Chapter 44

David decided it was time for action after the seventh day. Leaving their horses in the rift, he took the troop out during the night and arranged them alongside of the track. They waited concealed until the aircraft had returned back to its base before edging closer to the track and taking up positions.

The ambush was a complete success; at fifty yards the Gurkhas couldn’t miss. The carts were checked; provisions and fodder were quickly dispatched to the rift to supplement their own stocks along with some of the water carts. The rest were destroyed apart from two that were loaded with the dead bodies, which were taken back below the ford and dumped into the river. The empty carts were sent back to the rift were they were broken up for firewood.

Once they were gone, work began on covering their tracks. In three hours nothing remained to show of the ambush. It was noon before ten Uhlans were seen riding back towards the river. That night, David ordered the mules to be herded back to the crater by a roundabout route. For four days they stopped any water or supplies reaching the column. By now the number of carts was dwindling.

On the fifth morning they repeated their ambush on only ten carts, guarded by Uhlans with five riding in front and five behind. All the carts bore was water. He noticed the Uhlans horses were European stock with good bloodlines. Again, everything was disposed of and their tracks carefully hidden. The wounded, along with the horses and mules sent back to the Crater. Scouts reported that the column had halted. Later, forty Uhlans returned to the river moving slowly; their horse’s heads hung low. They were led by an officer whose eyes constantly looked right and left, and he was mounted on a magnificent black stallion, David held a council of war with Tartrha and his NCOs that night. “It will be different tomorrow. They are expecting something to happen and will take precautions. If I was that officer I’d put out flankers on each side of the track, as well as front and rear guards. They may well bring more infantry with them. They must be getting desperate for water by now so I intend taking a Lewis gun with us. Make sure you have your best gunner using it,” he told Tartrha.

David’s premonition proved to be correct. They noticed the aircraft first flying in circles over the track, before a convoy of five heavy wagons drawn by bullocks came into view. They were escorted by the Uhlans, with a company of Askari’s formed in front and back.

David ordered the Lewis gun to hold fire until commanded to do so. The first volley from the Gurkhas downed the two Uhlan out-riders and a number of the Askari who dropped to their bellies returning fire wildly.

The Uhlan officer ordered his men into a line to charge. They dropped their lances and started off with a gallop straight towards the kneeling Gurkhas. David waited until they were a hundred yards from them and then ordered the Lewis gun to open fire. Men and horses went down screaming as the charge was halted. The Askari seeing the carnage leapt to their feet and ran back towards the river leaving their weapons behind them in their haste to get away.

The horses were rounded up; miraculously none had been seriously hurt. Five Uhlans were wounded and were taken care of by a Gurkha first-aid man. The aircraft circling above had witnessed the entire ambush and now flew off in the direction of the German column. The wagons were destroyed and set on fire and the water jugs smashed. The bullocks were driven back to the rift; they would supplement their rations. The dead were stripped of anything valuable and quickly buried. David rode the magnificent black stallion back to the camp, ordering the saddle and saddlebags to be taken to his quarters. Back at the rift he questioned the wounded Uhlans after finding one who spoke English. It seemed they were under the command of Count Rupert Von Hassinberg, the Captain who had been killed. That night the Uhlans were sent back to the Crater in a cart guarded by four Gurkhas.

David was impressed by the quality of the saddle and saddlebags, made from the finest black leather. Inside the saddlebags he found a crude map of the track to Nairobi but with a mark on it in the hills near the Crater. There appeared to be some letters written in German along with a pair of matching cutthroat razors with ivory handles, brush and soap. In addition, there was silk underwear and a change of shirts also in silk, along with six magazines of bullets. On examining the saddle, he found a pistol holster containing a long barrelled automatic pistol called a Luger, which had a very good balance in his hand.

Another leather case held a pair of binoculars, which, when he tried them out were far superior to his old telescope. The cavalry sword belonging to the Count was of Solingen steel with a razor edge to it. David reasoned the Count had come from a very wealthy family going by the quality of his horse and equipment. Later he went down to the horse lines to examine the horse the Count had ridden. It stood at least sixteen hands high, not as big as Zeus he realised. Running his hands over its body he could feel the hard muscles in its legs and withers. “I think I’ll call you Diablo, boy,” he said stroking its velvet nose.

Talking to Tartrha later that night he said, “Well, the cat is out of the bag now. They know there’s someone behind them stopping their supplies, but not where we are yet. The biggest danger is the aircraft. We need to kill it before it discovers the rift so we need to lure it into a trap to do that.” He outlined his plan that they would put into force the following day.

The next morning four Gurkhas were riding out on the veldt when they heard the aircraft approaching. They immediately spurred their horses, dashing back towards the rift with the aircraft following on behind. On reaching it the net was raised and they rode down the embankment into it with the net closing behind them.

The aircraft flew over it circling and coming back lower and slower as the two men peered down over the sides of it. The troop hidden under the net waited and when it was directly over them David gave the order to fire. Two Lewis guns and forty-four rifles opened up as one. The aircraft wobbled in the air and then smoke started streaming from it followed by flames. The aircraft crashed in a loud explosion some five hundred yards from the rift.

In his quarters that night David reviewed the events of the past days. So far things had gone their way in regard to the enemy and they had been fortunate that none in his command had been killed or wounded as yet. But the surprise element was now gone. The Germans must know a force was behind them blocking their supply chain.