CHAPTER III

RETREAT BEFORE OVERWHELMING HOSTILE PRESSURE

IN our rear, Major Fischer, who with five companies had been employed between Kilima Njaro and Meru, had evaded the enemy’s superior forces by moving on New Moshi, and had been ordered up to Kahe. Captain Rothert, who had been acting under his orders with his company and the Arusha Detachment (strength about one company), had been energetically pursued by the enemy, and had made his way by Arusha towards Kondoa-Irangi. We could only expect to get into touch with him by the wire which had been put up from Dodome, by Kondoa-Irangi to Umbulu, and that only after a considerable time. By abandoning New Moshi we, of necessity, left the road Taveta-New Moshi-Arusha open to the enemy. The latter was thus also enabled to penetrate into the interior of the Colony with his troops from Taveta by Arusha and Kondoa-Irangi, and to act there against our communication at an extremely dangerous point. From our troops concentrated in the neighbourhood of Kahe and New Steglitz he had not much to fear during this operation. Although we had brought up all our companies from Tanga, leaving there only the troops absolutely indispensable for security, all we could do with our four thousand rifles was to let the enemy run up against us on suitable ground, and, possibly, to take advantage of any mistakes he might make by skilful and rapid action; but the odds against us being seven to one we could attempt no more. From an attack on an enemy superior not only in numbers, but also in equipment, and holding fortified positions into the bargain, I could not possibly hope for success. I could not, therefore, accede to the requests of my company commanders that we should attack, but this expression of a bold soldierly spirit gave me strength and hope in the serious situation in which we were placed. Minor enterprises, undertaken against the enemy’s camps by patrols and small detachments, produced no results of consequence; but they may have helped to make the enemy’s main force take some notice of us instead of simply marching on past us. He certainly did push on to the west from Himo, and heavy clouds of dust were seen moving to New Moshi and further on to the west. But a large part of the enemy coming from Himo turned in our direction. For the commander such situations are extraordinarily trying; he is not master of the situation, and must, of necessity, renounce the initiative. Only the most careful reconnaissance may perhaps reveal some weakness of the opponent, and in order to utilize this weakness and regain the initiative, not a moment must be lost. Fortunately, however, the enemy did expose weak points of which we were able to take at least partial advantage.

Owing to the dense bush and high forest in which our camps were hidden, aerial reconnaissance can hardly have been any use to the enemy. The bombs dropped by the enemy caused only a few casualties at Kahe, and did not interfere with us in getting away our stores through that place. In order to draw our fire, the well-known English horsemen appeared once more north-west of New Steglitz in a widely-extended skirmishing line. In front of them, hidden in the bush, were our companies, ready to take hold immediately larger bodies should appear. A counter-attack of this description was made late in the afternoon on the 15th March, and with fair success. In order to become thoroughly acquainted with the ground, European patrols were constantly moving about, and I also made use of every available minute. Through the bush we cut and marked tracks. By this means we could clearly indicate any point to which a detachment was required to go.

On the main road leading from Himo to Kahe a strong hostile force had also appeared and pushed close up to the front of Stemmermann’s Detachment, which occupied a fortified position on this road at Kahe, facing north. With considerable skill patrols worked close up to the detachment, and so concealed the movements of the enemy. When I arrived there in the afternoon of the 20th March, it was not at all clear what was really going on in front. It was quite possible that the enemy was merely making a demonstration in order to attack at some other, more dangerous, spot. Such a manœuvre would have been very menacing to us, as the close nature of the bush country would prevent us from detecting it until very late, probably too late. I decided to drive the enemy’s screen back on his position proper. Earlier in the day it had been given out that the companies were to move off to their former positions at one a.m.; the machine guns were left in our entrenchments so as not to lose them, and as a measure of protection. It was bright moonlight when the leading company was fired on, apparently by a hostile outpost, or patrol, which moved off. After that we encountered several patrols, but then, about three miles north of our own trenches, we came upon a stronger opponent with machine guns. The very severe action which now developed proved that we had come up against the enemy’s main position; to assault it seemed hopeless. Leaving patrols out, I withdrew step by step. Our casualties were not inconsiderable, and unfortunately included three company commanders, who were difficult to replace; of the three, Lieutenant von Stosch and Freiherr Grote died of their wounds a few days later, while Captain Augar only became fit for duty again after a long time and when provided with an artificial foot.

