From then onwards Sir Redvers Buller was massing
his troops at Chieveley in preparation for a great effort to cross
the river and to relieve Ladysmith, the guns of which, calling from
behind the line of northern hills, told their constant tale of
restless attack and stubborn defence.
But the task was as severe a one as the most fighting General could
ask for. On the southern side the banks formed a long slope which
could be shaved as with a razor by the rifle fire of the enemy. How
to advance across that broad open zone was indeed a problem. It was
one of many occasions in this war in which one wondered why, if a
bullet-proof shield capable of sheltering a lying man could be
constructed, a trial should not be given to it. Alternate rushes of
companies with a safe rest after each rush would save the troops
from the continued tension of that deadly never ending fire.
However, it is idle to discuss what might have been done to
mitigate their trials. The open ground had to be passed, and then
they came to - not the enemy, but a broad and deep river, with a
single bridge, probably undermined, and a single ford, which was
found not to exist in practice. Beyond the river was tier after
tier of hills, crowned with stone walls and seamed with trenches,
defended by thousands of the best marksmen in the world, supported
by an admirable artillery.
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