The Tides Of War Pt. 12

It was Sultar who suggested letting some of the Ghurkhas cross the river in disguise.

"Due to their size and colouring they may be able to avoid detection," he argued.

Rham, along with three of the original Ghurkhas who had come with David to the Crater were chosen. They had picked up the Matabele and Maasi language, along with some of the local native languages through their close work with them.

Hans was brought in from Nairobi to instruct them in German. After a month he said they were ready, "They're not fluent, but no-one would expect them to be. But they know enough to pass."

Susan mixed up something that darkened their skin even more and David gave them some of the money recovered from the dead Germans during their first encounter with them. He spoke to them as they waited at an outpost to cross.

"Men, I don't want any of you being heroes. Don't carry anything that could cause suspicion if you are stopped and searched. What we need is information on numbers of troops, camp positions and anything else of value."

He watched as they silently slipped away.

They were gone for almost two weeks before they started to reappear at the outposts, shocking the Australian guards by appearing right in front of them without them knowing they were there.

David and Sultar debriefed them back at the house.

Rham began, "I saw a full regiment of white German soldiers made up of four companies on parade. Also ten companies of Askari's and they complain that they have to march ten miles each day, and the distance is increased the next time they march.

The three main camps are near Mamboie, and the fords either side of it at Mamoie and Tambar. Tarbah, found work at the airfield were the aircraft are kept."

Tarbah took up the story, "I worked in the kitchens. There are three aircraft at the base. Each has room in them for two men; in the back is a machine gun and along the sides are racks that hold shells; like our mortars only bigger. The airfield has barbed wire around it and Askari's guard it."

Parah started his report, "The camp I worked at contained artillery, but not big guns. They were small and were carried by two mules. They practice most days at unloading the parts and putting them together and then firing them. A German soldier is in charge of the training for the Askari gunners. I countered six of these guns."

Pamhar started next, "I worked as a mess boy in their headquarters. The General is a big man with spiky hair. But there was an officer who was called Colonel who wore the same uniform as those we killed with the lances. They seem to be waiting for more to arrive, because the Colonel asked if the fodder for the horses was being gathered."

The four men all volunteered to return across the river. Before leaving David asked Tarbah to look for any weakness in the airfields security.

After they had gone David turned to the assembled Officers, "Well gentleman, it seems they mean business this time. Our only defence is to hold them at the river. If their cavalry is allowed to deploy we will be overrun, especially if their aircraft are bombing and machine gunning our positions, along with their artillery."

"If we only knew for certain where they will cross, it would help," Stanley exclaimed.

"My guess is they'll cross using three fords. Mamboie would be the main crossing point. It's the shallowest and firmest, and the most direct route track to Nairobi, but they could cross on either side of that enabling them to swing around and take us from the rear," David murmured.

"The one ace we hold up our sleeve is the three guns we took from them. They could be set up to pound all three crossing points," Stanley added.

David nodded, "The only thing that could hurt us is the aircraft. They need to be put out of commission in order for us to prepare defences without being observed."

"Well," Sultar added, "We can start preparing at the outposts if we do it at night, and camouflage the work during daylight hours. At least we hold the advantage of high ground at those fords. What sort of numbers do you envisage manning them David?"

"With the Australians and Ghurkhas we have about three hundred."

Stanley cut in, "You also have sixty of us."

David smiled, "Three hundred and sixty then. We'll need twelve to man the guns, Lieutenant Norris and his gunners along with some of the home guard can do that; so effectively we can place eighty men at the two fords either side of Mamboie. Leaving 200 to man the main crossing point, we can place two machine guns and two mortars along with four Lewis guns at the two side ford positions. The rest will be at Mamboie. We will need to string wire to connect the gun positions with the outposts for fire support."

'Where will you put the guns?" Stanley asked.

David examined the map, "I think they have an effective range of about three and a half miles," he murmured. He pointed to a spot on the map, "This would be the best position, but its open veldt. There's no cover to hide them and the aircraft would spot them right away."

