"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد II." [ظ‎‎١‎٩‎٧] (٦٦٠/٤٠٣)

360 HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
that desertion among the Indian troops increased; and that
the Arabs of the town looked upon the British cause as lost
In a telegram of the 11 th to General Aylmer, however he
spoke in high terms of the conduct of his British troops
whose discipline, patience and cheeriness were, he said
splendid. He could not say the same, however, of his
Mahomedan and some of his Hindu troops.
General Townshend himself recognised, he says, that there
was little hope of relief and he considered it certain that the
relieving force would never again find such favourable
conditions as had offered in the Dujaila attack. The Tigris
flood was expected on the 16th March, and it might stop all
relief operations. If he was not relieved by the 7th April,
breaking out of Kut would be rendered impossible by the
floods, and famine would compel him to surrender. Accord
ingly he asked Generals Gorringe and Lake on the 1 1th March
whether they did not think it would be advantageous, while
preparations for the next effort at relief were in progress,
for him to enter into negotiations with Halil. His idea was
that, as there was no longer any likelihood of the Turks being
able to retake the Basra vilayet, the further retention of Kut
was not necessary, and he might be able to obtain honourable
terms from Halil by exchanging Kut for permission to his
own force to march out with their arms, artillery, and pouch
ammunition and join the relieving force, while their sick
and wounded, with the baggage, went down by river.
General Townshend said that he had roughly one month’s
food on starvation diet which might last him, he thought,
till the 17th April, but that his staff were going into the matter.
If, therefore, there was any doubt in the minds of Generals
Gorringe or Lake regarding the certainty of early relief,
General Townshend suggested that his proposal should be put
before Government. Negotiations to be successful, he said,
should be begun soon, while he had food to bargain with, and
he pointed out that a third effort at relief would undoubtedly
entail heavy losses in addition to those already suffered.
General Gorringe informed General Lake next day that
he was making no reply to the above, as he considered that the
matter was one solely for General Lake to deal with; but he
considered that the fact of Halil wanting to offer terms indicated
his desire to free his troops for other operations, and in a
month’s time much might happen in our favour. General
Lake told General Townshend on the 13th March that, though
he did not approve of his suggestions, they had been forwarded