Although the Russians bombarded and then overflew the route of advance prior to sending the column, they did not follow up with additional artillery once the column had been ambushed. The area around the bridge site would make an ideal target box and should have been plotted before the column set out, but it appears that the Russian force preferred to use the bridge rather than destroy it with their artillery. The river was not wide and Sheikh believes the Russians probably should have skipped the bridge and forded the river elsewhere.