"We could use nets again to camouflage them," Stanley murmured, "But it will take two or three days to move them there and under cover."

Tartrha spoke, "We need to put their aircraft out of commission for a few days. The Prince's automobile was stuck out at the Fort for a week when sand got into the fuel system. Maybe we can do the same for the aircraft."

David asked Tarbah to come back into the room. Once inside he was asked about the security of the airfield.

"There's twenty Askari who are on guard detail, two man the main gate and five walk around the field by the wire. They change every four hours," Tarbah said.

"What of the aircraft? Are they undercover when on the ground?" Sultar asked.

"No, they are lined up outside. There is a big tent that they put the noses in if the white men have to work on the engines."

David placed a sheet of paper in front of Tarbah and handed him a pencil.

"Can you draw the airfield and where the Askari and white pilots and ground crew live and the other buildings?" David asked.

Tarbah sat down and began to draw.

"The only problem I see with doctoring their engines is they will suspect if all three fail at the same time," David murmured.

"Yes, it would seem fishy. I have to agree," Stanley added.

Bert suddenly smiled, "If we doctored the engines yes, but what if we doctored the pilots?"

The four looked at Bert as they realised what he had said.

"Tarbah," David asked, "Do the pilots eat together at meal times?"

Tarbah looked up from his drawing and frowned, "Only at the last meal of the day; they have the same food as the other white men. The Askari have different food."

David walked out of the room, returning with Susan and Yasmin. The girls were frowning, wondering what they were there for. Stanley and Sultar stood to let them use their chairs.

David began, "Susan, this is very important. But can you think of anything that can be added to food that would incapacitate a man for three or four days; something that would look like food poisoning?"

"Well," she hesitated, "Well yes... there are a number of things that could be used."

"It would have to be reasonably fast working and not detected in food," David added.

Sultar explained their problem regarding the aircraft to the girls.

Susan smiled, "Well I could mix something up, but they will be very poorly boys who would need to be close to the latrines afterwards."

She left with Yasmin as David turned back to Tarbah.

"Do you help serve the food to the whites?"

Tarbah nodded, "The soup and gravy," he replied.

"So would you be able to put something into the soup or gravy without being seen?"

Tarbah nodded happily.

Susan returned an hour later with a small bottle of liquid which she handed to Tarbah with instructions to stir it in well. They instructed him to use it in four days' time at the last meal of the day; giving Stanley time to organise moving the guns. Rham was detailed to keep in touch at the river after Tarbah had administered the potion as to the state of the pilots.

The skies were empty on the fifth day as the guns were moved, at the same time rifle pits were dug at the three crossings, sandbags were filled and soil from the pits taken to the river to be washed away. Each pit was camouflaged afterwards; caves were dug into the reverse side of the flood banks and machineguns and mortars along with ammunition were stored in them. The men worked frantically making use of the time available to them.

Rham crossed the river that night to report. All the white men were in bed sick, the cook had been demoted and replaced. The Askari were digging more latrines, and Tarbah had overheard that it would be at least a week before they were active again.

Work on the defences began again in earnest. Stanley brought fifty of the Nairobi home guard to help, and N'debi brought thirty-four of his warriors. Scouts were dispatched across the river to keep a lookout for anyone approaching the fords.

As each rifle pit and machinegun emplacement was completed and camouflaged, critical eyes would view them, and alterations carried out until they were satisfied that they were undetectable. The telegraph between the guns and outposts were checked and checked again. Each outpost had a large command bunker dug out, strengthened by a log and sandbagged roof. The telephonist was based in there with his equipment.

Ranges were carefully paced out and markers placed. David allowed the mortars to fire test rounds with dummy heads to establish ranges. By the end of the sixth day they had completed all the work to the best of their ability.

Two days later the aircraft appeared again.

To be continued