News of Ahmed Arabi's uprising against the Anglo-French in Egypt has caused great alarm in London. The French opt not to fight and retire from the country, but the British land a force led by Sir Garnet Wolseley. Simon Fonthill, one-time subaltern and ex-Captain in the North West Frontier’s Royal Corps of Guides, and 352 Jenkins, his ex-batman and servant, are pulled from retirement and ordered to venture into the desert ahead of Wolseley's hastily assembled army. While observing the movements and location of the Egyptian force, Simon quickly realizes that bloodshed is ahead at Tel-el-Kebir.