On 8 September, the Indo-British army was fully assembled at Kassassin ready to begin the march to Cairo. Naturally, by now, the bulk of the Egyptian army was in position to block the way. The two armies collided on the morning of the 9th. Although General Wolseley did not want a general action at that time because his forces were not fully deployed to take advantage of a success, a number of smaller actions took place during the day. In one of these, the Royal Marine Light Infantry encountered an Egyptian infantry force supported by two field guns.

Terrain: There is a medium hill running East-West across the playing area and separating the right (Northern) quarter of the area from the rest. Otherwise clear.

British: 8 companies, Royal Marine Light Infantry, deploy on the East edge

Egyptian: 10 companies of infantry and 2 field guns, deploy on the West edge to the South of the hill. The guns deploy behind the infantry.

Aftermath: half the Marines succeeded in pinning the Egyptians long enough for their comrades to flank the Egyptian position, using the hill as cover. The Egyptians retreated, leaving the two guns in the hands of the Marines.

One final note: Although most of the terrain is clear, the author would suggest that a few palm trees and bits of scrub would not be amiss.

More The Egyptian War

Introduction
Preliminary Considerations
Keeping the Water Flowing
The Messenger Blunders
The Marines Have Their Day