October The Southern Palestine Offensive began with the attack on the headquarters of the Ottoman III Corps at Beersheba. The town was defended by 4,400 rifles, 60 machine guns, and 28 field guns including cavalry lancer and infantry regiments. They were deployed in well constructed trenches protected by some wire, strengthened by fortified defences to the north west, west, and south west of Beersheba. This semicircle of defences, included well-sited redoubts on a series of heights, up to 4 miles (6.4 km) from the town. These included Tel el Saba east of Beersheba defended by a battalion of the Ottoman 48th Regiment and a machine gun company. They were attacked by 47,500 rifles, in the XX Corps' 53rd (Welsh) Division, the 60th (2/2nd London) Division and the 74th (Yeomanry) Division, with the 10th (Irish) Division and the 1/2nd County of London Yeomanry attached, and about 15,000 troopers in the Anzac and Australian Mounted Divisions (Desert Mounted Corps). After extensive and complex arrangements to support the infantry advance, the 60th (2/2nd London) and the 74th (Yeomanry) Divisions were to attack Beersheba from the west, while the Anzac Mounted Division with the Australian Mounted Division in reserve attacked the town from the east, after riding between 25 and 35 miles (40 to 56 km) to circle around Beersheba. The infantry attacks began with a bombardment and the capture of Hill 1070 which enabled the guns to move forward to target the trenches defending Beersheba. Intense hand to hand fighting continued until 13:30 when the Ottoman trench line on the western side of Beersheba, was captured. Meanwhile, Anzac Mounted Division advanced circling Beersheba, to cut the road north to Hebron and Jerusalem to prevent reinforcement and retreat from Beersheba, and launched their attack on Tel el Saba. The strongly entrenched defenders on Tel el Saba were initially attacked by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, but by 10:00 they had been reinforced by the 1st Light Horse Brigade. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade (Australian Mounted Division) was later ordered to reinforce the Anzac Mounted Division's attack on this Ottoman position, but before they could get into position a general attack began at 14:05, resulting in the capture of Tel el Saba at 15:00. Orders were issued for a general attack on Beersheba by the dismounted 1st and 3rd Light Horse Brigades and the mounted 4th Light Horse Brigade. As the leading squadrons of