During this period of preparation attacks by the Turks along the whole line led to severe local fighting. On November 25, 1917, British advanced posts north of the river Auja were driven back across the river. From November 27 to 28, 1917, the Turks delivered a series of attacks directed especially against the high ground position in the hills from Beit ur el Foka to El Burj, and the Neby Samwil ridge. An attack on the night of November 29, 1917, succeeded in penetrating the British outpost line northeast of Jaffa, but next morning the whole Turkish detachment, numbering 150, was surrounded and captured by Australian Light Horse. On November 30, 1917, a similar fate befell a battalion which attacked near El Burj; a counterattack by Australian Light Horse took 200 prisoners and practically destroyed the attacking battalion. There was particularly heavy fighting between El Burj and Beit ur el Folka, but the British troops successfully resisted all attacks and inflicted severe losses on the enemy. At Beit ur el Foka one company took 300 prisoners. All efforts by the Turks to drive the British off the Neby Samwil ridge were completely repulsed. These attacks cost the Turks very dearly. The British took 750 prisoners between November 27 and 30, 1917, and the Turkish losses in killed and wounded were undoubtedly heavy. Favored by a continuance of fine weather, preparations for a fresh advance against the Turkish positions west and south of Jerusalem proceeded rapidly. Existing roads and tracks were improved and new ones constructed to enable heavy and field artillery to be placed in position and ammunition and supplies brought up. The water supply was also developed. The date for the attack was fixed as December 8, 1917. Welsh troops, with a cavalry regiment attached, had advanced from their positions north of Beersheba up the Hebron-Jerusalem road on December 4, 1917. No opposition was met, and by the evening of December 6, 1917, the head of this column was ten miles north of Hebron. On December 7, 1917, the weather broke, and for three days rain was almost continuous. The hills were covered with mist at frequent intervals, rendering observation from the air and visual signaling impossible. A more serious effect of the rain was to jeopardize the supply arrangements by rendering the roads almost impassable.