Chapter 9 The Battle

When the sun came up, we prepared for battle. We found Infadoos with his own men, the Greys. Ignosi joined us.The men were watching Twala's army marching out of Loo in a long line.

Infadoos and Ignosi spoke to the soldiers. They gave the royal greeting of Koom', accepting Ignosi as their king.

' Infadoos, my uncle,' said Ignosi,' you see how the hill bends round like a half-moon. The flat land runs like a green tongue towards us inside it. Your soldiers must go with another chief's men down to the green tongue. When Twala sees you, he will order his whole army to fight against you. But the place is narrow, and only one group of soldiers can attack. While the eyes of Twala's army are on the fight on the narrow tongue, the rest of our army will creep along the two sides of the half-moon. We will then attack Twala's army from both sides.'

The arrangements for the battle were made very quickly. The men ate a small meal and then marched to their places.

Then Good came to Sir Henry and myself.' Goodbye,' he said. ' I am going to be with the people on the right, and we may not meet again.'We shook hands in silence.

' I shall be with the Greys,' said Sir Henry,' and I do not expect to see tomorrow's sun. The Greys will have to fight until they are all dead, while the rest of the army gets round the sides. Well, it will be a man's death. Goodbye, old fellow.'

In another moment, Good had gone. Infadoos led Sir Henry to his place in the front line of the Greys. I went with Ignosi to my place with a second group, who were behind them.

When we reached the edge of the hill, the Greys were already half-way down. Twala's army was now near. They had seen the movement of the Greys, and they were hurrying to reach the open end of the tongue before the Greys could come out on to the huge flat land. The Greys reached the centre of the tongue, where it became wider. There they stopped.

We moved down to a place about 300 feet behind them, on slightly higher ground.

Twala's army began to enter the valley. They discovered that the space was very narrow, and in front of them they saw the famous Greys, the best of the Kukuana army. Then Twala gave an order, and the first men ran towards the Greys.

The Greys did not move until the attackers were 130 feet away. Then suddenly, with a shout, they ran forward and the two lines met. The sound of the meeting shields came to our ears like thunder. The great group of battling men moved this way and that, but not for long. Suddenly the attacking lines began to grow thinner.Then, like a great wave over a rock, the Greys passed over them. But the Greys had only two lines left now. One third of them were dead.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, and waited for the second attack. I was glad to see Sir Henry's yellow beard as he moved among the men. So he was still alive!

The terrible thunder of shields came again. This time the fight was longer. We thought that the Greys were finished, and we were preparing to take their place. But then I heard the sound of Sir Henry's deep voice, and saw his battle-axe circling high above his head. The Greys stopped moving back. They stood like rock, as the waves of spearmen hit their shields again and again. Then they began to move forward, and suddenly the attackers were running away.

Less than a quarter of the Greys were still standing, but they shouted and waved their spears. Then they ran to a little piece of higher ground and formed three rings around it. There I saw Sir Henry, unhurt, with our old friend Infadoos. Twala's soldiers moved towards them, and the battle began again.

' Are we going to stand here until we grow old, Ignosi, while Twala eats our brothers there ?' I asked.

As I spoke, enemy soldiers rushed past the ring on the small hill and attacked it from the nearer side.

' Now is the moment,' cried Ignosi, and he lifted his battle-axe as the sign to attack.

I cannot describe what followed. I heard the sound of shouting voices, and saw shining spears through a red curtain of blood. When my mind cleared, I found myself inside the ring of the Greys, just behind Sir Henry.

Again and again they attacked us, and again and again we beat them back. But all the time our circle grew smaller. That old soldier, Infadoos, gave calm orders and stepped forward every time to the worst fighting. It was a fine sight.

Even finer was the sight of Sir Henry. Nobody lived where he struck.

An anxious cry came from the soldiers who were attacking us. Our men had moved round the sides and were attacking the enemy from all directions. As Ignosi had expected, all Twala's army had fixed their eyes on the bloody fight against the Greys. Then suddenly they realized, too late, what was happening.

In five minutes the result of the battle was decided. Twala's soldiers ran away. Soon the whole land between us and Loo was covered with groups of men, running from the battle-ground. The men around our circle disappeared, and we were left there with the dead and dying all around us. Only ninety-five of the brave Greys were still on their feet. More than 3,400 had fallen, most of them for the last time.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 679