Even as he prepared his defense, a rider carne from Chelmsford with an order for him to strike camp and follow after the commander. Seconds later a breathless rider came in from the north, stammering about a horde of Zulus coming. The man’! descriptions of the size and numbers of the force he claimed to have seen made no sense to Pulleine who could not conceptualize such a large force.
On the plain, Durnsford was the first British commander to actually see the Zulu army coming. The left horn was cresting a ridge directly in front of his column and he estimated its Dumber to be roughly five thousand and he estimated its number to be roughly five thousand direction and head back toward Isandlwana.
The conical hill that Ahana and Shakan were on was like an island amid a storm, as the left horn of the Zulu army swarmed around, splitting at the base and passing by on either side.
Ahana turned to Shakan with a questioning glance. The Zulu had said the battle would not be until the following day. Ahana’s instruments were spread out on the ground and so far had picked up nothing other than the muonic trace activity. She hurriedly began to gather them up but Shakan put on hand on her arm and indicated for her to wait.
Dark clouds were moving in overhead. Indicating a storm was corning.
Pulleine could now hear heavy firing to the north where his mounted troops were, but still could not see anything in that direction. To the east he could clearly see Durnsford’s column retreating under pressure from a large body of Zulus. This put Pulleine in another dilemma as he was torn between positioning his force to face what sounded like a large threat to the north and supporting Dumsford’s retreat to keep it from becoming a rout.
Pulleine hedged. He ordered one of his company of regulars to swing to the east and stretch their line toward Durnsford. Then he had the companies facing north extend their lines even farther to cover the new gap.
There were two major problems with his new alignment though. One was that his line was stretched to a point where volley fire would not be as effective as it normally was. The second was that his lines were now almost a thousand yards away from their ammunition wagons.
As the main Zulu army came onto the plain, even the veterans among Pulleine’s troops were shocked. The front was now several miles wide and twelve men deep. It came toward Isandlwana like an unstoppable tidal wave.
Pulleine’s artillery began engaging the Zulu center at maximum range. Many warriors fell to the shot, but it did not slow the advance.
Durnsford’s column reached the company that Pulleine had extended. The British front now extended from just below the crest of Isandlwana, arcing right in a quarter circle to the east. Against the twelve-deep front coming toward them, the British companies were formed two deep, with the front rank kneeling. Also there were large gaps between the companies.
Still, when the Zulu center came within rifle range, the British volleys were devastating to the front ranks. Hundreds of Zulus went down. The advance wavered, halted, then resumed. The volleys of lead poured into the Zulu line and the attackers wavered once more, then dove to the ground en masse, less than three hundred yards from the British lines. The British gave no mercy, firing at the prone figures, killing many more.
At the very rear of the Zulu lines, some of the warriors even began to change direction. But this movement was checked immediately by Zulu commanders who had the first to turn slain in their tracks. The few Zulus armed with rifles returned the British fire, but their aim was poor and most rounds passed harmlessly overhead.
On the right flank, Durnsford’s men managed to halt the left horn, also with well-disciplined fire. Of the right horn, there was no sign and in the heat of battle none of the British could spare the time to be concerned about the missing part of the Zulu army.
It looked as if the day would be won for the British as they continued to pour hot lead into the halted Zulu army prostrate before them.
Except for the slight problem of ammunition.
Runners were sent back from the line companies, scampering back to the wagons where the quartermasters had the rest of the regiment’s bullets. But a quartermaster is a man trained to be responsible for the supplies he has signed for. In the long run back to where the wagons were and in the confusion of battle, runners didn’t have time to seek out their specific unit’s quartermasters. Too far away from the front line to realize the pending danger, the majority of the quartermasters refused to issue bullets to men not from their own unit, who could not rightfully sign for such.
Instead of the usual nails, screws had been used on this particular lot of ammunition cases and there was a distinct lack of screwdrivers among the wagon train. Also, the bullets were stored in heavy wooden containers designed to sustain damage, thus making them difficult to break open. So even when desperate troopers shoved aside the furious quartermasters, they had a difficult time getting the cases open.
Ahana and Shakan could see the halted Zulu line like a thick black snake frozen to the ground. And they could hear the volleys being fired every few seconds and see the gunpowder smoke floating over the thin red line of British troops.
How long could the Zulu army just lie there and allow themselves to be slaughtered? Ahana wondered.
The change was ever so slight, but to those being shot at, very noticeable, The volleys were not as swift and there were less firers. Something was wrong in the British lines.
Zulu war leaders sprang to their feet and urged their warriors forward. As the Zulu center rose to their feet, the right horn appeared to the British rear, having run all the way around Isandlwana and cut the road leading to Rorke’s Drift and then turning toward the British camp.
The battle, which the British had appeared to have under control just a minute earlier, immediately changed character.
With Zulus to his rear, and out of ammunition because none of the Twenty-fourth Infantry quartermasters would issue bullets to his men, Durnsford’s command fell apart. His officers were running about the camp desperately searching for ammunition while the men gave up their positions, reasoning!hat if they were not able to fire, they might as well flee.
Sensing his line unraveling, Pulleine told his bugler to signal retire, hoping to reform his lines closer to the camp and the wagon train. It was a decision made a minute too late. As the British lines tried to disengage the front ranks, the Zulu center struck Brutal hand-to-hand fighting broke out.
The British regulars tried to fight with bayonets in their squares. And they took their toll on the attacking Zulus, but one by one, the small islands of red were swarmed over.
Finally, seeing the inevitable, Pulleine ordered the adjutant to carry the regimentals to safety. The adjutant rode off with another lieutenant who was wounded. They were both run down by Zulus and killed as they attempted to get to the Buffalo River and safety.
There were no more figures in red standing. That was clear from as far away as the conical hill on which Shakan and Ahana stood.
With shaking hands, Ahana checked her instruments.
The muonic indicator was beginning to show an increase in activity.