CHAPTER IV

THE ENEMY’S ADVANCE IN THE AREA OF THE NORTHERN RAILWAY

AFTER the trains had left Lembeni I handed over the command of all the troops on the Northern Railway to Major Kraut. An independent administrative service was also organized for them. Our railway journey to Korogwe proved to us once more how closely the German population of the Northern Territories were knit to the Force, and how they appreciated its work. At every station the people had assembled, sometimes from great distances; every one of them knew that our departure from the Northern Territories was final, and that they would fall into the enemy’s hands. In spite of this, their spirit was gallant. A large part of the few remaining European provisions was brought to us. The widow of the former Line-Commandant Kroeber, who had recently been buried at Buiko, insisted on offering us the last bottles of the stock in her cellar.

Major Kraut and Captain Schoenfeld accompanied me to Buiko, from where we were able to view several portions of the ground which I thought might become of importance in our future operations. These gentlemen remained there in order to make more detailed personal reconnaissances. From Korogwe our cars rapidly took us to Handeni, the head of the light railway that had been laid from Mombo. On the way we caught up our mounted companies, and the exclamation of the Civil Administrator of Handeni: “Why, that’s the notorious poacher of Booyen,” showed me once more that there were among our mounted troops men accustomed to danger and sport, on whom I could rely in the troubles that were to come. Handeni was the first collecting station for the stores withdrawn from the north; Major von Stuemer, who had left his former post at Bukoba in order to take charge of this line of communication, which was for the moment the most important one, complained not a little of the way in which the troops marching through had interfered with the further dispatch of the stores. At Handeni, the seat of the Civil Administration, where the supply routes from Morogoro, Korogwe and Kondoa-Irangi met at the rail-head of the Mombo-Handeni line, the war had called into being a European settlement that had almost the appearance of a town. Lieutenant Horn, of the Navy, had built cottages in the Norwegian style, which were quite charming to look at, although at the moment the rain was rather against them. The interiors, consisting for the most part of three rooms, were comfortably arranged for the accommodation of Europeans. What was unpleasant was the enormous number of rats, which often ran about on one when trying to sleep at night. Captain von Kaltenborn, who had arrived in the second store-ship which put into Ssudi Bay, reported himself to me here, and was able to supplement the home news he had already transmitted in writing by verbal accounts.

Proceeding the next day by car, we caught up a number of our detachments on the march, and were able to remove at least some of the various causes of friction between them. Telephonic communication was rarely possible on account of earths caused by the heavy rain, and breakages caused by columns of carriers, wagons and giraffes. It was all the more important for me to traverse this area of breakdowns, which cut me off from the troops and prevented my receiving reports as quickly as possible. But that became increasingly difficult.

The rain came down harder and harder, and the roads became deeper and deeper. At first there were only a few bad places, and twenty or more carriers managed to get us through them by pulling and pushing. The _niempara_ (headmen of carriers) went ahead, dancing and singing. The whole crowd joined in with “_Amsigo_,” and “_Kabubi_, _kabubi_,” and to the rhythm of these chants the work went on cheerily, and at first easily enough. But on passing through Tulieni we found that the rains had so swollen an otherwise quite shallow river, that during the morning its torrential waters had completely carried away the wagon bridge. We felled one of the big trees on the bank, but it was not tall enough for its branches to form a firm holdfast on the far side. It was three feet thick, but was carried away like a match. The Adjutant, Lieutenant Mueller, tried to swim across, but was also swept away, and landed again on the near bank. Now Captain Tafel tried, who had recovered from his severe wound, and was now in charge of the operations section at Headquarters. He reached the far side, and a few natives who were good swimmers also succeeded in doing so. But we could not manage to get a line across by swimming, and so there we were, Captain Tafel without any clothes on the far side, and we on this one. The prospect of having to wait for the river to fall was not enticing, for I could not afford to waste one minute in reaching the head of the marching troops. At last, late in the afternoon, a native said he knew of a ford a little lower down. Even there it was not altogether a simple matter to wade across, and took at least three-quarters of an hour; we had to follow our guide carefully by a very devious route, and work cautiously on from one shallow to the next. The water reached our shoulders, and the current was so strong that we needed all our strength to avoid falling. At last, in the dark, and with our clothes thoroughly wet, we reached the far side, where we were met by three mules and an escort of Askari sent back by a detachment which we had luckily been able to reach by telephone.

