Turn 3 began with continued calm and quiet in the Eastern Sudan.
In the west, X/IV and 2/5 marched to Foga. There they were attacked in their camp by two units of ansar and one band of fanatics. Despite unusually accurate fire from the Egyptian troops, all three ansar bands hacked their way through the zeriba and closed for melee. The desperate defenders formed a square and drove off two of the attacking Mahdist units, but the third, less weakened by fire than the others, broke through the 2/5 Egyptians and poured inside the square. They immediately turned on the remaining section of the 2/5, who miraculously stood their ground even though outnumbered fifteen to five. No doubt they expected the Sudanese to countercharge, but those usually stalwart troopers refused to close, becoming pinned instead! Through the miracle of tremendous dice rolling, the Egyptians stood their ground and drove the dervishes out of the camp. If they hadn’t—and by the odds they shouldn’t have—the pinned and prone X/IV Sudanese would have been nearly helpless the next turn. As it turned out, the Egyptian troops carried the day, but their heroism cost them seven dead, including their NCO. The Sudanese lost only two dead.
In the Northern Sudan, the lone 1/8 continued its quiet march down the Atbara river course, only to be attacked in its camp just a day’s march from Atbara. Two bands of dervish swordsmen and two of riflemen ringed the zeriba and opened fire against the tired Egyptians shortly before dusk. Outnumbered and outgunned, the situation looked bleak until the commanding dervish emir was shot from his horse. That lucky break paralyzed the attackers, but only briefly. On the next turn they were inside the zeriba and assaulting the tiny square, thirty-five against fourteen. Only four Egyptians escaped the immediate slaughter, and they were driven back into the desert to die of thirst and heat exhaustion.
But these events were only a sidelight to Gordon Pasha in Khartoum, whose eyes were focused on the river. There, Bordein passed the 6th cataract and rejoined Safieh. At Metemma the boats encountered no resistance from dervish riflemen or artillery and steamed past without incident. At Atbara, they were sniped at heavily by dervish riflemen, but worse was hearing the awful news of the fate of the 1/8 just days before at the hands of those same dervishes. Using their cannon and Gatling gun, the boats eventually cleared the banks and continued down river, losing two men in the fight.
At Berber, Manila Bey was trapped like a rat. He didn’t dare try to lead his tiny garrison out of the town; his spies assured him daily that he was surrounded by countless ansar. Yet his supplies dwindled rapidly. Unless steamers appeared soon with food and reinforcements, he would be forced to choose between handing over the town and his men to the Mahdists, or leading them in a futile, suicidal gesture. In the end, the choice was taken away from him. The dervishes attacked. Despite heavy losses, they would have taken Berber and massacred the garrison if not for the timely arrival of Gordon’s steamers with their artillery and riflemen. Even so, the victory may not have been worth the price. For a full account of the action, read about the Battle of Berber.
At the end of turn three, two reinforcements finally arrived at Aswan, the 2/8 Egyptian infantry and the 3/2 Egyptian cavalry. Perhaps Cairo is at last beginning to take this situation seriously. Only two turns' worth of supplies remain in Khartoum—when those are gone, "things may become difficult."
The revolt index in the Western Sudan dropped by 1, all other areas remained the same. Mohammed Ahmed gained another 50 points, raising his total to 129 of the 400 needed for victory.
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