As far as we can judge, our plans are well
laid to resist an invasion pending the arrival of reinforcements. If the Boers come down the centre of the triangle by the main road—the railway will of course have been rendered useless—they will be liable to get between two fires,—i.e., from Dundee and from Ladysmith. If, on the other hand, they leave those places alone and try to come in well below them, and on our flank, they will again be liable to find themselves between two fires, —i.e., from the Ladysmith force and the reinforcements that are now rapidly coming up from Darban and the sea. In some quarters, however, it is alleged that the Boers do not mean to invade Natal, and that they will simply sit still and defend their own frontiers, plus, of course, Laing's Nek, which they could occupy at any moment. If that is their plan, we cannot help thinking that, as we have stated elsewhere, they will soon find themselves in serious difficulties. Unless we are greatly mistaken, a weakly organised volunteer force will find it impossible to keep the field in a condition of inactivity for more than a few weeks._ AU delay, in fact, is on our side, and
this the Boma mast know as well as we do. Hence, we can hardly think they will act purely on the defensive for any length of time.
