked about
in many places, and at a quarter to seven a cluster of straw huts caught
fire and began to burn briskly. At a quarter-past seven the infantry were
ordered to form in column for assault.
The plan of the attack for the army was simple.
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