By two o'clock these troops had progressed, with infinite difficulty and no little loss, to the edge of a tributary of the Wadi Nimrin, just north of El Howeij. At half-past two the 1st Brigade was ordered to send another regiment at once to join the two regiments of the 2nd Brigade at El Salt, who were hard pressed. There was now only one regiment of the 1st Brigade left on the west side of the village, and this was the only regiment of the force in the line not in action with the enemy. The 3rd Brigade, holding a line north-west and north of El Salt, was heavily engaged all along the line. Two regiments of the 2nd and one of the 1st Brigade were fighting on the north-east and east, and the remaining regiment of the 1st was in divisional reserve in the village.
At half-past four General Kelly reported that he was unable to advance at all. A body of Turkish cavalry was threatening his left flank and rear, and he was anxious about his led horses. General Hodgson had no troops to spare, and indeed was hard put to hold his own at El Salt. He directed General Kelly, while protecting his flank and rear as best he could with the 6th A.L.H. Regiment (2nd Brigade), to put in his reserve regiment in one last attack on El Howeij. If this attack failed, he was to remain in contact with the enemy, and attract as much attention as possible.
General Kelly formed a defensive left flank with the 6th A.L.H. Regiment, and threw in his reserve regiment to the attack. Scrambling painfully up the steep, rocky slope, the three regiments struggled forward with the utmost gallantry, against a murderous fire. Worn out by three days and nights of continuous marching and fighting, reduced by casualties, and with no supports to give their attack depth, they had no chance of reaching the enemy's position. The Turks, strong in numbers, and well posted in trenches and behind sangars, swept the slope with a hail of bullets, through which our little force could make no headway. The attack failed completely. The brigade re-formed, and took up a fire position on the north side of the wadi, facing the Turks.
On the west the attack of our infantry had also failed, and, in the evening, our troops drew off a little, and remained in observation of the Turks during the night. The enemy had been greatly reinforced at Shunet Nimrin during the day, and it was now clear that the operations would have to be abandoned. The problem was how to withdraw the cavalry from the mountains. All day long the Turks had been closing in on El Salt from the east, north, and north-west. From midnight onwards the enemy's fire had been very heavy on the front of the 2nd Brigade, and, in the early hours of the morning, his troops had worked up to within fifty yards of the 3rd Brigade at Kefr Huda. At the first sign of dawn on the 3rd, a squadron from this brigade made a desperate bayonet charge on this force. The Australians crashed into the Turks, just as they were massing for an assault, fighting like tigers, and drove them back more than half a mile, killing over a hundred of them.