IV. SYRIA At the end of the summer of 1918 the Turkish forces were distributed as follows, on a front of 65m.: the 8th Army (five divisions and three German battalions), in the coastal plain and the foothills, faced the British 21st Corps; the 7th Army (f our divisions), in the Judaean hills astride the Nablus road, faced the British loth Corps; while the 4th Army (two divisions, one cav alry division, and one composite division), in the Jordan valley and east of the Jordan, was opposed to the Desert Mounted Corps. The total fighting strength of the Turks amounted to 32,000 rifles, 3,500 sabres, 35o guns; and that of the British to 57,000 rifles, 12,000 sabres, 540 guns.
Gen. Allenby's plan was the reverse of that of the Gaza-Beer sheba battle ; then, he had struck the Turkish left while persuading them that his real effort was to be made along the coast against their right ; now, he proposed to advance along the coast, while deceiving the Turks into thinking that their left flank was threat ened. Steps were skilfully taken to simulate a concentration of troops in the Jordan valley, whereas in fact only a skeleton force, the Anzac Mounted Division and a few battalions, was left there. The real concentration was being secretly made in the coastal plain, to which the bulk of the Desert Mounted Corps and the 6oth Division of the loth Corps were transferred. For the success with which this concentration was concealed from the Turks to the last, British superiority in the air was largely responsible.
A simple statement in figures shows how well Allenby had succeeded in obtaining an overwhelming superiority of force at the decisive point. When his concentration was complete, he had on a 15m. front in the coastal plain 35,000 infantry and 400 guns against only 8,000 Turks with 13o guns; and behind that mass of infantry were three cavalry divisions waiting to exploit success. On the remaining 45m. of front he left only 22,000 infantry with 15o guns, facing 24,000 Turks with 270 guns. The Turks were still unaware of his intentions or of the distribution of his force.
7.30 A.M. the leading cavalry division was through the enemy's lines. The orders to the mounted troops were to ride straight north, disregarding any hostile troops that did not directly bar their path, cross by the passes near Megiddo into the Plain of Esdraelon, and secure El Affule and Beisan to block the Turkish lines of retreat.
The leading troops of the 5th Indian Cavalry Division reached Nazareth, Liman von Sanders' headquarters, just 24 hours after their start, having covered 52m.; they failed only by accident to capture the person of the enemy commander-in-chief. The 4th Cavalry Division, moving farther to the east, covered Tom. to Beisan in 34 hours. The advance was carried out with great dash and there were several instances of successful mounted attacks. A regiment of the 5th Cavalry Division rode over a Turkish bat talion in the Plain of Esdraelon; and a brigade of the Australian Mounted Division galloped into the village of Jenin, occupied by a numerous force of Turks and Germans, thus sealing one of the main exits from the trap in which the Turkish 7th and 8th Armies were now caught. Meanwhile the British infantry of the 21st Corps, after breaking through the Turkish fortified system in the plain, had wheeled to the right and driven the remnants of the Turkish 8th Army into the hills. The 6oth London Division (Maj.-Gen. Shea) actually reached Tulkeram before dark on the 19th, having fought and marched 18m. over very heavy going. During the two days following Sept. 19 the 21st Corps con tinued to press their pursuit, while the loth Corps also pushed forward along the Judaean hills to Nablus. The infantry of these two corps thus shepherded the straggling remains of the Turkish 7th and 8th Armies into the hands of the mounted troops. The Royal Air Force, with bombs and machine-gun fire, caused havoc amongst the bewildered Turkish transport, penned in and crowded on narrow hill roads. Only a few of the most determined Turks and some of the better fed and disciplined German units managed to break out to the east and cross the Jordan. The Germans fought well throughout the retreat.