We continued our journey the whole night through in pouring rain, and had several times to ride for hours at a time with the water up to our saddles, or to wade with it up to our necks; but at last, still in the night, we reached the great bridge over the Wami, which had been put up during the war. That, too, was almost entirely carried away, but part was left, so that we were able to clamber across and reach the light railway leading to Kimamba Station. This line, like that from Mombo to Handeni, had been constructed during the war and was worked by man-power. In their endeavour to do the job really well, the good people took several curves rather too fast, and the trucks, with everything on them—including us—repeatedly flew off into the ditch alongside, or beyond it. At any rate, we had had enough and to spare of this journey by water by the time we arrived in the early morning at Kimamba. Vice-Sergeant-Major[4] Rehfeld, who was stationed there and had been called to the Colours, received us most kindly. As there was a clothing depot at Kimamba, we were, at any rate, able to obtain Askari clothing to change into. When the remainder of Headquarters would turn up with our kits it was, of course, impossible to say.

After discussing the situation with the Governor, who had come to Kimamba for the purpose, I went next day to Dodoma. On the Central Railway, quick working under war conditions, which in the north had become everyone’s second nature, had hardly been heard of. Captain von Kornatzky’s detachment, which had arrived at Dodoma shortly before us, had some difficulty in obtaining supplies, although Dodoma was on the railway, and could be supplied quickly. I got in touch by telephone with Captain Klinghardt, who had occupied the heights of Burungi, one day’s march south of Kondoa-Irangi, and on the next morning, with a few officers of Headquarters, I rode off to see him. The road lay through uninhabited bush-desert; it had been made during the war, its trace was governed by the need for easy construction, and it touched settlements but seldom. The Ugogo country is distinguished for its great wealth of cattle. The inhabitants belong to the nomad tribes, who copy the customs of the Masai, and are, therefore, often called Masai-apes. We met many ox-wagons in which German and Boer farmers, with their families, were driving from the country around Meru Mountain to Kondoa. It was a scene, so well known in South-West Africa, of comfortable “trekking,” in these vehicles so eminently suited to the conditions of the veld.

The supply service of Klinghardt’s Detachment was not yet in working order; we camped that night in the first of the small posts on the line of communication. It was evident that the work of transport and supply would have to be greatly increased if it was to maintain the large number of troops now being pushed forward in the direction of Kondoa-Irangi. There was another difficulty: up to date the various Field Intendants had not been physically equal to the enormous demands which the whole field of the work of maintenance made upon the head of the service. Captain Schmid, of the Landwehr, had very soon been succeeded by Captain Feilke, of the Landwehr, he again by Captain Freiherr von Ledebur, of the Reserve, and this officer by Captain Richter, retired, an elderly gentleman. The latter, unfortunately, had just now, at the commencement of an important fresh operation, reached the limit of his strength. Major Stuemer, retired, who had been working on the line of communication at Handeni, had been obliged to take over his duties, but had not yet had time to become thoroughly at home in them.

By the evening of the following day we had completed our journey of four marches, and reached Captain Klinghardt at the Burungi Mountains. The detachments coming from the country of the Northern Railway were following on behind us, and some days were bound to elapse before they would all have arrived; so we had the opportunity of making extensive reconnaissances. Here we had the great good fortune to make the acquaintance of a perfectly new and excellent map. The District Commissioner of Kondoa-Irangi had, when leaving his district, given it with other things to a _yumbe_ (chief), who lived on the Burungi Mountains, to take care of. It was in his possession that we found this valuable property, the secrecy of which had thus remained intact.

Patrols of mounted English Europeans often came near our positions, and it was known that stronger mounted forces were behind them. But where they were was not known. Some reports stated that they were in Kondoa-Irangi; others said south of that place, and others again placed them on the road leading from Kondoa-Irangi to Saranda. An important factor was that there were considerable native plantations at Burungi, so that supplies were plentiful. It was, therefore, not necessary to wait until the transport of supplies from Dodoma was in full swing. The troops were more independent of the line of communication than hitherto, and could draw the bulk of their subsistence from the country. As soon as the rear detachments had closed up the advance on Kondoa was started. South of that place we met only fairly strong mounted protective detachments, who were quickly driven back, and at the beginning of May, without any serious fighting, we obtained possession of the great heights which lie four miles in front of Kondoa village.

