Under such circumstances an attack could only promise success if the situation was exceptionally favourable. This was never the case. The patrols were kept active, and the enemy harassed as much as possible, but otherwise there was nothing left but for General Wahle’s force and the 11th Field Company, which had been left at Mnacho to bring away the supplies, gradually to give way before the pressure of the enemy and retire to Chiwata. On 10th November the Ndanda mission, immediately in the rear of General Wahle, who was at Nangoo, was surprised by a strong enemy force and captured. The field-hospital quartered there, and part of our stores, fell into the enemy’s hands. Lieberman’s force, south of Ndanda, ensured the retreat of General Wahle’s force, which ascended to the Makonda plateau, by the road south-east of Nangoo, the road I had reconnoitred on 7th November, and, by crossing the plateau diagonally to Chiwata, escaped from the enemy’s trap. The 11th Company also found its way to Chiwata from Mnacho, so that, with the exception of Captain Tafel’s Detachment and some small bodies of troops further south, the whole force was concentrated at Chiwata. The gradual transport of our supplies from Chiwata east to Nambindinga had begun, and with that our march to Kitangari. Meanwhile I kept an anxious look-out for a vulnerable point in one of the enemy columns. On the 14th November I thought I had discovered one. A strong enemy column, to which belonged the 10th South African Mounted Infantry, had passed close to our position while marching from Lukuledi via Massassi, and had attacked Mwiti, two hours’ march south of Chiwata. In this place, which until then had been only weakly held, Lieberman’s force (three companies) had arrived the day before. In spite of the shortage of ammunition there was, I thought, a chance that by unexpectedly throwing into the fight Koehl’s force from Chiwata, this enemy might be defeated separately. I was, however, very busy with the preparations for the withdrawal to Nambindinga and unfortunately let the opportunity at Mwiti pass without taking advantage of it. There was nothing for it, then, but to retire gradually to Nambindinga.