Our withdrawal, which the enemy probably took to be involuntary, apparently led him to believe that he would be able to rout us next day by a vigorous attack. The attacks made by powerful hostile forces on the front of Stemmermann’s Detachment at Kahe on the 21st March were unsuccessful; the enemy, composed mainly of South African infantry, was beaten off with heavy loss. Our four-inch _Königsberg_ gun, directed from elevated sites affording a good view, fired on the approaching enemy, apparently with good effect. It may be assumed that part of their severe casualties, which the English stated to have amounted on this day to several hundred among the South African Europeans alone, were caused by this gun. The enemy realized that he could not advance over the field of fire extending for five hundred yards in front of our trenches with any hope of success, and endeavoured to envelop our right flank. But having previously reconnoitred and determined tracks, we were also well prepared to execute a counter-attack, and in the afternoon Schulz’s Detachment effectively struck at the enemy’s flank. The last part of Schulz’s advance had, indeed, been very arduous owing to the thick bush. The Askari could only work through it step by step, when they suddenly heard the enemy’s machine guns at work only a few paces in front of them.

Unfortunately, however, this counter-attack was not completed owing to the events which occurred in the meantime on our left. The activity displayed by patrols during the preceding days, and the clouds of dust, had shown that strong detachments of the enemy’s horse, coming from near New Moshi and keeping to westward of the Kahe-New Moshi railway, were trying to work round our front, which faced north, and of which the left wing was at Kahe Station. The continuation of this movement would have brought them on to the railway in our rear, and cut us from our communications while we were engaged with a superior opponent with our front to the north. I had, therefore, posted a strong reserve of eight companies in readiness at Kahe Station. But as I thought it necessary during the action to remain at Kahe village, near Stemmermann’s Detachment, I was unable to exercise rapid and direct control over the reserves at Kahe. The dense vegetation prevented any distant observation. The control of the reserve at Kahe had to be left to the initiative of the commander on the spot and his subordinates. The latter had observed that hostile troops had advanced through the bush and occupied a hill south-west of Kahe Railway Station. One company had, on its own initiative, attacked this force, but the advance had broken down under shrapnel fire. Thereupon our four-inch gun opened fire on these light guns and drove them off.

Late in the afternoon I received an urgent message that strong forces of the enemy were advancing in our rear towards the railway at Kissangire, and that the event we feared had actually occurred. I was, therefore, compelled to issue orders for an immediate withdrawal towards Kissangire. The enemy could not yet have reached there in strength, and I hoped to defeat him there by rapidly throwing all my forces against him. Thus it happened that Captain Schulz’s well-directed counter-attack could not be carried through, or produce its full effect. The transfer by night of our force across the Pangani, which was close behind us, and over which we had previously made a number of bridges and crossings, was effected smoothly and without interference. Even on the following day the patrols we had left behind found its north bank clear of the enemy. Our good four-inch gun, which we could not take away owing to its lack of mobility, was blown up. After midnight, that is, quite early on the 22nd March, I arrived at Kissangire Station, and discovered to my very great astonishment that all the reports about strong hostile forces moving on that place were erroneous, and that our withdrawal had therefore been unnecessary. This incident afforded me a remarkably striking proof of the extraordinary difficulty of observing the movements of troops in thick bush, and of the great care every commander must exercise in estimating the value of such reports. But it also demonstrates how difficult it is for any commander to combine his own powers of reasoning and his judgment of the situation with the constantly conflicting reports, both of Askari and Europeans, in order to base his decision on a foundation that even approximately resembles the reality. In the African bush it is particularly important, whenever possible, to supplement the reports one receives by personal observation.