We had brought with us two naval guns, one 3·5-inch and one 4-inch, on travelling carriages, and at once got them into action. From our dominating position they bombarded, apparently with good effect, the enemy’s camps south of Kondoa. The tents were at once struck. We could see the enemy hard at work entrenching his positions, and his vehicles hurrying away towards Kondoa. Several patrol encounters went in our favour, and small hostile posts, that had been left out in various places, were quickly driven in. From the south—that is, from behind us—we saw a mounted patrol riding towards our positions. As our mounted patrols were also out, I thought at first that they were Germans. But soon the regular carriage of their carbines in the buckets proved that they were English. They evidently had no idea of our presence. They were allowed to approach quite close, and at the short range they lost about half their number. From what we had hitherto observed, it seemed probable that the enemy in our front was evacuating his positions. On the 9th May, 1916, I decided, if this expectation proved correct, immediately to take possession of the low hills now held by the enemy. The conditions did not favour an attack, as our advance was sure to be observed, and a surprise assault was out of the question. But without surprise the attempt to capture the occupied position by assault had no hope of success; the enemy was sufficiently entrenched on the small hills, and the latter completely commanded the ground over which the attack would have to be pushed home, and which could only be traversed slowly owing to the low thorn-bush and the numerous rocks.

I was with the companies that were following the advanced patrols; the latter reported, shortly before dark, that the hills were unoccupied. So our companies proceeded, and the commanders ordered up the baggage in order to settle down for the night. I myself went to the Headquarters Camp, which had remained on the big hills a little further back. I tried to relieve my great exhaustion with a cup of coffee and a little rum; but, knowing that I had no more orders to issue, I soon fell fast asleep. Next to my sleeping place was the 3·5-inch gun. Towards eleven p.m. I was awakened by remarks made by Lieutenant Wunderlich, of the Navy, who was in command of the gun; he could not make out the frequent flashes he saw in the direction of the enemy. Neither, at first, was I quite certain about them. But soon there could be no doubt that these flashes, which became more and more frequent, were caused by rifles and machine guns. When the wind shifted the sound of the fighting became clearly audible. Contrary to all our expectations, therefore, a stiff fight was taking place in our front, but owing to the great distance, and the bushy and rocky country that would have to be traversed, I did not think I could engage the reserves I still had in hand with any prospect of success. It would take hours to obtain even the very roughest idea of the situation, and the moon would be up for barely an hour more. For well or ill, therefore, I had to leave the fight in front to take its course.

Our companies had, indeed, found the high ground, which had been examined by the patrols, to be clear of the enemy; but immediately in rear of it was another rise, and on this was the enemy, in an entrenched position, which our companies ran up against. In the close country and the darkness no general survey of the situation was possible, and connection between the various units was lost. Our Askari established themselves in front of the enemy, and Captain Lincke, who had assumed command after Lieutenant-Colonel von Bock had been severely wounded and Captain von Kornatzky had been killed, came to the conclusion that, although he could remain where he was, he would, after daybreak, be obliged to abandon all hope of being able to move, on account of the dominating fire of the enemy. As, therefore, no success appeared attainable, he cautiously broke off the action while it was still dark, and fell back on the position he had started from. The enemy, consisting mainly of the 11th South African Infantry Regiment, had fought well, and had repeatedly brought effective machine-gun fire to bear on our companies. Considering the small number of rifles that actually took part in the fight—about four hundred—our casualties, amounting to about fifty killed and wounded, must be considered heavy.

During the following days we also proceeded to take possession of the high hills lying further to the eastward, and drove off the mounted detachments working in the foreground, inflicting quite unpleasant casualties on them. It happened several times that out of parties of about twenty men, none, or only a few, got away, and in the foreground also a whole series of encounters ended in our favour. The heights held by us afforded an extensive view, and with good glasses we several times observed columns of hostile troops and wagons approaching Kondoa from the north, and then turning east and disappearing into the mountains. Our patrols, whom we sent far away to the enemy’s rear, reported considerable bodies marching from about Arusha in the direction of Kondoa-Irangi.

