When I was in the army it was
always said that the next war would be fought with the spade as much as
with the rifle, but so far we have seen nothing whatever of the spade,
except just by the guns. We were also taught that strong positions held
by steady troops armed with magazine guns and supported by good
artillery were absolutely impregnable against direct attack. I grant
that Dundee and Elandslaagte, and Belmont and Enslin on the other side,
seemed to contradict that idea, but our experience here is all the other
way; and if we keep on knocking our heads against those hills I suppose
the axiom is likely to be finally confirmed."
"Then you don't think that we are going to fight our way into Ladysmith,
Captain Brookfield?"
"Not direct into Ladysmith. Possibly we may work our way round; but
after what we saw of the fire from their position, trench above trench,
and miles upon miles in length, my own conviction is, that allowing to
the utmost for the gallantry and devotion of our men, we shall never win
our way across those hills."
"Then we move off at two o'clock, sir?"
"Yes, fresh batches of waggons are going on, and we are to escort them,
and if we reach Springfield by to-morrow night we may think ourselves
lucky, for some of the officers who went with the first lot have come
back, and say that the roads are simply awful--there are dongas to be
passed where the waggons sink up to their axles--and that at one point
ninety oxen were fastened to a single waggon and could not pull it out
from a hole in which it was sunk, and there it would be now if one of
the Woolwich traction engines hadn't got hold of it and drawn it out.
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