plan was to divide his army into three columns. The first was to attack
the center of the first Turkish position. A second was directed at the
left of that position, and a third was to swing widely around and come
in on the rear of the Turkish force. This plan was entirely successful,
but the Turkish army was not routed, and retreated fighting desperately
to its second line. There it was reinforced and counter-attacked with
such vigor that it drove the British back to its old first trenches. The
next day the Turks were further reinforced and attacked again. The
British drove them back over and over, but found themselves unable to
advance. The Turks had lost enormously but the English had lost about
one-third of their strength, and were compelled to fall back. They
therefore returned on the 26th to Lajj, and ultimately, after continual
rear guard actions, to Kut. There they found themselves surrounded, and
there was nothing to do but to wait for help.

By this time the eyes of the world were upon the beleaguered British
army. Help was being hurried to them from India, but Germany also was
awake and Marshal von Der Goltz, who had been military instructor in the
Turkish army, was sent down to take command of the Turkish forces. The
town of Kut lies in the loop of the Tigris, making it almost an island.
There was an intrenched line across the neck of land on the north, and
the place could resist any ordinary assault. The great difficulty was
one of supplies. However, as the relieving force was on the way, no
great anxiety was felt. For some days there was constant bombardment,
which did no great damage. On the 23d an attempt was made to carry the
place by assault, but this too failed. The relieving force, however, was
having its troubles. These were the days of floods, and progress was
slow and at times almost impossible. Moreover, the Turks were constantly
resisting.

The relief expedition was composed of thirty thousand Indian troops, two
Anglo-Indian divisions, and the remnants of Townshend's expedition, a
total of about ninety thousand men. General Sir Percy Lake was in
command of the entire force. The march began on January 6th. By January
8th the British had reached Sheikh Saad, where the Turks were defeated
in two pitched battles. On January 22d he had arrived at Umm-el-Hanna,
where the Turks had intrenched themselves.

After artillery bombardment the Turkish positions were attacked, but
heavy rains had converted