The English had at once taken over the civil administration at Kondoa, and had cleverly ordered the _yumbi_ (chiefs) to come to that place and given them instructions. Among other things, they imposed on them the duty of reporting the movements of German troops. It was, therefore, often advantageous for our patrols to pretend to be English while in enemy country. The differences in uniform were not great, and the prolonged period of active service had further diminished them; uniform coats were often not worn at all, but only blouse-like shirts, and the little cloth badges which the English wore on their sun-helmets were not conspicuous. The difference in armament had often disappeared, as some of the Germans carried English rifles.

On the whole, the enemy in Kondoa did not seem to be in great strength as yet; but, even if successful, our attack would have to be made over open ground against defences which with our few guns we could not sufficiently neutralize. The certainty of suffering considerable and irreplaceable losses decided me to refrain from a general attack, and instead to damage the enemy by continuing the minor enterprises, which had hitherto proved so advantageous. Our artillery—the two mountain guns and two field howitzers, which had come out in the second store-ship, had also arrived—fired upon such favourable targets as presented themselves. The buildings of Kondoa-Irangi, where General van Deventer had arrived, were also fired at occasionally by our four-inch gun. To the west of our main force, on the Saranda-Kondoa-Irangi road, our newly-raised 2nd Rifle Company had had several successful engagements with portions of the 4th South African Horse, and had gradually forced them back to the neighbourhood of Kondoa-Irangi.

The enemy now grew continually stronger. Early in June he also shelled us at long range, about thirteen thousand yards, with heavy guns of about four-inch and five-inch calibre. His observation and fire-control were worthy of all respect; anyhow, on the 13th June his shell soon fell with great accuracy in our Headquarters camp. I stopped my work which I had commenced under cover of a grass roof, and took cover a little to one side behind a slab of rock. No sooner had the orderly officer, Lieutenant Boell, also reached the spot, than a shell burst close above us, wounded Lieutenant Boell severely in the thigh, and myself and a few other Europeans slightly. Otherwise the fire of the enemy’s artillery did us hardly any material damage, but it was a nuisance, all the same, to have his heavy shell pitching into our camp every now and then.

We dispensed with the heavy work which the provision of good protection against fire would have entailed, as the whole strength of our people was required for patrols and outposts, and for collecting supplies. As far as the eye could reach, the whole country was covered by native cultivation. The principal crop—which formed the main supply of the troops—was _mtema_, a kind of millet, which was just ripening. Most of the natives had run away; the supplies from Dodoma had been unable to keep up with us, and so our subsistence depended almost entirely on the stuff which the foraging-parties of the companies were able to bring in. In the hot sun the sheaves quickly dried on the rocks. All the companies were busy making flour, either by grinding the threshed grain between stones, or by stamping it into meal with poles in vessels of hard wood, called _kinos_. The Europeans at that time could still get wheat flour, which came up on the line of communication. The bread we made before Kondoa out of a mixture of wheat flour and native flour was of really excellent quality. Besides _mtema_ and other grains there were also sugar-cane, _muhogo_ (a plant with a pleasant-tasting, edible root), yams, various kinds of peas, and other native produce, besides sufficient cattle. In this extremely rich Kondoa country the troops could obtain a variety of food in abundance.

The enemy’s extension from Kondoa to the east drew our attention also to this hitherto little-known country. Captain Schulz was sent there with several companies, and found it to be an extraordinarily difficult and densely-wooded mountain district, interspersed with settlements of great fertility. A whole series of actions, in which one or more of our companies were engaged, and which resulted in severe loss to the enemy, now took place in this district. A strong hostile force tried to penetrate between the companies of Schulz’s Detachment and ourselves, probably with the intention of cutting off the detachment. But this attempt failed completely. Our troops pressed forward against this force from both sides and repulsed it. The old _Effendi_ (native officer), Yuma Mursal, acted with great skill on this occasion; he lay in ambush at a water-place, and fired at the English, who came there for water, with good effect; according to his observation, six of them were killed. During this period of fighting at Kondoa-Irangi the enemy’s battle casualties gradually mounted up to a considerable figure. If we add to them his losses by sickness, due to the youth of his white troops, who were not used to the Tropics, and were extraordinarily careless about precautions against tropical diseases, the total losses incurred by him during the Kondoa-Irangi period can hardly have been less than one thousand Europeans.