However, our withdrawal could not now be altered, and the most important thing was to re-group our forces. In this operation the decisive factor was water-supply. This, and the necessity for distribution in depth, caused me to leave only a detachment of a few companies on the high ground at Kissangire, from where it observed the seven and a half miles of waterless thorn desert extending to the Pangani. To the east of this detachment at Kissangire, under Major von Boehmken, was Otto’s detachment, pushed up on to the North Pare Mountains in order to close the passes leading over them. Major Kraut took up a position on Ngulu Pass, between the North Pare and Middle Pare ranges. The main body of the force settled down in several fortified camps in the fertile Lembeni country.

In spite of the various withdrawals we had recently carried out, the spirit of the troops was good, and the Askaris were imbued with a justifiable pride in their achievements against an enemy so greatly superior. Only a very few individuals deserted, and they were almost without exception men whose cattle was in the territory now occupied by the enemy, and who were therefore afraid of losing their property.

Almost the entire German civil population had left the Kilima Njaro country; most of them had moved to Usambara into the Wilhelmstal district. The Arusha country had also been evacuated, and the farmers had moved off by ox-wagon by Kondoa-Irangi to Dodoma. The numerous Greeks had for the most part remained on their coffee-plantations on Kilima Njaro, and the Boers of British nationality had stayed in their cattle farms, which extended from the north-west slopes of Kilima Njaro northwards round Meru Mountain and along the western slopes of the latter to the vicinity of Arusha. At Lembeni the regular course of existence had not been interrupted; supply trains rolled right up to the station; the companies which were not in the front line worked diligently at their training, and Headquarters continued its work in the railway station buildings of Lembeni just as it had done previously at Moshi. Airmen appeared and dropped bombs, just as before.

The country was carefully prepared to meet various possible battle conditions, passages were cut through the dense rhinoceros bush, and a field of fire cleared where necessary. Personal reconnaissance took up much of my time, and often led me to the companies encamped in the thick bush and on the dominating heights. The troops had already developed to a tolerable degree in adaptability, and in the art of making the material side of their existence as comfortable as possible. I remember with pleasure the occasions when, in a comfortably arranged grass hut, I was offered a cup of coffee with beautiful rich milk, prepared from the ground-down kernel of a ripe cocoanut. The North Pare Mountains also were frequently the goal of my expeditions. Up there I found a rich and well-watered area of primeval forest, through which it was hardly possible to penetrate off the roads. The water-supply of the country proved to be far more plentiful than the results of former surveys had led us to expect; in this respect also it was shown how the necessities of war cause the resources of a country to be opened up, and utilized to an extent greatly exceeding previous estimates. The natives of North Pare are, like those of Kilima Njaro, masters in the art of irrigating their fields by means of the water coming down from the mountains.

On the 4th April, one of my reconnaissances took me to Otto’s Detachment on the Pare Mountains. From the north-west corner one had a clear view of the enemy’s camp, lying down below at Kahe Station. The obvious idea of bombarding it with one of our long-range guns—in the meantime we had brought to Lembeni one 4-inch _Königsberg_ gun on wheels, and one 3·5-inch gun mounted on a ’73 pattern carriage—could unfortunately not be carried out. With rather too much zeal the troops had thoroughly destroyed the permanent way of the line between Lembeni and Kahe. With the means at our disposal it could not be made sufficiently fit for traffic to enable us to move one of our guns up and down on it with rapidity. All our observations and reports agreed that the enemy, who had formerly often sent patrols and even stronger forces to the south of Jipe Lake, no longer displayed any interest in that district. He had in any case moved his principal forces towards Kahe and also beyond New Moshi westward towards Arusha.

