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Some time during the night Nuredin Pasha, having evacuated his fortified position, moved his troops across the Tigris to the southern bank and, by forced marches, reached Shat-el-Hai. From there he proceeded to Azizie, where, for the defense of Bagdad, extensive fortifications had been constructed.
The troops were in an emaciated condition through constant fighting, first in excessively hot weather, and afterward suffering intensely from the cold, which made the nights unendurable at this time of the year in Mesopotamia. In such a physically weakened condition did the Indo-British troops engage the vastly stronger forces of Nuredin Pasha at Ctesiphon.
When the British Expeditionary Force began to threaten the "City of the Caliphs," it was evident that the Turks had found it possible to extend the Bagdad railway line, by means of which Nuredin Pasha received fresh troops to reenforce his army, brought hurriedly down out of Syria.
Nuredin Pasha's forces were numerically far superior to the British. General Townshend had only four brigades, while the Turkish commander had four divisions, and was much stronger in artillery. The Turkish commander, who was well informed as to the strength or weakness of the British force, may well have looked forward to an easy victory.
That Nuredin Pasha should have left his northern flank exposed to a turning movement appeared to some of the British officers at the time as a piece of incredible stupidity; but it developed afterward that the Turkish commander knew perfectly well what he was about. The open road around the marsh was a skillfully prepared trap.
It was known that the Turkish army holding this strong position had been largely reenforced by the arrival of fresh troops from Nasiriyeh, and the Turkish commander in chief, Nuredin Pasha, may well have believed that victory would crown his arms that day and that the British expeditionary force would be annihilated.
Behind Nuredin Pasha's main position the two brigades under General Delamain and General Houghton, skirting the Suwada Marsh, struggled once more to gain the river. Suddenly, out of the dust clouds that obscured the view for any distance, appeared a Turkish column about a mile to the west marching almost parallel with the British force, but a little behind it.
These far too sanguine hopes were not destined to be fulfilled. General Townshend having captured the village of Jeur on November 19, 1915, marched against Nuredin Pasha's main defenses which had been constructed near the ruins of Ctesiphon, eighteen miles from Bagdad.
Nuredin Pasha was well aware when he selected his defensive position near the ruins of this memorial to the valor of Islam in ancient days, that every Turk, Arab, and tribesman of his troops was familiar with the story, and he doubtless hoped that its memory might inspire the descendants of the Prophet's army to fresh deeds of valor for the honor of Islam.
Nuredin Pasha's troops occupied a strong position near the Kut, with carefully constructed intrenchments protected by large areas of barbed-wire entanglements and supported by considerable heavy artillery. The British camp was about ten miles away from the Turkish position. They were weaker in men and in guns than the enemy. The heat was overpowering.
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