After passing a cold night on the damp height at North Pare I descended to Lembeni on the 5th April. Here I found a report that on the previous day Captain Rothert, who was encamped with the 28th Company beside the Lolkisale, a high mountain in the Masai desert, two days’ march south-west of Arusha, had been attacked by superior forces. The heliograph communication with Lolkisale from the south-west had then been interrupted. It was not till later that the following facts became known. Several mounted companies of the enemy, coming across the desert from Arusha, had attacked the 28th Company, who were in position on the mountain, from several directions. As our people were in possession of the water they could well sustain the fight against the enemy, who had none. On the second day of the action the situation became critical for the enemy, because of this very absence of water. Unfortunately, however, after Captain Rothert was severely wounded, this circumstance was not properly appreciated on our side. The situation was thought to be so hopeless that the company surrendered with its machine guns and ammunition. On this occasion also some of the Askari gave evidence of sound military education by refusing to join in the surrender. They, together with the wounded, rejoined our forces near Ufiome, without being interfered with by the enemy. There they met a new rifle company and the Arusha Detachment, of which the former had arrived from the Central Railway, the latter from the direction of Arusha.

The road to Kondoa-Irangi and the interior of the Colony was now hardly closed to the enemy coming from Arusha. There were three companies in the neighbourhood of Lake Kivu, in the north-west corner of the Colony, under Captain Klinghardt, retired, who had done so well in the actions at Kissenyi; they were moved by march route and on Tanganyika steamer to Kigoma, and from there by rail to Saranda. From there again they marched up towards Kondoa-Irangi. Captain Klinghardt was also given command of the troops already north of Kondoa-Irangi (about two companies) and of another company that came by rail from Dar-es-Salaam. These movements would take a long time. Consequently, the good and well-tried 13th Company, whose peace-station had been Kondoa-Irangi, was at once brought by rail to near Buiko, whence it marched through the Masai desert to Kondoa-Irangi. The march through this waterless and little-known country had to be undertaken before the completion of the reconnaissances, which were in progress; and to do so with what was, according to African ideas, the large force of one company with carriers, in the dry season, and before the heavy rains had set in, involved some risk.

But this risk had to be run; for the force facing us at Kahe, after its reconnoitring parties had been several times repulsed, was showing no signs of advancing against us. At the time, therefore, the enemy was evidently directing his principal effort towards Kondoa-Irangi. As, for the reasons already set forth, it appeared unsound for us to attack from Lembeni towards Kahe, I decided merely to occupy the enemy station in the Kilima Njaro country, and to direct my main force against the hostile group which had meanwhile pushed forward to near Kondoa-Irangi. The execution of this project was not quite easy; much time was needed to cover the distance of 125 miles from the detraining stations on the Northern Railway to the Central Railway on foot, and at any moment a change in the situation might render it necessary for Headquarters immediately to make fresh dispositions. All the troops must therefore be kept within reach. The various detachments could not, as on the march from the Central to the Northern Railway, be set in motion on different and widely-separated roads. The march of our fifteen field and two mounted companies had to be made on one road. The Force was thus confronted with an entirely novel and difficult task. There was no time to lose. The detachments of Captain von Kornatzky, Captain Otto, Lieutenant-Colonel von Bock and Captain Stemmermann, each of four or three companies, were moved by rail at intervals of one day, from Lembeni to Mombo and Korogwe. Thence they marched on to Kimamba (station west of Morogoro) to the Central Railway. Manifold difficulties arose. Hard and fast destinations could not be laid down for the detachments for each day, more especially because heavy rains set in which in places so softened the black soil that the troops could literally hardly get along.

Thus it happened that one detachment made quite short marches, and the one behind got jammed on top of it. This, however, was very inconvenient, and interfered both with the regular service of supply on the line of communication, and with the transport of the company baggage, in which the relay-carriers belonging to the line of communication had to be called in to assist. The companies now began, according to ancient African custom, to help themselves, seized the line of communication carriers, regardless of other orders, and simply kept them. As the whole service on the communications depended upon the regular working of the relay-carriers, it also became seriously dislocated.